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| - I was pumped to finally try Journey - I'd seen a lot of good reviews from people I know and my boyfriend is a fan. Plus, with a coupon the lunch buffet sounded like a reasonable price. Maybe I set my hopes too high for a buffet, but I was underwhelmed.
First, there was a general lack of things I'd expect to find (such as Chinese takeout standards like sesame chicken or General Tso's) - instead there was a very sweet, coconutty chicken. Not bad, but I could only eat a couple of pieces because it was so overwhelmingly sweet. Items were not well-labeled in terms of what was vegetarian and not. I tried a spring roll that ended up having pork in it. The sushi bar only had one veggie option and it comprised cucumber and a little bit of maybe bean curd? Some flat, brown substance. It wasn't bad, but the two pieces I had were enough. I know I'm in the minority wanting veggie sushi but a little variety (sweet potato, avocado, asparagus, etc.) would have been appreciated. Cucumber is just so cheap and seems like a cop-out.
The buffet is obviously self-serve, but we did have a server for our drinks. My BF and I ended up switching sides of the booth after ordering our sodas (root beer for me, Pepsi for him) and heading to the buffet because I had been facing a window and the glare was bothering me. When my boyfriend ordered a refill he was brought a root beer. He later requested a Pepsi by name and was brought...another root beer. The server was unable to keep track of who ordered what and ignored his verbal request, sticking to which drink had been placed at what seat, regardless of the fact we switched. So bizarre.
I would give Journey another chance for lunch; the price is low and I think if I went in when planning to go (we stopped in on a whim after a Target run) I'd be hungrier and more open to sampling a wider range. I feel bad wasting food so I try to take only a bite or two of things I'm unsure of, but when you do that with a whole plate you can fill up fast on things that you didn't enjoy. Time to be more strategic!
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