Four words I will NEVER tire of seeing...

I like food. I really, really like food. Sometimes I don't have breakfast, and even skip lunch. But dinner is the one meal where I end up becoming a pig. I'll sit down and eat as much as I can at dinner to replace what I should have eaten earlier in the day. But then, there are four words, and it doesn't matter what time of day it is, my stomach becomes the guiding force in my universe and I can't say no. And those four words...

All You Can Eat.

Yes, those four, simple words. Each word on its own doesn't convey any meaning to me. But together, they work like a well-oiled machine that makes me want to feed. So, here's a short list of the best All You Can Eat restaurants I've been to.

Hook's (London, Ontario) - from the outside, it looks like someone stole a Newfoundland fish cannery and dragged it down the 401 to turn it into a restaurant. Inside, it's a great looking place. Excellent food. Lots of choice. In the mood for Chinese, they've got it. Sushi? They've got it. Roast beef or ham? They've got it. They had a good variety of food.

+ excellent food, excellent service.
- too many tables in a small space made it very crowded and difficult to move around in. Expensive!
Recommend - the salmon, the mushrooms, and the black forest cake. Yum.

Joey's Only (North Bay, Ontario) - not really an all you can eat restaurant, except on Tuesdays. They have an all you can eat fish and chips night, and the price is really good. Service is also very good, and they'll come by every few minutes to see if you want more.

+ if you like fish, you'll love this place, excellent service. Excellent price.
- only one night a week is all you can eat. Sometimes the fish tastes, well, fishy.
Recommend - lay off the fries a bit and you'll eat more fish. And try the dirt dessert.

J.J. Muggs (Toronto, Ontario) - went there for breakfast when I was younger. Set my buffet record at this restaurant (12 plates). The variety of food was incredible. They had all the usual breakfast food, but there was also a huge number of cakes and desserts there. I probably ate a pig's worth of bacon that morning.

+ huge amount of food, all of it good.
- only one location, and it's not here.
Recommend - anything at the breakfast buffet table.

King's Buffet (Barrie, North Bay, and Sudbury, Ontario) - the only multiple visit buffet restaurant on the list. King's Buffet has some decent food at a good price (especially if you go for lunch during the week) and they have friendly staff. The variety is pretty good, and depending on the time of day, you can get pancakes and french toast, or king crab to select from.

+ good prices, especially at lunch. good variety of food to choose from.
- the food isn't always great. bacon is extremely greasy at times.
Recommend - lemon chicken, sweet and sour spare ribs, and mushrooms.

Mandarin (London, Ontario) - quite possibly the best all you can eat restaurant in the history of the modern world. I wanted to ask if I could live there. Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and North American cuisine all under one roof. The food was incredible. Their sushi and mussels (which were a first time thing for me) were excellent, and their desserts were perfect. I've never had waffles that good.

+ excellent service, incredible food. More variety than I've ever seen anywhere else.
- expensive (but well worth it), crowded, was not allowed to live there.
Recommend - get to one immediately!

The Royal Feast Smorgasbord (Orlando, Florida) - one of the best places I've eaten, and it didn't look like the kind of place anyone would enjoy eating at. Great selection of food, and a do it yourself dessert bar. Unfortunately, they closed their doors less than a year after I visited, and I don't know if they ever opened up again.

+ good price, good food.
- as far as I know, gone out of business.
Recommend - someone build a time machine and we can go back to 1984

Sun Wah (Sudbury, Ontario) - a nice little restaurant with a lot of selection and good service. It was one of the first places I went to in Sudbury, and their food is always good.

+ good price, good food, good service.
- it's a little dark inside...someone turn on the lights.
Recommend - their egg rolls are worth the drive to Sudbury. And their rice pudding is good, too.


That's the list. There are a few places I've been that advertised All You Can Eat, only to have a really poor selection. I don't care if I can eat all the pancakes and bacon I want, there has to be some kind of selection (except in the case of Joey's, because they make really good fish!). Apparently, there's an all you can eat KFC down in Strathroy. I must get there!