Friday Food Critic: The Drunken Fish

Each week, we nominate a new restaurant for you to review. That's right, you're the local expert.

When it comes to restaurants, Maryland Heights has it covered. We have some great local places that many would consider community gems; some restaurants that aren't exactly mom-and-pop but are unique to the area; and we certainly—for better or for worse—have plenty of chains lining our main streets. But what we don't have is a consistent food critic to tell us what's good and what's not.  That's where you come in. We could throw some money at a professional food critic, but that's not exactly what Patch is all about. We'd much rather know the opinion of the fine folks that eat there day-in and day-out. It's your community. You eat the food. You tell us if it passes the mark. That's why we are introducing The Friday Food Critic column, …

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Lunch in 30

Addictive Rice and Interesting Rolls Make Drunken Fish a Good Dinner Spot

Drunken Fish offers an affordable lunch special, but its star attractions are limited to the dinner menu.

This was my first time trying Drunken Fish at lunch. To my surprise, while the faux indoor patio was mostly empty, the dining room itself was so bustling there were only two free tables at noon. My table was flanked by busy, enthusiastic lunchtime meetings. Congratulations, Jacob. It sounds like you deserve the new the sales job. Drunken Fish isn't cheap, but if you're careful, you can get a bargain at lunch. The good news is two rolls plus either miso soup or ginger-dressed salad costs $10.50 while you can get three rolls for $14.50. The bad news is the lunch selection excludes all of Drunken Fish's most interesting options. Most of Drunken Fish's best rolls cost more than $10.50. I came in looking forward to a crispy roll filled with …

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Lunch in 30

Harrah's Buffet is Half Decent

Surprisingly good service, well prepared Asian food and several fresh food stations couldn't make up for the mediocrity of half the selections.

This week I conned two fellow non-smokers into joining me for Harrah’s Buffet. It’s impressive, but let me first say if you’re asthmatic, have a sinus infection, or are particularly fond of your lungs you might want to think twice. It’s no surprise I couldn’t smell any of my food. The sheer concentration of smoke was almost a physical assault, and I’m no wuss. If I’m in a crowded restaurant I’ll sometimes ask for the smoking section because these days that will take a good 15 minutes off a Saturday night wait. This was more like boarding an airplane in 1960 when everyone inside lit up nonstop and the air had nowhere else to go. My lungs still burn. Harrah’s wisely makes up for patron’s complete inability to smell their food with genuinely …

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Chris-Rachael Oseland

11:05 am on Monday, January 17, 2011

I completely agree about comparing apples to apples, Susie. I've enjoyed some truly stellar weekend brunch buffets at high end hotels. Harrah's had the same price point, but nowhere near the same quality. If eating at Ice Kitchen, I wouldn't have tried anywhere near as many different foods, but I suspect each item in my much smaller selection would be better executed. I'll find out in the next …   more ›

Lunch in 30

Sushi Ai Offers a Surprisingly Good, All You Can Eat Lunch

Excellent choices on an affordable all you can eat sushi menu make this a good place for a leisurely lunch.

Sushi Ai was packed the day I arrived for lunch. Every table was occupied and only a few spots were left at the bar. I had perused the menu in advance and narrowed my selection down to three rolls, but when I arrived I learned they have an all you can eat sushi lunch. For $13 you get an admirably large selection of soup and salad, appetizers, sushi and hand rolls, more than 40 items total. All three of the rolls I'd selected were already on the menu, plus a nice diversity of things I'd never normally pay extra for. Buffets normally give me hives, but the sushi ordered was prepared fresh in front of the dining room. If you're in a mood to experiment with new sushi, this is the place to go. In addition to well-prepared fresh fish, Sushi Ai …

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Ryce Oriental Buffet Provides Diverse Holiday Dining Option

If you’d like someone else to do the cooking this year, Ryce Oriental Buffet is open Christmas Day.

The United States mostly shuts down for Christmas. If you're looking for a place to eat out, Ryce Oriental Buffet is expanding their usual offerings to include a dim sum buffet and fresh crab legs. Your only other options are Dennys' or Papa John's, so why not give the dim sum a try? I'm not normally a fan of all you can eat buffets, but Ryce Oriental is a good example of the genre done well. When I stopped in for lunch around 1:00 p.m., their spacious dining room was about half full of tie clad men grabbing lunch out of the office. A few senior citizens and holiday shoppers filled out the crowd. The place was clearly popular, which always bodes well at a buffet. The buffet itself was divided into four major sections. First, the hot steam …

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