Review of "The Buffet," recidivus

In response to my original review, the buffet stated that they were always trying to improve, and that I should try again. So, after a time to let them get settled, I did.

They should have accepted the original review. (This was all the more disappointing in that I had promised myself a return visit to The Buffet as a treat. I took them at their word that they were trying to improve, and their ambition, stated on the Website, that they were trying to be the best in the area. Silly me: I should have remembered that "the area" could be closely defined, as, say, within half a mile of the casino. That would make their competition Value Village, Lowes, a steel yard, and the bus barn.) First of all let me say a few things that I can praise. The meats on offer were all consistently, and properly, cooked, and were tender throughout. The cooked vegetables, always an important factor in the restaurant, where al dente, and not allowed to turn into gray mush in the steam trays. And I like their cream puffs. The dinner menu, despite being more expensive than the brunch menu, is definitely worse. The salad components are cut into rather large chunks, which, in combination with the none-too-generously-sized plates, makes it difficult to create any kind of a salad. The prepared salads are slightly better. The quinoa and cranberry salad is a fresh and interesting taste. However, again, the potato salad contains large slabs of potato, drowned in a rather thick sauce. Ham and pea was one of the soup offerings; normally one of my favorites; but this one was particularly savourless. There are six Asian, and six Western, offerings on the steam trays. The sweet and sour pork is neither. The tandoori chicken tastes strangely similar to the baked chicken that mother used to make. (Mother never did see the need to add any spices or flavouring to any foods.) It's hard to do anything wrong with the roast beef as long as you cook it properly, and, as noted, this beef is cooked properly. Unfortunately, there was nothing that I could think of to eat with it. Even the dinner buns were dry and hard. (Oh, and the illustrations of the menu on the Website? Well, let us be kind, and simply describe them as ... fictional.) I tried a little bit of everything. And I couldn't think of any single one of them that I wanted to try any more of. (Except the cream puffs.) This buffet is limited, unappetizing, and uninspired. The only explanation I can think of is that they know that, in a casino, they have a captive audience and they really don't need to try to be any good. The staff, even after months, still don't seem to be either trained or experienced in their own price structure, coupons, specials, or simply had to punch in an order for a buffet. Lineups at the beginning of the evening still take longer than necessary to clear. Service is, if anything, worse than before. The staff still don't seem to realize that possibly three dirty plates piled up in a corner of the table possibly might mean that they should be cleared away. I'm pretty sure they do not warrant a third visit.