Buffets in Manhattan?

[Megan Blocker]

I found myself at the smorgasbord Sunday brunch at Aquavit yesterday, and thought about how long it had been since I paid to eat somewhere where I could go back for seconds (in fact, the menu-cum-smorgasbord instruction manual recommends at least 3-4 trips).

New York is just not a hot spot for buffet meals, something I rarely find myself lamenting. I'll never forget when my mother came to the city on business and brought her boyfriend, who wanted to have brunch at the Marriott Marquis, simply because it was all-you-can-eat. The two of us recoiled in horror.

However, after my Aquavit experience on Sunday, and seeing this item on NYC buffets, I had to ask - do you do buffets with any regularity? And when you do, is it ethnic food? Blow-out brunch type items? 'Fess up, folks!

Edited January 10, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[raji]

I go to the where the cabbies hang out where you get rotating specials of Indian food. It can be quite good. And for $5, I violate laws of physics stuffing food into that tin container...

Other than that, Churrascaria is great. I'm racking my brains but I just don't think the allyoucaneat concept bodes well in Manhattan, perhaps more in the outer boroughs.

And all you can eat sushi induces vomiting etc.

[Megan Blocker]

And all you can eat sushi induces vomiting etc.

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Vomiting, et cetera??? Ick.

[raji]

I once ate kaitenzushi in Tokyo that gave me such a virus that i lost 10 pounds out of my various orafices within 12 hours. Atkins is for pussies!

[flinflon28]

Ulysses on Pearl St in the financial district is an Irish Pub that serves a passable all u can eat brunch on weekends. Two types of meat, sauteed veg, various starches, omelette station, oysters, shrimp, dessert and other brunch stuff for $20 and it coms with a brunch cocktail. Quality of food is not bad and the desserts are pretty great.

[Fat Guy]

The idea of the buffet has gotten a bad name among the urban-upscale gastronomic intelligentsia by being associated with the obese, undiscriminating American strip-mall culture. And indeed the nation is awash in awful quantity-over-quality buffets full of utility grade beef and "Rangoons" and such.

At the same time, the close quarters, high real estate costs, narrow profit margins, high ingredients costs and various sanitation/hygiene issues make it difficult to run a Golden Corral or Ponderosa-type buffet in Manhattan or any other densely populated urban core area.

Buffets (which are almost by definition all-you-can-eat, though there are limited exceptions) are, however, a time-honored culinary tradition. When done well, they offer diversity, abundance and individual control. A good buffet is so enjoyable because you can sample a bite or two of everything and then have more of what you like best.

Aquavit is a great example of a place that does brunch right. There are several other upscale buffet experiences that are also worthwhile, mostly associated with hotels, especially the brunch at the Waldorf=Astoria. But there are also good, cheap buffets in Manhattan here and there, especially Indian ones. My favorite is the vegetarian Indian lunch buffet at Dimple (30th Street just West of Fifth Avenue).

[zimonsays]

charles southern kitchen on 151 and 8th ave is the best fired chicken/soul food in nyc and its all served up from the buffet

[Bond Girl]

Only when it comes to Indian food at Darbar's down the street.

[oakapple]

Citysearch is running a "featurette" (here) on "all-you-can-eat" restaurants, a category that's a broader than just buffets. The restaurants listed:

English is Italian

Churrascaria Plataforma

Co Co Sushi

Charles' Southern Style Kitchen

Utsav Festive India

Yuka Restaurant

[johnder]

I am very wary of buffets. I always worry about contamination and holding temps. Not to mention that the quality of ingredients they must use to keep the prices at what they do scares me. Costco all the way. :-)

I would definately never get an all you can eat sushi. That sounds like a recipe for disaster.

The buffet at aquavit I would consider though, I would lean towards trusting Marcus.

jpd

[Eatmywords]

I did all you can eat sushi a few times in my formative (qty over qlty) years. Whata way to turn yourself off to a delicate, beautiful cuisine. I think my last one was 10 yrs ago at Yuka. (accurately nicknamed "Yuka-Puka" by some of my UES friends relating to what can happen after 3 Sapporos, 6 rolls and 22 pieces of low-grade sushi (p/person). - Although I never did, that sickening, disgusted, over-stuffed condition made me vow never again.

For me (like most of you) when it comes to NYC, Indian buffets are the way to go. Unfortunately, almost every place I know of offers only a lunch service. I did find (by accident) a-hole-in-the-wall-cabby-hang on 10th Ave and 47th (discussed in the Best Bang thread) that offers a solid assortment all day and night (till 12pm). It's not one of the best but the price ($6) and hours bump it up big time in my book.

Others I like (brunch/lunch only):

Sitar - 56th & 6thAve $10

Indian Taj - Bleecker & Sullivan $8

Chola - 58th & 2nd Ave - the more upscale of them all - $14

[Sneakeater]

Only when it comes to Indian food at Darbar's down the street.

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I recently stumbled upon the Darbar's lunch buffet and was shocked at how much better it seemed than most of the rest (even the celebrated Utsav Festive, or whatever that one is called).

Edited January 10, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[juuceman]

There are several other upscale buffet experiences that are also worthwhile, mostly associated with hotels, especially the brunch at the Waldorf=Astoria. But there are also good, cheap buffets in Manhattan here and there, especially Indian ones. My favorite is the vegetarian Indian lunch buffet at Dimple (30th Street just West of Fifth Avenue).

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Did the Waldorf=Astoria reopen the brunch buffet?? my understanding is that it was discountinued in about September '01, somewhat simultaneous with the closing of Oscar's.. one of the things i've been most interested in is whether with the reopening of Oscar's we'll see a reopening of the brunch buffet.. with the close of the Plaza restaurant, there's not much worthwhile out there..

heard mixed reviews of the Rainbow Room's brunch buffet- at $80 it's likely not worth it and i'd rather just order what i'm interested in from Cipriani Soho..

the Water Club has one of the nicest brunch buffets in NYC.. Arabelle, in one of the midtown/UES hotels, is one of the few that i've repeated..

[markk]

The idea of the buffet has gotten a bad name among the urban-upscale gastronomic intelligentsia by being associated with the obese, undiscriminating American strip-mall culture. And indeed the nation is awash in awful quantity-over-quality buffets full of utility grade beef and "Rangoons" and such.

At the same time, the close quarters, high real estate costs, narrow profit margins, high ingredients costs and various sanitation/hygiene issues make it difficult to run a Golden Corral or Ponderosa-type buffet in Manhattan or any other densely populated urban core area.

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You say that in way that makes it sound as if those establisments you name in the second paragraph would actually satisfy those "urban-upscale" diners grossed out by strip-mall buffets. I say this because recently while in Orlando (Mecca to buffet lovers), Golden Corral called out to me one evening. Her song: "Here in the land of Buffet, treat yourself one evening and see how it's done right!" And, being on vacation and not obligated to eat anywhere I didn't want to, and sure that nobody from home would see or recognize us, we took the princely sum of $8.99 and drove to a Golden Corral ablaze with neon signs visible through the windows for such stations as the "Garden Fresh Salad Spot", the "Rotisserie" (neon flames licked at the word), and an entire area called "The Brass Bell Bakery and Dessert Cafe".

To make a long story short, finding anything edible was close to impossible - and, we had specifically lowered our expectations for the event - which were were considering a treat! Most of what was served came out of cans - certainly I don't think there was anything on the salad bar that didn't, except for the shredded iceberg lettuce whose brown edges gave away that it came from a bag (at several times brought into view). The rotisserie station served the same chickens you can buy cooked in the supermarket, and the hot section featured all number of mystery items in thick gooey gravy, the kind of things you remember from the school cafeteria and refuse to eat on an airplane; while any one of these could, in theory, have been a treat to a person on vacation from "haute cuisine" if done right, nothing here was. Flame Grilled Steak was mystery pieces of gristle. Having tried a taste of everything (except the seriously repulsive looking items), I found that the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy were enough to make me not need to drive somewhere else for another dinner. A sampling of desserts proved that though there were a hundred of them, they were indistinguisable from one another except by color.

And we went here knowing pretty much exactly what we were getting into. What we found was a place that seemingly opened industrial size cans and frozen trays of simply everything that is carried in a large supermarket, heated it, and served it.

This wasn't a complaint, certainly not for my $8.99. But if there are any other hopeless romantics who think of Golden Corral as model for something we cannot have in the New York City economy but yearn for, think again.

[Bux]

Never say "never," but in this case, "never" would certainly be close enough to meet government standards. It's probably 80% for good reason, 18% out of personal taste and 2% plain snobbery. I like restaurants and table service, although I do miss the great old cafeterias of my youth and, in fact, I enjoy eating at many sorts of bars from sushi bars to tapas bars, by way of oyster bars. Anyway, those numbers are convincing within Manhattan, at least to me. It's interesting that Aquavit is mentioned as an exception by some. I found a buffet brunch there to be the end of buffet brunches for me. The food ranged from exceptional to banal and by the time I discovered the exceptional, I had filled up on the banal. It was a while back and perhaps Samuelsson has raised the bar on what's offered since, as my experience was many years ago at the old quarters. The pity was that it left a negative impression after an earlier fine formal weekday lunch.

I will almost never opt for a hotel buffet breakfast, although I find them often included in our hotel rates at no extra cost. Free changes the equation. I will, however, admit that once at the Palace in San Francisco, we had an early plane to catch and we chose to have the rather pricey buffet breakfast for reasons of convenience. Over the caveats of Mrs. B., I had a poached egg from the steam table. It turned out to be one of the best poached eggs I've ever had. It was a great tasting egg and had been kept at precisely the right temperature for the yolk to stay warm and liquid. Had the egg been contaminated with salmonela, I'd be dead by now, but that's not my point. A really top kitchen can keep almost any food at the proper degree of doneness and at the proper temperature (of course they may have to disregard local codes). Self service may be no service, but the food doesn't have to be inferior to that served elsewhere. However, it almost always is.

Indian food strikes me as a much better choice than Chinese food for a buffet simply because so much of it is stewed or long cooked. French stews and braises work far better than Chinese stir frys. The socio and economic factors that determine when and where one will find buffets usually have little to do with the appropriateness of the food to the medium.

[raji]

Anyone ever been to an East buffet? I think the closest is in Flushing.

check this out

http://www.nmass.org/nmass/justice/eastbuffet.htm

[Eatmywords]

Speaking of all this buffet stuff, can anyone tell me how those mammoth Chinese buffets (in the burbs) can afford to lay out banquet portions of mussels, shrimp, oysters, clams, king crab legs and at times even lobster for $9 bucks a head? (Is it because the hurds mostly stick to Rst Prk Fried rice and the artery busting General Tso's chicken?.......hmmmm

[raji]

Click the link in my previous post. Apparently it's by stealing tips and treating it's workers like shit.

[Eatmywords]

Click the link in my previous post. Apparently it's by stealing tips and treating it's workers like shit.

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Nice Raji! How ironic that you should answer my question before I posted it. That's a crazy notion that they're slaving their labor out at $1 an hr (if it's true). Interesting (and sick) stuff to say the least.

[cchen]

I've been to East several times. It used to be very good, but the quality has declined severly over the past few years. Their dim sum during lunch is still good though.

[phaelon56]

I make all possible attempts to avoid buffets in Manhattan and elsewhere for a very simple reason: I consistently get better quality food in manageable portions for less money by just ordering off the menu or sticking to places that are not buffets. I'm not known for being a light eater but I'm rarely able to see any cost benefit to buffets - even if the food were always of equal quality to ordering from a menu (which it rarely is).

[Fat Guy]

Did the Waldorf=Astoria reopen the brunch buffet??  my understanding is that it was discountinued in about September '01, somewhat simultaneous with the closing of Oscar's..  one of the things i've been most interested in is whether with the reopening of Oscar's we'll see a reopening of the brunch buffet..  with the close of the Plaza restaurant, there's not much worthwhile out there..

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There have traditionally been two buffets at the Waldorf=Astoria: the everyday one (weekday breakfasts, weekend brunches) at Oscar's and the more elaborate, better one at Peacock Alley (Sunday and holiday brunches only) that spills out into the lobby. The Oscar's buffet has, as far as I know, been open pretty much continuously -- it's the Peacock Alley brunch that ceased for a few years. My understanding is that Peacock Alley, having recently reopened, is going to relaunch its brunch program. That's the one I'd recommend. They did one on Christmas day and I was hoping to go but something came up, so unfortunately I can't report on it.

[TarteTatin]

Okay, I know this is a NY post, and I'm writing about Philly...

But I find it interesting that Lacroix in Philadelphia (Jean-Marie, formerly of the Four Seasons), does an incredible "buffet" on Sunday brunch that he doesn't tout as a buffet, and its great.

The appetizer bar full of caviar, house smoked fish, huge shrimp, ceviches, delicious adventurous cold food is in the dining area. Very classy.

Then the main course is in the kitchen! You are greeted by the Chef and go into the actual kitchen, and at each station in the sparkling clean kitchen, you are greeted by a different Chef who serves you the usual basics for a classy Four Seasons brunch.

Then the dessert bar is at the other end of the restaurant, with a million homemade choices.

Although, if you want the Chocolate fountain, that is back in the kitchen, with fruit and other assortments to dip into the fountain. One time there was a chocolate fountain and a white chocolate one as well, and one time a strawberry chocolate fountain. Strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, meringues, gosh, what else??

Not inexpensive, ($50ish each? Can't remember) but worth it as a treat.

You can go back as many times as you want. I actually prefer the apps and the dessert. The main courses aren't as thrilling to me. I tried some insipid quenelles, and a couple of other things like your typical lamb chops, eggs benedict, pork, . But the more creative things were on the appetizer and dessert areas, in my opinion.

[R Washburn]

Okay, I know this is a NY post, and I'm writing about Philly...

But I find it interesting that Lacroix in Philadelphia (Jean-Marie, formerly of the Four Seasons), does an incredible "buffet" on Sunday brunch that he doesn't tout as a buffet, and its great.

I liked it better when he was at the Fountain, but it is a pretty good brunch. Brunch at LaCroix is a bit too expensive for me, and certainly not worth a trip frm NY, but his breakfast buffet is a very good value relative to the other center city hotels.

[Jukim]

I went to Minado on 32nd Street twice. The place is full of tasteless pseudo sushi and hot food, which reminds me of NY city delis.

Diner in Jackson Heights serves decent Indian buffet at deal price.