Busting on the Buffets

If you read our family blog, you saw that last week we were in Myrtle Beach on a family vacation with Don's family. It was super fun and I truly enjoyed being surrounded by Canadians the whole week :0). However, there was one part in particular that I do not have fond memories of: the seafood buffet.

First of all, I am NOT a seafood person. I do like salmon and tuna, with the little bespectacled tuna guy smiling back at me. But I draw the line there: no crustaceans, no bottom feeders, nothing that could possibly move off of my plate. However, my husband does like seafood and I knew that he really wanted to get some great seafood being by a beach and all. So it was with sacrifice that we went to a seafood place on a double date with my sister and brother-in-law, Connie and Chris.

Now we weren't searching for a buffet because none of us really wanted that. We wanted just a nice seafood place. Unfortunately, everywhere we looked said "buffet." Finally, we saw a place that made no mention of buffet but did say "fresh local seafood." We were all hungry so we ended our expedition and went on in. We should've known something was up when Blackbeard the Pirate greeted us at the door and then the host asked if we had any coupons. As he walked us through the restaurant, we of course saw that it was a buffet. I inwardly groaned, but we kept on moving to the table not sure if we should leave right then. Hush puppies and sauce were shoved in our faces and Don started eating them right away. Even after that, we were still ruminating whether or not we should leave. In the end, our stomach growling won and we stayed.

I never realized how much I truly disliked buffets or seafood until that evening. First of all, it was super expensive. This made me mad because it's a rip off for two reasons: 1) you're never going to eat the amount of food you'd need to offset the cost and 2) the food is never really that good. Now I don't know if my tastes have become more discerning through the last few years or if I'm just missing the simpler buffet days (and way cheaper!) of Ponderosa (awww man, did I used to LOVE some Ponderosa). Second, is the quality, as I just mentioned. You never know how long the food has been sitting, no matter how "fresh" they claim it is. So Connie and I decided to split a steak and baked potato and get the salad and dessert bars. Don & Chris opted for the seafood buffet.

I began with my salad and had to avert my eyes from all the hapless creatures staring back at me at the seafood buffet. I thought the salad bar was not bad, but my nice thoughts ended when I tasted a seafood-flavored cucumber, like it had been soaked in the little critters' bath water. Who knows, it was probably my mind playing tricks on me, but the damage was done - no more salad. Well, our steak finally arrived along side Larry the Lobster, Chris' extra entree and I about barfed because there he was in his entirety - beady eyes and all. Meanwhile, Don is cracking legs and shells on the other side of me and I couldn't even look over. I tried my steak, not bad, but not worth the price we paid. After all of this, Connie and I headed to the dessert bar and our hopes went up when we saw the treats. We grabbed a bunch of things, thinking the rest of the meal would be redeemed. Alas, we were mistaken.

The best part of the evening was being sans kids and getting to hang out with Connie and Chris. The worst, well, reread the above. So, with the exception of breakfast buffets, I think I'll stay away. Unless, the buffet somehow finds me again...