Have you ever been to a restaurant that just opened, being drawn in by its gaudy decorations and bright lights like that of a Vegas casino, hoping to hit it big on price and taste? If you answered yes to that question you can probably guess the follow-up question: did you get what you paid for, or in terms of a Vegas experience, did you come out on top? If you have ever been to a restaurant and experienced this, then unpack your bags ladies and gentleman because the house is much harder to beat in Vegas than it is in Provo; on most occasions.
Just last week, I suggested to some of my friends that we go check out a restaurant in local Provo that had recently opened. At first sight the restaurant gives off a vibrant explosion of reds, whites, and greens in a large banner that advertises a buffet line from three different countries! Three different countries?! Well shoot, they must have something I like there! To be honest, my initial reaction to seeing the restaurant was one of skepticism and just plain indifference. There used to be a restaurant at that same location, I cannot recall what it was, but it obviously did not have what it takes to cut it in this town of semi-bright lights and bowling extravaganzas.
In any case the restaurant is located next to the dollar movie theater in Provo, across the street from Albertsons for the locals. As you walk up to the restaurant you are greeted by a soft facade of tan with a larger than necessary banner that is just enough to appreciate the new opening and not send you on your way. As you enter the restaurant, you are greeted by a large glass window that has water cascading down it and sticker fish. No, sticker fish are not the fish with nasty spikes on its back that stab you as you try to unhook it from your line, they are the laminated paper fish that you can stick on just about any surface. To your left is a large desk where the cash register is.
As you are waiting to be seated, you can anticipate a great meal with big fun as you see families and couples there seemingly enjoying their meal. We walk in and we are seated at a nice, clean bench for four. That is a plus…the restaurant is fairly clean. Then we went for the goods. Oh that we hadn’t.
We were met by nothing more than your classic cheap, all-pleasing Asian buffet line that serves your classic All-American meal. You’ve got your fried and white rice, your different varieties of chicken, and some egg-rolls. On the American and Italian side, I think they had pizza, onion rings, fries, and whatnot. One thing that surprised me was that they had dimsung. Wow! Dimsung!? That was a pleasant surprise and I heartily walked over, grabbed a couple of pieces and went back to my chair.
I would like to throw in a disclaimer ladies and gentleman, that I am not a professional food critic or a professional restaurant critic. I am just an average guy who has had the opportunity to experience a lot of different foods and restaurants and I will share my completely unprofessional, amateur culinary opinion.
Regarding the dimsung, let me qualify my knowledge here in explaining that I have been to some great dimsung restaurants in L.A. My friend is Chinese and when we went for a roadtrip to his house in L.A., his father treated us to dimsung right out of China. The waiters, the waitresses, and the hosts did not speak English, to us anyways; and 95% of the people there were Asian. So, I have had good dimsung and greatly enjoyed it; except in this case. It is hard to explain in words the difference between this buffet dimsung and the restaurant dimsung, but maybe I can use a metaphor that you all might understand. If you have ever had the dollar pizza-in-the box that you can get at the grocery store and then bit into a classic homemade pizza, you can tell the difference and it is noticeable!
That about sums up our experience. I ended up paying about fifteen dollars with tip and a soda. I walked out of the restaurant feeling like I had been taken by the house. My good-ole buddy the stomach wasn't agreeing with the food. I would not recommend this restaurant to any of my friends or to any families with small children as they had the television on that was showing an R-rated movie made for television, yet never the less violent. If you like to eat a lot of food and can take the sub-par taste of the food, then go for it. If you do not believe me, check it out for yourself; just bring some pepto-bismol and the amount of money that it would cost to get a great meal at a local Brazilian spit grill (Tucanos).
Dude come on now what did you expect from a place that is right next to the dollar theater and has that kinda of stupid banner on the front. If you want a real good buffet check out the Chinese buffet located on University just north of center street. That is what I call Mooshu!
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