Tag: buffet

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tio wally

Tio Wally Eats America: Rolling Hills Casino

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Corning, California.

Greetings from Corning, California
N 39° 52.4549’ W 122° 12.1464’ Elev. 289 feet

If you’ve ever been to a crappy Indian Casino you quickly discovered that, for the most part, the staff couldn’t possibly care less whether you were there or not. Indeed, you got the feeling that in a perfect world you would just phone in your money.

That said, Rolling Hills Casino is an unusual place. It’s owned by the Paskenta Band of the Nomiaki Indians. Ever heard of ‘em? Me neither. There are 102 recognized tribes in California so your ignorance is excused.

What makes Rolling Hills unusual is that it’s incredibly friendly: you actually feel welcomed! It ain’t a bit like certain all-the-better-unnamed Native American-owned entities I’ve visited (Sky City in Acoma, New Mexico) where they are hell-bent on making your experience as miserable as Europeans have made theirs. Past genocides aside, the vibe at Rolling Hills is warm and inviting. And the food is great.

I’ve eaten at the buffet here a number of times. Heck, until I looked at their website I didn’t know that they had another restaurant. I guess that ‘splains why I’ve always eaten at the buffet. And while the food is somewhat predictable (not a bad thing), it’s always great and the service is nothing short of impeccable.

I stopped in on a Sunday for lunch ($11.95 minus $1 for being over 50). On Tuesdays and Thursdays the over 50 set get 50% off, and they serve great prime rib every night! ($16.95 … minus 50% … I’ll get back to you). Why can’t I get here on a Tuesday or Thursday? Karma, I suspect.

04 RH_roast beef

They had roast beef and baked turkey carving stations for lunch, along with the mostly usual fare. I tended to focus on just a few things because, let’s face it, I’m old and I can’t eat that much. But I’m alway game for the “day’s surprise.”

The unexpected thing they offered was baked Ruby Red Trout. It was quite good, especially considering I’m not a freshwater fish fan. Admittedly, I screwed up with it. I should’ve put a couple of good squeezes of fresh lemon on it. While I’m not sure it would’ve taken the “fishy” away — freshwater fish always tastes fishy to me — I suspect it would’ve enhanced it many-fold.

The roast beef was incredible. The first piece I had was thin-sliced, a little pink, and perfect. Dipped in au jus it was pretty damn close to prime rib. Next time I’ll get some horseradish and really do it up right.

Other interesting, far-above-par things they offered were an awesome broccoli salad, amazing little potato thangies, and the best cornbread this side of … you tell me.

The broccoli salad had a somewhat sweet dressing. Along with the obligatory broccoli, the salad contained the wonderful additions of ripe, sweet red grapes, golden raisins and many, many pieces of quality just-like-I-like-it wilty bacon. This stuff warranted seconds and thirds.

The potato thangies were really interesting. I first thought they were the largest, most misshapen fried okras I’d ever seen. (I wasn’t wearing my glasses. The world is a much different and, often, a much more interesting place when I can’t really see.) I eventually discovered the smushed Tater-Tots’ unique properties. The mini-hockey pucks o’ spuds had jalapeño in them! I suspect that had I been wearing my glasses I could’ve read the little sign — they’ve got them above every dish — and known what the hell I was eating. Alas, no. Then again “The world is a much different and, often, a much more interesting place when I can’t really see.”

And the cornbread? Ah, the cornbread. I am a cornbread aficionado, a cornbread freak. And this cornbread was heavenly. I grabbed corner slices, with the crusty edges. I sliced it in half, added butter, closed it, and waited for the butter to start melting. Then I spread that supernal salted butterfat, took a bite, and swooned. I really did. Really. Really!

They offer a complete line of beverages. They even have chocolate milk! I also grabbed a can of tomato juice leftover from the breakfast buffet just because. Mmm, chocolate milk and tomato juice.

25 RH_dessert2

Without a doubt the Rolling Hills Casino Buffet offers more desserts than Carter’s has pills. They’ve got cream pies, pie pies, cakes, cobblers, those weird little puff pastries that always look good until you eat them and quickly discover they suck. That they really, really suck. Unforgivably, they also did not have pumpkin pie replete with gobs of whipped cream. They had soft-serve ice cream but it’s not the same without pumpkin pie.

I don’t know if this means anything but … most of the people working there are palefaces. Could it be that the Tribe let its members eat at the buffet for free and they are all now obese, diabetic, missing feet and, perhaps, reduced to surveying their ancestral homeland from a Hoveround®?

With that in mind, I had a single piece of cheesecake for dessert. It was very, very good.

And so we roll.

Rolling Hills Casino, 2655 Everett Freeman Way, Corning, California

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

Categories
travel

Garden Grove at Walt Disney World Swan Hotel (Orlando, FL)

I went home for the holidays in Orlando. We had Christmas Dinner at Garden Grove in the Disney Swan Hotel. It was a buffet. The food was okay …not amazing, but I guess decent for the price ($35 per person). Beer and alcohol is extra.

My favorites were the Prime Rib with Au Jus and creamy and fresh horseradish. The horseradish was key. I give them props for making mini corndogs and trying butternut squash ravioli. Also a big selection of holiday desserts. I liked the Eggnog Panna Cotta.

The best part of the dinner was Goofy, Pluto and Chip & Dale walking around. But where’s Santa? I think Chip & Dale are girls inside. I think one of them was into me. …At least I hope they were girls.

It’s funny seeing little kids going crazy over the Disney characters walking around. They looked so hyper and like small wasted adults. I wonder if they really believe that the autograph they’re getting is real or not.

We walked around to the connected resorts, like the Swan hotel and Boardwalk. It’s amazing how awesome the area looks. Disney seems a lot more grandiose from what I remember as a kid. It’s kind of cool.

Garden Grove (Walt Disney World) – at the Swan & Dolphin Hotel

Oh yeah. My mom wishes you a Merry Christmas!

Categories
lunch

Sunac Fancy Food

I’ve been going to Sunac near my work a lot lately. It’s an easy way to go low carb through their food buffet bar ($6.99/lb). It’s not amazing food, but they usually have lots of meat –two types of fish, sometimes pork loin, roast beef, chicken.

I like to use my credit card, but you have to get over the $7 minimum. It sucks when I’m under, but then it suck more when I overestimate the weight by a ton. For a while, I thought the second scale on the right was rigged to weigh more, but I think I was just paranoid.

I like to pile on the meat and fish to get the most value. Then I put a thin layer of green vegetables on top to cover it up, so I don’t look like a complete asshole when I check out. I’ve told my friends this secret tip to maximize the value, but they think that the cashiers really don’t care.

I’ve also stop by here after work before my improv classes to get a beer and yogurt. You can drink in the deli. It’s cool. It’s so much cheaper and less crowded than a bar. I see a lot of blue collar workers drinking upstairs. I tend to sit at the front and watch people passing in the window.

The only trouble with eating yogurt and drinking beer with a straw is that things get foamy and gassy in my stomach. One time I had yogurt, a tall boy and NyQuil for dinner. I’m so glad I didn’t throw up in class.

Sunac - 765 Ave of the Americas (btwn W 26th & 27th St) New York, NY 10010

Categories
lunch

Banana Leaf’s Sri Lankan Lunch Buffet

Dang. This is a pretty good lunch buffet at Banana Leaf. Close to the Fashion Institute of Technology, serving Sri Lankan and South Asian cuisine.

The lunch buffet is $6.99 takeout and $10 dine in. You can really stack up with the to-go platter. I filled mine up and it felt like I could have packed a quarter more in. Although, it’s probably not a contest …or is it?

The food is really good and interesting. It’s almost like Indian food, but not so spicy …but it is sharp, like onion sharp. Strong flavors.

There’s a salad of collard greens (that taste kinda like kale) and coconut. The Black Curry Pork included slices of pork belly. The mango chutney has a strong balsamic vinegar aroma. I really liked the Shredded Beef with big white beans. The fried Paratha chips were awesome with the Daal. I came back a second time and they had Beets. I’ll be back a third time and surely more.

Banana Leaf – 227 W 28th St (btwn 7th & 8th Ave) New York 10001

Categories
chinese tio wally travel

Tio Wally Eats America: Family Buffet in Junction City

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Junction City, Kansas.

Greetings from Junction City, Kansas
N 39° 01.270’ W 096° 49.125’ Elev. 1052 ft.

Just as people associate Maine with lobster, I associate Junction City, Kansas with …Egg Foo Yung. What?

The SS Me So Hungry pulls into this port irregularly, delivering “mechanically separated (turkey) meat” and then sailing away with various turkey-based luncheon meats, and delivering them to … wherever.

While there is another much better place to eat in Junction City — Napoli’s, an Italian place that I’ll review soon — none is more convenient land yacht-wise than Family Buffet. Wedged between a truck stop and a Merchant of Death (Wal•Mart), there’s parking galore. And it’s got a bit of the funky.

Parking the land yacht nearby can be really important sometimes. On one visit here the thermometer on the bridge read 114°. It was a blessing that the humidity that day was almost Arizona-esque, and the slog to the restaurant short enough to be bearable; an hour later the temperature had dropped to a balmy 94°.

Being as the Chinese community in Junction City — heck, all of Kansas — is somewhat small, I’m guessing Family Buffet is a family business.

There is an old man there, usually during the day, who I’m guessing is the family patriarch. He sits in a chair behind a wait station and just watches. Not with an authoritarian glare, in a keep-the-staff-in-line way, but rather, just hangin’. Every time I’ve passed him he’s spoken to me, a big smile on his face. I have no idea what he’s saying as I don’t speak Mandarin and he doesn’t speak Cantonese, which is okay because I don’t speak Cantonese either. So I just smile back and say “Hi” or whatever and he smiles and answers back in Chinese.

As you may have guessed my favorite thing here is the Egg Foo Yung. They simply have the best. It’s the fluffiest, tastiest I’ve ever had, made with peas, carrots, green onion, etc. It may be the best I’ve ever had. And the sauce is perfect, too; not too sweet, not too salty.

One day they ran out after I’d only had two. I kept getting up, checking the tray and, damn it, none had arrived. I even moved across the table to better spot the fresh stuff’s arrival. Seeing my obvious distress when I checked the tray thrice again, the old man sprang to his feet and, I guess, asked me what the problem was. I told him, in the nearest language I commanded to Mandarin Chinese (read: English), that there was no Egg Foo Yung. He then told me, I guess, that he was all over it, the smile never leaving his face.

He then disappeared through the kitchen doors and it sounded like all hell broke loose. (Of course, normal discourse in Chinese always sounds like all hell has broken loose to my ear.) Long story short, he appeared with a fresh tray of Egg Foo Yung a few minutes later, beckoning me over for first grabs. Score.

They have scores of items on the buffet from Chinese to vegetable sushi to pizza and a full salad bar. Most of the Chinese fare, however, is very chicken-centric, which bums me out; it makes it hard for me to realize my dream of an all-pork diet. They must have 25 different chicken based dishes. Geesh. I want my pork. Nevertheless, the chicken stuff is very varied and, well, it’s all pretty good.

They also always have fried butterfly shrimp and, at night anyway, peel-and-eat shrimp as well. I don’t usually have the peel-and-eat though; that peeling crap is too much work and it interferes with my reading.

I also really enjoy their hot-and-sour soup. It’s not corn-starched out, i.e. thickened to complete coagulation. I usually throw in a couple of wontons from the wonton soup kettle for good measure.

And a real treat is that they’ve got eight-or-so different flavors of self-dipped hard ice cream!

They’re really nice folks at Family Buffet. Every time I’ve been there the service has been great, the food is decent enough and, hell, I can park the land yacht within a stone’s throw.

And so we roll.

Family Buffet, 801 E. Chestnut St., Junction City, Kansas

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

Categories
indian

Bhatti Indian Grill – Lunch Special

Oh dang, this was a great lunch special. You pick vegetarian $8.95 or meat $9.95 and they bring you a bunch of different food –unlimited all you can eat.

They first brought me a plate of chicken and kabab meat and a plate of chickpeas and chutney. I was wondering if that was all I was going to get because I was by myself. Everyone else was in groups and they had bowls of different curries, rice and bread. Luckily, they brought me that stuff and I was a bit amazed how much they gave me.

There were five bowls of curries –two chicken ones, lentils, vegetables, saag paneer. They were good and a bit of heat. I had to take off my sweater. Fluffy naan bread was perfect for mopping up the oily curry sauces.

This was so much of a better lunch than the place I tried two doors down the week before. I do like picking my own stuff, but that other place, I was standing behind two people that were super slow and in the way of the buffet. I think I was waiting five minutes for them. That’s a long time for a buffet that’s about 5 feet wide. That was $10 too and just vegetarian.

Good food here at Bhatti. Got super stuffed on lunch. Didn’t even need to ask for seconds. I did pay for it later on the toilet, but it was worth it.

Bhatti Indian Grill - 100 Lexington Ave (@ 27th St) New York, NY 10016

Categories
tio wally

Tio Wally Eats America: Ryan’s Family Buffet

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is at Ryan’s in Effingham, Illinois.

Greetings from Effingham, Illinois
N 39° 08.466’  W 088° 33.435’  Elev. 669’

Although I can’t really eat all that much, I try to go to all-you-can-eat buffets whenever possible. Not only do I enjoy the variety, it gives me an opportunity to power down on vegetables.

I usually go to a Ryan’s weekdays between 1-3 p.m. when I can because, for some reason, during the day the good folks there think I look and/or smell like a senior citizen, thus I get the senior lunch. It costs about $6.50 and includes a drink.

Being a weekend, and because I’m on a night-driving schedule for the next two weeks to allow watching the Little League World Series on my satellite TV, I went for dinner and, lo and behold, the fountain-of-youth effect kicked in again and I had to pay full fare.

This particular Ryan’s (1102 Avenue of Mid America) is pretty popular with the land-yacht crowd. It’s easy-in/easy-out, and there are a number of truck stops and a Merchant of Death (WalMart) nearby. This allows truck drivers to get a lot of things accomplished in a short period of time, which is very important due to Department of Transportation (DOT) Hours of Service regulations.

Ryan’’s always has some sort of promotion going on in addition to their regular fare. Lately it’s been Shrimp 5 Ways; butterfly, buffalo, popcorn, coconut and shrimp scampi, which is actually a sautéed shrimp and pasta affair.

I went for the butterfly and coconut shrimp, which was good but nothing to write a message in a bottle about. I also had some fried chicken — drumsticks so I can read while I eat — which is always really, really good.

One of Ryan’s signature things is fresh-from-the-oven yeast rolls. They serve them while they’re still warm with Sunnyland Honey Spread™, a mock honey-butter that’s quite good. These puppies are fluffy, golden brown and highly addictive. That’s why I only have them bring me one.

As for vegetables, I had some baked beans, steamed cabbage and fire-roasted yellow squash., While the squash was a bit undercooked (Ryan’s always undercooks its squash, broccoli and cauliflower, which always bears mushy) it was quite tasty yet crunchy. I also had a spinach, spring mix and beet salad with a raspberry vinaigrette, also quite tasty.

Something I hadn’t seen or noticed before that was a real standout was a bean salad that consisted of black-eyed peas, baby lima, white, pinto and red beans. Unlike a three-bean salad, it wasn’t at all vinegary yet still slightly sweet. Better still, the beans were crunchy. Great flavor, great texture. a little hill of beans that really amounted to something.

All Ryan’s have an in-house bakery and a decent selection of desserts. They also all have soft-serve ice cream. But some of them also have hand-scooped, hard-pack ice cream, and this was one of them. In addition to the regular fare (chocolate chip cookie dough, strawberry, and orange sherbet) they always have a wild-card flavor. Today’s was black walnut. Boy, was that good.

All in all not a bad meal for about $10.

And so we roll.

Ryan’s - 1102 Ave of Mid America. Effingham, IL 62401

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

Categories
caribbean

Manna’s Soul Food (Bushwick Brooklyn)

I’ve heard of the plate yourself, soul food by the pound buffet Manna’s in Harlem. But I never made the connection that the place in Bushwick was the same restaurant. They actually have seven locations. This one is huge. It’s probably as big as a Duane Reade.

$4.99 a pound. My plate came out to $9. I didn’t realize I loaded it on.

Most everything was pretty good –the oxtail, smothered pork chops, curry goat and sides. The pigs feet was rubbery and didn’t do anything for me. I found a curly hair in the meatloaf, but it was probably the best thing. So I ate around it.

Manna’s Restaurant - 829 Broadway (2 blocks from Woodhull Hospital) Brooklyn, NY 11206
…their website is soulfood.com. That’s a pretty good catch.