Chinese Buffet - Steam table never hot

[marctrees]

So, we love Chinese Buffets.

We live rurally, closest one is 30 miles, next closest 80 miles.

So we go to the close one every few months, no other choices.

Have been there a dozen times now, over last 2 yrs.

Thing is, they barely heat their steam table, very lukewarm.

NO matter the time of day.

Two years now, every visit.

I've called the County Inspector twice over 6 months, made the problem VERY clear, NO change.

So the Restaurant is either too cheap, (they don't do much business) or stupid.

And Inspector, does nothing.

I don't get it.    Marc

 

[crazzycajun]

Don't ever eat Asian food without recommendation from the refrigeration guy or the exterminator preferably both

 

[b-one]

It's tough to complain about cats and rats!:biggrin:

 

[marctrees]

b-one - And I was watching for Dog.   

I do have a feeling that the Asian folks are not as concerned about "stuff" and overall safety, BUT DANG we LUV them Chinese Buffets.

Anywhere I have traveled in USA, primarily East half,  that was always the choice.

Never sick yet.

Like 30 + yrs.

Marc

 

[chef jimmyj]

Along a similar line. My mom was in a nursing home that had parts, the kitchen among them, under construction. They cooked in a trailer and put the food in a steam table that was never hot. The food was always cold and we would have to nuke mom's meals. I called the county health inspector to complain after bringing the situation to management's attention with no result. The inspector told me that he was familiar with the facility and although he disagreed with recent changes, the state of NJ allows cooked food to remain at room temp and served for up to 4 hours and the nursing home was in compliance. This is contrary to what is taught in Food Safety courses but " technically " safe because the food has been sufficiently heated to kill bacteria and based on the growth rate of bacteria, even if contaminated, 4 hours is not sufficient time for it to adjust to the condition of the food and grow to dangerous levels. While that may be true for a Chinese Buffet, where generally healthy adults are eating the food and their bodies can deal with a little bacteria...No way should food held in the Danger Zone be served in a NURSING HOME!

With Chinese Buffets, if all other conditions look good, clean well maintained building, clean dining room and bathroom...AND...It is a busy place with the food turning over and not sitting out for hours, There really is not much to worry about.

Once when I was a child of about 12  my family went to a Chinese Buffet. The place was busy and had other families with younger children. My father noticed two kids, about 6, taking repeated trips to the buffet every 5 minutes or so. As we watched, the kids would fill their bowls with Wonton Soup. They would take the bowls to their table, eat the wontons, then return to the buffet, dump the broth back in pan and refill the bowls again. Dad was not impressed with the parents supervisory skills and brought the situation to the attention of management. The pan of soup was replaced and the parents of the little ones were told to accompany the children to the buffet...JJ

 

[b-one]

b-one - And I was watching for Dog.   :drool

I do have a feeling that the Asian folks are not as concerned about "stuff" and overall safety, BUT DANG we LUV them Chinese Buffets.

Anywhere I have traveled in USA, primarily East half,  that was always the choice.

Never sick yet.

Like 30 + yrs.

Marc

We have ate at plenty and never been sick that we know of.:biggrin:
Price and selection is hard to beat.

 

[sauced]

Have eaten at quite a few.....never been sick, but I stopped going to the ones that the food is never hot. I just don't feel like taking a chance.

 

[tallbm]

That sucks Marc.

I guess it's time to buy some sesame oil, ginger,  and soy sauce to start some DIY chinese buffet :)

Also I believe corn starch is used quite a bit in Chinese cooking.  Plus you can mix a heaping tablespoon in a 16floz of water and then put in a spray bottle and you have clothing starch, so it's useful outside of Chinese cooking :)

 

[chef jimmyj]

Best Chinese Buffet I ever ate at...Variety, and Flavor was outstanding! The steam table and food was screaming hot with fast turnover. This truly fabulous place was as a walk-in and take-out small shop in Newark, NJ. Packed with Asian folks, ROACHES running on the walls in Daylight! And while the customer area was clean, the open kitchen was in general disarray, food on the floor and sitting out of refrigeration waiting to be cooked and chopped veggies flying off the cutting boards as frantic cooks kept up with the hoards of rushing customers on a lunch break from area businesses. While some might run, screaming, from the place...I really miss how amazing the food was!...JJ

 

[marctrees]

Chef JJ - I think those are the same kids that smear their nose snot on their face and shirt, then go dig in the scoop Ice Cream.

We stay away from that stuff.

TallBM - Ya, we do it a bit at home, keep all that and more on hand.

Tried many sauces, stuck with a few.

Have made different dishes, most were OK, nothing fantastic.

Perfected Egg Rolls, pretty darn good.

But one thing I can't get at home is $15 worth of just shrimp, PLUS other goodies,  for $10.

And the variety, wow.

I don't eat that much, but believe me, I pass on the rice and go for the good stuff.

Marc

 

[marctrees]

Chef JJ - Seeing as how you live up that way, are you familiar w Nordic Lodge Lobster Buffet in Charlestown, RI ?

Featured in a 15 minute segment of "Food Paradise" on one of the cooking channels.

$96 / head, BUT, supposedly they do not limit you on lobsters or anything.

They were interviewing folks there that like go and regularly eat like 8 of em or whatever.

One can dream...........                  Marc

https://www.nordiclodge.com/menu.htm

 

[gr0uch0]

 
Chef JJ - Seeing as how you live up that way, are you familiar w Nordic Lodge Lobster Buffet in Charlestown, RI ?

Featured in a 15 minute segment of "Food Paradise" on one of the cooking channels.

$96 / head, BUT, supposedly they do not limit you on lobsters or anything.

They were interviewing folks there that like go and regularly eat like 8 of em or whatever.

One can dream...........                  Marc

https://www.nordiclodge.com/menu.htm

Disclaimer on the NL website:  "Maximum Dining 2 Hours".  Only way I'm adhering to that time frame is if Charlestown's finest were involved.   

"I'm sorry, Officer, but my watch must've stopped.  They're not doughnuts, but can I offer you a lobster tail anyhow?  It's on me."       

 

[chef jimmyj]

 
Chef JJ - Seeing as how you live up that way, are you familiar w Nordic Lodge Lobster Buffet in Charlestown, RI ?

Featured in a 15 minute segment of "Food Paradise" on one of the cooking channels.

$96 / head, BUT, supposedly they do not limit you on lobsters or anything.

They were interviewing folks there that like go and regularly eat like 8 of em or whatever.

One can dream...........                  Marc

https://www.nordiclodge.com/menu.htm

Never been there but the area had a few Portuguese Restaurants that featured $5 a pound Lobster's, 1980's. They carried Monsters up to 10 pounds! Also cooked at a Country Club that held All you could Eat Lobster Feeds for wealthy members. We got several bushels of 3 pounders. At the end, all that was left came back to the kitchen for the staff to shell and package for future use. Pretty much a Bag one Eat one, deal for the crew!...

...JJ

 

[actech]

Don't ever eat Asian food without recommendation from the refrigeration guy or the exterminator preferably both

Seeing the back of the house can sure change your mind about places. Used to go to a buffet until I ran a service call there.  There's a place down from our shop that has rats from hell in the basement. USED to like that place too. Most people don't realize cockroaches go to the "bathroom" about every 30 seconds. So ya they have crapped on something touching your food. I dont understand some health inspectors. Throw a fit because the angle of the cut on the ice machine drain is off by a few degrees but dont say a word about bus tubs of meat laying on the floor thawing out ????

 

[mdboatbum]

I worked in a popular dive bar back in the 80's. It was a Tex-Mex place and had 2 frozen Margarita machines behind the bar. One was for regular margaritas with the booze already mixed in, the other was for virgin or specialty drinks, so no booze. One slow day I decided to clean the machines. The one with the booze was pretty clean. The other one was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. Gelatinous mold everywhere inside.

Another place I worked, a couple of the beer taps were slow running. We checked the tank pressure and everything looked ok. Called the local distributor who'd installed the system years before and they asked how often we cleaned the lines. "What do you mean clean the lines?" The owner replied. The lines were completely choked off with black gook.

I stick to bottled beer in dive bars these days.

 

[crazzycajun]

Seeing the back of the house can sure change your mind about places. Used to go to a buffet until I ran a service call there.  There's a place down from our shop that has rats from hell in the basement. USED to like that place too. Most people don't realize cockroaches go to the "bathroom" about every 30 seconds. So ya they have crapped on something touching your food. I dont understand some health inspectors. Throw a fit because the angle of the cut on the ice machine drain is off by a few degrees but dont say a word about bus tubs of meat laying on the floor thawing out ????

Yeah my wife hated it when I did restaurant work we would be driving and she would sway lets eat here ahh nope well how about there I would reply don't even drink the water. It was very hard to eat out

 

[chef jimmyj]

Rodents may be controlled but rarely eliminated, if management spends the money. Roaches on the other hand are extremely difficult in stand alone buildings and impossible to control in attached buildings like in shopping centers, rows of city businesses and mall food courts. Virtually all food operations have roaches as they come in the cases of product from distributors and manufacturers. There is no such thing as a roach free, insect free, rodent free, all food handling regulations followed,100% food safety trained and procedure following staff. One or more of these is in EVERY Restaurant and grocery store. If you are a germaphobe or worried about any of these...Stay home so you can grow and cook all your food including butchering animals, producing dairy products and growing your wheat for flour and cane for sugar. The only reason we can enjoy eating in restaurants and shopping at grocery stores is we àre happily unaware of or ignore what goes on behind closed doors...JJ

 

[okie362]

I should take some pics of the restaurants I've been eating at in India.  LOL

 

[gr0uch0]

Seeing the back of the house can sure change your mind about places. Used to go to a buffet until I ran a service call there.  There's a place down from our shop that has rats from hell in the basement. USED to like that place too. Most people don't realize cockroaches go to the "bathroom" about every 30 seconds. So ya they have crapped on something touching your food. I dont understand some health inspectors. Throw a fit because the angle of the cut on the ice machine drain is off by a few degrees but dont say a word about bus tubs of meat laying on the floor thawing out ????

Guy used to be on ABC affiliate in Houston--Marvin Zindler--who'd do a piece straight from the health inspector's report. Marvin's restaurant report (otherwise known as the "roach and rat" report) would air weekly at dinnertime, and if the blue tinted glasses weren't enough to make you giggle, the spray tan, the bad rug, and the ten too many facelifts would. This was the same guy who, earlier in his career, was responsible for shutting down the whorehouse (the "Chicken Ranch" outside of Houston) made famous in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", and ZZ Top's, "La Grange". If you were a restaurant owner, you didn't want to see him coming, and you really didn't want to see what had been unearthed on a place you'd recently eaten. His big catch-line each week was identifying a place who had, and screaming the phrase, "SLIME IN THE ICE MACHINE!!!" RIP, Marvin!]

 

[actech]

As Sammy Hagar says. You can drink the water but don't eat the ice. Ice machines get gross and I'm sure the ones now in dining room rarely get cleaned. Chef JJ is right you can't stop em but if the roaches are out during day and operation or the rats come out to play when you go to basement , that's infested and not being attempted to control. Had a rat run by my feet one day at a Asian food store. I was by the bags of rice. Told the owner. She bitched pest guy was an idiot , rat been eating fruit but he put traps by rice. No bags chewed open. But that seemed to be his hide out. No more fresh stuff from there only bagged and sealed. Fresh from other Asian store. Haven't seen rats. Sure they are there just haven't seen em.