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Does Spice Market Buffet still only have those damn cupcakes?

Discussion in 'Restaurants & Buffets' started by landsburger, Jun 14, 2013.

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  1. landsburger

    landsburger High-Roller

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    Hi,

    Spice Market Buffet was always one of my favorites (not of the high-end variety, but for other occasions). Last summer they ruined their desert bar - they got rid of a wide selection in favor of almost exclusively selling CUPCAKES.

    I was hoping it would pass by this summer, but I'm guessing it's still the case.

    Has anyone been recently?

    Thanks for the info.

    LB
     
  2. ah6tyfour

    ah6tyfour High-Roller

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    My friend went a few weeks ago and yes, it's still all cupcakes.

    I'm part of a Caesar's Entertainment online focus-group sort of thing and just got asked to fill out a survey about the Spice Market Buffet today. I made a big deal about those cupcakes being a really bad idea. Sure, they look impressive, but most are dry, too sweet, and eating 10 cupcakes isn't the same as eating 10 different desserts.
     
  3. Candy Apple

    Candy Apple VIP Whale

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    Had lunch buffet there last month. Saw some small slices of cheesecake...that was it other than the cupcakes. We found the cupcakes to be fresh and moist early in the day. Perhaps they bake 1000 cupcakes in the morning and they sit around for hours drying out...? All I know is they were NOT dry for lunch. Tried half a dozen flavors and they were all very tasty.
     
  4. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    Cupcakes are the "BIG" thing right now... doesn't surprise me that they'd try to ride that wave! I'm sure downtown still has plenty of pudding-cups...
     
  5. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Cupcakes really? That's all?

    I want a buffet with cheesecake, pies, brownies and ice cream. And more! Oh wait, I guess that's why I like MSS buffet. Huge selection of dessert items.
     
  6. Candy Apple

    Candy Apple VIP Whale

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    MSS does have a huge dessert selection but the flavor is clearly lacking.
     
  7. HoyaHeel

    HoyaHeel Grammar Police & Admin

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    Cupcakes were the big thing a few years ago. PH trying to catch up. Which is just sad.....
     
  8. ah6tyfour

    ah6tyfour High-Roller

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    Yep, "were" is the key word. By the time the buffet decided to do cupcake thing, the fad had already passed.

    The decision was most likely to save on staff and the ordering of ingredients. It takes just a few people to pump out 15 different kinds of cupcakes with the same basic 3-5 recipes (mix and match cupcakes and frostings and drizzles) than it would be put out a whole spread of cookies, flan, cakes, macaroons, chocolate mousse, etc.
     
  9. g-didi

    g-didi Low-Roller

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    I wonder if some of these buffets actually make their own desserts? There are lots of cookies, carrot cake (so uniform looking with the icing carrot drawn on) and macaroons that look and taste identical from one place to the next. I was thinking these items were factory produced and then purchased with a good discount for bulk purchase.
     
  10. ah6tyfour

    ah6tyfour High-Roller

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    It depends on the buffet. All the top-tier and almost-top-tier buffets I can think of have their own pastry departments and most items are made in-house. Bacchanal, Bellagio, Wynn, Cosmo, M Resort, Rio, Mirage, TI, Mandalay Bay, etc. The only exceptions are gelato and macarons. Those are often purchased.

    The Stations Casinos, South Point, budget strip buffets, downtown buffets (except maybe Golden Nugget) all buy their desserts from some vendor and it does seem to be the same product used everywhere. They're probably from some national vendor like Sysco. Even the Asian buffets near me have those same desserts!

    The premade macaroons (coconut ones, not the French macarons) are the worst! You can usually tell by that one item that the desserts are purchased.
     
  11. vegasqc

    vegasqc VIP Whale

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    They still have the ice cream machine and the cotton candy
     
  12. landsburger

    landsburger High-Roller

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    Thanks everyone for the feedback. You saved me a trip (I'm sad to say).

    We always visited Spice Market a few times a trip, and threw money around PH because of it. Not that it matters to them, but looks like that won't be the case.

    Not that the buffet could compare to the Wynn or others in terms of quality, but they had a good selection which would end with a great variety of deserts (a few in particular I really liked).

    Cupcakes is such an obvious fad, but it's almost insulting to think that they'd try to pass a variety of different flavors as the only option for desert (along with self serve ice cream and cotton candy).
     
  13. chef

    chef Resident Buffetologist

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    A cupcake is nothing more than a glorified piece of cake. We will all be much better off when this fad passes.
     
  14. donof

    donof Low-Roller

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    We haven't been back to the PH buffet since they had only cupcakes the past two times. As locals, we would go like once a month and they would give us 25% off coupons. It was good variety for the price. Still a good buffet, but we're not a fan of the cupcakes.........so we've been sticking with the local buffets (mainly GVR).
     
  15. Crash

    Crash Tourist

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    Sorry, did you say 10?
     
  16. ah6tyfour

    ah6tyfour High-Roller

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    haha, is that not normal?

    I don't usually finish any of them. I take a few bites and leave the rest or the people eating with me all take bites of it too. That's why I like places that serve small tasting portions of desserts. But yes, I can say with certainty that the final tally of desserts I grab from a buffet dessert counter is at least ten.

    Here's what I remember getting from Bacchanal:
    -3 different chocolate-based plated pastries (the triangle with raspberries, the long rectangle with decorative choco wedge, the cake/brownie)
    -the mini doughnut with pipette of raspberry sauce
    -carrot cake
    -pecan pie
    -3 different mousse/parfait sort of things (the green tea, the tiramisu, the apple-cinnamon)
    -tropical cake
    -2 different flavors of souffle (banana and chocolate)
    -baked chocolate chip cookie with spicy chocolate gelato on top
    -4 different flavors of mochi ice cream (strawberry, mango, green tea, azuki)
    -creme brulee
    -chocolate creme brulee
    -flan
    -chocolate-covered strawberry
    -macaroon
    -2 pistachio macarons
    -scoop of lemon sorbet
    -crepe with fresh berries

    Now I feel fat.
     
  17. landsburger

    landsburger High-Roller

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    Update: Went a few weeks ago and sadly they still only had cupcakes.

    We decided not to eat there, based on that and the price. It was one in the "good deal for what you get" category, but has moved to "better options" for us...
     
  18. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    I have a story about those cupcakes.

    I eat gluten free due to ibs. I went off gluten in February of 2012. Our trip was Sept 2012. I freaking miss gluten. It's wonderful and I love it. I had decided to go off the wagon for specific treats in Vegas.

    I heard about that cupcake bar and it shot to the top of my must do list. I read all the info I could find online about these cupcakes. I dreamed and daydreamed about cupcakes. I annoyed my husband with stories of which cupcakes I was going to eat. Months of this.

    We finally get there and we found a table very close to the cupcake bar. I wiggled in my chair like a 3 year old all through dinner and kept looking over the cupcakes. Irritating my husband, I am sure. I walked past them every time I went to get food. I ate really small tastes of dinner so I had room for cupcakes.

    Finally...it's time for dessert. I got 3 cupcakes. I said a little prayer of thanks to God before taking a bite out of the first one. It sucked. The icing was greasy. The cake part just wasn't good. I thought OK, bad luck, grab the next one. Also sucked. Next one also sucked. I almost cried. I went to the ladies room and took a minute to pull it back together.

    I don't remember if they had alternative desserts but my husband bought me an overpriced margarita at PH because it looked like a Westward Ho marg and brought me into a jewellery store and let me buy something cheap (usually has an attitude about my jewellery addiction) to cheer me up.

    Anyway, that's my story.
     
  19. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    We bought the 2 for 1 groupon and heading there at the end of Aug.
    Will be happy to provide feedback.
     
  20. luckylinda

    luckylinda High-Roller

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    loladoggie your story is so sad, I was feeling your pain.:cheers:
     
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