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| - We were here to see Drew Carey's Improva-Ganza, courtesy of KSNE radio, so we went to the Grand Buffet. First visit here.
Everything looked good at first. I was surprised to find a whole vegetarian section, and there was a nice assortment of Indian vegetable dishes, along with pappadum and mint sauce. I'm not a vegetarian, but I love veggies, and Indian food is my absolute favorite. But if cruise ships can do it well, MGM Grand ought to be able to, also. HIRE AN INDIAN CHEF!!! Everything I tried from that section was bland and tasteless, with not a hint of spice, or any kind of flavoring at all. In fact, everything I tasted was woefully forgettable.
At first glance, the buffet looks big, but there aren't many selections in each category. Three different kinds of cheese, three or four types of cold cuts. The Mexican station had pre-made chicken fajita meat with some toppings, but didn't have the assortment of prepared dishes that even the lower-level Feast Buffets offer. There were a couple of Chinese dishes, a couple of Italian pasta dishes (the lobster ravioli filling tasted like mashed potatoes. I think the chef made a wrong turn and ended up in Idaho instead of the Pacific).
The desserts were just as bad. A few sliced cakes, some of which looked like they'd been there since the flood (Noah's, not Australia's). The cutesy desserts in the tiny decorative cups looked good, but weren't (What the hell WAS that thing they named "Strawberry Tiramisu?") The soft-serve "ice cream" was cold soup, and the vanilla was a really peculiar yellow color. Oh, but they had real ice cream!, the server behind the counter said. How bad can mint chocolate chip be? That, too, was devoid of any flavor, but aahh, the texture: like chalk. Or left out and refrozen.
MGM is too big to put their name on this poor excuse for a buffet. I'm glad we didn't have to pay for it - it was offered spontaneously when I put in my two cents' at the Player's Club about the new M Life program, which is screwing us loyal but low-roller gamblers which, of course, is not revealed in their huge advertising campaign. I very much appreciated the comp, and wish I could have written a glowing review, but this buffet is up there among the worst.
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