How Much Can YOU Eat at a BUFFET? What is the best strategy to get your money's worth?

[bignok]

8 minutes ago, connda said:

Interesting.  People who would rather eat salad than steak are now low-lifes? 
That's a pretty broad brush as in your humble opinion all vegetarians and vegans would qualify as "low-lifes."  Hummm  ????

So those attending the annual Thai vegetarian festivals must all be "low-lifes."

In some snooty circles where Michelin restaurants are their only choice of dining, the HiSos would consider everyone at a Sizzler to be "low-lifes."  Something to ponder.    Class and status are quite relative.
 

He means cheapskates for not ordering extras (where the profit is)

[Bert got kinky]

2 minutes ago, connda said:

So this is just another China-bashing thread at the end of the day. 
Mathew 7:3

Btw - those "crabs."  All shell and very little meat.  Not quite like Alaskan King Crabs.
 

Mathew 7:3

That's quite a result but who does Mathew play for and who were they playing against?

 

[jaideedave]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Au Der Auf German buffet in CM is pretty good for 220bht.

OMG..that looks good.There's nothing like that in Pattaya that I'm aware of.Years ago there was one near where the Avenue is now or in that area.The German guy who ran it was a fugitive involved the theft from some wildlife fund or? Cell phones had just came out and I noticed he always had 3 in front of him..a little trivia

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, bignok said:

5 plates of food is healthy?

If you've ever eaten there you'd know how ridiciously small the plates are. 3 is minimium.

[JayClay]

For me, the real benefit of a buffet is being able to enjoy a nice variety of different foods all in one sitting. As long as you can restain yourself and only take a tiny quantity of each, it can't be beaten for value.

 

To order five separate dishes from a menu would be expensive, fattening and wasteful. At a buffet you can sample a mouthful of 10 to 15 things and only be marginally uncomfortable when you leave ????.

 

I've never been to a buffet where I've been grossed out by others pigging out around me. I'm sure such places exist but, for whatever reason, I've managed to avoid them so far.

[richard_smith237]

No strategy at all unless you are an utter pig !!!...

 

Choose what you enjoy, eat what you choose... Enjoy your meal and don’t stuff yourself like its the last meal you’ll ever have until you feel sick afterwards.

 

As JayClay writes about - a buffet is good for ‘trying’ lots of different items, thus take a little of each and enjoy it.

A buffet is also good for when there is a large group of you... people can chose whatever they like.

 

There are some excellent buffets around and fortunately most people are not uncivilised pigs trying to cram in as much as possible to maximise their value !!!

[richard_smith237]

5 hours ago, Bert got kinky said:

How Much Can YOU Eat at a BUFFET?

The same as if I am paying for the courses separately.

If I go to a buffet it's at a decent 5 star restaurant and I go for the variety on offer and not to make a pig of myself in public.

I also tend to have Christmas dinner buffet (at hotels) nowadays, as I'm too old ancient to waste half of a Christmas day cooking.

 

I would avoid any buffet that is advertised as 'All you can eat'.

These kind of buffets are usually filled with society's low-lifes and the food (and cooking) is akin to military cookhouse grade, quantity over quality.

99 Baht Breakfast buffet anyone? ????  ????

 

Very much so...  completely agree.

 

Although with comments such as ‘filled with society’s low-lifes’ you’ll be accused of being a ‘pearl-clutcher’ but the ‘gibleys-drinkers & 7-11 steps’ brigade !!! 

 

--------

 

On one occasion I recall being at a ‘cheaper’ (1200 baht buffet with free flow) at a hotel in Bangkok (Radisson Blu) decent value at the time (the wine was pretty awful though)...

 

But, I witnessed some hideous behaviour a guy throwing up (under the table)... I saw the same guy take a couple of lamb-chops out in his pocket !!!....   They were asked to leave eventually...  (but it was already close to the end anyway !!)

Embarrassingly, I knew one of the group (through football)...

 

But thats the issue with being in a group - it takes one complete utter tool who can’t handle his drink to embarrass the whole group and make an utter nuisance of themselves. 

 

 

Another time I recall netted ‘barged’ out of the way by all the Thai Aunties rushing to get the tiger prawns, they were grabbing them off the tray before the waiter had a chance to replace put the tray down - they’d all lost their minds in the frenzy of making sure they didn’t miss out and filly 3-2 heaped plates....    Clearly of the mindset of getting their moneys worth !!!..  I’ve never seen anything like it...

But again.. that was at a cheaper buffet (Oishi - which was about 800 baht at the time). 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, connda said:

4 hours ago, Henryford said:

I made the mistake of eating at Sizzlers once and there was a guy there who visited the salad bar about 5 times. That's all he ordered. Low lifes.

Interesting.  People who would rather eat salad than steak are now low-lifes? 
That's a pretty broad brush as in your humble opinion all vegetarians and vegans would qualify as "low-lifes."  Hummm  ????

So those attending the annual Thai vegetarian festivals must all be "low-lifes."

In some snooty circles where Michelin restaurants are their only choice of dining, the HiSos would consider everyone at a Sizzler to be "low-lifes."  Something to ponder.    Class and status are quite relative.

No.. thats not what Henry wrote at all...   Your ‘hyperbolic straw-man virtue signalling’ is ridiculous.

 

Henry was referring to someone being outrageously cheap, yet greedy... 

 

The word ‘lowlife’ clearly offends you...  but when someone behaves in such a cheap and greedy manner, how would you describe it ???

 

 

 

 

[JBChiangRai]

For most people a buffet is

eat as much as you like,

 

but if you're American, then

it's eat as much as you can

[freedomnow]

This OP ticks all boxes for being chatGPT generated prompts/posts.

 

Always thought the posts were waky/off-key....

[scottiejohn]

8 minutes ago, freedomnow said:

This OP ticks all boxes for being chatGPT generated prompts/posts.

 

Always thought the posts were waky/off-key....

Why insult chatGPT?

????

[h90]

7 hours ago, Bert got kinky said:

How Much Can YOU Eat at a BUFFET?

The same as if I am paying for the courses separately.

If I go to a buffet it's at a decent 5 star restaurant and I go for the variety on offer and not to make a pig of myself in public.

I also tend to have Christmas dinner buffet (at hotels) nowadays, as I'm too old ancient to waste half of a Christmas day cooking.

 

I would avoid any buffet that is advertised as 'All you can eat'.

These kind of buffets are usually filled with society's low-lifes and the food (and cooking) is akin to military cookhouse grade, quantity over quality.

99 Baht Breakfast buffet anyone? ????  ????

 

 

I avoid buffets because of the people it attracts.....
When I was students I trained bicycle racing and a friend of mine was bodybuilder (full of steroids) that was fun with the buffets but when you are older it is embarrassing.
Where I am from there is a chocolate factory and you can buy there cheap and you can buy things that have damage even cheaper...And you could "test" what you want for free...... They had to stop that. People shoveling the chocolate with both hands into their face...coming organized with buses.....And no not Chinese tourists Europeans in the middle of Europe.

[save the frogs]

1 hour ago, freedomnow said:

This OP ticks all boxes for being chatGPT generated prompts/posts.

it's possible.

chatGPT and GammaGobulin have never been seen in the same room together. 

[Lacessit]

I look at the cost relative to what food is on offer. I will eat at a buffet if it is in the price range 200 - 300 baht. More, I walk away.

I pace myself, and stop when I feel full. I don't like feeling that I have overeaten.

I agree Auf Der Au in Chiang Mai is very good value. IIRC, Siripanna Resort past Gymkhana Golf Club has a Thai food lunch buffet for 199 baht, including desserts of cake and ice cream. Good value.

I haven't encountered anything similar in Chiang Rai.

[scottiejohn]

32 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

it's possible.

chatGPT and GammaGobulin have never been seen in the same room together. 

if I was chatGPT I would not want to be seen in the same room as GammaGobulin!

????

[bamnutsak]

3 hours ago, JayClay said:

For me, the real benefit of a buffet is being able to enjoy a nice variety of different foods all in one sitting.

Variety is good.

 

And there is also specialty and quality.

 

I'm not a huge buffet fan since I like more, smaller meals, but my three current favs are:

 

Mo-Mo Paradise, nice balance of quality v. price

Wisdom - not cheap 1,499 ++, but the oysters (fine de claire), mwah. Small plates, which is a plus.

Homono-Central World

 

 

 

[LaosLover]

On 5/10/2023 at 9:30 PM, bignok said:

Best way to save money is not go. Buy 1 cheap dish. Why make yourself sick?

Some wisdom here.

 

During a recent Bangkok hog-athon, I went to The Ministry of Crab for a big 'un and the Raddison Bleu Sunday Buffet (features a half of a biggish  North American lobster in addition to Hua Hin night market-level seafood options, a 4* carvery station, and a 1st rate Indian section). I needed a day in between for these belly-crams.

 

Both cost about the same. I left full to bursting and very satisfied at both -which was the better meal?

 

Not even close, Ministry of Crab. True 5* level ingredients done right in an imaginative cheffy place is the apex of food-dom. If you have a hundred dollar bill you need to get rid of in a hurry, go there right now.

 

But which meal did I have more fun eating? Def. the buffet.

 

There's a lot to be said for having a slab of Virginia Ham, dried beef, half a dozen Tandoori prawns, Fin de Clair oysters, greek salad, charred artichoke hearts, Nan bread and Dahl (it was really good Dahl) on the same plate. When Alan Partridge used to bring his own, bigger plate to a buffet, I could relate.

 

Plus going back for some raw bar and sushi, and more of that Virginia ham that was truly worthy of the prefix, Virginian.

 

Plus a made to order small raspberry souflee along with some pineapple that had been roasted in Sailor Jerry's rum and a passion fruit chocolate bon bon. Again, a super-plate.

 

In the 2,000 baht range, you can eat a 5* meal (at least at lunch) in Bangkok or an enormo buffet. I go for 5* over buffet ten to one, because I am an advanced Bangkok restaurant connoisseur. But if someone visits and I want to blow their minds, I go for a buffet.

 

Partic. a high end Indian buffet, like at Charcoal or Punjabi Grill, tho Rang Mahal is the gold standard. Even in London or Delhi, it is impossible to eat labor-intensive Indian food this good at these prices.

 

Non Indian: The Marriot $150 blow out is in my top 5 meals of my life, or the more reasonable and very venerable Landmark Hotel (unlimited shrimp tempura, made to order).

 

Buffet strategy is usually to avoid carbs and bread ("that's how they getcha", as per my parents), but if they're putting out real pumpernickel or plucking a nan right out of tandoori oven, I'm going to have a bit.

 

At the Marriot, they make pasta inside a giant drum of parm cheese, scraping the sides the parm ham wheel for extra cheesiness. With white-knuckled resolve and a sashimi-focus, I managed to eat only a single bowl. There's a YouTube of it if you need a day-brightener.

Edited May 12, 2023 by LaosLover

[bignok]

34 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

Some wisdom here.

 

During a recent Bangkok hog-athon, I went to The Ministry of Crab for a big 'un and the Raddison Bleu Sunday Buffet (features a half of a biggish  North American lobster in addition to Hua Hin night market-level seafood options, a 4* carvery station, and a 1st rate Indian section). I needed a day in between for these belly-crams.

 

Both cost about the same. I left full to bursting and very satisfied at both -which was the better meal?

 

Not even close, Ministry of Crab. True 5* level ingredients done right in an imaginative cheffy place is the apex of food-dom. If you have a hundred dollar bill you need to get rid of in a hurry, go there right now.

 

But which meal did I have more fun eating? Def. the buffet.

 

There's a lot to be said for having a slab of Virginia Ham, dried beef, half a dozen Tandoori prawns, Fin de Clair oysters, greek salad, charred artichoke hearts, Nan bread and Dahl (it was really good Dahl) on the same plate. When Alan Partridge used to bring his own, bigger plate to a buffet, I could relate.

 

Plus going back for some raw bar and sushi, and more of that Virginia ham that was truly worthy of the prefix, Virginian.

 

Plus a made to order small raspberry souflee along with some pineapple that had been roasted in Sailor Jerry's rum and a passion fruit chocolate bon bon. Again, a super-plate.

 

In the 2,000 baht range, you can eat a 5* meal (at least at lunch) in Bangkok or an enormo buffet. I go for 5* over buffet ten to one, because I am an advanced Bangkok restaurant connoisseur. But if someone visits and I want to blow their minds, I go for a buffet.

 

Partic. a high end Indian buffet, like at Charcoal or Punjabi Grill, tho Rang Mahal is the gold standard. Even in London or Delhi, it is impossible to eat labor-intensive Indian food this good at these prices.

 

Non Indian: The Marriot $150 blow out is in my top 5 meals of my life, or the more reasonable and very venerable Landmark Hotel (unlimited shrimp tempura, made to order).

 

Buffet strategy is usually to avoid carbs and bread ("that's how they getcha", as per my parents), but if they're putting out real pumpernickel or plucking a nan right out of tandoori oven, I'm going to have a bit.

 

At the Marriot, they make pasta inside a giant drum of parm cheese, scraping the sides the parm ham wheel for extra cheesiness. With white-knuckled resolve and a sashimi-focus, I managed to eat only a single bowl. There's a YouTube of it if you need a day-brightener.

Been to Marriot and Sheraton buffetts. After 3 or 4 goes no more. It is just pigging out for no reason. Give me 1 nice dish or 2 if hungry. 

[save the frogs]

brazilian meat skewer buffet.

if you eat a ton of meat, you can go 24 hours without having another meal. 

[LaosLover]

The Suk Marriot  Sunday Buffet is apart from other Marriot buffets and buffets in general -and that $150 tab includes a very decent unlimited wine pour (they used to offer a $24 a bottle sake pour!!). A fair few YouTube attest to its greatness.

 

You have to distinguish in Thailand between regular buffet (ok-ish), Friday night seafood buffet (reasonable value -don't let them fob slipper lobster off on you), or Sunday buffet (a loss leader, brand-building blow out).

 

Otherwise, it's down to pick-your-food-hedonism. For me, a head-sized crab from Ministry of Crab done to perfection in pepper and garlic is better than the 4* multi-plate above. Perfection is perfection. 

 

And I do notice that at the fabled Rang Mahal Sunday Indian Buffet, their mega-sized Tandoori prawns (the single best thing I ever ate in my life) are missing. Because an order of them costs more than the whole buffet price.

 

Economically and kitchen logistically, a true 5* buffet cannot exist, even at the Oriental Hotel. A buffet is a 3-4* experience, depending on the baht level. If people think 4* food is 5* food -partic because they get a lot of it- that's a very happy and harmless delusion to have.

 

Preferring a great single dish or a bunch of merely very good dishes is down to temperament. And if someone's food-temperament is just being a pig, I say have at it.

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by LaosLover

[LaosLover]

11 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

brazilian meat skewer buffet.

if you eat a ton of meat, you can go 24 hours without having another meal. 

This is a great example of 3 and 4* ingredients combined with some imagination and a sense of plenty being a 5* (ish) experience.

[billd766]

On 5/11/2023 at 9:44 AM, BritManToo said:

Off topic,

I cycle to a temple at the top of a hill 2x a week.

The Monks always put a bag of food on the table while I'm trying to get my breath back.

Tea, coffee, cold water all there for the taking if you wanted or needed it.

Now my wife is just the opposite.

 

Most mornings she cooks and takes water to the local temple for the very poor people to eat.

[billd766]

Double post. Sorry

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by billd766

[billd766]

I don't eat much nowadays anyway, but I used to take a small amount and finish that first before trying something else.

[dingdongrb]

A pic I took while living in China years ago. This was at a Pizza Hut where it cost an 'x' amount to take one trip to the salad bar.

 

This girl was proud of her heaping salad she built. She made a well of watermelon pieces and then filled it with many other salad items.

 

Afterwards I watched her carefully take it over to her table with 3 friends, request 4 plates, and then evenly divvied it amongst the 4 of them. 

 

 

[PoorSucker]

Be obese.

[2009]

I try not to indulge in retched excess, but at a buffet I let my morals slide and go Thai style: ignore the rice as it's low value and eat all the prawns and pork I can.

[still kicking]

On 5/11/2023 at 9:30 AM, bignok said:

Best way to save money is not go. Buy 1 cheap dish. Why make yourself sick?

Buffee is waste of money for me I am not a big eater 

[save the frogs]

this is the best strategy.