| rev:text
| - I stopped in for lunch today after driving past and noticing it for the first time, then checking out the reviews here..
Let's start with price.. It was $14.99 for Sunday lunch (but for checking in at yelp you get a 10% discount. Drinks (even iced tea) are additional ($2.25 for iced tea). So it was a little pricier than most Phoenix area Asian Buffets.
Decor--Yes, this building used to be Bobby McGee's and little has changed with the physical structure. One thing that I noticed (which is a pet peeve of mine) is that with many southwest inspired chandeliers throughout, there were LOTS of burnt out light bulbs. Sure, it was daytime and the place was well lit enough, but that many bulbs burnt out shows a lack of attention to the small details that make the difference between good and great. And, there were many ceiling fans as mentioned in prior reviews, but they were all OFF today.. It is over 100degrees and warm, why weren't the on??? The place was a little stuffy..
Food--
Sushi--There was a pretty decent sized selection of sushi for a buffet restaurant. It appeared to be fresh and the few that I tried were good. I will say that I am not a huge sushi fan. The sushi station here also included tempura shrimp and vegetables.
Seafood--Chilled shrimp--obviously not cooked fresh in house, but come in precooked and frozen (high water content). oysters on the half shell, marinated mussels. But surprisingly, no crab legs. This section also contained the aforementioned sesame balls. Yea, I like them too, but they are the same balls you can get at most other Asian buffets. They are a pre-made, pre-packaged item they buy, not some original creation.
Salad--There is a smallish "American" salad bar, but a few more unusual selections such as bowtie seaweed, chilled, marinated baby octopus, shrimp and apple salad, chilled snowpea and edamame..Also included are some fresh fruits such as strawberries, melon, etc..
Hot Selections--While the selection of hot food is not as large as many of the "Mega-buffets", what it lacks in quantity, it made up for in quality. Thai Calamari was a very nice fried calamari.. Surprisingly, it was fresh and tender, not chewy like most attempts at buffet calarami. Beef with green peppers had good, tender pieces of non-chewy beef along with green bells and onions. Beef was not an after thought in the dish. Even the old standard of sweet and sour chicken was nice sized portions of fresh white meat chicken in tempura, with sweet and sour on the side. They had some bite sized pieces of duck (I forget the sauce). The duck was tender and moist,but the small pieces made it a little difficult to eat due to the bones. Other choices included Black pepper shrimp, fresh green beans, and coconut shrimp. Off to the side, they have a grill station that was featured bbq ribs and grilled sausage....Also included was a mongolian bbq station where you can create your own selection of proteins and veggies and get it cooked to order..
Desserts--Desserts are not an afterthought here. They do have the traditional "Chinese buffets sheet cake selections" that most other buffets have, but they also have small slices of cheesecake, red velvet cake, a delicious mango mousse, and 6 or 8 choices of gelato.. The mango and coconut gelatos were two delicious selections..
All in all, I say it is one of the better Asian buffets around town. It is a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. A little more attention to a few minor details could take this place from 4 stars to 5 stars in my book
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)