Shaburina

So here we go with another AYCE in experience while I was in Bellevue.  This time around, we decided on Shaburina, which is a "Japanese-style" Shabu Shabu.  I put this in quotations because authentic Shabu Shabu would have far less ingredients and only one type of broth.  However, I'm glad that they extended the format with different broth options and many things to choose from at the buffet station.  For the non-Wagyu option (House Course), it is $39.00 per person inclusive.  I found this to be a fair price and a good value with all things considered.

Each person has their own personal hot pot (with the heating element built into the table) with a choice of Broth.  I ended up choosing Spicy Miso while my son had the Sukiyaki.  Both Viv and my daughter chose the featured broth of the day being Chicken & Scallop.  Predictably, the most impactful of the 3 was the spicy miso as it did have a kick (not scorching hot though) with the fermented flavour of miso.  Sukiyaki was pretty basic and only good for those who aren't adventurous.  The best was the chicken and scallop as it was super sweet with savoury elements.

Without even needing to ask, everyone received all 4 meats including Rich Beef, Lean Beef, Rich Pork and Lean Pork.  If you were wanting to take full advantage of the other ingredients at the buffet station, then you might want to share the meats to start rather than having a full serving for each person.  We struggled to finish it all.  Now the rich cuts look alarmingly fatty, but rest assured, they were sliced thin so after cooking it wasn't too bad.  In fact, that made the meats more tender and buttery.  I actually loved the lean pork (looked like shoulder meat) the most though as it was strangely the most succulent.

I was actually quite impressed with the Buffet Station as it included a good variety of ingredients including shrimp, clams, baby scallops, squid, quail eggs, spam, tofu puffs, various fish cakes and meatballs, wontons, different types of noodles and kimchi.  As for the veggies, they consisted of Shanghai bak choy, chrysanthemum, napa cabbage, spinach, sprouts, tomato, squash, green onion, white onion and corn.  Again, plenty to choose from and things looked fresh.

Lastly, there was the requisite Sauce Bar that sported ponzu, sweet chili, sesame sauce, cilantro, jalapeno, Thai chili, garlic, peanut, fried garlic, white onion, green onion, fried shallots, sriracha and a variety of oils.  If you look at the picture, you'll notice a soft-serve ice cream machine.  Well, you do get an ice cream cone when are finished, but it wasn't available the night we ate there. No biggie though as we enjoyed the broths and the fresh ingredients that came with it.  This is a place we will be visiting again.

The Good:
- Delicious broth
- Good quality ingredients
- Great service

The Bad:
- Tables are far too small for all the plates, sauces and ingredients 

 

Feast Buffet (Dinner)

Before we get into this post, I would like to state that I much prefer proper sit-down meals rather than sloshing through mounds of mediocre food found at a buffet.  Okay, with that out-of-the-way (and hopefully silencing some haters), I do admit that the occasional all-you-can-eat meal can be fun and offer up a selection of food that even the most bountiful of meals cannot match.  One of the better AYCE spots in the Seattle area is Feast Buffet in Renton.  I've been here before several times for lunch but never for dinner.  This time around, it was as good as any other time to experience the difference between the two (other than the price $26.99 vs. $31.99 adult weekend lunch vs. dinner).

The biggest difference was very obvious when we were seated.  All we had to do was look over to the Seafood section of the buffet where there was a long lineup.  This was for the Half-Lobsters which were served individually to diners by a staff member.  Yes, I wouldn't trust anyone with a tray of lobsters either!   You know what?  These were actually quite good.  Yeah yeah, I know they were of the frozen variety.  They still had a bouncy meaty texture to them and were not overcooked.   In addition to the lobster, we also found Snow Crab Legs, Fried Shrimp, Mussels and Fried Fish as well as Black Bean Clams.  The best of the bunch was the plump clams and surprisingly, the snow crab.  It was fairly meaty and had a springy texture (even though we know they were also frozen).  To get you money's worth, it really was all about the lobster though.

One of the largest and most popular food stations is the Sushi and Sashimi.  I believe Feast boasts the largest selection in the Seattle area (maybe Mizuki comes close).  The main difference between lunch and dinner is pretty obvious with one quick scan of the station - much bigger selection of sashimi.  We found salmon, tuna, hokkigai, hotate, unagi, red tuna and tai.  Although no one can ever compare buffet sashimi to the expertly prepared variety at legit Japanese restaurants, these ate fresh and were fine texturally.  The variety of Nigiri was also more extensive compared to lunch with hotate, hokkigai, salmon, tuna, unagi, tai, seared salmon, tako and inari.  Again, considering the venue, I thought the rice was acceptable.  Yes, it was a bit dry and lacking in seasoning, but it wasn't terrible either.  As evidenced in the picture, the fish on top was vibrant in colour with a fresh sheen.  Not the best, yet certainly not bad either.  To round things out, there was a selection of "California-roll" based Maki Sushi as well as tempura and condiments.

With the cooked food, there was plenty to choose from, but I decided to hit up the Chinese and Dim Sum stations first.  If we were to compare the dim sum here with what we would normally find in a regular restaurant, some items were respectable.  Their chicken feet must be from gigantic chickens because they were extremely plump.  As such, there was plenty of soft cartilage and fat underneath the fried skin.  Tripe was tender while the spareribs were meaty.  I wasn't impressed with the Shrimp Dumplings and Siu Mai though.  Both were dry and lifeless.  I decided to try some of the Chinese food in the Broccoli Beef, Honey Shrimp and Sweet & Sour Pork.  Pretty typical North American-style Chinese food.  At least they didn't overcook the broccoli.

Other than the seafood, the one station that does it for me would've been the Mongolian Grill.  Yes, it ain't the sexiest food nor is it particularly the most "worth it", but I enjoyed the freshness.  With an array of choices for vegetables, noodles and meat, one can have a customized plate food.  Only problem is that it will fill you up really quickly.   They did a good job here where the noodles were still al dente and the veggies crunchy.  Shrimp was bouncy while the steak was surprisingly tender and well-charred.  This is best shared amongst a few people.  One needs to save room for more variety!  Only issue is that you have to wait there for it to be done.  I saw some people leave, but then your dish could be hijacked or waiting there getting cold.

One of the most disappointing stations was the Carvery.  For the pricing, one would expect more than mashed potatoes, sausage, ribs and roast beef.  I mean, not that anything was necessarily bad, it just wasn't that important to eat.  That is the complete opposite of most buffets where we would find chicken and/or turkey, ham, prime rib and the sort.  Making up for this was the massive Dessert Bar where it occupied the whole center of the buffet.  Not that anything was amazing, but the variety was good.  In addition to cakes and little bites, we found fruit, a chocolate fountain, hard ice cream, made-to-order crepes and a Taiwanese shaved ice station.  Now if I had to choose between the lunch or dinner service, I would pick lunch hands-down (especially on the weekdays, if you can make it).  The extra cost for dinner is just not worth it for a few more items.  With all that being said, Feast doesn't do everything well, but for a buffet, it does it well enough in relation to everyone else.

The Good:
- Lots of choice
- Decent Japanese food station
- Relatively reasonable price for weekday lunch

The Bad:
- Carvery is embarassing
- Dinner is hardly worth it

Bacchanal Buffet (Caesar's Palace)

We all know that Vegas is famous for many things.  These include bigger than life casinos (which in turn refers to gambling), wedding chapels, debauchery and of course, food!  Over the past couple of decades, we've seen the culinary scene move from buffets over to gourmet offerings from celebrity chefs.  We've also seen outposts of some pretty famous eateries from around North America and even the world.  Knowing that didn't prevent me from visiting the often named "best buffet" in Vegas which is the Bacchanal Buffet located in Casear's Palace.

We decided on lunch because shelling out nearly $400.00 for the dinner would've ruined my appetite before I even dug into the crab claws...   Even with that, I had to pay practically $50.00 per person for lunch!  I must say that the buffet was massive and truly impressive with many different stations.  Similar to the Wicked Spoon, many of the items were individually plated. One of the most impressive parts of the buffet was the Roasted Meats featuring herb roasted turkey, peach smoked brisket, grilled tri-tip, espresso & sea salt crust prime rib, American Wagyu beef, smoked maple bone-in ham and Cornish game hen.  I thought the prime rib was textbook while the brisket was a bit dry.  The Wagyu was fairly disappointing being tough.  

Onto the Seafood, I filled the plate with crab claws, cocktail shrimp, conch, mussels, clams and lox.  Unlike the disappointing Waygu, this plate was excellent.  Springy, briny and sweet, the crab claws required seconds.  The cocktail shrimp had a cold-water snap while the lox was buttery.  The mussels were fairly scrawny, yet prepared properly.  I found the clams to be better where they were plump and briny.  From there, I walked pretty far to get the Sushi and Chinese Food.  For lunch, the selection of nigiri was limited to salmon, tuna and ebi with 4 maki rolls.  These were fairly good, especially for a buffet, where the rice was a touch dry.  In addition, I chose some multi-colored dumplings as well as ha gau, siu mai and xiao long bao.  Sadly, none of them were actually appealing.  Skins were thick and fillings were stiff and bland.

Continuing with the Chinese Food, I did the build-your-own-congee station and plated it a modern fashion (like the one at Nightshade in LA) with green onions, pickled mustard greens, century duck egg, fried shallots, pork floss and salty donut.  With so many ingredients, the congee wasn't bad.  It was thick on its own, yet pretty bland. The rest of the items including the broccoli beef, fried rice, tiger shrimp, impossible mapo tofu and kung pao chicken were neither offending nor being impressive.  Interestingly, the Asian Food section was better where the chicken massaman curry was plenty tasty with a touch of spice and plenty of coconut milk.  Even the Singapore fried rice noodles were decent enough.  However, the pad Thai was dry and too sweet.  That would be the same for the Filipino-style pork skewers, but at least they were charred well and not overdone.

We were able to squeeze a Japanese tonkotsu ramen out of the Noodle Bar even though we were really full.  Actually, it was my daughter who decided to get it.  Not a bad decision as it was respectable.  Broth was lacking somewhat in depth, but it was still plenty meaty and salty enough.  Noodles were not overdone while the pork was decently tender.  Okay for a buffet.  The kids also ended up sampling some items from the section right next to the meats.  I would classify it as Comfort Food which included fried chicken, curly fries, bacon, sausages, baked beans, kielbasa with sauerkraut and mac n' cheese.  Nothing interesting here other than something to fill you up if you the other food wasn't to your liking.  I personally took a pass with this section altogether.

Now, all of these savory items were varied where some where better than others.  However, the Dessert Station was quite impressive to look at.  It included many different cakes and pastries, made-in-house gelato, donuts and fruit.  TBH, unless you didn't eat any of the savory items and/or your name is Mijune, there is no way someone could even put a dent into this section of the buffet.  We did our best and came up with a few items and also tried the gelato.  About that gelato, it was actually very good with a rich texture that was smooth while not heavy.  It was a little sweet though.  Rather than trying to go over every dessert we had, I am confident enough to say most things were good with a few exceptions.  There was a little something for everyone.  This was definitely one of the highlights of the buffet as well as the seafood.  However, we were indifferent with the rest of the food.  It wasn't any better than say, the Wicked Spoon, in my opinion.  Selection was good, same with the service, yet I'm not sure if it was worth the cost.

The Good:
- Huge selection
- Desserts were good
- Food was generally fresh

The Bad:
- Nothing that amazing
- Expensive

Grill From Ipanema

Okay, to say that my son doesn't like fruits and vegetables would be an understatement.  Compared to him, I could be classified as a vegetarian.  So taking him to a salad bar would be considered cruel and unusual punishment.  Hence, on our recent trip down to Seattle, I thought that a visit to the Grill From Ipanema would be in his wheelhouse.  You see, an endless supply of meat brought right our table sounded like the right thing to do.

However, to balance off the abundance of meat, we hit up the Salad Bar.  Of course this was without my son as he was there only for the meat.  There was a pretty decent selection of items including 2 soups (cheddar chowder and tomato basil), cooked food, salads, grilled veggies and fruit.  I found the soups pretty forgettable (as the tomato basil was more akin to a salty pasta sauce) but the rest of the items were more than acceptable.   In particular, the green beans were cooked just enough that they weren't raw while maintaining a fresh crunch.  The grilled zucchini sported an appealing char while lightly salted.  As much as the soy mushrooms looked tasty, they were also very salty.

Another distraction from the meats was the plate of Cheese Biscuits and Fried Banana that was offered continuously throughout the meal.  Due to the use of tapioca, the cheese biscuits were dense and gummy.  However, these were better than the last time I had them (at another restaurant).  They were plenty cheesy, warm and soft.  As for the fried banana, the breading was firmly crunchy while spike with a good amount of sugar and cinnamon.  Very tasty, but a touch too sweet for me.

Onto the meats, there was a good selection including Sausage, Bacon-Wrapped Steak, Pepper Steak, Garlic Steak, Tri-Tip, Sirloin, Parmesan Pork, Chicken, Beef Ribs and Grilled Pineapple. For those who haven't dined at a Brazilian Rodizio before, these meats (on skewers) were brought to our table by wandering gauchos where we would use our tongs to place it on our plates.  On the table was a card with a green side and a red.  Green meant "keep it coming" while red would imply that you stuffed yourself silly and wanted no more.  We did eventually flip the card to red, but I changed it back to green when the ribs finally showed up at the very end.

The highlights of the meal definitely included the Parmesan Pork and the Tri-Tip Steak as well as the beef ribs.  We found the pork to be sufficiently moist (except for the edges) while plenty seasoned by the ample Parm and salt.  The tri-tip steak was juicy and tender, yet sporting far too much salt.  As expected, the beef ribs were fatty, fairly tender and plenty flavourful from the nice char on the outside.  When I finally finished the piece of rib, it put me over the top and I was too stuffed to eat anymore.  Yup, that is probably what you can expect at a Brazilian Rodizio and the Grill From Ipanema was no exception.  Most of the meats were pretty good (albeit very salty) and there was never a shortage of it.

The Good:
- Fun way to eat especially for meat-lovers
- Plenty of meats floating around
- Spacious dining space

The Bad:
- Pricey
- Salty
- Service was decent, but hard to flag down someone

Tomokazu

Like many, there was a time that I would dine on AYCE Japanese as much as I could stomach.  Hey, my appetite was large and AYCE did the trick, despite the questionable quality of the food.  Fast-forward to the present and my visits to AYCE Japanese have been as frequent as proper driving etiquette in Vancouver.  But for some reason or another, while we were strolling around Granville Island one afternoon, I decided that we should go reminisce at the nearby Tomokazu. 

Okay, I realize that AYCE means you can order as much as you want as long as you do not violate the time restriction and/or waste food.  However, those were some of the smallest slices of Sashimi I've ever seen.  Barely large enough to chew, it was as if there was a competition among the sushi chefs as to who could slice the smallest pieces.  Good size for my daughter, but for textural purposes, it didn't work.  At the very least, the fish was acceptable.  Moving onto the Nigiri, they were decently constructed where each piece stayed intact without being overly tight.  But the rice was a little dry and underseasoned.

The Ebi Tempura was a little disappointing as the batter was laid on real thick and didn't fully crisp up all the way through.  Hence, beyond the somewhat crispy exterior, it got doughy and wet.  Inside, the ebi was texturally too soft.  It was neither buttery nor meaty.  Although somewhat chewy, the Grilled Beef Short Ribs were not bad.  They were tenderized enough where the meat was somewhat buttery while still maintaining a natural chew.  By the same token, the ribs were over-marinaded where they were sweet like candy.  In reality, that only hid the fact they were quite salty as well.

Onto a random array of dishes, the next picture represents the Deep Fried Gyoza, Chicken Karaage, Oyster Motoyaki and Tonkatsu.  Of the 4, we thought the tonkatsu was pretty decent with a crispy panko coating and moist pork inside.  The karaage was okay as well exhibiting similar qualities.  We didn't like the "gyoza" as they were more like crisps.  The next 2 dishes were the Chicken Teriyaki and New York Steak.  Completely crunchy and rendered, the skin gave way to succulent chicken meat.  However, it was rather greasy.  Tough and dry, the New York steak was nothing like its namesake.

Okay, there are not a whole lot of things I have come across and find it hard to stomach.  Well, you're looking at 2 of them on the same plate in the Tuna and Beef Tataki.  Even thought the tuna was cut into little itty bitty pieces, it was super dense and bland.  The slices of beef were worse as I could barely chew through them.  Even the sauce underneath was weak.  We all know that Raw Oysters are banned at the moment, but when I had the ones at Tomokazu, they were actually okay.  They were not very sweet, but at the very least, they were fresh.  On the right, the Salmon Kama was fairly overcooked being dry and flavourless.  This pretty much summed up our return visit here where the food was "meh" and sometimes poor.  There were other items that we had that I didn't even have the motivation to blog about.  

The Good:
- Lot of choice
- Fairly spacious seating

The Bad:
- Food quality has gone downhill
- Service was okay, but rather absent

Mika Buffet

If you pay attention to my eating patterns while I'm in the States, I try to do at least one buffet.  I'm acutely aware of the questionable quality of buffets where quantity definitely reigns supreme (ol' Iron Chef reference!)  But with 4 kiddies, an Asian buffet is just what the doctor (well, no doctor would really recommend a buffet...) ordered.  We decided on Mika Buffet in Federal Way as the kids were pretty hungry.  Let's just say the car ride home would be exponentially more enjoyable without complaining youth.

And on that note, we started with the Sushi Bar.  Yah, maybe my daughter might bite, but there is a better chance of being photobombed by the Kayne and Kim Kardashian than my son touching the stuff. As expected, the sushi rolls were all variations of a California or dynamite roll with different toppings and applications.  Pretty typical buffet sushi, but not offensive where the rice was actually chewy instead of being dry.  The limited nigiri sported thin slices of fish which were a bit spongy, but not in the least fishy tasting.

Moving onto the Chinese Hybrid Asian Food section, some of the stuff wasn't all that impressive.  But there were a few gems especially the plump buttery clams.  The mussels were not a good as they were overcooked and no longer moist.  I found the veggies in this section surprisingly vibrant despite sitting in a chaffing tray for who knows how long.  I tended to avoid the fried items as they were rather dry and merely doused with some form of sauce.  Off in another section, there was a selection of fried items as well as some Dim Sum including steamed buns.  Right next to it was a choice of 3 soups.

Included in the buffet was an udon bar and a Mongolian Grill.   We ended up getting a chicken udon for my son, which he dusted off.  The soup was pretty laughable as a dashi, but it wasn't offensive.  For myself, I decided to try all the meats including some noodles and various veggies.  There wasn't really a choice of sauce other than whether I wanted more garlic or not.  This was "okay", but the noodles became quite soggy while the beef was really chewy.  Other than a small salad bar, there was some various desserts including hard ice cream.  For dinner, there would be a chocolate fountain as well.  Overall, Mika did the job for us with very little fanfare.  Considering lunch only cost us $11.95 per adult and the kids were based on age, we were okay with the mediocrity.

The Good:
- Large selection
- Food is okay for a buffet
- Pretty comfortable seating

The Bad:
- Food is okay, but naturally not great either
- Our plates were beginning to stack up without anyone removing them

The Buffet at Silver Reef Casino

Can one really get a free meal these days (in a restaurant that is)?  Sure, Denny's offers up one on your birthday, but then again, you have to bring a paying customer with you.  Oh yeah, Red Robin gives you a free burger on your birthday, so I guess that is one option.  However, how about a seafood buffet (normally $27.95) for no charge?  Yes, the good folks at the Silver Reef Casino will comp you one buffet a year if you join their Diamond Dividends.  Viv and I did just that on our last visit to Semiahmoo as well as losing money at slots (oh, that's how they get us...).  We returned with the kiddies (yes, to the casino) a few weeks later to claim our free seafood buffet (on Thursdays and Fridays).

Although not a big buffet in terms of variety and space, the stars of the show were all present in the cold section - Smoked Salmon, Snow Crab, Cocktail Shrimp, Dungeness Crab, Mussels and King Crab.  Well, there was a small salad selection in the space before, but I didn't waste my time eating greens...  So for my first plate, I loaded up with everything but the snow crab and mussels.  And you know what? The stuff was pretty good!  Starting with the smoked salmon, it was buttery soft, plenty seasoned and mildly smoky.  I moved onto the shrimp and it had a buttery cold water snap.  As usual, the king crab was a bit spongy and salty, but okay nonetheless.  My favorite was the dungeness crab as the legs were large and meaty.  The texture of the meat was on point being fluffy and firm with a natural sweetness.

With 2 soups available, I let my daughter have a go with the Clam Chowder while I went for the Crab and Corn Bisque.  One of the reasons I stayed away from the chowder was it could've passed for wallpaper paste.  It was so thick, it stuck to the spoon and wouldn't let go.  Flavorwise, it was creamy with the brininess of clams with big chunks of tender potatoes.  Although salty, the bisque did have the essence of crab and the sweet pop of corn.  It was mildly creamy as it was more of a soup than a bisque.  For my second plate, I had the other available hot seafood including Fried Clams, Calamari, Fried Shrimp, Mussels, Clams, Oysters and Garlic Butter Snow Crab. The fried items were not bad being crunchy while still moist inside, but the oysters were woefully overdone.  Nothing wrong with the clams and mussels while the snow crab miraculously maintained its fluffy texture despite sitting in a chaffing tray.

Moving away from the seafood, I tried some of the meat items including Baron of Beef, Sirloin Steak and Andouille Sausage with some squash and potatoes.  I asked for the rarest part of the baron of beef and it was indeed so.  Due to the cut of beef, it was also not super tender either, but it was still chewable.  On the other hand, the steak was fairly tender albeit completely done.  It did sport a nice smoky char and it was well-seasoned.  With a snap casing, the sausage was juicy and springy with a touch of spice.  The veggies were okay where they were not overcooked.  Next door, there was a Build-Your-Own-Pasta with a selection of ingredients including mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, green onions, sausage, shrimp, baby scallops and grilled chicken.  My son ended up with a Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and sausage.  The pasta wasn't exactly al dente, but it wasn't too soft either.  The sauce was creamy and well-seasoned, but the chicken was horribly dry.

For dessert, there was a modest selection of sweets including sugar free items.  One of the highlights was the Chocolate Mousse Cupcake.  It was chocolaty without being overly sweet, yet the best part was the cake itself as it was really moist while not oily.  This was a decent end to a completely free meal (except for tips) and honestly, there was not too much to complain about.  Although hardly great, the main items (being the seafood), was more than acceptable.  We found the service to be pretty good too.  Just come early, because it was pretty apparent we weren't the only ones in the know about the free buffet...

The Good:
- Cold seafood is surprisingly decent
- Pretty decent service
- You can get it for free once a year!

The Bad:
- Selection is limited
- Seating is interestingly modest for a buffet
- Other items were not that great