Sushilicious?

A new eating challenge appeared on eatfeats this week. Sushilicious, a sushi restaurant in Irvine, has begun honoring customers who can consume more sushi than any diner before them.

The restaurant recognizes separate male and female champions. The (current) male record stands at 38 plates, while the female champion burned through 20 plates to claim her title.

If you can top the current champion, you get your entire meal for free - including all the plates you eat on top of the current record. There's a certain incentive to gorge on this challenge if possible.

It's an interesting challenge, because it's not strictly about time or speed. You just need to outdo the reigning champion in terms of volume. Obviously, eating quickly will help reach your goal in less time - and increases one's odds of being able to establish a truly impressive plate count.

It's a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, so the good thing is you'll always have food to grab. You won't be held up by prep times necessarily. As of this moment, patrons are only limited by a one hour time limit, whatever their stomach can hold, and how fast they can convey the food there.

The mystery factor is how much "food" might constitute a plate. This restaurant sells sushi rolls, hand rolls, nigiri, and other fare you find in sushi bars. Not all plates are equal in terms of weight or item count, but all plates will count equally toward your plate count. There's room for some eating strategy.

I'm considering visiting this place on Friday. The challenge plays to a lot of my strengths, especially in terms of mass consumption and distance eating. I also enjoy eating raw fish.

Here's to hoping I can set a new record!

A Sizzling Buffet?

A week ago, I decided to visit Sizzler and sample the food from their all-you-can-eat buffet. I knew they ran a bunch of $10 promotions that gave you access to their buffet, but I never really took them up on their offer. I know a lot of people have a rap against Sizzler - it's allegedly not the best steakhouse out there - but I generally insist on trying these things for myself. Tastes vary.

Besides, anyone with my appetite tends to favor quantity over quality. But getting both together would be the best of both worlds! I have yet to visit an affordable buffet that really does provide both. And, no, I don't consider a buffet that charges $30 to be a budget experience!

Sizzler provides a quiet, clean ambiance. I enjoyed being able to sit at my table and eat in peace. The plate policy of the location I visited in San Bernardino was annoying however; I could not revisit the endless buffet until I received a new plate from the waiter. I was told that it was a health code violation. Maybe it's a San Bernardino thing.... I don't know, but it slowed me down. I resolved the problem by walking over to the kitchen and switching my dirty plates for new, shiny, clean ones.

When you have a stomach to fill, you just can't wait to get more grub.

As for the food.... it's decent. Some of it is average quality, some of it is quite good. There aren't many meat products on the buffet unless you count the heavily-dressed seafood salads or the taco bar. Green salads are the big star. Desserts are limited. Bread is plentiful. Fried foods are there for the taking.

I think I ate a respectable amount of food that day:

  

Green peas
Creamed Brocolli
Salsa.

The salsa was hot as hell in places (thank you, jalapenos), but the creamy broccoli really hit the spot. It had a smooth taste that hid the famous sulfurous burn.

 My second plate was the actual meal I ordered: 6 oz steak with a baked potato. I didn't think the steak was all that bad! I liked it, but I wouldn't have spent $10 on it. There must be some reason they thrown in a buffet ticket with this meal, right?

The bread was scrumptious, but maybe buttered a bit much for my taste. I would have preferred something with whole wheat in it.

Plate 3: Beef nachos with guacamole and dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.

It's never too late to revisit your childhood, but McDonald's does a better job on the fried pieces of chicken. I appreciated the dinosaur shapes.




Plate 4 featured a generous helping of imitation crab salad, along with macaroni salad and green beans. Even when you eat like a madman, you still gotta get your greens in! I liked them, as they weren't too salty.

The crab salad was VERY meaty. The crab-sticks probably accounted for most of the entire item's volume. It had a balanced flavor between the fish and the globs of dressing thrown all over it.

On Plate 5, I went for the "American" food section and loaded up on spaghetti and macaroni (OK, maybe those foods have Italian origins). I customized my noodles with marinara sauce and taco meat. I thought the taco meat looked better than the meatballs, frankly. The taste was outstanding. I could have eaten plates of this pasta! The Mac'n'cheese didn't disappoint either. It was better than most of the instant or boxed
stuff I'd eaten in past years. Salty, yes, but absolutely palatable.

Plate 6 = potato salad, fried zucchini (my first time), onion rings, tuna salad, and corn.

The potato salad was as good as the stuff you get in the supermarket. the rest was rather mediocre, except the onion rings, which had a sweet and crunchy balance going on. I would go back for more.

Plate 7 was a sweet plate, pulled from the outer edge of the buffet. Strawberry yogurt, cottage cheese, chocolate pudding, and chocolate mousse... with a single peach slice thrown in.

They make some good chocolate mousse at Sizzler. The rest of the stuff was pretty standard.

Plate 8 featured more onion rings, pound cake, strawberry jello, chocolate pudding with whipping cream (and pound cake underneath). I also threw in a small dish of vanilla soft serve. I think the pound cake was the star of this dish. Moist, sweet, and thick, it had everything I ask for in a cake dessert. I just wish they put out more of it at one time!

Plate 9 brought me back to savory foods. Beef nachos again, more chicken nuggets, a chicken wing, and sweet potato fries... I threw in a cup full of chocolate pudding and mousse on the side.

The chicken was juicy, but mostly fat. I would not recommend getting your wing fix at Sizzler!

Plate 10..... a cup full of soft serve, and a pudding cup with pound cake.
The cake really was that good! And a make a point of eating a lot of soft serve at the end of a meal. I find that my tolerance for it can be high.





Plate 11: Chocolate soft serve and pound cake with chocolate syrup.
You now I must have enjoyed these sweets to keep going back for them. They were a decent way of capping off a gargantuan feast. I recommend that you all do the same! The sweet stuff really helps balance out the salty taste from all the savory items.


Overall, I enjoyed my buffet experience. The food wasn't stellar. But, there was a lot to choose from and it changes the pace from the fare I typically get from Hometown Buffet.

The buffet didn't sizzle, but it certainly delivered.

A Trip to the Buffet in April

Sometimes I can't find a proper eating challenge. Or.... I've finished all the ones close by and I don't feel like a trek. I'll just head to a buffet and make my own challenge.

I frequented the "Asia Buffet" in Buena Park recently for this purpose. I'd never been there before, but I was instantly impressed with the quality and variety of the food present there.

Hometown Buffet has an awesome weekend breakfast promotion going right now - who can beat a bottomless breakfast for $5 - you know I'll be going there soon.

I had the cravings for something different. Something.... from the sea. And not moving. I would need an Asian buffet.

Let's get a look at what I ate for an early lunch:

I started off with a collection of salt 'n' pepper shrimp and a bunch of different sushi pieces. Note the dab of wasabi and strip of sashimi on the plate on the right. I love hot food in moderate doses. Wasabi is a good kick in the sinuses, but it goes away pretty fast!

The shrimp was salty but tasty. The sushi was absolutely awesome. There were at least 24 pieces of sushi on the pictured plate.

I almost couldn't believe that a buffet can sell sushi this way and be profitable.

I thought I died and went to Heaven.

Paradise. Nirvana. Somewhere.

Was this place making money!?

I guess they must have been. They wouldn't have opened the doors that morning, or have so employees on the staff.

The number of workers was astounding to me. I hoped none of them were watching me too closely.

My second round consisted of more sushi - at least another dozen pieces. Dragon rolls, eel rolls, crab rolls, and some California rolls. More good stuff. The orange chicken was sweet and spicy, not stellar, but definitely better than most buffet versions. The chicken they used was actually quite lean.

Here's some whitefish - I took three large slabs. It was fatty in sections, but for the most part it was bland and non-memorable. I definitely prefer some tilapia!

I also packed away some deep-fried shrimp and sesame balls. I love the taste and texture of the bean paste you find in these fried flour lumps. I know they're not healthy for you, but they're too good to pass up. The deep-fried shrimp was decent. But I did not have much taste for the thick coating.

I got a break from the salty and savory by sampling the buffet's fruit platter. Mandarin oranges, glazed bananas, strawberries with cream, and two kinds of pudding: chocolate and tapioca. These plates were heavy, but they were incredibly sweet. I do not regret them one bit(e).

The large chunk of pink salmon on the left was very difficult to get through. It was a nice, lean sample of fish - but bland!! I needed to use soy sauce and water to finally get through it. The sushi and sesame balls were a rerun at this point, but I had to get my fix for them while I was still in the restaurant. I think I consumed around 36 pieces of sushi during this visit.

And I always cap things off with dessert - an entire plate or two of sugary goodness. I found these sweets delectable, but certainly nothing out of this world. I liked the little chocolate cake squares. I probably could have lived without the little pie cubes. The chocolate soft serve was.... well, COLD!

But it didn't prevent me from finishing my last few bites. I really enjoyed this buffet, and I know I'll be back. But not until I develop my taste for this kind of food again.

I'm getting a little full just looking at these pictures.

And a little hungry, too. I might be back soon.