We stayed at the Hilton in Universal City this past weekend, and after reading the (overall) ""rave reviews"" about their prime rib & seafood buffet, we were excited to try it. My wife and I are lovers of prime rib & crab, and she's also very much into oysters, muscles and things like that.
We met my son and his family there (we had all gone to Universal Studios together) and were really looking forward to a fantastic meal, but we were all extremely disappointed, and none of us are really all that hard to please when it comes right down to it.
On the PLUS side of our dining experience, all of the food was very nicely presented and there was a nice variety. The service was EXCELLENT, and their desserts were fantastic.
On the more REALISTIC (aka: NEGATIVE) side however, all I can honestly say is ""Buyer Beware."" It's way over-rated and not even close to the $44 per person price tag. A more realistic price for the buffet would be in the range of $14 - $24.
There was nothing memorable about their prime rib. It tasted good, but was more on the ""dry & chewy"" side in the opinion of all of us. My wife and daughter-in-law both agreed that the muscles & oysters were NOT fresh, and all of us agreed that their Alaskan king crab legs had ZERO TASTE to them. If we had all be blindfolded, the only way that we would have known it was crab would have been by the texture. It was as though the crab was either very, very old, or was kept in ice water for a few months which would have completely removed all of the flavor from the legs.
The lobster thermador was nothing to get over excited about either. I'd have to rate it as ""just okay,"" and nothing more than that.
I also tried their Yorkshire pudding. For anyone who has eaten Yorkshire pudding before, they know that the outer crust should be slightly firm and the inside should be fairly moist and soft on the inside. My experience was that the inside and outside was burnt to a crisp and was similar to that of eating a thick and hard ruffled potato chip! The rest of the food was ""just okay,"" and nothing more.
I'm truly not sure WHY it's rated as ""the best buffet in LA by some other reviewers! But trust me when I tell you that the buffet as a whole leaves much to be desired!
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