Sam's birthday buffet, aka another opportunity to stuff my face when I'm fresh out of the dessert, pretending that this is all for the benefit of a friend, none of it for myself.
I feel so selfless slurping my free barely-alcoholic Bloody Marys, vodka weakened by the need for a profit margin.
The seafood section is another clear cost-cutter. It is a joke at lunchtime, consisting of three items total. The fried fish, can't even keep its own batter on, and I'm not touching it. The Shrimp Scampi has grocery-store alfredo covering slightly mushy shrimp, and the Clams aren't half bad when they're covered in baked-in garlic butter. The Oysters are in a different area, hoping you run out of room on your plate before you get there. Not that you're missing out. They're semi-fresh and bland from likely being stored improperly, though they're not beyond saving by dabs of well-placed cocktail sauce and horseradish with lemon.
The hot bars are much better. The Prime Rib is a little tough, but they did have this perfectly medium-rare/rare cut for me. The dim sum Shrimp Hargow are okay as well. The wrapper falls apart at the bottom, but they were okay enough for me to eat all four of them with some pleasure.
I screwed up my Mongolian Stir-fry. My fault entirely, but they need to idiot-proof the process a little bit more (the idiot being me, not them!). Sadly, the pork is quite tender, and everything is properly cooked; there's just no way to gauge how much sauce you need, and I'm notoriously bad at guesstimating.
So far, this lunch at the okay-buffet has been exactly what I expected. Nothing stands out...and then I have the Pho. The pho is pho real the best thing at this buffet and probably the best pho in Reno. The broth is beefy and perfectly salted and spiced. The noodles are the exact al dente texture, and they even stick slices of rare steak in there that bathe in the steaming soup, exactly the way they should. I would have been stoked to have this at any restaurant in Reno - it's too good to get buried in a buffet!
Onto the sweet stuff. They have a sanitary fondue fountain, a welcome change from other buffets I've been to. This one is protected from bare-handed mouth-breathers behind a window of glass, and you order what you want from a sweet lady who does the dipping for you. I love the Rice Crispy Treat, but it's too much sugar with white chocolate (again, my fault for choosing it!). Same for the Marshmallows - I liked the milk chocolate more.
They really do hit every childhood dream at this dessert bar. They even have cups of Cotton Candy sweet n' good, a pink bubble of happy, sugar-air.
The gelato bar has quite the selection as well. Keeping it simple with Cookies n' Cream and Caramel. The gelato doesn't go with any of my pastries...like that's going to stop me. The Lemon Bar is flaky and light, the Fruit Tart is juicy with a creamy touch, and the Pecan Pie is great, full of pecan crunch and sweet southern comfort.
It's $27 per person for lunch. Not a bad deal, but not what I'd consider a deal. There are plenty of casinos in Reno, and I imagine Toucan Charlie's has many equals. I didn't hate it by any means, but there's no real reason to return unless they drastically lower the price.
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