Time to Eat for Thanks

Happy Turkey Day to everyone.  As everyone is sitting relaxing after stuffing themselves with a big ol’ meal, I have decided to spend a few moments to review all of the food that I gorged myself with this evening at our Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet.  We are currently inBlairsvilleGAat my Grandparents home and went to the Brasstown Valley Resort for Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet.  The buffet was $40 and included a very wide variety of food.  I was excited to go and even more excited to not spend the day in the kitchen cooking Thanksgiving Dinner. 

 

I really don’t care for the holiday of Thanksgiving.  Of course I am thankful on a daily basis for everything that I have but Thanksgiving itself, eh.  I don’t care for turkey or any of the ‘traditional’ Thanksgiving fare.  I also don’t care for spending the entire day in the kitchen cooking.  Yes, I enjoy to cook but, spending an entire day doing so is just not all too exciting.  I found the buffet online and after reviewing the menu, we all decided to go for it.  Aside from all traditional Thanksgiving Fare, the buffet was also serving Prime Rib, Cheese & Bread Platter, Seafood Bar, Salads, Pork, Dessert Bar and quite a bit more.  Mmm mmm…time to begin the reviews.

 

We arrived to a very crowded resort and were brought to our table.  Our waitress brought us water and I also ordered Unsweet Iced Tea.  The iced tea was absolutely amazing.  I literally had 10 glasses worth…it was that good.  So fresh and strong – it was just amazing.  The waitress literally could not keep my glass full…I was drinking it that quickly.  My first serving I went to the salad and cheese area.  The salad area offered lettuce or mixed greens, Caesar Salad toppings, dressings, Lobster & Crab salad, Ambrosia Salad and Mozzarella & Tomato salad.  I was some what disappointed that they did not have additional toppings for the salad.  I got a plate full of lettuce with ranch dressing along with Mozzarella & Tomato Salad, a piece of each bread and a few pieces of cheese.  The lettuce was very crisp and fresh and the dressing was quite good.  The dressing did not have a fake taste at all and just a bit went a long way.  The mozzarella and tomato salad was amazing.  The small mozzarella balls had amazing, fresh flavor.  The tomatoes were the perfect size and perfectly sweet.  The cheese and tomatoes were in a slight balsamic dressing that was not too bitter in flavor or overbearing in the least.  There were three types of bread – a brown bread, white bread and crispy cracker like bread.  The brown was perhaps a wheat or pumpernickel and was good.  It was very soft and had a nice flavor throughout.  The white bread had a few fillings but I really couldn’t tell what it was.  None of the flavors stood out.  Though the bread was quite soft, I just couldn’t pick out any flavors.  The crispy cracker like bread was Everything flavor but I just didn’t really like it.  It was tasty but I guess I just wasn’t feeling the crispy bread.  I was only able to get a few pieces of cheddar cheese on this run as the cheese platter was almost out.  They were warm and I did not like them.  First plate completed and ready for more.

 

My second plate consisted of more salad & dressing, more of the mozzarella & tomato salad, another piece of the brown bread and (new) the Lobster & Crab Salad and some Tater Tots from the kids buffet table.  The Lobster & Crab Salad was amazing.  It was served cold and was simply pieces of crab and lobster mixed together.  The crab chunks were large and super fresh.  The crab was so delicious – sweet and fresh.  You could taste the freshness in every bite…you could really tell it was good, quality crab.  The lobster was amazing as well.  My salad had huge chunks of lobster that was sweet and also very fresh.  The combination of the crab and lobster made for a simply delicious salad.  Tater Tots are one of my favorites and I never really have them too often.  I visited the small kids table and got a few.  The tater tots were not too salted – which was a good thing – and had a crispy exterior with a soft interior.  They were hot and fresh and went well with the cold salads.  Plate two down and delish.

 

Next plate included Corn, Broccoli, more Lobster & Crab salad, yet another piece of brown bread, even more Mozzarella & Cheese salad, another serving of tater tots and a few pieces of sweet potato from the candied sweet potatoes.  The corn was super creamy and cooked just right.  It was buttery yet not too much and had a really great consistency.  The broccoli was tender and sweet.  I really enjoyed the flavor of the broccoli.  The pieces of sweet potato I got did not have any marshmallows nor a lot of syrup – which is just what I wanted.  The potatoes were moist and very flavorful.  Though they were much sweeter than sweet potatoes on their own, they were not to the point where it was unbearable.  I did not feel like I had a sugar rush after eating these which was a good thing for sure.  Another plate cleaned.

 

Plate number four had more corn, more broccoli, another salad & dressing, more sweet potatoes and pieces of cheddar cheese.  Just as I was filling up plate, they brought out more cheese.  The cheese was so cold which is just the way I like them.  The cheese was a mild to sharp cheddar and very creamy.  I wish they would have had all of this cheese out the entire meal because this is one of my favs.  I love the bite sized, cold cheddar cheese pieces with my entire meal.  The multiples of the rest of the food on this plate were all equally good.  The sweet potatoes were fresh when I got them and just as tasty.  The salad again was great.  I debated going back for another plate of meal food but decided to move on to the dessert bar instead.  I wanted to leave full but not to the point of being sick.

 

On the menu, they advertised a sundae bar and seasonal pies and desserts.  I was really looking forward to this and was disappointed when I found that it was only ice cream and a few toppings.  I got a scoop of ice cream and put hot fudge on it.  I was shocked that they didn’t have bowls for the ice cream and the plates were warm.  Hmm.  I got back to the table and began to eat the ice cream.  I found right away that the advertised hot fudge was actually chocolate syrup.  This really bummed me out because I just love hot fudge.  The ice cream was vanilla and decent.  The chocolate syrup had the normal fake taste to it and just was okay.  Nothing great here for dessert round 1.

 

I am not a big pie person and was expecting additional dessert items to the pie.  They did have a berry cobbler along with a bread pudding but I do not fancy either of these items either.  I tried a piece of the Mint Pie but passed on all other choices.  The mint pie had a chocolate crust, a chocolate pudding layer, a mint whipped mousse layer and a chocolate whipped mousse layer.  I was not a huge fan of the whipped mousse inconsistency but the flavor of these layers was good.  The mint layer had a true mint taste and did not taste fake and processed.  I really enjoyed the chocolate crust and chocolate pudding layer in the pie.  The chocolate crust was semi-sweet and worked well with the rich chocolate pudding layer.  I ate all of that and some of the whipped mousse layer.  I simply just couldn’t do all of the consistency of the whipped mousse layer.  Dessert completed.

 

Overall, I think this buffet was really great.  I enjoyed everything that I ate and left feeling full but not overly full.  There were a few things that I would improve on but, really think they provided a lot of food and options for a reasonable price.  Even better was the fact that I did not spend the day in the kitchen and had additional options I normally don’t have for Thanksgiving.  The salads were by far my favorite items of the night.  The Brasstown Valley Resort is a lovely setting for a great family meal.  This Thanksgiving meal was great and I am very lucky that I got to spend it with my great family.