Sterling Brunch 12/15/2019

I've been wanting to try this Sterling Brunch for the past few years but usually my stays didn't align properly. This time, I was alone for a Saturday night stay and I was able to secure a reservations. I've been here on two weekends this year but I didn't want to go off and do this by myself when on a trip with someone, and my travelling companions felt they wouldn't get their money's worth.

Just a few notes on how I view food. I'm not the most discerning eater and I usually prefer higher quantities even if the quality is a little lower. I think I'm only good for commenting on if food is exceptional or if it is of poor quality.

I'll post the pics of every plate I ate below from my phone. I'm typing this up on the computer so if someone views it right away before I can add the pics, that is the reason there were no pics yet.

Note, that I'm a competitive eater (good enough to beat random competitors that I don't recognize at contests, but there are a lot of serious names with can beat me). I even felt that I probably didn't get my money's worth (which is a big goal of mine in buffets). Sure, I ate at least double what the average person would but I like to cost the buffet money if possible (hard to do at $120 price point, but I can do it easily at some local joints). I don't think the average person would get anywhere near $120 worth. I don't think I'd do this again. I used the $100 Diamond Celebration dinner plus $25 in rewards credits (I do love how there's no tax if you use pure comps). I also left $25 tip. I think I'd rather use the $100 celebration dinner on two Bacchanal Buffets at 3:45PM (which means you get dinner items in 15 minutes for the lunch price). I enjoyed the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars more than this.

I think I'm spoiled by a buffet in the Chicago area that has AYCE lobster on Wednesdays and Fridays. I felt that buffet (Royal Buffet in Hoffman Estates, IL) has better tasting lobster (not surprising I suppose considering Royal Buffet cooks fresh lobsters, where I think these lobster tails are frozen (I've seen people mention that in the Tripadvisor reviews). The first lobster tails I got from the buffet were good (when the buffet opened). Later, I felt that some of the tails I got seemed mushy and didn't taste as good. Royal Buffet is $30 for AYCE lobster and like 100 other items (you get half a lobster and some crab legs pre plated every time you fall in line and I never have a problem getting all that I want to eat). Again, I'm spoiled by the higher quality at such a low price point back home (this is another reason I've never tried the Rio Seafood Buffet).

I didn't think that the oysters were that good, but it might just be seasonal. Back in Oct, I had 6 oysters at the Oyster Bar place in Harrah's Las Vegas and I didn't think those were very good (especially at the $18 for a half dozen price, and I don't think they were any better than these). Ive had good oysters at the Horseshoe Hammond but that was last year.

I had a slice of the prime rib, as you can see. I liked it but not much more than the Paradise Buffet Prime Rib that I mentioned in another thread. I would have eaten more of it, but I wanted to maximize on the lobster and a bit of the lamb chops. I did like the lamb chops. I also like the filet piece on the hot plate.

I ate a bunch of the caviar servings at the end bc I just wanted to ring up my cost to the buffet but I didn't really care for it.

I tried the stone crab claw and the king crabs legs. I thought the king crab legs were overcooked as the shell wasn't even hard, and I felt the shell bend instead of cracking, but I don't like crab legs in general so I'm not the best judge.

I thought the nigiri sushi pieces looked dry and terrible. I wish I had snapped a pic.

Edit pics:
Buffet spread pics:




Every plate I ate:



Not the best pic, but only pic I have of the half lobster plus crab legs plate at Royal Buffet in Hoffman Estates IL:


I text friends my estimated final damage to the buffet as follows right after:

21 containers caviar, 12 lobster tails, like 24-29 oysters only, 5 rack of lamb pieces, 1 filet mignon , one slice prime rib, 1 stone crab claw, 1.5 segment king crab, 3 glasses GH mumm champagne, 5 whip cream things, 3 berry desserts, dinner roll

I told myself prior to starting that I wanted to maximize but I stopped before truly maximizing. If it were a food challenge and I had to eat more, I could have but I was sick of it when I stopped.

One more edit on desserts:

I liked the berries and whipped cream but I want to say that I feel like I've been spoiled by desserts in the Diamond/Laurel lounges, especially the Harrah's which has the most varieties. I'm convinced the lounges get some of the buffet extras.

I might be biased because I already felt this way when I saw the pics on TripAdvisor for the Sterling Brunch desserts. I felt the same way at the Bachannal buffet. I focused on getting the deserts that were unique to these buffets but I found it amusing that some reviews of both have shown pics of stuff that I've seen in the lounges.

 

Thanks for the pics!!!!

 

I definitely remember that little filet steak on the hot plate being really good. I was so shocked when I took my first bite of it, cause honestly it just didn't look like it was going to be anything special...but I think I ended up going back for at least 1 or 2 more.

Sorry to hear the seafood wasn't great. I know I thought the king crab legs were good. Can't remember what I thought of the lobster tails though.

 

OMG, you are a professional competitive eater! I've never seen someone that can eat that much. Sorry you didn't like the quality of the food. Your local buffet is serving snow crab legs (at about a quarter the price) rather than king crab legs. The lobsters are also quite a bit smaller than the full size ones at Sterling. But, I'm glad you like what your local is cooking up as it's much easier for you to indulge.

 

12 Lobster tails and at least 2 dozen oysters would kill the average soul. Plus all the rest. WOW. Thank you for sharing. I feel the same as you but I am glad I did it ONCE. Once is enough.

 

Glad you won.

 

$120 for enough food for a week ain't bad If you were a bear you could safely now go into hibernation

 

double post - everything in this thread is done to excess This is not meant as criticism - I am truly in awe (amongst other emotions)

 

I agree. I expected it to be overcooked but I was surprised when I cut into it. I should've eaten more of those filets.

 

I think I just am not really into crab legs for some Reason. When I took the pic at Royal, I was giving my friend the crab legs. I think the best king crab legs I had were at Bellagio buffet probably around 2001 or 2002.

Apparently there's a newer place in Chicago that does AYCE king crab legs but after having them at Sterling brunch, I don't want to go now.

 

This buffet will remain on my bucket list until I get there.

 

Thanks very much for the detailed photos, even though it looks far more pitiful than the reviews made it out to be.

Part of me feels like one would get far better dollar value out of getting a $75 seafood tower at a "real" seafood restaurant prepared to order, and then going to an average $25-ish buffet right after for desserts and perhaps a few other extras like prime rib.

Even as a seafood lover, I can't imagine myself getting $120+ worth of value out of the pictured seafood. Even if I had your competitive eating abilities

 

To be fair, my pics are missing another section, the area with the sad looking nigiri, the caviar and a few other items. It was directly to the left of the desserts. I also didn't take a pic of the omelette station that also had some other breakfast items but obviously that isn't what people come to the Sterling Brunch for and I didn't touch any items there.

The other change I noticed is that reviews said that apparently there used to be items you'd order off menu (I remember caviar being mentioned as an item from that menu). I guess this has changed and everything is just at the buffet spread (or I just never got the menu but this seems unlikely).

 

We were there this month as well. Paid the full $125. Definitely not worth it and would not return. We are lobster tail lovers so figured eating copious amount of those would make the price well worth it! Tried a few and they were very mushy as previously stated and just weren’t good. Big disappointment. My husband said the sushi was mediocre. The filet wasn’t bad, the lobster ravioli was delish and the French toast was wonderful. Other items were ok to good but no better than other less expensive buffets. Bottomless mimosas were tasty and the service was pretty good. Glad we tried it but wouldn’t recommend even with the $100 celebration dinner.

 

If lobster tails are the main event, doesn't Silverton have an AYCE real sized lobster tail buffet on Fridays for about $40?

 

I wonder what the damage would've been if you actually liked the food?

I've always wanted to try this buffet, but I can't justify the cost.

 

Unless you are getting a whole lobster with the claws, the tail is most likely a frozen warm water spiny lobster from the Bahamas. Sometimes they get thawed and refrozen through the supply chain and that can cause the meat to be mushy. Plus, sitting in a warming tray under a heat lamp does not help. Whole lobsters from Maine, New Brunswick or Nova Scotia are shipped live. You can buy just the tail from a whole lobster, but these are much expensive and are frozen.

Thanks for the detailed write up, it confirms my thoughts about this brunch. While I’m not a competitive eater, I can put away the groceries. I don’t think it would be worth my while. I’m not a big fan of champagne either.

 

I’m thinking you have experienced this before

 

I should've tasted the sushi but all I remember is that it didn't look appetizing at all and I got there when it opened which means at least the first batch should've looked good. Some of the pieces seriously looked like the paradise buffet pieces that were sitting out for awhile.

I kept thinking the Bachannal sushi was better. I found this pic from last year and I guess it at least was better than what I found at Sterling Brunch.

Not the best pic and sushi doesn't look great but these pieces look great compared to what I remember from last Sunday's Sterling brunch sushi spread:



I saw I had the bill photo from Bachannal. I'd say this way a far better use of the Diamond celebration dinner:

Thanks for the info about the lobster tails.

Royal Buffet cooks up whole lobsters and then cuts them in half and serves the half along with snow crab legs. I guess that explains why it is so much better as they were cooked from live lobsters.

The reviews I've read and other comments here plus my experience confirm that these mushy tails at Sterling Brunch are a common occurrence.

 

Silverton's AYCE Lobster buffet runs about $40 but there is a 50% off coupon in the ACG/LVA that will cut the price down to $20'ish. I've heard the lobster tails have gotten smaller over time but you can still grab 2 tails per trip. At $20 it's a killer deal.