What a great time! I took my fam to the Border Grille and Bar in Leominster for the Fat Tuesday Prime Rib and Seafood buffet. We arrived at the very start of this event (5pm) and the place was already starting to fill up. The hostess was very friendly and gave us all beads, masks, and shiny plastic coins. (I thought maybe they were to pay for the meal, but I was mistaken) Since we are a family of five, we were seated at a large comfy half circle booth. Elbow room with this clan is hard to come by, and this was a refreshing change from the tiny tables most restaurants offer.
Our waitress arrived soon after we sat and took our full order immediately. Half way through the drink order, she realizes that the eldest might eat her if she doesn't take his meal order, too, so she asks my permission to take the full order from him and we all agree that we are ready. A relief because the eldest was ravenously hungry and irritable. Middle man, Hubs and myself chose the buffet, while the eldest had his usual boneless buffalo and fries. The little guy had his predictable tenders meal. What is it that makes kids order the same thing no matter where you take them? At least it's easy to please them! After all, even the Sole has chicken tenders!
Our drinks arrived quickly. I had the house margarita on the rocks with salt. It was perfect. Hubs had a beer. The eldest had the first of 5 cokes. (he keeps the waitress running cokes all night and she is a good sport...only having the shocked look after the first two) Middle man ordered a coke and when she brought it and realized that it was a kids coke with a cover and straw, she immediately said she's be right back with "the right size". He's almost 13, so this little gesture is meaningful, especially from this "hot waitress". The little guy has OJ, as always.
Before we have two sips of our drinks, the boys meals arrive and we head off to the buffet.
Middle man is first in line and it's great to see him try all kinds of things he has never seen before. We start with Crawdads, catfish claws, Louisiana chicken, spicy shrimp, creme pene with crayfish, red beans and rice and baked oysters. The crawdads were lame after having lobster for breakfast the day before, but they sure were good looking. The creme pene was terrific, as was the red beans and rice. Everything breaded lacked flavor. The catfish was boring (maybe a sauce could have been offered) and the baked oysters were very bland. On the bright side, everything was cooked perfectly. EVERYTHING.
On the second trip, we tried Crayfish bisque, smothered prime rib, seafood gumbo, Cajun beef tips and some more of the favorites from the plate before. The bisque was chunkier than I thought bisque was supposed to be and had a strong odd flavor. The beef tips were yummy and the prime rib was made even better by the sauce from the beef tips. The gumbo was super.
The little guy and middle man had clown sundaes. Another fun tradition at the Border.
All in all, a great meal. We tried some new foods and enjoyed some old favorites. Malik the magician was entertaining and the waitress was sweet and on the ball.
The cost: $80 before tip. The buffet was $13.95 for adults, $7.95 for kids. Of course, we'd like it to be cheaper, but Fat Tuesday only comes once a year and it's worth it. Any time the whole fam can eat dinner out (drinks included for hubs and I) for under a hundred dollars is good.
*****Comfortable seating
****Good buffet choices
*****Good service
****Affordable
Yummy!
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