Now here’s an example of how a buffet overhaul can be so right and yet not quite. The good parts of the new Dishes buffet at Treasure Island mainly involve the dining room. Done as a more traditional sit-down restaurant with an intimate vibe, it’s a welcome relief from the big, communal atmospheres of most buffets. Instead of a view of a sea of tables, the room is divided up into smaller dining sections providing a more comfortable ambience.
The not quite part unfortunately falls squarely in the serving trays. They do offer a wide variety of dishes served at individual cooking stations representing various ethnic and regional cuisines. There’s a lot of food here and everything I tasted was fine but that was about it… just fine. There was nothing that leapt off the plate as being memorable and nothing that I wanted to go back for seconds of. That’s disappointing and problematic, especially considering the prices - $12 for breakfast, $15 for lunch, and $21-28 for dinner. There are other buffets that do it better for similar prices.
One sweet spot was the dessert station – something that often gets overlooked or undercooked in a buffet. But here they had mini donuts, crème brulee, chocolate covered strawberries, and a wide variety of freshly baked pastries. Almost made it worth the cost but, you guessed it, not quite.
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