Strategy is Required

Well, Mr. P got the Village off on the right foot; he made the topic food.

Once upon a time, I really liked such buffets.

But now I limit myself to only trying one every two or three years. When I do, I start with an item I really like, such as prime rib, and then carefully choose two or three items to accompany it. And I only take small amounts.

"If it's a breakfast buffet don't even think about that bagel and cream cheese. Go straight for the smoked fish.
"

Especially if one is staying at the Scandia in Helsinski Finland.. The Herring was SO GOOD!!!! and the Salmon was pretty good too... I drean about going back for the Herring.. 

all you can eat buffet- - that is not a challenge!      Seriously, do not take it as a challenge!  My strategy has evolved to taking the tinyest bit of each thing, so it is like a menu with pictures,and you get to try everything they make. Make a bunch of trips, take a clean plate each time,and know what you'll come back for should you ever return. MMMMMMMMM ! And do try all the desserts, even if you only take a nibble.... That DOES take some will (or won't) power....mmmmm

There was a time when I loved buffets and could eat everything and as much as I wanted...seconds, thirds and so on....hmmm, those were the days....never gained an ounce. Now, like you RY, I'll fill my plate with a little of everything that appeals to me. We have a lot of potlucks which aren't quite the same, but along the same lines.  Lots of very tempting food appetizingly arrayed in dishes on the table. Who could resist? Not I. ...and as for desserts...yes, a little sample of them all. So, I don't go to all-you-can-eat buffets even though there are a couple of very good ones here in town...brunch buffets....but at least with family potlucks, I can wrap up left overs and save for later.

LOT, RY, RINGS, & JANE...........................good morning kids!
 
JANE....................I love potlucks, sadly haven't been to one in a while.........................my parent's friends would have wonderful hippie potlucks in the country...............I miss those days. How nice to wake up to you! I hope your day is wunnerful.....................
 
I think of buffets as bacteria jungles to be avoided at all costs...................the people I work w/ seem to love this place called Ryan's and this "steak" place that both sound like barfatoriums..........................I did like them when I was younger....................ahhhhhh youth.............
 
Off to the Memphis Zoo w/ th kiddles today.......................wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Binge Eating ... Power Eating ... Competition Eating or jut trying to Break the Bank at an All-U-Cant-Eat Buffet can be survived, even won, if one remembers some simple basic rules ...  Eat Slowly ... Take reasonable size bites ... Chew every bite thirty times ... DON'T TALK while you are eating ... and drink only unSweetened Hot Tea if you need a drink, and sip, don't gulp ....... You may have the Tea Room Temperature if preferred, but NOT iced or otherwise cold .......
 
This comes to you from a Certified, World Class Fresser .......

'morning all. I'm sure I've seen a picture of an eating place called Sam&Ella's. All you can eat  buffets give me the heebie-jeebies. As bebe says, they are bacteria jungles. Wedding receptions are notorious for giving the guests a little something to take home. I wish I could go to the zoo with bebe and the kids. 

You know those bowls of peanuts on the bar - help yourself NOT - they are pee nuts as other customers do not wash their hands after visiting the rest room.

I enjoy watching others visit an all you can eat buffet.  It's fun to watch the behavior of people in the presence of food.   Once I worked a wedding reception in the heat of July.  The bride had a veriety of food available for guests.  I thought the guests would eat the meatballs/sauce at a fast clip.  Perhaps it was too warm for a heavy food like meatballs?  Instead, I made many trips refilling platters of cheese and green grapes.  Who would have thought?  So now, when I am asked to bring a snack for a function, I takes grapes and cheese.  The platter is always empty by the end. 

HAZE.......................heebie jeebies is a great phrase.................I'm saving you a seat on the orange bus, I'll even buy you a corndog!
 
IVAN..................I haven't seen you in forever, good to see you so early. Hollee Socks, I have to get going!

Having grown up in Michigan where the smörgåsbord is popular, I was surprised to find buffets so uncommon in Virginia when I moved here in 1977.  A few restaurants had all-you-can-eat deals, but not many.  Actually, one of the reasons I have not been drawn to cruises is the quantity of food they make available.  It would do me no good.  Still, there are places where the servings are generous, and the food sometimes exotic (we love Ethiopian cooking, for example), so we do not go hungrey here in the mid-Atlantic.  But sometimes I do miss the buffets of my youth...

Personally, the North High athletic potluck banquet always held more appeal than even the one or two great commercial versions: the Grand Hotel and the Tomahawk Hotel on Sundays (they served duck).
The reason being: the food was better and after years of experience, the best of it was easy to spot.

A handful of cedar waxwings was doing business in the sour cherry tree at first light. They are so fluttery, pretty and non-contentious in their comings and goings that I will take it as a good omen for a travel day.
If we are never again heard from, it wasn't their fault.
 

oh boy. HAZEL and BEBE have given my opinion. I am enjoying hearing all your buffet tales so I am going to try to restrain myself. After all, we have all lived to tell the tale!

Spin that Lazy Susan and pray the fried chicken stops in front of you. On the cruise ship Buffett as you look out of the corner of your eye and spot the white coat there is the quick circular move that has you stall spin & look around and arrive right as the fresh bacon tray gets there. The salad bar requires a cold plate for proper harvesting or premature wilt will blow a mile high stack of low cal veggie tales drenched in blue cheese hoping my wife thinks it is Ranch. I prefer the small candle lit cafe and less din but any port in a storm and filling up a chocolate dessert sampler plate is enough to bring on a pimple.

There's a word you don't see often: "pimple."

Sadly, ChefDeb~ not all. There was a scandal in South Wales a few years back when many schoolchildren were hit with a stomach bug. 3 died. The source of the bug was tracked down to the meat supplier for school dinners plus failure of the cooks in checking with a temperature probe that meat products were properly cooked.

O yukk! Tommy T~ that wilting salad on a warm plate. I want mine in a seperate chilled bowl, if you please. Absolute preference is I want mine out of my garden.

Yes, Jane, I had those days, too.  Eat all you want whenever you want and not an ounce to prove you did.  Now it's "No, no, no" to any everythings available tables.  I even have trouble in the sit-down-we-serve-you places because the servings are so large, and I want to eat it all. 

HAZE....You are absolutely right...I meant those of us on the Site today talking about these wonderful "feasts." The stories I could tell. Just about Salad bars, not to mention full-on buffets. Lets just say if you are on a cruise or in a resort and you see familiar looking platters...step away! Go to the nearest cook to order station.

I was embarrassed to leasn, over time, that people in other countries make fun of Americans' "all you can eat" mentality. With reason, perhaps.
 
A friend names the salad bar 'the beginning of the decline of civilization.' Don't think I'd go that far, but more and more I find my interior voice screaming"bacteria" when it's all been sitting there you don't know how many hours.

I'm not a buffet person.  And it's not because I'm afraid of the germs--I know they might be there, I just choose not to worry about them--they're everywhere.  And it's not because of the food quality--I've been to some wonderful buffets.  The ones on the cruise ships can be delightful, particularly the salad bars. I've made some pretty wonderful salads from those cruise ship buffets. No, I'm not a buffet person because I like to be waited on. I want to sit down, tell the waitron what I would like to eat and have it brought to me. Just the right portion, thank you, otherwise I will over indulge.  All that running around looking for the filet, waiting in line for the lobster, no thank you. I'll just sit here with my glass of white wine and wait. Oh, yes, and I'll have a glass of red to go with the filet and the chocolate dessert, thank you.

I can never eat enough in one sitting to make going to a buffet worth it.  I'd rather pay the same amount or less and get a smaller portion of exactly what I want, cooked to order.  But as to the "don't fill up on carbs" rule, I say if you are paying for dinner, eat what you want.  Why eat something expensive if you don't like it very much and would rather have something else? 

The problem at Buffets and Salad Bars (and yes MARJORIE, I'm with you about service) is not necessarily the quality of the food, it maybe as simple as the person ahead of you in line who spreads bacteria on the utensils or breathes on the gorgeous shrimp as he chooses the ones he wants. .

The being waited on rule only works when I go out. When I have dinner parties, I ask that everyone grab their plate off the dining room table and helps themself to the food in the kitchen. I may like to be waited on, but I'm a lousy waiter.  My friends don't seem to mind. And I do set a lovely table with an mix of eclectic china, glasses, candles, soft music. It's all fun. 

Pot Lucks - Yes
 
Buffet Dinner Parties - Yes
 
Wedding/Family Party Buffets - Sometimes
 
Salad Bars - Sometimes 
 
Public Buffet Restaurants - Never
 
There is a popular chain here in Utah called Chuck-A-Rama, that does a big homestyle chuckwagon buffet.  It isn't bad, it isn't great either.  After 2 trips to Chuck followed by 2 bouts of digestive problems it has now been renamed in our family the UP-Chuck-A-Rama.  Golden Corral and Sizzler are right out too.  There is a new pizza/pasta/salad buffet called Pizza Pie Cafe and it has all the appeal of a dirty Little Ceasar's store room...but it is a haven for the college kids in this town because it is cheap and they can eat enough to last them all the next day.
 
The older I get the less impressed I am about the prospect of gorging to my heart's content.  Heartburn, indigestion, and food born illness trumps the idea of "sticking it" to the restaurant.
 
Now cooking a huge dinner for friends and family so that they can eat as much as they want...always YES.

I could tell stories about food production, whether it's the grower, the processor, the distributor. the kitchen.  My best advice is, If you must eat, don't.  If you do eat, pray.  It is the same advice I have for life, but then it's already too late for the don't part. 

Has anyone been to a Rodizio style churrascaria?  As far as buffets/salad bars go, they aren't bad.  These have become incredibly popular in Utah over the last decade.  There is a massive buffet and salad bar but there are also waiters dress up as gauchos who bring roasted meats, veg, and fruits on spits to your table and they slice off exactly what you want and then circulate to other tables.  It is the only buffet style that I don't mind.  This is the best one in the state (even if it is a national chain), http://www.rodiziogrill.com/  

There's a buffet joint in our town named "The Golden Corral". We lovingly call it "The Golden Slop-Chute"

Ummgawa, I try to avoid anything that insinuates I'm being "corraled" like cattle.  We have that chain here too.

When I kept a little cafe, the modest loo facilities - which were cleaned thrice daily - had a notice written on the wall above the wash-hand basin. It read "Cafe employees MUST wash their hands and other people ought to.
Signed, Howard Hughes"
I was amazed how many people asked me 'Who is Howard Hughes?

Nachista - yesssssssss. We've been and it's nearly impossible to stop.

At buffets in general, I'm shocked at what people pile on their plates. They can always go back to graze some more. As well, picking it up and putting it back.. Ugh. But the worst are those who, especially at seafood buffets, pile on expensive items just because they're there.....shrimp, crab legs, oysters.....a shame

Good summation NACHISTA regarding buffets etc. Always safer to eat whch is cooked rather than raw. I have a friend who has travelled around the world and pole-to-pole doing tv shows and I asked him how he avoided getting sick from things he ate. His response was "Don't eat anything uncooked unless you can peel it." Sound advice for those who don't travel as much.

Hope BEBE is surviving the Memphis Zoo with her lucky to have her kiddies!

Nachista ~ There are several chains akin to Rodizio.  These are great to feed nd entertain large groups as long as the members of that group aren't vegans, although Fogo de Chao does have a killer salad bar.  Maybe I should rephrase that.

Paolos, I have had a few friends go to Fogo de Chao, saying it is/was excellent. The buffet comes to you it seems. I haven't been as of yet, but I do plan to attend soon. Every carnivorous buddy I have loves it, wives....not so much. Maybe its the endless "eat meat 'till you hurl" factor. All I can say is "bring it".

MISS BEBE:   Thanks for the Notice !!!  It is very Good to see You too !!!  A Blessing to see that we are all so blissfully busy .......
 
UMMGAWA:  The bestest, most comforting thing about Golden Corral, is that they do Land Office Business, and the Food is always Fresh !!!  I have eaten there a couple of times, and I've never gotten a Bad piece of Food ... the Okra & Tomatoes is almost like Home-Did ... I tried givin' 'em my Recipe for Buttermilk Bisquits, and Buttermilk Jalapeno Cornbread ... but they didn't take the suggestion none too hot .......

Paola's- Fogo de Chao does have a great salad bar. On Sunday afternoons they even have bagels and lox. I've actually gone there and gotten just the salad bar ( though I do love their sausage)

There's a place down the highway from here called Apple Holler. It's a farm/orchard/restaurant/gift shop. I've been there a couple times for a sit down breakfast. They have a buffet and the folks who eat it all seem to be enormous.  All fulfilling the stereotype.  My goodness! I guess you can go tour the orchard with the goats and other farm animals, then come eat at the buffet.  Hmmm, I think I'll stay away from that buffet.  The goats are really cute though.

Golden Corral may be a buffet but I can honestly say they have put meat and potatoes on my family's table over the last several years.  God bless 'em.

My brother likes to go to an AYCE buffet at some nice place back in NJ. I guess they have a crab leg buffet on Sat night or something. He LOADS his plate with all the expensive seafood just like Andy mentions above. My brother is so tight he squeaks when he walks. He loves that buffet.

I Marjorie - made me laugh......out loud....sitting here alone in my kitchen

Every now and again when we do go to these ayce places, we'll look around, look at each other and say.....just in case it's catching, we have to stop coming here

Wow. To the best of my knowledge we don't have any of those places around here. I would be in heaven to sit and have meat meat meat brought to me. My daughter says I am a bear because all I really like is meat and berries. Of course I am certain bears must love grilled cheese sandwiches as well.

I just won't eat at 'all you can stuff into yourself' buffets any more.  I never liked them, I have always been leery of the cooties violations just sitting all over the length of the tables...I'm not a person who sees killer germs at every turn, but if there are killer germs out there, if the black plague still lives somewhere - if any and all eradicated diseases can come back to get us-- it will be from one of these buffet tables.......................You know it's in the mayonnaisey macaroni salad, it's IN THERE, I tell you...anything with mayo sitting on one of those tables is germ laden and probably will kill you, if not, you'll just wish you were dead...........it's a bad way to serve food in public.  I don't much like the neighborhood buffets either, and family buffets, okay, I guess, since I've resorted to them, I can't waitress for 25 close family members, no more....................But the day I decided to just say no forever to all you can eat buffets was the brunch over at a hotel near here, and there were these children who had their faces and fingers in every dish on that table, "sneeze shields" don't help rude kids who don't want to eat, just germ up the place...their parents saw them, didn't do a thing -- and that was it for me.  One grubby hand stuck into a bowl of whipped cream and sampled and - I'd rather starve.   Thing is, imagine this sort of thing happening time and time over - it must - and this was just one time that I saw it...and it was enough.   

IMarjorie:  the waited on part when it comes to going out to dinner.  absolutely agree.  If I have to serve myself and spill and get knocked around by rude people, well, I'd rather stay home where no one is rude ... I like being waited on, and like Nachista, exactly:  I never eat enough when I used to say okay to buffets - I'd take very little, mostly because eating is hugely visual to me, and there's nothing remotely appealing to me about the food in serve-yourself buffets.  I like to sit down, order what I like the way I like it - and not be served a mountain of anything - too much is an appetite killer to me.  I eat with my eyes first, I think a lot of people do, so presentation is 50% of the dining out experience for me...and I'll gladly pay for it.

Paolos, I know here in Utah we have several different chains and even a few independent churrascarias.  Among the other rodizios here I've tried has been Samba Grill, Tucanos, Braza Grill, Made In Brazil, Brazilian Steakhouse, Texas de Brazil and Central do Brasil.  All pretty good, but seriously I don't care what the other food is like as long as I get my Picanha and abacaxi.
 
There is one in the town where I live called Gaucho Grill, it started out ok but the food has slowly gone downhill and after witnessing a manager doing nothing to help his busy staff which was "in the weeds" so to speak and then decided to YELL at them for not doing their jobs (which they were doing, they were just backed up and understaffed) we decided never to go back.  The manager's job is manage staff and when necessary step in and help.  I've been a restaurant manager and you have to know ever job in your store and be willing and able to step in and do it at a moments notice in order to keep service levels high.  He is a local nobody who thinks he's a big fish and can get what he wants by yelling.  What he doesn't understand is that no one wants their dining experience ruined by watching a hard working server pubicly humilated.

While waiting in the endless line at the DMV to get my name changed on my driver's license and wondering if I was going to make it back to work on time and if I would have time to swing through a drive through and get an actualy lunch to eat, I had a brilliant idea.
 
DMV lunchtime buffet.

 
Hear me out on this one.  They could contract with local restaurants or food trucks to set up a stall that runs parallel to the soul sucking line o death and patrons who had to spend their whole lunch hour waiting could purchase lunch and eat it in line.  2 birds with one stone.  They could do it at the DMV registration office and at the drivers license division and any other public office where lunchtime is crowded and the lines are long and unforgiving.
 
Now I just have to figure out how to implement it.  

Nachista--I think you're onto something...

The only buffets/all you can eats that I've experienced were as guests at private clubs.  My aunt and uncle live summers in Petosky (I think...) and would take us to the club's Sunday brunch/buffet--SMELTS!!  And many many years ago we would join friends at the local country club for Friday Fish Night which also included tons of shrimp and mmmmmmmmm.......crab legs!!   They were sort of the best of both worlds in that we did get catered to and yet could pick and choose from the vast array on offer.

Jalopkin- I agree. The Corral was a haven for sub contractors back in the construction boom. I noticed the management were on the constant prowl, thermometer in hand, constantly checking food temps and stirring the fresh veggies, meats, gravies, etc. It was impressive. When I was at the near end of my Nanking career (I didn't actually know it yet-but it was near) I'd haul builders and developers there and the food was fresh and quite tasty. I went back once after the crash and I can only assume the economy hit them as well. If you say the food is still good, I might give it another shot. Couldn't hurt.

Ummgawa, Golden Corral is my 13 year old niece's favorite restaurant because they have "real" mashed potatoes ("with skins and everything!") and she can eat all of them she wants and nothing else if she chooses.  *sigh* I take my nieces and nephews out to eat on their birthdays and I always try to talk up other restaurants when September comes around but she has an iron will when it comes to Corral potatoes.  I stick to the ice cream buffet.
 

.......well there's certainly nothing wrong about an ice cream buffet!!!            Nachista.....I don't know the population  there in your corner of UT, but I love the idea of your food trucks outside the DMV.    I think that's an idea that would work great for offices at the county seat and other  congestion-at-noontime-prone businesses.  (Experience has been that lunches out at the noon hour just don't get you back in time....even if you're not conducting business and you tell your server you really neeeeeeed to get out and back to work.   Luckily I could claim at the time that it was Rotary business and all was forgiven, but.........when I re-entered teaching there was no such handy excuse..)

Carol there's about 100,000 people in our county, and 2 food trucks (1 street tacos, 1 bbq).  We did have a hotdog stand that went up and down mainstreet 2 summers ago, but it didn't come back after the first year.

Nachista---Our population is similar....we are a county seat....in good weather we had a hot dog stand run very efficiently and effectively by a young disabled man----other than that we have a gazillion restaurants!  I haven't been in to most of them......they come, they go....I like my cooking best and I really don't like noise in restaurants which most of them seem to have since they either favor small cramped spaces or very high ceilinged spaces.    

Hello, Everyone! I am back from my 50th high school reunion and it was a great experience! So rewarding to see all those old people and realize I was not the oldest, most wrinkled, and chubbiest one!! The old boyfriends were not so handsome, and their wives were about my size!! Met some nice folks I had not known, but now I do, and they are a blessing. The events were well-planned and the food was outstanding! I am ready for the 55th!! Go, Gainesville, Fla. Purple Hurricanes, 1962!!! We were state champs!
 
On today's topic... absolutely do zero in on the featured most delicious foods, first, and then carefully add the veggies and fruits. Prime rib, lobster, pork roast, then some greens and squash for me. Vegas has the best of the freebie buffets, but the cruise ships do okay too.  I was in love with the burger buffet on Carnival when you had an infinite array of toppings for your burger! Also the pizza with any kind of topping your little heart desired.
 
On the history of the buffet, my dearly beloved challenges Mr.P's 1949 start, as the old Gunsmoke series always showed the bartender in Miss Kitty's bar putting out cold cuts, boiled eggs, and various food choices at the end of the bar for the patrons, and that was in the late 1800's!!! Surely those saloon owners deserve some credit for offering a choice of food stuffs!  Did anyone else notice that bit of history??
 
As to bacteria, I never worry....I figure that some bugs are actually good for us to build up our resistance....my own little kids ate dirt, dried earthworms on the patio, and picked up their hot dogs or bologna with dirty little hands!! I am not a germophobe!! Take in those bacteria and let your immunity system deal with them. I have never had indigestion, sick stomach, or any kind of reaction to what I ate, other than the hot tongue from some jalepenos or habeneros in Mex food. I like things mild and tasty....Tonight I recycled my huge ham on bone by making egg noodles, making a cream Alfredo sauce with broccoli and onions in it, chopping up the ham into quarter sized pieces, and pouring the ham sauce over the noodles....yum! Reuse, recycle, re-assign!!

Moose--welcome back!  My (much older :) ) sister will be headed to her 50th in Oct.  I hope she has a good time.  I fear for her, though, for some of her reasons for really wanting to attend.......She was born with a chip on her shoulder (whew! poor Mumma!!!) and has never been able to have clear positive feelings regarding anything.   When she returns from hers I'll try to bear in mind your positive comments as I nod my head on my end of the phone line.

Speaking of nodding one’s head on my end of the phone line,
does anyone else think this is one of the best commercials ever?

Don’t y’all answer at once, a polite and discrete nod of the
head will suffice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ZeNZtvACI

Paolos-nod, nod..................that's one of my favorites!

Mooseloop we might even go further back than the 1800 if you consider the salmagundi as a sort of 1 person buffet/salad bar.

Well after that meal you described lets get back to the casio and gamble more so we are looking to gorge ourselves again.
 
Gale From Pa.

Well after that meal you described lets get back to the casio and gamble more so we are looking to gorge ourselves again.
 
Gale From Pa.

Paolos ~~ you get another nod -- my husband and I think it's clever

Nod nod. Nos da dear people.x

UMM:  We ate there a few times five or six years ago when we first moved down here from Houston ....... We ate there for a few days until I got my Kitchen put together, and the Pantry Stocked ... It was the only place I found that had a sufficient volume of Food to keep the Krewe fed as they were accustomed ....... Biggest problem was the Corral's Schedule doesn't mesh with our schedule, and everybody was out of sorts for a few days ... Took three days to pipe my Wolff Stove in securely, and rig the feed-line so's I can use Bottles if the Gas flow is interrupted (like during a Hurricane) No matter what the weather, the Krewe has got to eat ....... But when I pass by the Golden Corral, I see it is packed with people all day and all nite ... so it must still be purdy good !!!

I can not flip the stop card @ Fago to stop those crazy sword yielding gauchos and the Chilean Wines are simply some of my favs. Who is that gaucho, amigo? Why is he standing in your spangled leather poncho & your elevator shoes? Those bodacious cowboys!!!

And Golden Corral serves free meals to military folks in uniform...I like that.
 
  Totally off topic:  Have you seen the article about the women who have plastic surgery just so their feet will fit into those awfpointed and platform very high heels that put all your weight on your toes?!! What are they thinking?!! I'm keeping my sandals....and that's the truth! I don't care whose name is on the bottoms of the soles, or if the sole is red!

Nachista - I think you are on to something about the DMV food line...and anywhere folks have to stand in line for a long time.....whisper it to your favorite foodie place and maybe it will catch on!

Tommy, Tomm, Tommy it's Fogo, Fogo de Chao.  Not Fago.   That restaurant is a little farther up town or down town, where they wear spangled leather ponchos and elevator shoes.  But then you already knew that didn'cha?   & for those who didn't...
 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk1HuJGZasI      ;
 
How about a quick report on the book signing?  If you leave a signed one for me at the front desk I'll pick it up on my next trip through Hendersonville. I pay in cold cash and S&H Green Stamps. 

Miss Moose ~ I have heard that some women will cut off their toes to spike their pace.

Si- señor p- My attempts at humor are often justifiably overlooked-a mere Fo (aka faux) Pas as with the "sword yielding" (steak chops etc) vs "sword wielding" (an overt violent gesture) but alas my attempts at literature (tommy tomes) end up purchased ofttimes but made useful as door stops and coasters. But then covered in wine & single malt ain't bad. Thanks for noticing. One must entertain oneself "on the road" as Kerouac discovered.

I hardly ever miss a thing.  You wouldn't want to play mumblety peg with me.  I might steel your leg.

Cap'n Ahab g'night to ye then.

bebe...hiiiiiii...I love the Memphis Zoo...or at least I used to many, many years ago, since I haven't been in at least 38 years. I hope you had lots of fun. I can still picture the entrance and some of the animal habitats clear as day, but I have a feeling there have been some changes.
 
Park4, hiiiiii....... I agree, presentation is important ( Eye appeal) and piling a huge assortment of food on a plate is not very appetizing...and I mean who can even tell what's what...might as well be eating.... well, I can't even think of of what to call it...but who could tell what they are tasting when everything is all piled together.
 
Rusty, hi...yes, those were the days...I eat small portions now
 
We don't have any of those chain buffets here....at least not that I know of. One needs a reservation for the Sunday brunch buffet at Chaminade. I haven't been to it in years, but it was top notch and I assume it still is. The Cocoanut Grove has special buffets like the upcoming Mother's Day Champagne Brunch...here's the menu
 

Unlimited Champagne or Martinelli's Sparkling Cider

Carved Roasted Prime Rib
with au jus & horseradish cream

Corsican Tourte
Portabella mushroom, fennel, leek, zucchini, onion & bell pepper, sautéed with herbs on a Bulgur parsley crust, topped with cheese & tomato

Blackened Salmon
with raspberry cream

Apricot & Spiced Almond Grilled Chicken
with ginger glaze & cilantro

Scrambled Eggs St. Charles

Home Fries

Old Fashioned Deep Dish French Toast
with real maple syrup

Country Style Bacon

Mini Salad Bar

Smoked Salmon Display

Fresh Seasonal Fruit & Cocoanut Grove-made pastries

Omelet station

CHEFD....................we had a splendid time! I took Princess & her little friend Angel, she works best alone or w/ one friend. Angel is 6 going on 21 & I mean that as a compliment. A custon grilled cheese coming up for you dear!
 
JANE...................It is wonderful. The most amazing thing was that Princess was getting very tired & the giraffes were the last thing we were going to see before we met back at the entrance to get lunch. It was the special feeding time. I paid $5.00 & the three of us got to hand feed the giraffes romaine lettuce. It was an amazing experience to be that close to those gentle giants.................their faces are so gentle & sweet................when you went there did they have the giant green alligators on the entry gate? Have a wonderful day JANE.............................................. by th way that menu looks so unbelievably delicious...............oh my............................
 
MOOSE.........................glad you had such a great time at your 50th! I was wondering where you were.........................
 
IVAN, IVAN, IVAN!

custom, the.........doh