Knights & Knaves Alehouse

While I haven't ran into one here, in CA there has been an explosion of cheap all-you-can-eat Asian seafood buffets. The food they serve at these things are a genre all unto themselves, a hodgepodge conglomeration of Asian-esque dishes (a little sushi, a little Mongolian BBQ, some kimchi, some fried rice and beef and broccoli) with a lean towards shellfish and a smattering of American dishes. The adherence to health codes is of secondary importance in these places, but if you have a hankering for all-you-can-eat crab legs for 12 bucks they can't be beat. Mind, they tend to be in crappy neighborhoods, and I have seen two fistfights break out in the one I used to live near (one on Christmas Eve), so proceed with caution...

- Wheggi

A ton of those all around the Gulf South and eastern Texas, too.

Ethnic (or regional) food doesn't need to be "authentic" to still be good.

Flambeaux wrote:A ton of those all around the Gulf South and eastern Texas, too.

Yeah. As far as I can tell, it's a Bigger thing in the South than up here. Seems like once you get south of Birmingham or Jackson there's one in every medium size town and they're always packed.

rogatny wrote:

Flambeaux wrote:A ton of those all around the Gulf South and eastern Texas, too.

Yeah. As far as I can tell, it's a Bigger thing in the South than up here. Seems like once you get south of Birmingham or Jackson there's one in every medium size town and they're always packed.

I can't speak to their proliferation, or lack of, north of the Mason-Dixon Line, but there are quite a few of those places around here. Let me tell you, just like about any other buffet, they suck to high heaven. The food may be plentiful, but cheesus crust it sucks.

Fortunately, we have plenty of decent "real" Asian restaurants, serving both authentic and Americanized cuisine. The large Vietnamese community has done a good job of giving the old school Chinese restaurants a run for their money. While the local pho is really good, *really* good, I still give the nod to Thai and Indian.

Bombay Grill, Ogden Utah - they ask you how hot you want your curry dishes, on a scale of 1-10.

Nepal Restaurant, Grand Junction, Colorado.

Himalayan Kitchen Durango, Colorado.

rogatny wrote:

Flambeaux wrote:A ton of those all around the Gulf South and eastern Texas, too.

Yeah. As far as I can tell, it's a Bigger thing in the South than up here. Seems like once you get south of Birmingham or Jackson there's one in every medium size town and they're always packed.

There was a rash of Chinese restaurants here in Arkansas about 15 years ago... with most of them gone now except for the really popular ones.

An aside: if you didn't know it, the Filipinos make an eggroll called lumpia that's extremely addictive. I've eaten the real deal off the streets of Manila and Angelo City (well, not literally off the streets, but you understand).

And it always seems that lumpia is made in 1000 ct. increments. It is physically impossible to walk away from a Filipino birthday party hungry. Those things are crack.

- Wheggi

Wheggi wrote:And it always seems that lumpia is made in 1000 ct. increments. It is physically impossible to walk away from a Filipino birthday party hungry. Those things are crack.

- Wheggi

At one time, I could down a whole platter of it... especially the crab version.

After I got out of the Navy and went back to college, I had a classmate who was ex-Air Force and married to a filipina. I inquired to him one day if his LBFM could make lumpia and, if so, could I bribe her to make some for me. Affirmative, he said, so I provided the ingredients for a METRIC ASS-TON of lumpia and she cheerfully provided.

So I shared with some buddies, and they acted like starving Somalians who were just introduced to hot dogs or something. I got maybe a third of the whole supply to myself.

Yes - lumpia is quite good.


Balut on the other hand...