RESTAURANT REVIEW: Mijem Buffet
PLEASE NOTE: This restaurant was not told ahead of time that we would be coming, critiquing, and reviewing the restaurant, food, or service. We came and dined as typical clients, paying for our own meals. We try to write non-biased reviews. ALSO-- Since cameras are not allowed in the casino, presented below are embarassingly low-quality phone pictures-- not my typical, professional photos. Apologies!
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: All in all, two of us were able to dine for $16+tip for the very fast wait-staff. (PLEASE bring cash to tip-- they are excellent and very attentive servers.) PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A "Red Hot Rewards Card" BEFORE you stand in line. They are free and are sometimes necessary to get the special deals. Just bring your license and head toward the coat-check area.
Our latest adventures brought us to the Mijem Buffet, inside Fire Keeper's Casino (and in 2012, the new resort). During August 2011, lunches are 1/2 off, making them $8 instead of $16 for lunch. The 1/2 off Lunch is from 11am-3pm-- but you MUST be seated by 3pm to get the special price, and you can wait for upwards of an hour to be seated, so don't go in at 2:45pm. Got it?
We entered the buffet at about 11:15am, 15 minutes after they opened for the day. The cashiers were nice, and hostesses were also very friendly. The food selection was incredible, and for the most part, was quite delicious.
For "round one", I chose fried chicken, baked chicken, mac n' cheese, cheddar & bacon potatoes, BBQ ribs, broccoli, pizza, hand-cut off the bone turkey, and freshly sliced pork roast. My husband started off with a meaty pizza (with pepperoni, ham, and Italian sausage), bread stick-pizza, fried chicken, scalloped potatoes with ham, bread, and croissant.
POSITIVES: The quality of the meat (during lunch) was superb. (We have not tried the dinner yet). The fried and baked on-the-bone chicken was delectable, moist and with good flavor. The chicken wings were also a very meaty, high quality choice. One way I judge restaurants is the quality of their vegetables: The broccoli was perfect, never over cooked and soggy, but still just crisp enough to maintain its natural nutrients and of good size. The glazed carrots were also not soggy-- which is hard for many restaurants to do. The carrots had a delicate, somewhat-sweet glaze that was a perfect compliment. These leads me to believe that their vegetables were fresh, NOT coming from a can. It appears that they were hand-cut and trimmed with care-- no bad spots could be found. Very nice.
This place is, literally, a smorgasbord. Some incredibly high quality food! There were walls and walls and walls of food. The first place I would recommend stopping at: The made-from-scratch dessert bar INCLUDING chocolate fountain and ice-cream sundae bar. The chocolate fountain has fresh marshmallows, huge, ripe strawberries, cookies and cherries. There were cheesecakes, fresh cookie-filled bowls, blueberry desserts, and more. There are even sugar-free desserts for those that need it.
There was a section of seafood with fish, hush puppies and more. There was also corn-on-the-cob, turkey, fresh, flame grilled pork chops, gravy, and some of the most delicious sweet-potatoes you've ever had, with just a few nuts (they tasted like walnut pieces) and a touch of marshmallow and cinnamon.
There was also a the pizza, pasta/lasagna selection and even a Chinese food selection. This included chow mien, General Tao's chicken, egg drop soup, and egg rolls. (Of course, fortune cookies were also available-- and we would recommend dipping them in the chocolate fountain chocolate.)
TO-GROW-ON: There were few things that we would ear-mark for improvement: The day that we dined with them for lunch, the BBQ ribs left a lot to be desired. With my experience in cooking and years of working in restaurants, it seems to me that the ribs were just severely undercooked and were tough because of it. They looked perfect and had great color, however, I couldn't even pull the meat off the bone with the assistance of a fork and knife (which, in some states, it might be illegal to eat BBQ with utensils). I ended up not eating them, and moving on to something else.
The pizza that was just put out at 11am still had not been replaced when we went out for more at 1:15pm. That was disappointing. The bread stick-pizza had not been refreshed at all either. There were also no fresh pizzas being made at that time. (The lasagna, however, was brand new). Consequently, I did not see times listed on the backs of any of the food, stating when it should be pulled and refreshed, but that could have been listed else-where. The freshness level of food, and the time that it sits on the buffet, is one concern that I do have, and would like the management to pay closer attention to.
OVERALL RECOMMENDATION: The Mijem Buffet is highly recommended. The incredibly high quality of food beats any buffet, or restaurant, I have ever tried in my entire life. I would love to go behind-the-scenes and see the kitchen that this amazing selection of food is created in. I would also love the opportunity to take photos before open to show the beauty and love that go into the food prep and presentation. Cold food stays cold, and hot food stays hot. A great amount of care goes into the food here, including fresh pizza dough, and crispy individual apple-pies. There are some very high quality chefs working behind-the-scenes, I guarantee that personally. We give them kudos for an overall delectable buffet full of delicacies not often seen on buffets these days.
Mijem Buffet
11177 East Michigan Avenue, INSIDE Fire Keeper's Casino, Battle Creek, MI 49014 http://www.firekeeperscasino.com/default/index.cfm/dining/mijem-buffet/
11177 East Michigan Avenue, INSIDE Fire Keeper's Casino, Battle Creek, MI 49014 http://www.firekeeperscasino.com/default/index.cfm/dining/mijem-buffet/
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: All in all, two of us were able to dine for $16+tip for the very fast wait-staff. (PLEASE bring cash to tip-- they are excellent and very attentive servers.) PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A "Red Hot Rewards Card" BEFORE you stand in line. They are free and are sometimes necessary to get the special deals. Just bring your license and head toward the coat-check area.
Our latest adventures brought us to the Mijem Buffet, inside Fire Keeper's Casino (and in 2012, the new resort). During August 2011, lunches are 1/2 off, making them $8 instead of $16 for lunch. The 1/2 off Lunch is from 11am-3pm-- but you MUST be seated by 3pm to get the special price, and you can wait for upwards of an hour to be seated, so don't go in at 2:45pm. Got it?
We entered the buffet at about 11:15am, 15 minutes after they opened for the day. The cashiers were nice, and hostesses were also very friendly. The food selection was incredible, and for the most part, was quite delicious.
For "round one", I chose fried chicken, baked chicken, mac n' cheese, cheddar & bacon potatoes, BBQ ribs, broccoli, pizza, hand-cut off the bone turkey, and freshly sliced pork roast. My husband started off with a meaty pizza (with pepperoni, ham, and Italian sausage), bread stick-pizza, fried chicken, scalloped potatoes with ham, bread, and croissant.
Fried and baked herb chicken, pizza, broccoli, carrots, macaroni and cheese, cheddar and bacon potatoes, roll, and croissant.
Chow mien noodles, peppered, garlic beef with beans, chicken fried rice, egg drop soup, rice crispy treat, sweet potatoes with walnut, fresh, hand-dipped strawberries and a marshmallow.
Hubby's plate #2: Bread stick pizza, meaty pizza, cream puff, vanilla ice-cream sundae with peanuts, Snickers chunks and caramel sauce.
Hand-dipped strawberries and marshmallow from the chocolate fountain.
Personal cheesecake with whip cream fluff, along with some additional chocolate dipped delicacies.
POSITIVES: The quality of the meat (during lunch) was superb. (We have not tried the dinner yet). The fried and baked on-the-bone chicken was delectable, moist and with good flavor. The chicken wings were also a very meaty, high quality choice. One way I judge restaurants is the quality of their vegetables: The broccoli was perfect, never over cooked and soggy, but still just crisp enough to maintain its natural nutrients and of good size. The glazed carrots were also not soggy-- which is hard for many restaurants to do. The carrots had a delicate, somewhat-sweet glaze that was a perfect compliment. These leads me to believe that their vegetables were fresh, NOT coming from a can. It appears that they were hand-cut and trimmed with care-- no bad spots could be found. Very nice.
This place is, literally, a smorgasbord. Some incredibly high quality food! There were walls and walls and walls of food. The first place I would recommend stopping at: The made-from-scratch dessert bar INCLUDING chocolate fountain and ice-cream sundae bar. The chocolate fountain has fresh marshmallows, huge, ripe strawberries, cookies and cherries. There were cheesecakes, fresh cookie-filled bowls, blueberry desserts, and more. There are even sugar-free desserts for those that need it.
There was a section of seafood with fish, hush puppies and more. There was also corn-on-the-cob, turkey, fresh, flame grilled pork chops, gravy, and some of the most delicious sweet-potatoes you've ever had, with just a few nuts (they tasted like walnut pieces) and a touch of marshmallow and cinnamon.
There was also a the pizza, pasta/lasagna selection and even a Chinese food selection. This included chow mien, General Tao's chicken, egg drop soup, and egg rolls. (Of course, fortune cookies were also available-- and we would recommend dipping them in the chocolate fountain chocolate.)
TO-GROW-ON: There were few things that we would ear-mark for improvement: The day that we dined with them for lunch, the BBQ ribs left a lot to be desired. With my experience in cooking and years of working in restaurants, it seems to me that the ribs were just severely undercooked and were tough because of it. They looked perfect and had great color, however, I couldn't even pull the meat off the bone with the assistance of a fork and knife (which, in some states, it might be illegal to eat BBQ with utensils). I ended up not eating them, and moving on to something else.
The pizza that was just put out at 11am still had not been replaced when we went out for more at 1:15pm. That was disappointing. The bread stick-pizza had not been refreshed at all either. There were also no fresh pizzas being made at that time. (The lasagna, however, was brand new). Consequently, I did not see times listed on the backs of any of the food, stating when it should be pulled and refreshed, but that could have been listed else-where. The freshness level of food, and the time that it sits on the buffet, is one concern that I do have, and would like the management to pay closer attention to.
OVERALL RECOMMENDATION: The Mijem Buffet is highly recommended. The incredibly high quality of food beats any buffet, or restaurant, I have ever tried in my entire life. I would love to go behind-the-scenes and see the kitchen that this amazing selection of food is created in. I would also love the opportunity to take photos before open to show the beauty and love that go into the food prep and presentation. Cold food stays cold, and hot food stays hot. A great amount of care goes into the food here, including fresh pizza dough, and crispy individual apple-pies. There are some very high quality chefs working behind-the-scenes, I guarantee that personally. We give them kudos for an overall delectable buffet full of delicacies not often seen on buffets these days.
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