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| - Full disclosure: I'm not much of a buffet fan boy. When it comes to food, I'm more of quality than a quantity guy and - since I'm paying for it dammit - I prefer my food brought to me rather than the other way 'round.
That said, I've allowed myself to be dragged to the buffets in almost all of the major Vegas hotels (Bellagio, Wynn, Four Seasons, the Venetian, etc). And in each case I left stuffed but incredibly unimpressed. Buffet food is almost always the most bland, pedestrian, overcooked, lukewarm dreck. And I just can't get much of a hard-on over crab legs, sorry.
Then I tried the the Paris buffet. What a hidden gem. Instead of a bacchanalian orgy of tasteless dross, I found a casual French buffet featuring surprisingly high quality cuisine.
The dining room is set in a Disney-esq recreation of a French country village, complete with stone buildings and a simulated blue sky (with clouds). Scattered amongst the faux architecture are various food stations, each representing a culinary region of the country.
Note that this isn't an American buffet in a French theme park; Much of it is quite authentic (at least to this gastronaut). You'll find mostly familiar fare (crepes, quiche, Coq au vin, etc) as well as a few unique offerings you may not have tried before, all surprisingly tasty and well made.
In the center of all this is the dessert station, strategically located and sporting numerous decadent French mini-pastries (if you were looking for frozen yogurt and sprinkles, sorry you're out of luck), which are continually refreshed and therefore not stale (as with many buffets). I'm a dessert junkie, so this is my favorite station, one I generally return to more than once in an evening.
There is almost always a line to get in here, so prepare yourself for a 30min wait at peak times. In my experience, the best time to avoid the crowds is ~3pm. If you don't mind eating early, you can generally walk right in.
Note that I don't want to over-hype things; This is still a buffet. Not everything knocks it out of the park, and the food is certainly not going to compete with Bouchon or Le Cirque. But if you have to do a buffet while in Vegas, this is your best bet, IMHO. Worth a try the next time you're in Sin City.
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