Buffet Time!

I’ve decided to embrace my fatness and take in a couple buffets. As mentioned in my post about East Buffet, I had a couple of others on my “to try list”. And reasonably affordable. Maybe not as affordable at the 5 for $5 deal at Arby’s but at around under $10 price point and all you can eat well, stop me now but I think that is a winning equation.

Taste of India – San Diego style
First up: a weekday lunch at Taste of India on Miramar. It’s not quite where you’d expect it to be – in that small collection of Indian restaurants at Black Mountain Road – nope! instead it’s a few miles west. Of course, they have tandoor chicken and a chicken curry dish, plus either chicken tikka masala or chicken makhani (I get the two mixed up) but they aren’t quite as creamy as you get from Punjabi Tandoor. And of course saag paneer – the spinachy cheese glop. Oh, man. Time to loosen the belt.

I had 3 full plates and went back to work stuffed.

Completely stuffed.

I guess I should have stopped at 2 plates. But a great deal at $9. Just a buck or two more than a normal combo meal at Sitar in the food court at Scranton Road just off Mira Mesa and potentially 10 times the food! (Sidenote: Sitar does a Saturday buffet – since the rest of the food court is closed they set up serving tables in the middle and pretty much take over that half of the food court.)

Thai Cafe
I’ve been meaning to go to Thai Cafe for months – they do lunch and dinner buffets all at what must be called the Diane Shopping Village right at 4722 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. And my friends, this just a whisper away from the nearly legendary (by Chowhound standards) Ba Ren which I’ll get to someday. But it’s a sad little shopping center since the old Ross Dress for Less store is a ghost town.

But forget about all that now. On to the buffet – which was lovingly covered by KirkK last year so go read that write-up first then come back. Yep, that is what I ate. But if you want to know, they have a couple of salads: larb something and a crab/cucumber salad that was really good. The day and especially the room was a little too warm for soup but you should know that there are two soups every day! There are appetizers chicken and shrimp skewers, cream-cheese won-tons, pad thai and spicy noodles. And of course, the colored chicken curries: I saw red and yellow. I guess green might have gotten tossed out. I’ll dare try the soy sauced up eggs another day as I had already thrown away my belt.

With a Reader coupon it was just around $9. Such a deal.

Bristol Farms
Since I wasn’t just too far away from UTC (just a hop and a skip on Genesee) after Thai Café, I thought I would stop and check out the new Bristol Farms (It’s been open a couple months at least, but I saw grand opening signs and it was new to me.) I was hoping to find more prepared meals – but it’s a real nice store. And the samples! Glory be! Luckily I only had 3 plates of food at the buffet so I had plenty of room to try everything out. If they do this on weekdays I might have to have designate one day a week as “free sample lunch day”. If that doesn’t work out, they have the buffet deli where you pay by the pound and tables to eat at just like Whole Foods.

Holy sheet!

I haven't blogged for a while so I'll make this an extra good one. Get busy posting or get busy deleting I always say!

Upcoming Events
Last month I received (as I imagine other area bloggers might have) a friendly invitation to the Wine and Food Festival next month. I've been told to "Flex your taste buds at this international showcase of the world's premier wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities, and gourmet foods. Over 700 wines, 50 of San Diego’s top fine dining restaurants and 30 gourmet food companies!" Some part of me hopes that a free pair of tickets might wind up in my mailbox if I mention it enough, so away I go:

Ah, what could be finer than eatin’ in a diner? Well, maybe it’s the San Diego Wine and Food Festival! In November! I’m mostly interested in the food food food, but it’s a deal just to do wine tastings for an afternoon. A real wine lovers dream! When you get there you get a wine glass and plate/tray that you carry around from booth to booth. Some might have a 5 minutes wait, but most you could walk right up to and be drinking or eating.

See my post from last year or the Crazy Salad report.

Taste of La Jolla
One would think that folks wealthy enough to live here wouldn’t need a high school fundraiser but apparently I am wrong. Enter the Taste of La Jolla. Help some spoiled brats! Uhh, I mean, do it for the kids! Think of the kids! Anyhow, it's Oct. 16th.

Taste of Del Mar
Combined with an Art Fest on Oct. 21st. This one isn’t quite the same as most of the area taste of events as they have food booths set up - entry is a flat fee, $30. Goes up to $40 the day of.

Taste of Pacific Beach
This one is part of Pacific Beach Fest. Oct. 14th. I think they offer samples also from food booths, this time for a buck a sample.

Celebrate the Craft

This one is also this weekend – at the Lodge at Torrey Pines. Oct. 15th. Be sure to stock up on Shout (Shout It Out!) to clean those tighty whities if you go to all of these tasting events.