Picnic Garden: Korean BBQ Buffet (Flushing, Queens)
Picnic Garden Barbeque Buffet
14742 Northern Blvd
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 358-5959
Update 2009/03/24: Appended to this post with new pictures!
This is possibly the only Korean BBQ BUFFET in town. I can’t think of any other left since Northern Buffet is gone. If anyone else knows of a Korean Buffet, please let us know. In the mean time, I’ll be going back to Picnic Garden for more!
Picnic Garden Korean BBQ Buffet
Parking is a problem since it’s metered outside during the day (except Sunday) and residential is dense, so not alot of parking at night. Be sure to circle around and look for parking. The buffet is fairly cheap at about $25/person and it feels like a family runned restaurant.
Picnic Garden Korean BBQ Grilled Kal-bi
More after the jump!
Las Vegas Wynn Buffet
The Wynn was a very impressive hotel. Gorgeous from the outside and even better from the inside. Of course we had to try the buffet there! It just so happened we were at the shopping center across from the Hotel so we hopped in at the Wynn for lunch.
Las Vegas Wynn Buffet
Las Vegas Wynn Buffet
The buffet is a fairly short walk inside the casino. Don’t let the glittery lights and sounds of slot machines distract your stomach.
More after the jump!
Las Vegas MGM Grand Buffet
The flight to Vegas and hauling luggage to check in at the MGM Grand made us famished. We couldn’t wait to eat at the buffets we always read and hear about. Naturally, staying at the MGM Grand, we just had to try the Buffet there!
MGM Grand Buffet Food Counters
With 4 long rows of food, there was a great selection. Mexican, Seafood including Sushi Rolls, Italian and of course American dishes. Too many dishes to list, really. The only regret was not taking more pictures of food directly. We didn’t want to be rude and flash away at every moment while drooling at the food.
MGM Grand Buffet Brisket being carved
A number of stations with meats being grilled, carved and served on the spot. There was steak, brisket, soups, turkey (it was near thanksgiving) and a good amount of other meats to choose from. More after the jump!
Northern BBQ & Sushi Buffet: Korean Barbeque (UPDATE)
UPDATE 2/13/2009:
This restaurant no long exists. It has been replaced with Juliana, also a Korean Restaurant but not a Buffet. Stay tuned for my review of this restaurant!
Northern BBQ & Sushi Buffet is not in business anymore as Miss Anonymous (comments below) has posted. The restaurant went through new ownership and became New York Buffet but now it has changed last year once more. The Restaurant is now called Juliana, Korean Restaurant & Bar. The disappointing part is that it is no longer a Buffet! Will post when we get a chance to eat there.
Northern [Korean] BBQ & Sushi Buffet
157-26 Northern Blvd
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 886-8880
WARNING: THIS WILL BE THE MEATIEST EXPERIENCE YOU WILL EVER HAVE. VEGETARIANS/VEGANS BEWARE.
If you’re coming with a large party, especially on a Saturday night, be sure to make reservations! My party of 10 had to wait about 45mins before being seated. The people in here are mostly Korean, in fact you’ll be greeted by the staff in the Korean language. They’re really friendly and cute!
The atmosphere in the restaurant is very relaxing despite having a buffet environment. It’s definitely better when you bring a crew of your friends to dine out.
I really love the environment here. When you are seated, feel free to get up and get some food. I started off grabbing some hot food and sushi:
There’s my cali rolls, my potato croquet (god i love it), fried rice, chicken wings, and stir fried string beans. Yum.
Now, grab a plate full of meat to grill on your table. That’s right, it’s a BBQ and you do it yourself. It’s just the best way to do it.
Ask the server to start up the grill for you, otherwise you’ll play with the gas knob all night and wondering how the hell does it work. When you first work the grill, please drizzle some oil on it. It makes the cooking process faster. I’m sure you all know, but just a reminder especially if you’re a newbie like me. Usually the server do it for me, but here, you actually do it yourself. And seldom a server will come by if s/he isn’t busy and do it for you too.
The beef brisket, shown above, could be marinated a little more. What I highly recommend are the ribs. OH MY GOSH, it’s the juiciest, tastiest, most succulent piece of meat I ever had. Let me show you:
It just so so good! Use the scissors that they provide you to cut up the meat. Cut it after when it’s done cooking. This is the best piece of meat I had all night and I loved it!! There are other meats like steak, sausage, pork, intestines (ew, but still cool), etc etc, but this by far was the best I have had for the night. It’s all you can eat buffet, so try everything!
Sometimes when you finish a plate, the server might not see that your plate needs to be changed so call them over and they’ll gladly do it for you. =)
My only gripe about this place was that they had a poor dessert and fruit section. For the fruit section they only had grapes and cherries and ran out of cantaloupe and honeydew. For dessert they have jello, I think that was it and it wasn’t even that great.
I highly recommend this place!
Price: $25/person ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT!
Carne-Vale: Brazilian Steakhouse (Churrascaria)
Carne-Vale
46 Ave B
(btw E. 3rd and E. 4th St)
New York, NY
(212) 777-4686
If you’re looking for a cheap Brazilian bbq/steakhouse that also serves good quality meat and Brazilian chicas dancing, I seriously recommend Carne-Vale. Located in the East Village, Alphabet City, it is surrounded by a lot of great bars, restaurants, clubs, hookah-bars, etc. I remember a time when this neighborhood was rural and dangerous due to lack of people [with money], and money haha. But now it certainly has flourished due to a handful of innovative entrepreneurs who had high hopes. Thank goodness.
This is my first time going to a Brazilian steakhouse, or churrascaria which is Portuguese I believe, and my group and I did not want to spend too much money. I chose this place because there were rave reviews about this place, and that the price was right. Most Brazilian steakhouses, like Churrascaria Platforma in midtown, starts off at least $75+ per person and the atmosphere is really uptight/high scale, which I wasn’t ready to have. Plus they didn’t have exotic dancers, so that threw me off. Hey, you get what you get for your money’s worth, and I’m definitely sure that they have more varieties of food to feed you with until you blow up like a gigantic whale. But if you’re looking for a casual, upbeat, trendy place to have all the meat you can eat, starting at $35 per person, Carne-Vale is the place.
Upon entering the restaurant, I realized how incredible dark it was. Everything was lit up with candles, which is cute and romantic-ish, but I wished they would ate least have fluorescent lights around. Oh well, I can’t complain, but that was the one thing that I noticed. We made reservations a day in advance, which is highly recommended because this place can get quite pack after 7pm. Moving on, the restaurant looks very casual and relaxing which I like.
Very cozy. This is the very front of the restaurant. This place isn’t very big, but it’s certainly cozy and relaxing.
After our group of 7 got together, we were served with this:
This is my first time seeing this, but it’s essentially bread with cheese inside. Cheese-bread? It would taste a heck lot better if it was warm, but I guess it’s been out for a while. This comes for free, so don’t worry about it. Everything, except for drinks, come with the whole $35 pre-fixe package.
At this time the waiter asked us what we wanted to drink, and we chose a cocktail, the name just slips my mind right now, and flat water. The waiter seemed pretty new to his job because the cocktail we ordered, I believe it was the alegrea, was completely unknown to him. He had to double check with the guys at the bar in front even though it clearly says it on the menu. But yeah, you might experience that for yourself too, so be nice. Flat water is $7 per bottle. Next time don’t even bother ordering this because it tastes like regular tap water. I don’t know why on earth I said flat, where I could have sworn I said tap. He told us that the cards next to us are used to signal more meat and no more meat – one side green the other red. I thought that was interesting because I’ve never encountered anything like this. Ha, anyways, before the meats, we were encouraged to go to the salad bar.
Now I didn’t take a picture of the salad bar because I was famished. But be prepared because it’s not a huge salad bar, but there’s a good variety of food. There were 3 different types lettuces – romaine, spinach, iceberg, few dressings, tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflowers, pasta, various cheeses, and some meats like salami and raw meat.
This is what I started off. But you get the idea.
Later on the helpful waiter came by and served us a plate of soft fried bananas. It’s not quite a plantain, but it’s fried up. It’s very sweet and loaded with bananas, so eat this wisely if you have a small stomach because otherwise, you’ll be really full.
The point of this restaurant is all you can eat meat! So hold off the salads when the meat come. And when the meat comes, it’ll be coming so fast that you can’t even keep up! I have a small stomach, so I was already half full from the salad and the fried banana. Plus later on, there will be 4 little trays worth of rice, mash potatoes, beans, and something else that the waiter didn’t explain well. 
Maybe you can tell me what this is. It taste as dry as you see here, but it tastes fried. Any ideas?
But anyways, yeah these guys came nonstop with meat loaded in their arms. Oh my god. Let me tell you a list of things they serve: prime ribs, short ribs, beef ribs, ribe-eye steak, filet mignon, skirt steak, sirloin, flank steak lamb chops, leg of lamb, chicken, turkey, and Brazilian beef sausage. Don’t worry, they will repeat and you can have more of the same meats. Trust me, it sounds like a small variety of meats, but it’s quite a lot. Can you handle it?
This man is serving delicious, juicy, tender chicken. Sometimes you might have to use your tongs to grab meat off from the guy slicing meat at you.
Oh man, it was incredible, but I just could not keep up and I only had this: 
Filet mignon wrapped with bacon, steak, and chicken. I think I had more, probably the sausage as well but I was so full afterwards. The meats are overall delicious! Most were moist and loaded with flavor, and the others like some steaks that were kinda dry and lacking in flavor, but it’s alright. Remember to eat it while it’s hot. Don’t load up your plate with me — the guys will ALWAYS come around.
Around 8 o clock, the music grew louder with festive Brazilian music, and our lady of the night came out!
Yes, she is a dancer, but she is not a belly dancer, as I was supposed to expect because of the reviews I’ve read. She’s a very fun girl and she encourages people to dance. My friends here were too shy, but in the end one of us got up and mingle with her. She is the sweetest girl, and tried to teach us a few extra moves.
Nearing towards the end of the night we were down to dessert. Yes, you may have read reviews saying that the dessert sucks here, but don’t judge yet until I’ve showed you the pictures. The choices for dessert was, chocolate cake, tiramisu, and fruit yogurt.
This is by far the best of out of the 3 dessert. The waiter tells me that this is a new dessert, so of course I had to try it. There were 3 layers – strawberry, mango, and kiwi. My goodness, it was such a delicious treat. It was very sweet and soft, especially the berries themselves. I would highly recommend this. The tiramisu was bitter and too loaded with chocolate liquer, and the chocolate cake was too dried.
One of my friend’s told the waiter that it was my friend Lori’s birthday, and so the waiter said he will set something up. A few moments later, loud festive birthday music in Portuguese came on and a bunch of waiters came out with a slice of chocolate cake with a candle that shimmered in the middle of the cake, which I thought was really thoughtful. Everyone in the restaurant can’t help but to turned their heads to see who the birthday girl was. It was very sweet of them.
Of course then everyone else started doing the same thing, which I can understand why they did it. But it was very nice. The only thing that I didn’t like at the restaurant was the bathroom. The bathroom is in the back of the restaurant and there are only two stalls and is guarded by one man who works there. The sinks and towels are not part of the stalls, but rather it’s outside, next to the guard. When I came out of the bathroom, the guy opened water for me, squirt soap for me, gave me towels to dry my hand, and even lotion to moisten my hand. My goodness, it’s such a nice gesture, but I felt guilty not tipping him because I wasn’t expecting that. After my second run, I finally grabbed a dollar and gave it to him. Whew. I hate feeling guilty. I really do. Haha.
Overall, it was a good experience at Carne-Vale and I would recommend you to come especially if you’re like me and never had brazillian bbq before. This is a place for meat eaters really, but they also try to accommodate to the vegetarians as well.
Before you leave, the waiter will ask you to tip him in cash, which I guess is understandable. I prepared for this because I read a review that said the very same thing. But yeah, be sure to calculate your bill correctly. We were in a party 6 or more and they said that gratuity was included, but it didn’t seem to be, but we weren’t sure. Always double check.
I would post up the health inspection results but there isn’t any. I think it’s probably because it’s a new restaurant.
