I decided to make my first experience at the Grasshopper their monthly Sunday buffet, which is available on the third Sunday for $10 ($10.70 after tax) all day long.
The place filled up pretty well during my meal, but we didn't exactly reach full capacity, as the staff's action of attempting to seat separate parties right on top of each other had led me to believe. While my dirty plates were never removed, water was poured and refilled, so I didn't mind.
The buffet was laid out by the front window, which worried me somewhat, as the noon day sun drenched items that I imagined would have been better kept cool - such as the plate of fresh rolls, and the cubed tofu by the soups. But since the buffet had been laid out only recently, I figured it was safe enough.
Options included two soups (deconstructed miso soup that you could add the tofu cubes and dried seaweed to your heart's content, and spicy hot and sour soup), several appetizers (the above mentioned fresh rolls, fried vegetarian spring rolls, vegi-chicken fingers, fried vegetarian wonton, fried vegetarian dumpling, stir-fried assorted fresh vegetables, kale and seitan, spicy black peppers and garlic beef-style seitan, the specialty No Name, lomein noodles with vegi-beef, brown rice, fresh lettuce, pickled carrots and daikon, and a selection of dressing and sauces.
Everything was fine, but I especially enjoyed the fried springrolls and the No Name, which reminded me greatly of General Gau Chicken, minus the spicy. And I noticed red bits and pepper seeds among many of the dishes offered in the buffet, which briefly caused this spice wimp some concern as to whether she'd find anything to eat, but no, they weren't too hot for me.
The fake meats found within the fried batter of the fingers and the No Name were rectangular slices reminiscent of Indian paneer in taste and texture.
If you're hoping to use one of those discount vouchers that you picked up online at the Grasshopper, save yourself a bit of trouble and/or embarrassment - even if the voucher itself doesn't say otherwise, the owner won't let you use it for the Sunday buffet special. Save it to use for a regular lunch or dinner instead. Hopefully they'll clarify things on the next deal they decide to offer, so that everything is correctly spelled out for both our sakes (restaurant and patron).
3 stars.
*** 5/2011 visit ***
For dinner, two of us shared the #52 House Vermicelli Noodles with Roasted Veggie-Pork, Pork-Chop, Spring-roll, Rice Cake and Salad $10.50 and a less spicy version of the #44 Spicy Curry Vermicelli Noodles with Sweet Potato and Tofu Broth $8.50 and still had leftovers to go.
#52 surprised me by arriving with a bowl of hot water and a plate of dry rice paper to roll with. Yay! Fun with food! And it was a generous # of sheets - maybe 10?
#44 was creamy good, but maybe a little too one note a dish to just have as my entire meal. Good thing we were sharing both!
The ladies' room was a large single person handicap accessible one.
Fun overheard quote of the evening: "It doesn't look good, but it tastes really good." read more