Isn't there a new, massive buffet opening up in Las Vegas by the end of this year? I've never been to a Vegas one, but do any of them ever offer Middle Eastern fare? That would be a draw.

Caesars' new buffet opens in September.

Planet Hollywood's buffet has a nice Middle Eastern station.

I think it also has to do with price ,

$7-$10 buffets are just a little more than you pay for lunch at a fast food place , so I expect a few good things but not the world,

but if I am paying $20-$25 I do expect the world , a good selection , good quality and soft drinks included ,

If you are on vacation then you might splurge at a few of the $25-$35 places which better have Prime Rib , Lobster or Crab and a few other special things .

I try and eat a lot , but not so I need a wheelbarrow to get me out of there :D

Soarer

Oh, $20-25 seems like a steal for a buffet, if that's what "good" Vegas ones average out to. I used to go to one near Koreatown in Manhattan, called Todai, which became Minado, which is now IchiUmi. Any regulars to all three of those places care to comment on how different each is? I've only eaten at the first two (and when it was in Jordan, in Hong Kong, Todai). Those seemed to be a good deal at about US$20 for lunch.

I used to frequent Todai on 32nd between 5th and Madison, which is now IchiUmi, and have eaten there during all three of those phases. (Also, I believe it was Minado, then Todai, then IchiUmi.) The three are essentially the same restaurant, with different names. As far as I remember, the restaurant setup is exactly the same since it was called Todai (though my memory fails to recall how Minado looked, I will guess that it was the same as well). The food options are mainly the same as well. It might be just me, but I thought the hot food options decreased slightly in quality and variety. But mostly the same. If you go again, you should expect very similar things as you were there before.

There's a Mexican buffet opening near us. It's replacing a Chinese buffet that closed a few months ago. I'm interested to try it once, just to see how lousy it is. :)

When I eat at buffets, it's around lunch time. I try to get there when they start serving around 11am, I know the food will be freshly cooked.

Seems it would be an article in The Onion- City zoning laws require buffets; Plans for an Egyptian-themed hotel across the street protested.



Really, a Mexican buffet? Do any more of those exist where you live? I'd much prefer that over a Chinese one, but if the former starts serving Jell-o too...

We just have the one that is "opening soon."

Stayed at a hotel where I had Executive Lounge access with buffet last weekend:

- Trip One: Two croissants, yogurt, bowl of corn flakes
- Trip Two: Scrambled eggs, two sausages, two strips of bacon, potato wedge, piece of ham

All washed down with juice. It helps when you don't have any compulsion to get your "money's worth".

At Le Meridien in Jakarta (unusual architecture for both Jakarta {well, that part of the city} and a Le Meridien), I'd stock up on eggplant/avocado/olives liberally drowned in olive oil, oh and shrimp, and the next course was whipped cream and blueberry pancakes. Things I yearn for from home; though eggplants and avocados are all over Jakarta (and the former in many regional Indonesian cuisines), it had that grilled Turkish accent which wasn't commonplace. Pancakes, well, maybe at a colonial Dutch restaurant...but then, they wouldn't be the HUGE pannekoek found in Holland either.

IchiUmi received a C grade rating issued by the New York Health department. It was posted in the front window of the restaurant. I wonder if this will kill their business.

IchiUmi has a history of health violations, although I don't remember seeing a C grade posted in the window before. Kill their business? Doubtful. Affect it? Perhaps.

Did they do the classic C concealment maneuver with their grade?

http://consumerist.com/2008/10/resta...on-report.html

HAHA. I never saw or heard of that before!