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如此感恩节，快乐感恩节！(餐馆巧遇网友一家)

(2011-11-25 12:43:50) 下一个

每年感恩节聚会都是在朋友家里过的，没有什么好东西吃，这到不是朋友小气，是因为他们早就变成了素食主义者，对他们而言健康是头等大事，而聚会的意义就在于能再次聚首，互谈感想。对此我真不以为然，玩好，吃好，像小时候过年一样，那才叫一个完美。

今年就有人别出心裁，想出到饭店过感恩节的创意来。大家都很赞成，于是发起人预先订了位置，规定晚上5点钟大家都去指定的那家餐馆碰面，于是几十个人的聚会就这样敲定下来。她订的一家新开张不久的大型餐馆，叫皇家(ROYAL)，以自助餐为主。其规模之大，装璜之华丽，食品之丰富，海产品之新鲜美是我出国十多年见过的，无论在加拿大还是美国都绝无仅有。唯一缺点是路途太远，我是3点半从家里出发的，在高速公路上多以每小时80迈的速度行使，到那里时也已经是4点50了，还好我是第一个到的。由于是预先订位，所以不用排队。我一进去，顿时被琳琅满目的美食搞得兴奋起来，不满你们说，在芝加哥大陆华人圈里，我应该算个不错的食客，毫不夸张地说，中国城大小餐馆和各处自助餐馆我几乎都去过，而且十多年里每周都不少于三次在餐馆里用餐，虽然许多大陆客都说在外面吃东西不卫生，但我还是依然故我，一如既往的往返与不同的餐馆之间。我把住称之为安慰活动，一周做五天饭，真是够够的。刚出炉的烤鸭真是棒极了，清蒸蓝蟹黄肥肉鲜。生蚝，海螺，煎三文鱼，飞鱼，龙利，浇汁鱼，清蒸鱼，葱爆龙虾，椒盐虾，炒菜，各类铁板烧，酱牛肉，舌头，猪蹄，品种繁多的寿司，葱油饼，馅饼，粽子。。。。。。。我也只能浅尝辄止，这时真得感到肚子的容积不够了。当然这里的价钱也是普通自助餐贵出几乎一倍。但比TODAI 便宜，而且东西也丰富的得多。

我才没傻到等人齐了才吃呢，一见到吃的我就斯文尽失，有人说我是饿死鬼托生的，也许真的是俺娘生俺时，正赶上三年自然灾害，那时农村穷的饿死许多人，有些地方树皮都扒光了。还好我们中国人好养活，喝西北风都长到183。我选了个离餐台最近的地方坐下，洗过手就像吃冤家似的大吃起来。就这我还在心里不停地感谢自己的先见之明，不然人到齐了，我的吃相还不顺风传千里，咱中国人不就喜欢张家长李家短的吗。不讲究是最自在的，这是我多年的人生经验啊！哈哈。

我正吃的兴起，突然眼前一亮，网友。哈哈，没有事先越好，这就是缘分了。我马上喊他的网名，哈哈，真名没记住。这下可好，正在聚精会神选东西吃的网友吓了一跳，看到我坐在那里，马上走上前来问候，还有些不好意思没看到我，哈哈，我是奸商，无论身处何时何地都能眼观六路，耳听八方，我先看到对方是再自然不过的了。网友一家都来了，还有他的朋友一家，我一一寒喧，然后各就各位。我一边吃一边想，这真是无巧不成书，平时约大家可能还没有时间聚聚呢。我吃的差不多时，聚会的人才路路续续到齐，这时我自然而然地做起了大家的导食，一边指点江山，一边海阔天空。大家聊到很好，吃的更满意，气氛相当融洽。哈哈，聚会的目的达到了。

我在回家的路上信誓旦旦的对自己说，儿子一回来就领他来过瘾，再有网友来，也可以带他们来这里。我开心，别人也开心的结果最好！叫什么来着，对了，双赢！在餐桌上有人提议晚上不回家了，直接去premtum outlets购物。我没有那么大瘾，决定还是先回去睡上几个小时，需要网购的东西交儿子完成。黑色星期五，我醒来就6点了，沏了杯茶，就摸黑出去了，披星戴月啊！我一口气开了1个多小时的车，过了两个收费口，终于到了邻近一个州的outlets开始采购。北脸和卖包的地方都排长队，每次只放10个人进去。他们比我还奸商，人在冷风里站了几十分钟，不憋足劲了买东西才怪呢，否则都觉得亏的慌。纵观整个OUTLETS里亚洲脸最多，看来咱们中国人都过得挺滋润的，这是好事啊！鞋几乎没有降价，尤其是我喜欢的牌子Clarks，这让我很失望。其它东西真比平时便宜，就拿polo羽绒服来说吧，几天前我在JCpenney看到同样东西卖200多，今天省了50多刀呢。

在回家的路上我又去office depot。买了十台打印机，昨天还有个网友发悄悄话问我买什么样的打印机呢，我当然推荐他买激光的，才39刀，用三年不用换墨，便宜到家了。

回来就坐在这里写心得，哈哈，晚上再找家馆子啜一顿，一天就过去了，满充实的。日子啊，得过且过，谁让咱就是平头百姓呢? 把生活标准降低些，就能天天快乐，幸福！现在那个不是吃的起，用得起，日子比过去老师说的土豆炖牛肉的共产主义还好，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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