| rev:text
| - In order to not write a hateful review, I had to bring myself to the realization that this place is supposed to be a 'healthy' buffet, not a 'good' buffet.
I had never been here before, so I was delighted to see it was indeed a buffet. But as I got halfway down the first island of stuff, the delight turned into trepidation. At the cashier, which is at the end of your first go-round, she said $11.98 and I looked at my plate. "For this?" I wanted to ask. Wisely, I did not, for that is when I saw the other side of the buffet. There were warming lights and an actual kitchen back there, so I figured that must be where the meat is. I paid, however still leery.
I sat my salad down and hurried over to the hot stuff. Soups, alright. Breads with cheese on it, cool. Pastas, ok. Meats? No. Crap.
So I knew I'd be eating 'healthy'. I could use more of that. I didn't complain too much.
All the salad stuff was fresh. Whether it was good or not will depend upon your taste in salad stuff. They've got a variety toppings, so you probably will create something to your liking. They seemed to have all the bases covered with the dressings, too...and the low-fat honey mustard dressing doesn't taste too low-fat, so don't avoid it. There's also oils and vinaigrette in bottles. I will say that for a place that specializes in salads, it seemed that they could have had even more toppings to offer...no ham, no turkey, no avocado, no mozzarella, no blahblahblah... I honestly have seen more offerings at a Ruby Tuesday salad bar.
As for the specially prepared salads, most people will find something tasty. I had the Caesar salad, the pineapple coleslaw, tarragon tuna something, and some chicken and rice thing. The best was the Caesar, which was especially fresh and had garlic croutons. The pineapple coleslaw was as refreshing a dish as I think I've ever had. The tuna and the chicken/rice thing was just ok to me...but I still must point out how fresh it all was.
The soups were delicious. I tried the shrimp bisque and the Mexican soup (can't remember the name). The bisque was awesome as I had two bowls of it, creamy with a subtle flavor and plenty of shrimp. The Mexican soup was the meatiest thing there and had a great rustic taste. Neither soup was greasy or too heavy.
The pasta was unremarkable. I had the lemon pasta with capers...all you tasted was a tang of lemon and absolutely nothing else. The pasta was well cooked, but just left you with no taste. I didn't bother with the mac and cheese, as I don't eat that at restaurants. Then there was the broccoli and cheese stuff...had too much of a twang to it, too sharp. I put it over the pasta to try and make something happen, the result was tasting nothing but the twang plus the tang. Uh uh.
One of things I enjoyed the most was the asiago something something bread. It was nice and crusty, but soft somehow. And the taste was great...garlicy and the asiago cheesiness. Perfect with all the salad and even more so to sop up soup. There were other breads, but none looked as appetizing. I must say that they kept it nice and fresh, with at least 3 batches coming out while we were there.
Didn't try the yogurt or any of the deserts...should've. Oh well.
There is also some darn good strawberry lemonade here. Its got real strawberries from the looks of it, because you can see the 'seeds' or whatever that stuff is in strawberries, all in the stuff. Either that or my glass was dirty... No, but it was great, and goes well with everything.
Something else I'd like to mention is the service. The special salads had all been depleted, someone notified the cashier, the cashier immediately notified whoever, and they came over right away and began making fresh salads...which shows that there isn't some big vat in the back with premade stuff in it. The line was backing up, but the people making the salads were busting their butts. It was nice to see.
Will I go back? Probably not, just not my style of buffet, even though it really SHOULD replace my usual buffets.
Should you go? If you like salads a lot, and if you like soups a lot - then yes. Keep in mind that they only had 3 soups to choose from, and also some chili (didn't try). So that might not be enough variety for you. And you only get the pretty basic salad toppings. But its all fresh. Do not go here for the pasta. And I don't know what changes at dinner time, so maybe there's more variety then.
Good value? Yes, if you can get full off of salad and soup. Looking for a meal with more girth? No. $12 for no meat for a man who is looking for meat leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Don't know the prices for kids under whatever age, but there is a senior price.
If you're smart enough to eat healthier, this is a decent place, but still doesn't seem to have enough stuff to choose from - that's my biggest gripe. Stay away if you're used to eating at the Chinese buffet.
|
![[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)