Hacker News Reader

Comment by _ph_ | Hacker News Reader

While very occasionally a buffet can be fun, I usually consider them not so great an experience. Yes, it is nice to be able to decide yourself the relative composition of ingredients, like adding the extra piece of meat or a lot of your favorite vegetable, but too often you end out with a strange mix of stuff on your plate. A plate, which as described in the article, usually is to small of this. So while you might get a little bit more food, it is often less quality, than if you had ordered a prepared dish. And of course, many restaurants offer dishes which are smaller or lager.

View on HN

I have the opposite opinion. I eat several times per week at self-service buffets (they're very common around here, though it's almost always paid per weight), and it's much better than traditional restaurants. Instead of a small selection of dishes you might not like (or have components you might not like; it's especially bad for non-meat-eaters, since usually only one or two of the choices are not meat), in a way too big portion, and taking a long time to get ready, you can choose only components you like, in the amount you want, and you don't have to wait. Yes, occasionally a traditional restaurant can be fun, and when you get lucky the quality of the food can be great, but I usually consider them not so great an experience.

> but too often you end out with a strange mix of stuff on your plate

Bingo. When presented with a buffet, people (myself included) usually have a fear of "missing out" the good stuff, so they just load a little bit of everything to their plate. At a buffet, you usually don't have the information about (1) how filling an individual ingredient is and (2) how well they go together. So each and every time, you end up with too much food which doesn't really combine. In the end, you leave too full and slightly unsatisfied. On a menu, the individual menus or plates have been tested for months against the cooks and guests, and the kitchen has adjusted plates which were always returned with leftovers to be smaller and/or removed meals that led to too much complaints

So basically, on a buffet you will get an untested meal designed by someone usually not competent enough to design it (you), every time.

And even if you had perfect knowledge and would combine an exact replica of what was on the standard menu the fact that it is a buffet means the food has been out for a while. It seldom will be as good of an experience as just ordering the same thing.

Which I sometimes do. At which point people will look at you funny.

But you can't in many places and unless everyone does the same (unlikely) you end up getting your food when everyone else is about done.

I'm generally not a fan of buffets.

Well my trick is to get a little bit of everything then return and just get what you liked the most and go crazy. Sometimes there's an issue with too many things to try, but usually it works. I always take all-you-can-eat literally.

I vehemently disagree, buffets are glorious experiences. It's everything that is great about the modern world in a single place. Sure a cohesive dining experience can be nice, but a buffet offers you the ability to have it all. To eat like a king, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. Or heck, it can be a mound. If you've ever looked a menu, and had a moment of FOMO while making a decision, you should be able to appreciate the magic of the offers available in a buffet.

> strange mix of stuff on your plate

Common problem for beginners, but with experience you can avoid it using more advanced buffet technique and strategy.

One trick is to switch to a two-pass algorithm. Before you grab a plate, walk around the buffet area and look over people's shoulders, survey what's available, and make a mental note of which items you want most, which go together, and which will fit on your plate. Then grab a plate, get in line, and fill your plate without being blind to what's ahead of you.

You may mildly annoy the people whose shoulders you look over and your dining companions who have to wait on your slow process before they can begin eating, but it's a small price to pay for taking a buffet seriously.

Another trick is to look at what's on other people's plates, both people sitting at tables and people exiting the buffet line. You may notice a food on someone's plate that you didn't see on the buffet line. Maybe it wasn't easy to spot or maybe there was some other serving area (a dessert table off in a different corner) that you didn't notice.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com