Mirage Dinner Buffet

I don't see any recent threads on this. Okay, so MyVegas has been around for awhile and I'm wondering if any of you have done the Mirage dinner buffet recently?

I realize the responses will be varied, but what did you like? What did you not like?

How's the fish/seafood?

 

I actually purchased Mirage "cravings buffet" from travelocity and I thought it was the worst buffet I have ever eaten at. We have done them all and we agreed The Flamingo buffet was better!! Save your LP.

The service was crap, the food old tasting and musty. It felt dirty. I left hungry.I filed a complaint with Travelocity and they said they received so many complaints they issued me a credit.

Go for the Aria passes, or Groupon has spice market(PHO) and The Flamingo BOGO. I enjoyed Spice Market. Bellagio and Aria are my 2 favs!

 

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I really enjoyed my last dinner at Cravings in March. I was using a free buffet via MyVegas as well. I'm generally a meat eater, so I enjoyed the carved turkey and prime rib. They also had some really good desserts.

 

Really? The worst buffet ever? you are totally exaggerating or have only been to 2 buffets in your life. It may not be the best on the strip, but it's certainly not the worst on the strip.

 

don't get your panties in a wad and learn to deal with peoples opinions as that is what a message forum is about.
More than 2 buffets, why of course???? was it the worst, absolutely.

 

But of course you are wadding your panties to my opinion. Lol

 

well, bellagio is my fav, hands down, I sometimes eat there every day when in vegas, but mirage is not bad, not upper tier, but I would pick it over flamingo easily. different strokes/different folks. now you two reach down and pull those panties out

 

I don't think you are. I've ate their several times and enjoy the diversity.
Though it is not a gourmet buffet in the sense that the Wynn and Bellagio are, I left feeling pretty darn good about what I had eaten. As I think about it, a plus for the Mirage compared to the other two buffets is that, generally speaking, the food items are not as rich or as heavily-seasoned.
I was not bloated, nor later did I need to drink copious amounts of water due to over-salting of foods. It's not that I didn't eat the same amount of food, it that the food I ate did not pound my system as much. That's one of dangers of over-zealous buffet consumption.
An example was in the 'Fishmonger' section, as they call it at the Mirage. Grouper was simply steamed with a few vegs. If you wanted something with more zing, a swordfish had a sauce on it. There was also a light lemony broth of mussels, whose flavor component matched anything I've had at any seafood buffet.
As a long-time critic of over-cooked seafood on buffets, it was refreshing to enjoy the moistness of both fish items. Instead of only regular shrimp cocktail, there was another type, as well.
And, this was just for lunch. We went back a couple days later for dinner and had different options, for example, clams in a flavorful broth instead of mussels and different fish. Split crab legs were found at dinner and it was nice having them steamed to order.
The carving station does not compare to Bellagio, but there was prime rib at both lunch and dinner. In terms of carved meat products, that is all I need. There can be sensory-overload with too many carved protein choices.
The salad area also isn't as extensive as the other two buffets, but they'll basically hand-toss anything to order. Desserts did not have the gourmet touch either, but I was content to munch on a warm homemade cranberry-oat cookie and a little bit a high-quality ice cream. Anyway, after a buffet, fresh fruit is my favorite play and they had plenty of that.
Another thing that impressed me compared to the two big boys is that Mirage's food seemed fresher, like they did a better job of batching and rotating, though the BBQ section was a little worn. For a buffet as eclectic as the Mirage, I'd ash-can the BBQ section and replace it with something more interesting, such as Thai or Indian cuisine.
This is a small detail, but any buffet that has kimchee on it wins favor with me. Mirage has it and it is quality cabbage. One of my healthy plates, of the 7-8 consumed, consisted of various steamed oriental vegetables, kimchee and noodles. Never tried the sushi, but my son gave it a thumbs up.

 

Everything was fine. I had no issue with Cravings.

It wasn't the best nor the worst.

I've found the best deal to be the Buffet of Buffets.
Groupon has deals for

Spice Market (PHO)
Paradise (Flamingo)
Le Village (Paris)
Flavors (Harrahs)

However, the Buffet Of Buffets deal will reasonably get you 3 buffets (4 if you are "going for it") for a lesser amount of money and more choices.
Those above plus Rio's Carnival World Buffet. You also can go to Caesar's Bachannal and Rio's Village Seafood Buffets for a small extra charge.

I've done Cravings, it was ok, but I don't really care to do it again unless on a shoestring budget and getting one o' those $25 deals. Not something I "crave".

 

I guess I could have wrote all that instead of "attacking" someone's opinion I disagreed with.

I agree with this and drfish. It's not the best but by far not the worst. I've never had an incident where I could say there was bad service. It probably isn't the best deal in town but when I stay at the mirage I tend to eat there and it's fine.

 

drfishalot, I agree about Bellagio's buffet. I have a MyVegas voucher for dinner there as well, but didn't ask about it because I've done their buffet a couple of times and know what I'm getting.

chef, you really hit my taste buds when you mentioned Grouper. I simply love Grouper, but have never had it steamed. Interesting.

Side note on Grouper: Down in Tampa, in some restaurants, Grouper is now listed on the menu as "Market Price" because of limits being placed on it for commercial fishing.

 

Ate at Cravings in August, and it was one of the better buffets of the trip. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I enjoyed it a lot more than Wicked Spoon. Would go to Cravings again without hesitation.

 

Ate there in March and July, both courtesy of MyVEGAS. Both times were for dinner mid-week, and two different experiences.

Cravings Buffet in March was great. The smoked meats were awesome, the prime rib was perfect, had some awesome lobster ravioli, and my waiter was excellent.

The buffet in July was quite different and I will not go back. Prime rib was all overcooked and tough, the pizza was cold, the Asian section was alright, had some hollowed out spring rolls with not much in them. The sushi looked a little old and dry. Had some sweet and sour chicken (but it wasn't chicken), and my waiter never stopped by to bring me another soda or to ask if everything was ok.

If you can get the Bellagio buffet, I highly recommend it! :banana:

 

We ate at Cravings on our most recent trip. After reading reviews here we were scared but it was convenient and affordable and figured why not. We arrived at 8:40pm and were told they would start taking the food away at 9:15 but decided to stay anyway. We were seated and started to fill or plates. There were plenty of choices and unlike another buffet we went to right before closing they replenished the empty food trays. I liked the diversity and what we ate was delicious. I would probably go here again.

 

I have eaten there several times, mostly for breakfast.

My last dinner there I vowed never to return. Cold and tough Prime Rib, cold overly lumpy mashed potatoes, cold, nearly congealed gravy and cold, tasteless string beans.

The snow crab legs were mushy and there was no butter. After I had eaten about 3 of them and pushed the plate with the other two aside, the waiter shows up with a crab fork and some hand wipes.

The desserts were stale. I have never had fresh pastry at this buffet. Never.

The other food stations were sparse and what was there look completely unappetizing.

5 or so years ago, this buffet was one of the best on the Strip. It's baffling that management has let this place fall so far.

Just an aside: At breakfast one morning this past August, I got into a rather heated discussion with this Steelers' fan who claimed I cut the bacon line. (I didn't, he was wrong, just trying to intimidate with his Steelers' shit).

Yet another only in Las Vegas moment.

 

From what i'm reading it seems this place could be a hit or miss.
My husband had the prime rib and it wasn't cold and the gravy wasn't as you described. The desserts weren't out of this world but thats always the case when you go to a buffet. I have yet to be wowed by a dessert in a buffet. With that said I did like the tiramisu very much and it was surprising how good it was.

 

We ate there in Sept courtesy of Mlife and thought it was fine--not the best but still good and we would eat there again

 

I didn't like it! I went in late August, and I paid. BUT, in fairness I didn't eat any crab legs...

But it was so mediocre... everything was picked out (I was there probably 6:30-7 at night on a Saturday..), there didn't seem to be many employees attending to it. The bread baskets were all out of butter, a lot of empty dishes, super weak salad bar where the guy makes it for you, I didn't even bother. I didn't like a lot of the selections... some of it was really random. The desserts weren't great either. The prime rib was good, but overall, not worth what I paid for it.

For free, I'd probably go, but I'd never pay for it again. I had the Bellagio lunch buffet I enjoyed that, the food was good, and everything was fresh at least. But, overall buffets are terrible deal. You can have a sit down meal for $30.

 

I like the Mirage buffet, has good crab legs, shrimp, the meat is good. I would go to the Mirage buffet over Flamingo any day. I always hit up the Mirage, Planet Hollywood and Aria buffet on my trips. I agree Mirage isn't a top tier one but its not bad.

Ernie

 

BoB is the best deal.

Plus, I'd pick a churascarria over a supposedly upscale steakhouse any day.

I ate at Flemings in Baltimore, got A steak, some green beans, and we shared mashed potatoes. She got swordfish.

The bill was $100 and I was still hungry.

I go to a place like Fogo De Chao or Chima and get unlimited Filet Mignon, swordfish, chicken, etc for about $40-$45 each.

Ruth's Chris, Flemings, Mortons....all those steakhouses can kiss butt. lol