Hot Dish Review

First of all, let me tell you how I feel about buffets. Once, I was the lucky winner of a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas. Sounds great, right?

Not so much. I dreaded the seven days on this floating Walmart with breakfast and lunch buffets, all contaminated with the germs from thousands of obese hillbillies. I was standing in the buffet line on the third day when one of them sneezed in my ear. I held my breath, then grabbed a ladel to scoop up some flavorless luke-warm scrambled eggs.

The next day I was standing in a torrential downpour in St. Martin and realized I was getting sick. Very sick. The following days were pure misery. When I told my Mom of my misfortune she literally asked “How did you get sick?”, as if I could pinpoint the moment I was infected. So I said “I touched a filthy ladel at the buffet, then rubbed my eye”. Ridiculous, but it could be true.

So buffets make me a bit squeamish. That’s why I was not excited to hear that breakfast at Lake Lanier Resort was buffet style. A group of us had spent the day before on the family houseboat, and LC, myself, and another couple stayed in one of their secluded lake cabins, equipped with a full kitchen, hot tub (which we did not use), and creaky wood frame beds behind paper thin doors (LC and I were oblivious to this, but were informed by the couple staying with us).

Once, I had an amazing breakfast buffet at The Peninsula Hotel in Chicago, so I was hoping (but not expecting) this buffet would be comparable. We met another couple in the dining room off the resort’s lobby. White tablecloths and an omelette and waffle station elevated this buffet above the cruise ship variety. Coffee all around started us off, then we each made our way to the long table of silver chafing dishes. I wasn’t impressed with the omelette fillings, opting instead for the standard scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit. I dropped a half sesame bagel in the toaster on my way, but someone snagged it before I returned, so I promptly toasted another. All edible, but not remarkable.

There were no croissants or English muffins, no lox for the bagels, no grapefruit or fresh squeezed orange juice, no eggs benedict with hollandaise. There was a noticable absence of creme fraiche or macerated figs. And no mimosas!

But of course there were grits, potatoes, biscuits, gravy, yogurt, and cereal….everything you’d expect at a Southern breakfast buffet. I saved my berries for my extra crispy Belgian waffle I had for dessert.

7000 Lanier Islands Parkway, Buford 800-677-5304