- Casino, Gaming

New Bear Celebration at the Black Bear Casino, Carlton MN

The construction’s done, the place looks great, at least from the outside. Let’s have a celebration. The Hotel and Event Center is offering special prices and to finish off the week Wayne Newton is putting on a one perform only show Sunday Evening.

We came to the Casino last November to eat at the buffet. At that time they had been advertising it heavily as an all-new and improved eating experience. That meal was a huge disappointment to the point we felt we had been ripped off. My honest review of the eatery “The Black Bear Casino in Carlton MN Has a New Buffet, and They Say it’s Improved?” elaborates on how unappealing and minimalistic the offering was the day we made our visit. At that point, we determined we’d never return again. Considering all this, I would like to recommend everyone to try judi online before they try out any fancy casino and feel disappointed by its service. You get an excellent online service that you can try along with almost every game that you can find in a real casino.

When I wrote that first review I stated that if I was running the show, I’d fire the Head Chef and send the whole crew home…FOR GOOD.

This week, as I read the write up in the Duluth News Tribune, I noticed they mentioned that the Buffet was now under the control of a brand new Head Chef. This perked my interest, were others as dissatisfied as we had been? Or was this new chef in control back in November when they initially declared an all New Buffet Experience? Either way, we felt inclined to give them one more chance as this week the Buffet is priced at $8.50 per person. Even if it’s mediocre, at that price we will at least get our money’s worth.

We chose Thursday, August 14 as it was listed as Seafood Night. In their full listing Seafood Night will normally be their most expensive presentation. After this week the price will be $16.95 per person. For a Buffet, this is on the high side by a good margin for this area. Regional prices are closer to $10 per person so we expected this to be something special.

The serving was to start at 4 pm, we arrived at 5 pm on the money. Not surprisingly there was a line formed waiting to be seated after all this is Minnesota everyone watches for bargains when it comes to going out for supper. The line weaved along the walls of the Casino and approached the length of a football field.

As this Buffet Restaurant is on the small side, this line wasn’t moving very fast. The price you pay when you come during a promotional event, we patiently waited in line for 1 hour and 15 minutes before we approached the cashier. At that point, the line behind us extended well past our original starting point, pity those who came later then we did.

Once seated, we waited close to 10 minutes for our waitress to take our drink order. Hey, they were busy, we weren’t alarmed by this delay. Heading for the food line we had high expectations and big appetites.

They had plenty of Snow Crab Legs, apparently a favorite as pans were emptying as fast as they were put out. Shrimp was restricted to two varieties, Coconut crusted and brazed in heavy garlic butter along with large Sea Scallops. They also had deep fried Bay Scallops, and some oysters also cooked in a heavy garlic butter coating. Baked salmon and baked White Fish of some sort were also present. As close as I can recall that was pretty much the extent of the Seafood.

I’ve been to Seafood Buffets before, and this didn’t impress me very much. I’ve gotten a more varied selection of Seafood at the local Chinese Restaurant for about $9 ahead, and for them, Seafood is an afterthought adds on to their extensive Chinese menu.

The food was cooked well and tasted good. My main complaint is the lack of variety and lack of imagination. Too many dishes were slathered with a heavy garlic butter oil and just thrown in the oven. Steaming crab legs isn’t cooking in my book, you can hardly screw that up. The Coconut Shrimp was very good, though here again it came prepared from a truck. A quick dip in the deep fryer was all the preparation required.

 

The dessert table came completely off a truck, cakes and pies stamped out by the dozens. The least they could have done is serve them at room temperature. When still refrigerated there’s no flavor. I had a slice of factory manufactured Red Velvet cake that had absolutely no flavor because it was right out of the cooler.

My wife did state the watermelon was good, served in cubes, it did look good. In fact, they did have an adequate salad bar, and chicken and beef were available in one form each. I had a slice of roast beef that I would have to state was the best item I had in the meal. Not a good statement when it’s supposed to be a SEAFOOD Buffet. With whipped potatoes that I’m 80 percent sure came from a box of flakes and a sort of brown gravy that was on the potent side. Very flavorful, almost to the point of being too much.

Hot vegetables came in two choices, a squash/zucchini medley that wasn’t anything special and fresh green beans served heavily coated with oil. The service was fair. Our waitress did eventually produce a pair of crab crackers about halfway through the meal. As everyone in the place was eating crab, they should have been on every table right at the start. While my wife was going for a second helping, the waitress asked if I wanted more ice tea. I assumed, as my wife’s glass was empty and mine still had a third remaining, that she would bring two glasses. I would have specified though when she asked I had a full mouth of food. Lacking a grasp of the obvious, she returned with only one glass. We shared it as that was the last we saw of our waitress.

In summation how do we rank this Buffet that we have bent over backward to give them the opportunity to show what they can do?

Sorry, we won’t be back. Although this time around the food was at least eatable, they failed to deliver anywhere near what we expected. At the $8.50 we paid, fair enough I can accept it. At the projected $16.95 each which is to be the standard price, they fell terribly short on what I would expect for that kind of money. You guy really needs to try harder.

About Lucy

Lucy is a professional poker player and shares a keen interest in all card games be it blackjack, rummy, gin, spit, and more. She wishes to share her experience that she gained over the years with other new player.
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