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2016-09-12
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The other day I was in the mood for a pricey hotel buffet (odd mood, but if it strikes...). I looked around, and it's kinda hard to figure out what the buffets are like at various hotels. I decided on Flint because I had something else I wanted to do in Pacific Place that day.Flint runs a "semi-buffet" on Saturdays and Sundays. That is, they have several buffet tables, but there's also a menu off of which you can order an unlimited amount of hot food. Here's what I got from the buffet, from top
Flint runs a "semi-buffet" on Saturdays and Sundays. That is, they have several buffet tables, but there's also a menu off of which you can order an unlimited amount of hot food.
Here's what I got from the buffet, from top center: cold soba noodles, fried shrimp roll, some Italian cold cuts, bread and cheese, a salad made of lettuce, onion, olives, and "pepper" dressing (tasted like ranch), salmon sashimi, and some other salmon thingy on crispy bread. The main other things at the buffet that are not represented here are cold shellfish, like mussels, half lobsters, crab legs, and clams. I'm not the world's biggest shellfish guy when it's hot in a tasty sauce-- cold, it's just not for me. My main disappointment was with the salad bar: there was a bunch of different types of lettuce, but not a lot of veggies to put on the salad. I'm a big shredded carrots guy. Maybe some tomatoes. Perhaps some salad pasta. And croutons. Something pickly like a pepperoncini. Anyway, I got lettuce and onion. The pre-made salad game was pretty weak too.
Here's what my wife got: pretty similar.
The first thing we got off the hot menu was tuna and salmon. I should've taken a picture of the menu, so I could tell you more precisely. This is two orders of each, so be aware that the hot menu largely consists of one or two bite morsels. We liked both pieces of fish, and I was particularly impressed with the tuna, which was peppery and came in some sort of mustard sauce.
Next we got some french fries and some gyoza-- again, two orders of each. The gyoza were a little cold when they came and not really all that great-- I have had frozen gyoza that were in my opinion better (obviously, after being cooked). The fries were crisp on the outside, but in my opinion undersalted and a little too "potato-y" on the inside. It's hard to describe, but if you eat lots of fried potatoes, you'll know what I mean.
At the server's recommendation we got the cod (right) and the lamb rib. The cod was good and inspired me to make fish the next day for dinner (my fish was pretty good too). The lamb was altogether too fatty. I know I'm in Hong Kong and people start booing you and throwing things at you if you say you don't like straight-up animal fat, but to tell the truth, I don't really. The meat was fine, nothing spectacular.
Our last hot menu plate was asparagus and tempura. I had ordered the shiitake and shrimp tempura, but we got shiitake and sweet potato. The only flub in what was fine, if a little inattentive, service. Neither was all that great. The asparagus was very plain, and I was disappointed, because it's easy to make great asparagus. I nevertheless recommend it as a source of veggies, which I felt were lacking at this establishment.
Finally, there was a large dessert buffet table. I considered ice-cream, but the flavors were unlabeled and I don't do Russian ice-cream roulette. I settled on two chocolates and a chocolate chip cookie. Chocolate is really the only dessert I care for. The chocolates were great. The cookie I was wary of: it looked a lot like a British digestive biscuit, easily the worst kind of cookie ever invented, but it turned out OK. Not nearly soft, chewy, and sugary enough, and could've done with a glass of milk. I also got a thing that was labeled 'plum wine' or something like that, but it wound up being like a jello shot. Still, OK. The buffet is like $5XX with $180 free-flow champagne & cocktails. I won't evaluate whether it's worth it; I'm sure if you're excited enough about lobster, you can get your money's worth. I guess I secretly just wanted a really good salad or two plus some other things to nibble on, but I guess the buffet is more geared to people who are trying to get their money's worth and not pay 500+ smackers for a salad. I can't really fault the restaurant, but I didn't really care for much beyond the cooked fish and the chocolates.
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I definitely did not need a reservation on a Saturday.
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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