The Buffet at Wynn Resort & Casino

***WARNING: long post ahead.***

I must admit... gluttony is one sin I indulge in on a fairly consistent basis. Albeit, it doesn't help I was raised Asian and therefore have the idea that eating 3x one's body mass at a buffet is standard conduct (that is, if one wants to make their experience at said buffet worth the price of admission). Since I was in Sin City this past weekend, I thought I would venture into the newest of the luxury buffets for kicks.

It all started out at 2:15PM, local time. Everything seemed hazy considering the lack of sleep I suffered the entire weekend (damn the poker tables!) and the lack of food in my stomach. But no, I was determined to hold it out and gorge like there was no tomorrow at this buffet. We opted to sneak into the Champagne Brunch at the Wynn Resort & Casino before it hit the dinner hour so that we could: (1) enjoy the brunch items like scrambled egg whites, honey-cured bacon, and apparently, candy apples; (2) partake in the consumption of unlimited champagne/bloody mary(s)/mimosas until we were redder than a redneck; (3) and hopefully make it for the first run of dinner items all for the cheaper price of the Sunday brunch. Cheap asses... maybe. Brilliant... I think so.

We enter the ridiculously New England/Martha Stewart-decorated facility which housed ostrich leather chairs and granite tables. At this point, I was hoping that the $30 I spent on the buffet wasn't used to pay off the fake mangos on display. We were promptly seated at a table to accommodate seven starving people eager to try everything on the menu. The table was sufficient enough to hold at least 2 plates and 3-4 glasses of assorted beverages per person. I started off with a mimosa (the first of 5). Yum.

Now on to the actual food. Note: I did not bother with the salad area. That's filler and doesn't really make a point to land in my plate.

First run: I hit the seafood section. My father believes this holds the most money and therefore, should be gobbled up in large quantities. I can disagree (as demonstrated by the cherry-infused venison served at the Bellagio buffet). However, it was closest to my table and therefore, the first area I had to attack. Needless to say, it was abundant in the variety. No longer did the buffet customer had to endure endless platters of smoked salmon. No, no, no. We had tuna poki (which was, by far, my favorite item in the seafood section), tiger shrimp cocktail, octopus salad, ceviche, spicy salmon salad, teriyaki broiled swordfish, smoked sturgeon, white anchovies, seafood frittata, and grilled salmon. Mind you, this was just the brunch! When the dinner came out, we had your typical pile of Alaskan King crab legs, with clarified butter, more baked fish, clams in a white wine sauce, mussels in a spicy tomato sauce. But what really sealed the deal was the shrimp risotto bar (you could make the risotta to your liking, using the 8 ingredients in front of you... reminiscent of the omelet bar at Hedrick). I made mine with shrimp, carmelized onions, mushrooms, garlic, and... TRUFFLE BUTTER. Ah, yes. I didn't think I would be so young and experience the glorious taste that is truffles. Okay, so it was in a very small quantity; but it was definitely what made my risotto that much yummier.

Next area: the "breakfast/later on to become the carvery" area. They had your stereotypical scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. Silver dollar pancakes, Belgian waffles, and French toast were plenty. But to differentiate themselves from other brunch buffets, they included creamy butter mushrooms, eggs benedict with a hint of cayenne pepper, scrambled egg whites, a make-your-own omelet bar (which featured at least 5 more ingredients than the aforementioned Hedrick), scrambled eggs with chorizo, chiliquiles, and, oddly, prime rib. But the highlight was the specialty slab honey-cured bacon--basically, a giant slab of extremely fatty pork that can be sliced to your desired thickness. So tasty, but after every bite, I felt myself get closer to needing a triple bypass. But as brunch disappeared... out came the plethora of meat and more meat. We had: grilled pork loin, prime rib, Kansas BBQ ribs, fried chicken, roasted chicken, lamb chops, tandoori chicken, and something else I can't quite remember. As for the side dishes for our meaty affair, out came the mash potatoes, the ravioli, the tortellini, buttery carrots, and corn. Oh, and the yummy mushrooms were there too.

What is a Vegas buffet without Asian food?! Ah, but for brunch is where it got interesting. They had a "make your own" congee bar. That's right, a CONGEE bar. How random, yet somewhat satisfying. I admit, I did not bother with this because I felt that I could make an equally yummy bowl of congee at home. But for a full recount of my experience, here are the items you could add: ginger, duck eggs, that shredded pork stuff, green onions, fish, ground beef, and regular eggs. Saw a line of Chinese grandmas waiting for this. Other than that, they had spicy eggplant, spring rolls, rice, gai lan (Chinese broccoli), and some assorted meat dish in the area. There was sushi, of course, but definitely a lack of tempura items (a plus in my book, if you ask me). Apparently, the dinner consisted of lots of seafood-y items and curries. Oh, and then there was Indian items too like praathi (is that right? that cracker thingy?). On the other hand, I couldn't venture so far as to reach this area again because by my 3rd plate of food, I wanted to vomit on myself.

The last area I will cover is the most important of them all... DESSERT. As mentioned earlier, they had candied apples--one of the most random desserts one will ever find at a buffet. Here are the list of yummy things they had: raspberry tarts with a lemon curd, floating islands (one of my new favorite desserts, courtesy of some random steak restaurants in France), mango and strawberry sorbet (they actually had 10 different gelato/sorbet flavors and a variety of toppings like shredded coconut, prailines, or almonds), flan, something I understood to be a rum ball but know there is a real name for it, bananas foster, and white chocolate mousse. Dislikes: the creme brulee was alright, and they only had sugarfree pecan/apple/berry pies. What if I did want sugar in them?! They had the typical assortment of cookies and miniature cupcakes to appease the kiddies, but I didn't bother. Not my style. My favorite, by far, was the mango sorbet. Delicious. They had bread pudding, but again, too lazy to get up to get some.

And on random notes... they had rambutan (sp?) which look like hairy/prickly lychees. Yummy. Pineapple was sweet--probably Maui Gold. Their soups looked delicious, but wasn't in the mood for chicken noodle or a gumbo. The breads reminded me of the ones from La Brea Bakery, as seen at places like Costco.

All in all, the experience was enjoyable and made me want to unbutton and unzip my pants to accommodate my gorging stomach. Definitely a tasty time, but I don't think I can see myself eating here for dinner. Will only continue the "brunch/dinner" approach with Wynn's buffet. And I will still head over to Bellagio for their crepes and creme brulee any day.

Sadly, I can describe other ventures in the Vegas buffets. So if you ever find yourself dying to know whether the Rio is all that it is cracked up to be--ask and I shall divulge.

--Megan