Vegas Buffets: The Feast Around the World Buffet at Green Valley Ranch Resort

I'm a big fan of the Station Casinos' buffets. Station Casinos is all the casinos ending in Station (Texas Station, Santa Fe Station, Palace Station, Main Street Station, etc.) and their upscale resorts - Red Rock Casino and Green Valley Ranch Resorts.

Even though I'm a fan of all the Station Casinos' buffets, Green Valley Ranch's buffet is hands down the best of the group.

If you head to the player's rewards center first, you can sign up for a Station Casino Player's Card. With your player's card you'll receive $2 dollars off the buffet. The only thing the player's card costs you is your address - which they will most likely use to send you coupons and special deals in the mail.

The buffet itself is set up as a long strip on one side of the buffet area, with a separate salad bar in the middle like an island. There are 6 live cooking stations at the Feast Around the World Buffet. These stations feature Italian, American, Mongolian, Chinese and International specialties prepared when you ask for them. Most buffets I've been too have one live cooking station where they cut you a slice of meat and plop it on your plate. They go all out at Green Valley Ranch.

On my first trip to the buffet I stopped at the Chinese section of the buffet. I'm generally not a big fan of Chinese food in a buffet - but the fried rice, spring rolls, and orange chicken looked really fresh and really good. Now - I go against traditional buffet tactics in that I don't overload my plate. I prefer getting about a half serving of a lot of different things. I find then I'm able to sample a larger variety of good foods if I don't fill up on large portions. For what it's worth.

The second trip up I went to the Mongolian section and chose some chicken and a really neat mix of vegetables, including water chestnuts which I love, and some different sauces which a cook threw on the grill. It was really good and reminded me of a Mongolian grill that I used to eat in San Antonio, Texas called Hu Hot.

Now my favorite part about a buffet is the dessert section. Usually you'll find a soft serve machine with vanilla and chocolate, with a thing of chocolate sauce and sprinkles next to it. If you're lucky they'll have a few slices of pie or cake next to some hard chocolate chip cookies. Well, at Green Valley's buffet, I think I hit the jackpot. They had cakes and pies galore - and they all looked good. They had custards and puddings and all sorts of still warm cookies. And the ice cream - no soft serve machine, but rather hand scooped Dreyer's ice cream. I got a scoop of mint chocolate chip and butter pecan, I know, weird combo - but it was so good.

The buffet runs $7.99, $9.99, and $17.99 for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That includes your players card discount, so be sure to get one first. And if you play enough, you can accumulate points on your players card to redeem for the buffet. I've eaten there 3 times for free by using my points. Not a bad deal.

And after you leave the buffet - you can walk around The District - located just outside the Green Valley Ranch Resort's Hotel and Casino. It's like they're little shopping area. It has some neat little shops and nice little green areas with benches. It's a pedestrian street lined with trees, so it's always nice for an evening, after buffet stroll.