Has anyone eaten here recently and have pix? I was tempted to try it last time I stayed there, but Yelp has pretty bad reviews and photos. It seemed on par with Excaliber buffet based solely on the pix, which I still haven’t tried and scared to.
If its truly 'king' crab legs and not a typo then seems like a good deal. Even if the rest of the buffet is subpar cause its pretty hard to mess up steamed king crab legs. Most places have snow crab legs instead of king crab these days.
The excalibur buffet is better than the mgm in my opinion. I went to mgm last summer and it wasn't amazing at all.
exactly. I find that the business establishments' definition of "king" is subjective, more like snow crab legs
It's king crab, just not alaskan king crab. I'd guess southern king crab, which is a different species, but also not snow crab. It's not a subjective definition of King, it's just not Alaskan King
I was thinking more along the lines of a big AYCE crab meal being for dinner. Although that could be one of the reasons they're offering it 11-3, they feel people won't eat as much for brunch/lunch.
King Crab is King Crab, even if its not from Alaska. Yeah Alaskan is a premium, but just any old King Crab is better than Snow Crab. Snow Crabs have 4 pairs of legs while King only has 3 pairs (its how you can tell when they have them in clusters). Even if its 'smaller' king crab its still meatier and sweeter than snow crab.
Sort of: Southern king crab is Lithodes santolla, Alaskan King Crab is Paralithodes camtschaticus. So it is two different species, but they are both called "king crab" and they are similar and much closer to each other than either is to snow crab.
You'll never mistake these two for the other. South American King Crab has MUCH shorter legs. Buffets aren't saving money by buying those either.
I'm not even sure what you're arguing here? I was able to get retail southern king crab for about $8/lb last fall retail (on a very good sale), normally retails somewhere around $15-20 the last time I looked. Alaskan king crab is currently about $70-80/lb retail? Certainly would be lower wholesale, but I'd say that's saving a significant amount of money
Maybe its only weekends? My point was mainly if its king crab (any type) then its better than snow crab. The 2 species you mentioned are likely not how buffets would trick people into thinking they are going to get something they aren't. As for Alaskan King Crab prices, a lot has to do with the size of the crab. Similar to shrimp, the larger ones cost more. Its more likely they'd just get smaller king crabs. Its been too long since I knew people who owned a buffet so maybe prices are that crazy now, but the largest size was well over double the price of the next step down about 10 years ago. To me any type of king crab would make me happy. I'd also be happy if I found Southern King Crab at $8/lb. Snow Crab in my area grocery stores run around that much.
Only have experience with the MGM buffet in the past. But those who fuck up a cheese-blintz of all things, shall not receive a seafood delivery
I did a Wynn master class with the chef from Lakeside. He stated that he thinks King will be fished out in less than a decade. All the King you’re getting is fished by the Russians and stateside it’s bought from companies in Germany. I’m not quoting word for word but it’s the gist of it.
I've read a lot about the decline in numbers. Dungeness hasn't been great here so far either. That said, if you were lucky enough to have the buffet at Atlantis in Reno last night...$55.99.
