A friend of mine went to dinner at The Lucky Buffet in Palm Coast
Florida and afterward, told me he was astounded by the selection and
quality of the sushi offered on the "All you can eat" buffet for $12 a
person.

After reading many times about how this was unlikely, I decided to
give it a try. I've been spending $50 a visit for my usual place and
I've had to cut back because of the cost.

Well, I went last night. I arrived at 6:15pm and the place was about
1/3 full of customers. By 6:45pm, almost no seats were available and
the place holds about 200 customers.

The staff were surprisingly helpful and seemed happy. English was
spoken fairly well and always with a light tone and a smile. This is
much different than what I've experienced in the AYCE places before,
having been treated as a cow by unhappy, unsmiling, sometimes rude
employees.

Now for the food.

The sushi consisted of an unheard of 8 different types of Nigiri
sushi, and 10 types of rolls. All were in portions that were balanced
and displayed well.

Two sushi chefs were working almost non-stop and each item was timed
as to provide about 6 pieces of Nigiri and two rolls at a time on the
serving plates.

I had requested seating so that I could watch the entire sushi area
and the chefs. They were both young. About mid twenties. Both showed a
professional bearing and were very conscientious about the cleanliness
of there respective work areas. Their ability was unmatched by
anything I've seen in much more prestigious surroundings. Each roll
and each piece of Nigiri was created using very fresh looking
ingredients and the design of the rolls was varied and interesting.
The Nigiri was prepared with a normal and appropriate sized portion of
sushi rice and the meats were fresh looking and presented in a size
that was fair and well balanced to the amount of rice.

Well, by this point in time, I was favorably impressed.

Now for the taste of the sushi.

I cannot bring myself to place one piece of one type of sushi on my
plate. It's never been done anywhere and I continued the practice of
two each. Therefore, I only had 8 types of the sushi. 16 pieces filled
me to almost being uncomfortable.

The sushi rice had a well balanced taste and the only thing that I
noticed that was mildly displeasing was that it was too tightly
packed. The flavor was not great, but was good. Not quite as sweet as
I'm used to. The meat on each piece was about 3/16th of an inch thick
and was sized to fit the rice perfectly. Each piece was an adult sized
mouth full. Very fair.

The meat was very fresh and tasted wonderful. At my first bite, I was
pleasantly surprised by it's freshness and flavor.

I was very impressed by this time.

I had Ebi, Maguro, Saba, Sake, Unagi and what appeared and tasted to
be snapper. I also had a tempura type roll that contained only
vegetables and cream cheese that was tasty and a tuna, cream cheese
type roll that was also very good.

Each bite I ate was enjoyed with one minor exception. One of the
pieces of Maguro had a stringy texture to it. The flavor was
unaffected.

During my time of eating, my waitress came by, smiled very sweetly and
observed my plate and table without saying a word. Very professional.
There was none of the waiting until your mouth is full and asking
questions. That always disappoints me when it happens.

I only took four pieces at a time and each time I was finished, the
waitress would take my plate, wipe the table and present a fresh
napkin before I returned to the table.

This is an "AYCE" place, you say? Yes, it is, and I could hardly
believe it.

The other offerings included an ice bar with steamed and raw oysters,
iced snow crab legs that were slightly overdone, (I tried one leg),
and steamed clams. The shellfish were all presented on the half shell,
but had not been detached from the muscle holding them to the shell.
None were overdone and they were presented well.

The hot bars were organized in groups of American foods, Americanized
Oriental foods, and traditional Oriental foods including all of the
usual dishes and a few that were different than I've had elsewhere.
This included a dish named "Seafood Mayonnaise" that was a battered,
seasoned whitefish mixed into a very tasty mayo base. I had a small
portion of this to try. They also had several types of soups and dim
sum.

The desert table was a delightful mixture of American and Oriental
sweets that made me wish I had a second stomach, as the one I do have
was already much too full.

I enjoyed the remainder of my mid-range sake which was served by draft
and when presented with my bill after being asked clearly and with a
beautiful smile "Are you finished eating sir?", I proceeded to the
polite and friendly cashier who accepted my Debit card and took
payment of a staggering $17.50.

This place has left an indelible entry in my list of places to go.
It's a bit of a drive for me, but well worth the experience.

All in all, I was very impressed.

Here is a link to others reviews of The Lucky Buffet:

http://www.palmcoast.biz/portal/show...1&EntryID=1966