Seafood Buffets

What's y'alls opinion of seafood buffets. I just ate at one in Norfolk, VA called Capt. George's on Mercury Blvd. it was extremely good and I loved everything I tried. And it seemed to be pretty popular and I understand they have grown to be a few other location in Hampton Roads area. Seems like they've been mentioned a few times around Myrtle Beach as well.
Are they worthy, in general, of being considered good seafood places?


carl reitz

I occasionally go to a Japanese seafood buffet here in the Los Angeles area called O-Nami. Oysters, sashimi, stuffed lobster, crab legs, stuffed shrimp and more. I enjoy getting my seafood fix there. Reasonable too-----$22.00. It's very fresh. I've been to others that are not as fresh. With seafood, that especially important!

We did the Capt.Georges a couple of times on roadtrips to Williamsburg several years ago. The Scallop Imperial was a dish I will remember for a long time. It was Great. We had a couple of negative review comments on these boards about the place over the past couple of years, but my memories are good ones.
In SoCal,Ed, we liked the Sumo...Culver Blvd. exit off the 5 in Irvine. About the same description as yours. So is the To-Dai on Beach or Harbor Blvd. (I forget which). To-Dai has been around a long time in the Huntington Beach location and another out in the Valley somewhere. All of the above would warrent another visit from me.

To-Dai used to be my favorite but around 3 years ago they went downhill---------low-quality fish, poor selection and slow to refill choices. I've switched my allegiance to O-Nami, with locations in many of the same areas and I'm much happier.

Never order seafood on sunday!---espcially off the buffet---especially the brunch buffet---shrimp and crab maybe-any precooked bivalves on Sunday are suspect in my book. Ever read "Kitchen Confidential " by Anthony Bourdin---be afraid--be very afraid!

There is not even one good seafood buffet in Cincinnati. Not a one.

There are buffets that include some seafood that aren't bad. Generally, these are chinese buffets.
There is a really bad and yet pricey (35 bucks a person, Fri Sat only) seafood buffet at a place called Four Seasons on the River.

Down here in the Carolinas we dont trust NO seafood Buffets cause we know Fresh Seafood and what they put out is not Fresh but old seafood they want to get rid of fast.
Good Seafood is not Cheap
and Cheap Seafood is not Good!

The Snow Park Lodge at Deer Valley Ski Resort in Utah does a seafood buffet during the ski season ending in April. It is wonderful but does not come cheap costing about $40 for adults.

Hey TJ Jackson, I am curious if you can recommend any good seafood restaurants in Cincinnati? I get there occasionally.

carl reitz

Unfortunately no, and here's why: the wife doesn't like seafood. So when I get to go out, other than one memorable time, it isn't to a seafood place.

The one time in 7+ years or marriage that we did to go to a nice seafood place was to Jay's in Hyde Park, which was great, really great - but they have since closed up.

I've heard good things about the Mt Adam's Fish House, but have not been there myself.

Wallyum appears to be quite fond of Newport's Washington Platform, which is well known for oysters and clam bakes, so maybe he can talk about that a bit here.

Advice on seafood buffets.

No.
Never.

This also applies to Chinese buffets.

quote:

Originally posted by carlton pierre

Hey TJ Jackson, I am curious if you can recommend any good seafood restaurants in Cincinnati? I get there occasionally.

carl reitz

I've not been to this location but I know there is a Mitchell's Fish Market at Newport on the Levee. Cameron Mitchell owns several excellent restaurants in Columbus including the Columbus Fish Market which I have been to several times and really enjoy.

Hey Hatteras, is Cameron Mitchell the actor? And, where in Columbus are the restaurants you mentioned?

Cameron Mitchell is not the actor. He is a graduate and board member of the Culinary Institute of America. His Columbus Fish Market restaurant is on Olentangy Boulevard near Third Avenue. His other seafood restaurant, Ocean Club, is at Easton on the northeast side of Columbus.

Oh, and I don't do buffets, seafood or otherwise.

No Buffets for me- The Seafood is put under those lights to keep them warm and over a stem tray, usually. I want my seafood brought to me hot at the table. Also, I am leary of buffets-you never know how clean the persons hands were that handeled the serving utensils in front of you.

quote:

Originally posted by carlton pierre

What's y'alls opinion of seafood buffets. I just ate at one in Norfolk, VA called Capt. George's on Mercury Blvd. it was extremely good and I loved everything I tried. And it seemed to be pretty popular and I understand they have grown to be a few other location in Hampton Roads area. Seems like they've been mentioned a few times around Myrtle Beach as well.
Are they worthy, in general, of being considered good seafood places?


carl reitz

2 things, they are located in Myrtle Beach as I was there over the Christmas holiday and passed them on King's Road, and my brother used to work at one in Va. Beach a couple of years ago. He said their food was pretty good for a smallish chain.


Dennis in Cary

X-nay on the buffet for us.

You guys must really go to crappy buffets. I go to one in the Boston area. Called Minado, it seems similar to O-Nami that was mentioned earlier. Excellent place, very fresh and very clean. A whole row of shushi guys making it right before your eyes and everything moves quickly.

I like it because of all the different sushi varieties (about 30)

I personally think that all buffets are "crappy"! (And I have to go to one tonight............yuck.)

quote:

Originally posted by CarolinaBill

This also applies to Chinese buffets.

I certainly agree with that.


Dino

The Sundancer is not a fan of buffets although I have visited some that were great and some that were awful. I tend not to enjoy them for several reasons. One that they can be unsanitary which people sneezing, hawking and touching the food and two: I tend to over eat and feel terrible afterwards.

Not a rule but generally the more it cost the higher the quality.

In Knoxville, we have no seafood buffets. We have Ryan's that does the buffet and they try pretty hard but it can get pretty nasty. If you stand back and watch the action, you can see stuff that will turn your stomach.

It is probably a neat thing that you do not see what goes on in a kitchen anyplace. I doubt very seriously that very many places adhere to the standards observed by Lleechef!

The Sundancer cannot tolerate sanitary issues. I do not purchase anything from anybody that I remotely suspect that they are not 100% clean up to my standards.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Renfrew - you must be going to a much higher class buffet than what we have around here. Occasionally, I will be dragged to lunch with co-workers (gotta be social sometimes) to one of the ubiquitous Chinese buffets in this area for lunch, usually all U-can-eat for about $6. 60 different versions of friend "chicken" (I hope so) chunks in various sauces and lots of bad egg rolls. Most have sushi PLACED on buffet - no idea how fresh, what it is, etc. And some of these fools actually eat it. Plus sushi sharing steam table with General Tso's "Chicken" (that's sweet n' sour with a cayenne pepper added) sounds like bad idea. Usually wind up with Immodium for dessert.

Lagneaux's in Lafayette (LA) has always had good seafood buffets on Fridays--shrimp, catfish, boiled in season crab or crawfish, hush puppies, etc.

I went to the San Jacinto Inn as a kid. It was right next to the Battleship Texas near the San Jacinto Monument. They were famous for their seafood buffet.

Now there is the Monument Inn. I’m not sure if it’s the same operation or not, but it is in the same vicinity if not the same location. I wouldn’t mind checking it out. I can easily eat $24 worth of r’oysters and fried shrimp alone!

quote:

Originally posted by renfrew

You guys must really go to crappy buffets. I go to one in the Boston area. Called Minado, it seems similar to O-Nami that was mentioned earlier. Excellent place, very fresh and very clean. A whole row of shushi guys making it right before your eyes and everything moves quickly.

I like it because of all the different sushi varieties (about 30)

We tried this place yesterday. It is actually in Natick, Mass, in a hidden part of the Sherwood Plaza, behind Pizza Hut. I agree, that it is excellet. There are now 5 in the chain, up from the 3 stores mentioned in other reviews that I have read. I read in an older review that they had posted in the wall that Minado caters to an Asian American client base. The folks at corporate HQ figure that if Anglos see a lot of Asians frequent an establishment,they will realize that it must be good. IMO, Minado is corporate, but in a good way. www.minado.com

I generally won't eat at buffets. The one exception is the Friday lunch buffet at Ru San's in Charlotte.

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

The Sundancer is not a fan of buffets although I have visited some that were great and some that were awful. I tend not to enjoy them for several reasons. One that they can be unsanitary which people sneezing, hawking and touching the food and two: I tend to over eat and feel terrible afterwards.

Not a rule but generally the more it cost the higher the quality.

In Knoxville, we have no seafood buffets. We have Ryan's that does the buffet and they try pretty hard but it can get pretty nasty. If you stand back and watch the action, you can see stuff that will turn your stomach.

It is probably a neat thing that you do not see what goes on in a kitchen anyplace. I doubt very seriously that very many places adhere to the standards observed by Lleechef!

The Sundancer cannot tolerate sanitary issues. I do not purchase anything from anybody that I remotely suspect that they are not 100% clean up to my standards.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Sundancer, I know the above is an old post, but unless you have changed your mind in the last few years, I could NOT agree with you more.

I have heard stories about the kitchens and practices of Ryan's, Golden Corral, and several Chinese buffets that would gag a maggot.

Also, I have actually witnessed people coughing over the food, sticking their fingers into the food, examining stuff and putting it back into the pan . . . you name it.

And KIDS . . . that's another thing (of course you can't blame the kids when the parents don't properly supervise them at a buffet).

NO THANKS!

I quit patronizing buffets years ago. In fact, it was right after I nearly got into a brawl with the owner of a Chinese buffet in Mountain Home, Arkansas. The details aren't necessary here, but suffice it to say that I found some REAL nastiness on the steam table, which the owner just shrugged off, telling me to "eat something else."

In the NW suburbs of Chicago, we have Todai - a Japanese buffet with a website menu similar to Mindo that tmiles wrote of. A national chain, it refers to itself as "the mother of all seafood buffets"! I've eaten at three and they are similar. While strongly agreeing with the Sundancer's comments on cleanliness, Todai serves smaller dishes of all items which translates into often changed serving trays. In addtion, alot of the food is prepared in front of you - all soups, grill items, most baked items, sushi and rolls. With small quantity trays and alot of food prepared in front of you, cleanliness is at the highest level I have seen in the buffet arena. Check it out at www.todai.com

Thanks for the link. I can confirm that the one you mention In Chicago is another of the same 'chain' that Ed Sailes and I mentioned above in the Orange County area of SoCal.

I'm NOT a seafood buffet person....

There are some foods that I believe actually benefit from more time in a chafing dish (such as curries and stews), but seafood generally does not. That's why I prefer to get my seafood from places that prepare it as you order it. Also, in buffets that include a substantial amount of seafood, as in other buffets, there are some dishes that are good, but most, in my experience, are average or worse, so you have to pick and choose carefully to eat well. You usually can eat all that you want for a reasonable price, so the value is usually there, but when I want seafood, I go elsewhere.

My doctor reminded me of this...Remember...You never know whose hands have been touching those tongs,serving spoons and forks on the buffet line.Or,how clean they are...

quote:

Originally posted by iqdiva

My doctor reminded me of this...Remember...You never know whose hands have been touching those tongs,serving spoons and forks on the buffet line.Or,how clean they are...

The same can be said for the out of sight kitchen of any restaurant. Some are as clean as a hospital operating room, and in the other extreme some are filthy, putrid germ pits. I'm not a big buffet fan, but I'm not afraid to eat at a clean open kitchen place like the afore mentioned Minado.......the place is spotless.

I wasn't talking about the kitchen staff...I was talking about the customers who go through the buffet line ( especially kids who sometimes forget to wash their hands )...

quote:

Originally posted by olphart

I went to the San Jacinto Inn as a kid. It was right next to the Battleship Texas near the San Jacinto Monument. They were famous for their seafood buffet.

Now there is the Monument Inn. I’m not sure if it’s the same operation or not, but it is in the same vicinity if not the same location. I wouldn’t mind checking it out. I can easily eat $24 worth of r’oysters and fried shrimp alone!

It's been several years since my Sister and Brother in Law hosted a catered reception at the Monument Inn. I don't know how it is now, but the food then was superb.