All About Buffets

[herbacidal]

Typically they frown upon not eating the rice, so it becomes a contest to see who can hide the most sushi rice in the strangest of places.

I've eaten the meat off of 20 nigiri pieces, dumped the rice in a napkin, brought it to the bathroom, and flushed it down the toilet.

Also, that big bowl of miso soup is incredible for dumping excess rice. Most of the time, they don't notice if you mix it up good.

I swear they put some filler in the rice or something to fill you up faster. I never eat it.

Ah yes, one of my favorite sushi memories.

Wasn't a buffet, but it was all you can eat.

I remember hiding a piece of maki in the soy sauce container,

throwing some in the unused stairwell next to the table,

hiding some in the bathroom plunger,

probably flushed a few down the toilet too.

Now, at this point I'm adding some fantasy to it,

but I can imagine we might have hid some in the toilet paper rolls,

on door frames,

etc.

[kiliki]

What's the difference between a buffet and a smorgasbord?

I'm pretty sure that a smorgasbord is actually a buffet style spread of Scandinavian foods-meats and other dishes-but that Americans have long misused the word.

I'm still thinking about the name "Soup Plantation." What a terrible name for a restaurant-the images it conjures! Why would soup be made on a plantation? Do slaves make the soup? Isn't it too hot on the plantation to want soup? Perhaps Soup Plantation only offers cold soups. I'm going to be thinking about that one for a while.

[SobaAddict70]

What's the difference between a buffet and a smorgasbord?

I'm pretty sure that a smorgasbord is actually a buffet style spread of Scandinavian foods-meats and other dishes-but that Americans have long misused the word.

Correct, kiliki.

The term "smorgasbord" literally means "bread and butter table". A typical smorgasbord consists mainly of cold fish dishes such as herring and gravlax, followed by a selection of roasted meats, salads, hot or cold vegetables and cheeses (i.e., havarti, herrgardsost and gjeitost), accompanied by slices of buttered bread. Smorrebrod (open-faced Danish sandwiches) may appear in a smorgasbord.

Non-Scandanavian speakers have expanded the term to its present usage.

Soba

[chiquitalinda]

I can't remember the last time I've been to a buffet here in the states, but when I was living in South America my husband and I went frequently.

Sunday was family lunch day, so we'd get a group together and more often than not head for a buffet. Our usuals were a chinese buffet, a churrascuria or parrillada (Brazilian and Argentine meat-fests), or a german buffet about 40 minutes outside of town. The german restaurant consistantly had the best food, everything fresh, everything homemade (the BEST homemade icecreams and the whole dessert table was incredible) and great variety.

The most popular Argentinian buffet in town seated over 1,000 but since that was pretty much my husband's dining nightmare, I never got to experience it.