Buffet Helper

After 10 days of buffets in Sri Lanka and Bandos Resort, we were starting to get acute buffet burn-out.

Night after night, a chicken roasted and slathered in sauce, appeared under a different AKA. Chicken Espagna, Chicken Veronique, Chicken Leona, Chicken Martinique. The sauces varied little and the naming was the most imaginative thing about the dishes. In Bandos, in particular, the desserts seemed a flop. They had wonderful names, like Mango Bavarois, Apricot Cake, Cheesecake and they were nicely garnished and presented- but they all tasted the same, like Cool Whip with a tiny bit of flavor - not related to the name. decided we should create a new shake-on seasoning called Buffet Helper. You couldn't sell it to a tourist on day one but about day eight, I would think they would leap on it with glee. The other big assist might be "Buffet glasses" that you don before walking the walk...a rose colored tint might help cast the whole affair in a better light.

Bandos had the worst food overall, but perhaps that's because we ate there four nights in a row. We recognized items from one days lunch tarted up and renamed for dinner - the carry-over was kind of fun, trying to figure out what the dish was in it's former life. The buffets all looked good, were kept neat and tidy and drinks service was prompt. Some of the nights the salads were quite good as were the vegetables. The native Maldivian food was good on at least one night, but mostly it was a sort of brown goo with an unpronouncable name.

At Elephant Reach in Tissa, we trudged in for dinner expecting the same dismal repast. Because the place is very small, we wondered how they would handle dinner. We were presented with a menu with three dinner choices: a chicken burger, grilled seek and a curry. Were we surprised when the first course appeared - a lovely soup with a basket of warm, freshly baked breads. The entrees were beautifully plated and the food was excellent: hot (as in right off the stove) and delicious. Looking at the plates, you'd think you were in a fancy downtown restaurant somewhere. It was heaven after the dejas vue buffet experiences.