Text 6830, 101 rader
Skriven 2013-11-18 08:53:00 av Dave Drum (71055.cooking)
   Kommentar till text 6701 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: Buffets, etc
====================
-=> MICHAEL LOO wrote to DAVE DRUM <=-

 NB> No, there are a lot of similarities...  GC has been advertising locally
 NB> about how much better they are than similar places, like OCB... I
 NB> frankly didn't see a lot of difference between them either..

 DD> We used to have an Olde Country Buffet here - and it was pretty good.

 ML> OCB and HTB are or were part of the same outfit, and
 ML> during the years I was acquainted with (not frequented,
 ML> just occasionaled) them sort of grew together. I don't
 ML> do buffets much any more, having less stomach space and
 ML> fewer voracious friends, except for the periodic foray
 ML> into Chinese territory for a shellfish fix.

Ryan's, under the "Ovation Brands" umbrella, took over Old Country, Home Town,
Country, and Fire Mountain buffets. They seem to operating under the General
Motors "lowest common denominator" homogenisation model. The original Ryan's
here was pretty decent as a cheapy cafeteria-style steak place with a salad bar
and potato dressing station. Then they began adding/expanding the salad bar to
be a full blown buffet, in addition to the cooked to order steaks - mostly due
to competition from Bonanza and Ponderosa (tip never order one of the over
tenderised Ponderosa "steaks"). Then came the big merger with the various
buffet labels and a move to a new location clear across town from either of the
previous locations. And a loss of cooked-to-order steaks. Management suffered
and was changed like a hookers underwear. Quality went down hill at a rapid
clip and the location is now "Royal Buffet" - yet another Oriental buffet which
I predict won't last long as there are better, more conveniently located, more
economically priced buffets all over town. 
 
 DD> The only problem was that it needed shut down for a couple of weeks to
 DD> be given a thorough cleaning, painting and new carpets/booths/tables as
 DD> it had become, while sanitary, quite dingy. Then Ryan's took over,

 ML> Kiss of death, as far as I can tell, though Ryan's might
 ML> be under that same corporate umbrella.

They are -- with Ryan's (see above) as the dominant player.
 
 DD> It may be that we have an exceptional Golden Corral - but, other than
 DD> the buffet concept there is not much comparison with Ryan's/OCB/HTB.

 ML> Might be worth a try from what you two have said.

I seldom am there in the evening - but, at breakfast they also do steaks. I
asked for, and got, a nice piece of beef cooked just past rare last time we did
the breakfast buffet there. I can't see any reason that they'd not please you
with rare (I dunno about blue-rare) meat.

 DD> Be a long time before I get to Danvers voluntarily. If I ever felt I
 DD> had to live in Taxachusetts and had sufficient dosh I would probably
 DD> settle on Cape Ann - probably Gloucester.

 ML> Most traffic into and out of Cape Ann goes through Danvers
 ML> and within a mile of several worthy ice cream places.

There is that. But, for me Danvers will likely remain a fly-over zone. BTW - I
think the creamery we visited on the Clam Crawl I was on was Richardson's in
Middleton. I want to say it was between stops for clams in Essex and the Clam
Box in Ipswich(?) - but that doesn't make a lot of sense geographically. But,
then, a lot of things we do on echo picnics are not wired too tightly.    Bv)= 
It may have been at the end of the afternoon, too.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Deep Fried Clam Strips
 Categories: Five, Seafood, Breads
      Yield: 2 Servings
 
      8 lg Clams (5"-6") *
      4 tb Flour
      2 lg Eggs; beaten
    1/4 ts Ground black pepper
    1/2 ts Onion; grated
           Shortening or lard to fry
 
  * Use surf clams, bar clams, hen clams, or skimmer clams.
  
  Slice the digging foot of the clam into 1/8" strips.
  Reserve the necks for chowder.
  
  Mix flour, eggs, pepper, and onion.
  
  Wash clam strips, shake off excess water and roll in flour
  mixture.
  
  Drop into hot shortening in a large frying pan.
  
  When golden brown all over, take out and drain on a paper
  towel.
  
  From: http://www.belliniviolins.com
  
  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
 
MMMMM

... I had to stop having dinners for four. Unless three others are present.
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