Fancy Buffets 2023: The Renaissance Hotel
Hey Substackers, how’s your day going? Holiday buffet season is coming up, and that’s when this portly punter’s Stack posts shine. In fact, I’m so excited to get started, I hit one really, really early. Thankfully, this buffet isn’t seasonal—it’s weekly. It’s the Friday-Saturday fare at Flavors Restaurant in the Renaissance Hotel, Bangkok. Here’s the lowdown:
The buffet is open from 6 pm to 8 pm, which ain’t really all that long, so if you go, you want to get in early and move fast. I started by just checking out the sushi station, which looked awesome, but I wasn’t there for that. Instead, I made a plate of cold cuts and cheese, consisting of smoked duck breast, smoked salmon, Milano Salami, Serrano Ham, and Coppa. The cheeses were gorgonzola, brie, gouda, and Emmental.
There were four fantastic-looking salads but I skipped those as well. I also skipped the snails, prawn, and oysters because I’m a chicken shit and instead loaded up with crab legs and rock lobster. All of the aforementioned were on ice, of course, but little did I know that further down the line was a station where they’d take a crab/lobster/oyster/octopus/etc. and cook it for you. For my money, the hot lobster beats the cold lobster handily. There’s also a midway grill where they cook up slabs of beef, lamb on the bone, sausage, and squid again.
But for this buffet, you’re better of skipping it and heading straight to the prime rib and lamb leg station. These two meats were the stars of the show. The prime rib was perfectly-cooked and out of this world. But the lamb—Holy Christ, reader. The lamb. As Jodie Foster said in “Contact,” they should’ve sent a poet…to the lamb leg station. ‘Twas the best I’ve tasted since the last time I was in Napa. I also picked up some braised duck and seared pear, which was delightful.
I also got the free-flow wine deal for 699b and ordered one sauvignon blanc to pair with the seafood plus a cabernet for the meat. Both were divine and made the food absolutely sing.
They also had a somtam station, an assortment of Indian food, and chocolate and strawberry cake, which I skipped.
For dessert, I opted for crepes suzette, ice cream, something called a peanut butter stone, apple tart, and mango-sticky rice. Everything was top-notch, and a bargain when you threw in the 30% discount: 2238 all-in, including the booze.
In the coming months, I’m going to hit the best Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s buffets around Bangkok, so if you want to know where all the best ones are and how they shake out, stay tuned. Oh, and here are some more pictures of Flavors and their buffet: