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Any recent experiences at Rio's Village Seafood?

Discussion in 'Restaurants & Buffets' started by MisplacedTexan, Aug 3, 2013.

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  1. MisplacedTexan

    MisplacedTexan Low-Roller

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    Years and years ago, we had a great experience at Village Seafood Buffet. We've been twice since -- the second trip was almost as good as the first and the last trip (I'm thinking it was 2010), was a total disaster. Terrible, greasy food, worse service. Very, very disappointing.

    I keep hoping I will hear it's returned to being one of the best places in town, but that hasn't happened. I'd love to try it again, but at $50 a head, that will go a long way towards getting a really great meal elsewhere. We always make a point to hit one buffet and it's between this one and the Wynn at this point.

    Does anybody have any recent experiences at Village?
     
  2. codingkw

    codingkw High-Roller

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    My cousin and I went last February for the first time. I was not impressed at all. I am from Maryland, so I love seafood. We went around 5pm with no line which worried me. The food tasted like it was old and just overall not what I expected. It is not worth the money in my opinion.
     
  3. rooster42000

    rooster42000 Goat of all Goats , My Hero

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    Go to The Bachannal at Caesars
     
  4. dhlamar

    dhlamar Low-Roller

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    Nobody competes with Baltimore Seafood!!!!!!
    :nworthy:
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2013
  5. wpete

    wpete High-Roller

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    I was there last Saturday night (07/27). It was okay. Probably best all-seafood buffet in Vegas, but not great by any stretch.

    For 2 of us with players cards, the cost was about 80 bucks.
     
  6. jrinct1

    jrinct1 VIP Whale

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    I would rather go to a high end buffy and just pound the seafood. OR go to a seafood house. Since you are at the Rio , Buzio's???
     
  7. anton73

    anton73 Low-Roller

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    I went with my wife last April. We had coupons from the ACG. Can't say we were impressed
     
  8. MisplacedTexan

    MisplacedTexan Low-Roller

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    Thanks for the feedback, everybody. Pretty much what I expected. Man, I'd love for this place to make a comeback. I'd forgotten about Bacchanal. We haven't been there yet. Good suggestion!
     
  9. chef

    chef Resident Buffetologist

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    It's time for the RIO seafood buffet to close shop. Compared to seafood offerings at the high-end buffets in town, the RIO isn't anything special. In fact, it's of lesser quality.
    The mentality of Vegas buffet cookery does not lend itself well for seafood anyway. You guys need to take a lessen fro myour brethren on the east coast.
    What's the point of the RIO running two buffets anyway.
     
  10. chef

    chef Resident Buffetologist

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    **Note, this review was from a few years ago**

    Bellagio's gourmet buffet (as it is advertised on Fri & Sat) wins hands down over the seafood buffet at the Rio. If you have the choice, don't think twice - take the Bellagio, especially considering both are about the same price.
    In fact, some of the seafood offerings at the Bellagio were better than at Rio. Bellagio had king crab legs while Rio had snow legs. Bellagio had a very good chilean sea bass, Rio did not.
    We have dined (mainly with gambling comps) at the Bellagio buffet for breakfast, lunch, weekday dinner and brunch, but this for the first time for the weekend gourmet buffet.
    The real star of this buffet is the carving station, where one can dine on perfectly-cooked rack of lamb, beef wellington (w/ bernaise), among other items. The side dishes aren't too shabby either. Potatoes alone, one can find pesto mashed, genuine scalloped, potato in phyllo, and good old-fashioned sweet potatoes.
    No matter whether its lunch or dinner, Bellagio shines in the salad (somewhat french-inspired) category. Do not neglect the salad/appetizer offerings in lieu of the more big-ticket items.
    Best of the 4-5 soups was a cream of mushroom, though a green tomato gazpacho with crunchy chinese cabbage was quite refreshing. And, of course, you can never go wrong with the Bellagio's miso. I always have a small bowl of it after the dessert course as the nightcap to the entire meal.
    A few other highlights were lobster ravioli, wood-burning pizza/vegie flatbread, shrimp and scallop seviche. I'm not a big dessert guy, but the creme brule hit the spot.
    There are many other things I didn't have the chance to try, such as a decent oriental station, sushi bar, prime rib, etc. But, when you can gorge on med-rare lamb chops and beef wellington, prime rib becomes somewhat pedestrian?
    The only thing that didn't seem to belong was a poorly conceived gyro bar. The meat and pita was dried out and the accompaniments didn't look much better.
    I still need to try Wynn's weekend gourmet buffet for comparison purposes, but for now, have to give the nod to Bellagio as top buffet (not brunch) in town.
    We ate at the Rio on Friday night, using the $10 off coupon from the Harrahs' funbook. I heard some people bash this buffet and some people praise it. I wanted to find out for myself what all the fuss was about.
    To best describe my experience - I'm glad I went, but I doubt if I would go back.
    As a seafood lover, it was fun walking to our table and seeing the spread the Rio has set out. Seafood looks prettier on a buffet than the standard stuff.
    Appearances aside, the quality wasn't up to my expectations. For example, for $34.99, I expected a scallop dish or two. What I got instead was an imitation breaded scallop (which were labeled scallops).
    The warm crab legs were okay, but not even as good as what the Gold Coast has on their Thursday night seafood buffet.
    It's funny. A few days later, I'm even having trouble remembering anything that jumped out at me and bit my taste buds.
    One problem with seafood buffets is that that by its very nature, seafood does not hold up well in warming trays. It should be comsumed immediately after being cooked.
    Rio makes the mistake of over-batching and over-cooking its seafood, further accerbating the situation. For instance, I spotted some very large prawns ready to be cooked at the grill station. There was already a full pan of them on the line and likely another in a holding oven.
    Keeping with the Vegas buffet (all places do this) mentality of over-batching, I saw the grill cook throws a whole bunch of prawns on grill and proceeds to over-cook them and then let them sit while waiting for the other previously over-cooked prawns to be eaten. It's a vicious cycle that adds up to dry and tough prawns.
    It's a shame, because the raw product had so much potential. I felt like saying, 'Hey wait, don't put those on yet. Wait until the pan is nearly emptry and then just throw a few on the grill to barely cook 'em.'
    The biggest selling point on this buffet are the split lobster tails. Okay, I agree they are small and not as fresh as one can find off the coast of Maine.
    However, for being a frozen product. I enjoyed them (all 12 halves I ate). If I had to select the one thing that puts the Rio on a higher plane than the Bellagio, this would be it.
    I've had some bad lobster on buffets before, such as the lobster claws at the Fremont buffet. The Rio lobster was the real article.
    The raw oysters deserve some praise, as well. There was some other stuff that was okay, but nothing to recomend.
    The Rio also had a nice-looking piece of prime rib if you have non-fish eaters in your group.
     
  11. lowsmith

    lowsmith Low-Roller

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    We ate there back in 2003. Back then it ran about $30 and while it was OK, it was not great and felt horribly over priced for the quality.

    Side note, we ate at the Rio Carnival World buffet in 2010 and it was also just OK.

    No plans to ever try either of these again

    We have never tried one of the really high end buffets. For a great lower priced buffet I enjoy the Orleans.
     
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