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如此感恩節，快樂感恩節！(餐館巧遇網友一家)

(2011-11-25 12:43:50) 下一個

每年感恩節聚會都是在朋友家裏過的，沒有什麽好東西吃，這到不是朋友小氣，是因為他們早就變成了素食主義者，對他們而言健康是頭等大事，而聚會的意義就在於能再次聚首，互談感想。對此我真不以為然，玩好，吃好，像小時候過年一樣，那才叫一個完美。

今年就有人別出心裁，想出到飯店過感恩節的創意來。大家都很讚成，於是發起人預先訂了位置，規定晚上5點鍾大家都去指定的那家餐館碰麵，於是幾十個人的聚會就這樣敲定下來。她訂的一家新開張不久的大型餐館，叫皇家(ROYAL)，以自助餐為主。其規模之大，裝璜之華麗，食品之豐富，海產品之新鮮美是我出國十多年見過的，無論在加拿大還是美國都絕無僅有。唯一缺點是路途太遠，我是3點半從家裏出發的，在高速公路上多以每小時80邁的速度行使，到那裏時也已經是4點50了，還好我是第一個到的。由於是預先訂位，所以不用排隊。我一進去，頓時被琳琅滿目的美食搞得興奮起來，不滿你們說，在芝加哥大陸華人圈裏，我應該算個不錯的食客，毫不誇張地說，中國城大小餐館和各處自助餐館我幾乎都去過，而且十多年裏每周都不少於三次在餐館裏用餐，雖然許多大陸客都說在外麵吃東西不衛生，但我還是依然故我，一如既往的往返與不同的餐館之間。我把住稱之為安慰活動，一周做五天飯，真是夠夠的。剛出爐的烤鴨真是棒極了，清蒸藍蟹黃肥肉鮮。生蠔，海螺，煎三文魚，飛魚，龍利，澆汁魚，清蒸魚，蔥爆龍蝦，椒鹽蝦，炒菜，各類鐵板燒，醬牛肉，舌頭，豬蹄，品種繁多的壽司，蔥油餅，餡餅，粽子。。。。。。。我也隻能淺嚐輒止，這時真得感到肚子的容積不夠了。當然這裏的價錢也是普通自助餐貴出幾乎一倍。但比TODAI 便宜，而且東西也豐富的得多。

我才沒傻到等人齊了才吃呢，一見到吃的我就斯文盡失，有人說我是餓死鬼托生的，也許真的是俺娘生俺時，正趕上三年自然災害，那時農村窮的餓死許多人，有些地方樹皮都扒光了。還好我們中國人好養活，喝西北風都長到183。我選了個離餐台最近的地方坐下，洗過手就像吃冤家似的大吃起來。就這我還在心裏不停地感謝自己的先見之明，不然人到齊了，我的吃相還不順風傳千裏，咱中國人不就喜歡張家長李家短的嗎。不講究是最自在的，這是我多年的人生經驗啊！哈哈。

我正吃的興起，突然眼前一亮，網友。哈哈，沒有事先越好，這就是緣分了。我馬上喊他的網名，哈哈，真名沒記住。這下可好，正在聚精會神選東西吃的網友嚇了一跳，看到我坐在那裏，馬上走上前來問候，還有些不好意思沒看到我，哈哈，我是奸商，無論身處何時何地都能眼觀六路，耳聽八方，我先看到對方是再自然不過的了。網友一家都來了，還有他的朋友一家，我一一寒喧，然後各就各位。我一邊吃一邊想，這真是無巧不成書，平時約大家可能還沒有時間聚聚呢。我吃的差不多時，聚會的人才路路續續到齊，這時我自然而然地做起了大家的導食，一邊指點江山，一邊海闊天空。大家聊到很好，吃的更滿意，氣氛相當融洽。哈哈，聚會的目的達到了。

我在回家的路上信誓旦旦的對自己說，兒子一回來就領他來過癮，再有網友來，也可以帶他們來這裏。我開心，別人也開心的結果最好！叫什麽來著，對了，雙贏！在餐桌上有人提議晚上不回家了，直接去premtum outlets購物。我沒有那麽大癮，決定還是先回去睡上幾個小時，需要網購的東西交兒子完成。黑色星期五，我醒來就6點了，沏了杯茶，就摸黑出去了，披星戴月啊！我一口氣開了1個多小時的車，過了兩個收費口，終於到了鄰近一個州的outlets開始采購。北臉和賣包的地方都排長隊，每次隻放10個人進去。他們比我還奸商，人在冷風裏站了幾十分鍾，不憋足勁了買東西才怪呢，否則都覺得虧的慌。縱觀整個OUTLETS裏亞洲臉最多，看來咱們中國人都過得挺滋潤的，這是好事啊！鞋幾乎沒有降價，尤其是我喜歡的牌子Clarks，這讓我很失望。其它東西真比平時便宜，就拿polo羽絨服來說吧，幾天前我在JCpenney看到同樣東西賣200多，今天省了50多刀呢。

在回家的路上我又去office depot。買了十台打印機，昨天還有個網友發悄悄話問我買什麽樣的打印機呢，我當然推薦他買激光的，才39刀，用三年不用換墨，便宜到家了。

回來就坐在這裏寫心得，哈哈，晚上再找家館子啜一頓，一天就過去了，滿充實的。日子啊，得過且過，誰讓咱就是平頭百姓呢? 把生活標準降低些，就能天天快樂，幸福！現在那個不是吃的起，用得起，日子比過去老師說的土豆燉牛肉的共產主義還好，美啊！

一食客留言:This is a very interesting restaurant that is so big it's almost like cramming Todai and Crazy Buffet into a single concept. The only buffet that I can think of that's of a similar size is Buffet City in Oak Lawn. The decorations are very nice and the selection is huge with a grill, sushi, Chinese food, Dim Sum, typical buffet items, seafood, desserts, ice cream, cotton candy machine, and more. If you're comparing this to Todai, I think it's a better choice since there's a lot more room to walk around, dinner price is better (about $20), drink prices are better (about $2), and the hot food is nicer. To match the nice decor, we experienced excellent service with a waiter that was very attentive and knowledgeable about the food. The only real drawbacks are that this place can get very busy, even early (like before 6 p.m.), getting good seafood items (like abalone with mushrooms, fried whole fish, crab legs, etc.) can be quite competitive, and depending on what time of day you go the food can sometimes be cold.I think that the food temperature is what accounts for the high level of variance in experiences between the diners. When the food is nice and hot, the food is actually quite comparable to the best Chinese restaurants in the area. In fact, I feel it is a bit less salty and can be better in texture than them. However, like with a lot of Chinese food, when it is cold it can feel oily and the flavor does not come out as well. So really you have to decide between a more relaxed meal with colder food or possibly having to wait for a seat but delicious food. Personally, I'd rather wait and be competitive for food so that I can get the best possible taste out of it. Plan accordingly for the experience you prefer.As for the food, it would take a long time to really describe everything so here are some highlights (these aren't the only good items, just I don't have the capacity to try every item they offer):Pot stickers - nice and juicy inside with a crisp skin, great when they come out fresh.Shrimp skewer - the vegetables are plump and juicy although the shrimp could use a little more seasoning.Rainbow roll - Fresh and light, great for starting the meal.Halibut fillet - A little under-seasoned I think but a surprising item on their menu.Philadelphia roll, dragon roll, shrimp tempura roll - very similar to other local Japanese restaurants. Not among the best but a solid choice, a bit above average for buffet maki.Mongolian beef - The beef is very nice and tender.Hot tea - Tastes like Lipton Mandarin Orange Green Tea, quite nice if you've never tried it before.Thai style fried whole fish - I think it was red snapper or rainbow trout, either way it was delicious and a very surprising choice for a buffet that wasn't that expensive.Mayonnaise shrimp - Nice light and crisp when it comes out fresh.Fried chicken - a bit better than the normal fried chicken you get from most Chinese buffets. The batter was nice and crunchy.Beef tripe - Not as flavorful or salty as you expect from dim sum restaurants but still pretty good.Pork spareribs - On par with most dim sum restaurants.Roast duck - Good for a buffet, not as nice as the fresh ones you get from Chinatown but it's hard to get this item out in the suburbs.Cantonese seafood soup - Could have used more seafood but a solid choice with pretty good flavor.Clam and wintermelon soup - You don't see this too often and the version the buffet does is actually pretty good. It would be excellent if they would add a bit of ginger to it to complement the flavor of the broth.Chive pancake - Nice and crispy when it's fresh. One of my favorite items.Chive dumping - As good as most Chinatown restaurants when it's fresh. It is not too salty but have a good strong flavor of chives.Fish ball on a stick - too bad I didn't see them serve octopus balls but these are pretty addictive as well.Red bean ice cream - Delicious, it was still good even though they ran out of my first choice (green tea ice cream).Cotton candy - Spun fresh. If you haven't tried cotton candy hot out of the spinner, you are missing out on a delicious experience (well, I guess as gourmet as cheaper candy can get).Cold jellyfish - about as good as other Chinese restaurants make it.Abalone and sea cucumber with mushrooms - Not sure if these are all real ingredients but the taste was pretty good. Surprising it's even offered considered how expensive these ingredients are.At this point I was stuffed beyond belief and I wasn't even close to trying a fraction of their items. They have an impressive selection of dim sum and sushi items I still want to try but it make take several more trips to sample them all. Throughout the night it did seem that items than ran out were being replaced with new items so that every time I took a trip to the buffet I'd run across new things. This buffet is truly impressive in both scale and scope.

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