Texas is known for going big or not going at all, and so I wasn't all too surprised when I saw signs for buffets all over the city. I had the gluttonous pleasure of trying out some of these all you can eats, including sushi, Korean BBQ, Mediterranean, texmex. Here are my thoughts on them:

Gui (2719 McKinney Ave, Dallas)

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, Gui offers an all you can eat deal - $20 for regular rolls only or $25 for regular plus specialty rolls. This is by far the best value, especially if you order primarily the specialty rolls, which are normally ~$8 a roll. We (two people) ordered 21 rolls, which would have likely cost us ~$150 had we ordered each a la carte.

The caveat is that you have to pay for anything that you don't eat and you can't be shady and eat everything but the rice.

Terra (5910 N Macarthur Blvd, Irving)

For less than $13, Terra's Mediterranean lunch buffet offers a plethora of meat options, with even more salad and vegetarian choices. Anyone looking for dessert, however, will have to look elsewhere. There are only fresh fruits and rice pudding that fit in the sweets category.

Sura Korean Bistro (2240 Royal Ln, Dallas)

Sura offers about a dozen selection of meats ranging from chicken to brisket, but no fish. There's a small selection of self-served vegetables that include carrots, mushrooms, onions, etc. More salad and kimchi are provided when asked, although sometimes you have to ask multiple times to finally get it. The price tag was ~$24.

Full disclosure, my stomach did get sick immediately after eating this and also the following day. My dining mate didn't, however.

Blue Mesa Grill (7700 W NW Hwy, Dallas)

For $20, the Sunday all you can eat brunch was an okay choice. I have to give Blue Mesa props for the initiative to put some, but not all, of its nutritional info online.

There's a decent selection of food from enchiladas to an omelette station to taco fillings to salads and grilled fish. With the exception of the grilled fish, I found everything else to be a bit at or below average. A lot of the food is soaked in no trans-fat oil, but the oil doesn't seem to add to the dishes' flavor. The dependency should be on the spices for the flavor, not the oil.

I shouldn't forget to mention that the price includes unlimited mimosas, coffee, tea, and soft drinks. The coffee is made with a boatload of cinnamon (which I liked, but be forewarned).

Rex 1516
1516 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Neighborhood: Rittenhouse Square

Another great Philly find.  Rex 1516 is a gem amongst all the other establishments of South Street.  We dropped by here for brunch, and surprisingly, it wasn't packed (perhaps it was the weather driving everyone to stay indoors).

I started off with the Huevos Rancheros, which was brunch heaven in every bite and by far the best rendition of a Huevos Rancheros I've had anywhere in Philly.   On top of two corn tortilla were a fried egg, crawfish etouffee, avocado, and pico de gallo.  The crawfish etouffee added a bold cajun/creole flavor to the mix.

Huevos Rancheros

I also had a bite of the Monte Cristo - the equivalent of the French's Croque Monsieur with house baked ham, pepperjack, and fig-bourbon preserves layered in between two slices of brioche.  Unlike the Croque Monsieur we had at La Petite Dauphine, the Monte Cristo was worthy of its name.  The portions were large and it tasted much better than the Croque Monsieur.

Monte Cristo

To wrap things up, we split the fried carrot cake - yeah, this can't go wrong.   I enjoyed this, but I'd admit that it tasted very much like a doughnut, with a hint of carrot cake.

Fried Carrot Cake

Overall, great spot.  If food is consistently this good in future visits and the desserts get a little bit more refined, I'll bump it up to a full five stars on Yelp.  Speaking of which, if you haven't already, become a fan to get updates on my Yelp reviews!

Xochitl
408 S 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Neighborhood: Society Hill

It was after 10PM by the time we arrived at Xochitl.  Upon entry, we waited for a couple minutes, but we didn't see the hostess.  I flagged down a waiter who was busily moving about with dishes bound for a table downstairs. He informed us that they didn't have a hostess at that hour, but would get us seated shortly.  And indeed he did.

We've been to Xochitl a couple times before.  We had previously returned because it had the best chicken torta in the city, but then that item fell off the menu, no where to be found.  The revamped menu was OK, but not good enough to go all the way out east just for it.  Since we were nearby that night and hungry, we dropped by to give it another chance.  I'm glad we did.

We had the make-your-own guac with Spanish onions, roasted tomatoes, cojito, truffle oil, and a pepper whose name I can't remember.  I thought this was so-so and was missing a little bit of something.  But, this wasn't the restaurant's fault since it was us who picked the ingredients.  Shame on us.

We split the Pollo Frito - a half chicken that was brined for 24 hours, steamed, fried, and drizzled with sweet chile sauce.  It was paired with corn bread and spinach in a chile cream.  The chicken was fried perfectly, with the sweet chile sauce serving as a good contrast to the spicier chile cream of the spinach.  Definitely a repeat to be had.

We also had the fish tacos - achiote lime marinated walu fish layered with mexican slaw and wrapped in house made tortillas.  I'm not normally a fan of fish tacos as the flavors are often more bland.  The flavors of these tacos weren't bland, but just more subtle.  Another repeat to be had.

The only big service miss was that our guac came out late because there was confusion in the kitchen regarding whether we already got it or not (we didn't).

Overall, a nice comeback Xochitl.