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Battle of the Buffets |
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Boulder Station By: The Lady of The Night Out Where can you get the best hamburger in town? Here’s the surprising answer: the buffet at Boulder Station. At lunch one of the buffet cooks grills burgers to order. The buffet line has the fresh fixin’s: ruby red tomatoes, crisp iceberg lettuce, and circles of pearly raw onions. The cook will even toast the Kaiser roll. 99.9 percent of the diners had a hamburger on their plates. In N Out: watch out! Ditto for any local Mexican taqueria. The do-it-yourself tacos were the other must have item. There was a wealth of stuffings for the crunchy corn tortillas. The ground taco meat was terrific: lots of chili powder created that south of the border feel. No grease anywhere – a welcome surprise. Another Mexican winner was the chile verde. This is a Mexican style beef stew with green chilies taking center stage. The cooking robbed the chilies of their intense heat, leaving just a nice glow. The stew meat was tender like brisket. My favorite item on the buffet was the macaroni and cheese. Boulder Station uses bow tie pasta instead of tubes. The changing shape made the dish taste more fun. The ties were hidden in a mountain of melted cheddar. The sharp tang and gooey texture of the cheese make this an American classic. Add some cracked black pepper and it’s perfect. The stuffed cabbage was also tasty. The stuffing was a ground meat mixed with white rice that’s cooked in a hearty tomato sauce. Don’t miss the baked beans. They had such a wonderful smoky flavor I wondered why my eyes didn’t sting. Boulder Station also serves a wonderful fried catfish. Catfish quarters are coated in a peppery cornmeal batter. The crust was crisp, crisp, crisp. Save room for dessert. Although there’s not much choice, Boulder Station offers one of the best desserts in the buffet firmament. The chocolate cake screams chocolate. It’s almost as dense as a flourless cake but still has a lightness of being. The icing is deeply chocolate without being sickeningly sweet. The spine of the cake sparkles with chocolate sprinkles. There were a few misses. The guacamole was too salty. Same with the mashed potatoes. They were mashed with their skins on for a lovely contrast of silky and sinewy. But the overdose of salt ruined everything. The fried okra needed more oomph. And the lemon cake was too dry and not tart enough. This older buffet has no Italian or Asian stations, so these cuisines are underrepresented here. Also, I have to carp about the fish offerings: not many. I still rue the passing of Boulder Station’s week-end late night breakfast buffets. In the mid-90’s, this buffet had the most amazing nibbles after 11 p.m. I still dream about those made to order omelets I inhaled after a wild night at the Railhead. Who thought they were a bad idea? With all Station casino buffets lowering their buffet prices 30 percent, I was curious to taste the results. The lines were definitely longer. At 1:30 I still had to wait 30 minutes. 
Night Out Las Vegas' Other Reviews - |
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