Crafted

On our way to Las Vegas from LA, our tour guide was giving orientation on the bus. Along with the orientation, he presented us an option if we want to avail of the buffet in the hotel at a discounted rate. He was saying the regular price was US$ 25.00 but he will give us the stub at $18.00. According to him, the discounted price is because of their business partnership with the hotel. The stubs he was selling were for brunch or dinner. I bought one stub.

The tour guide said our meeting place every morning in the next few days will be at the buffet area. I was glad to know that it was just next to the elevator area to my room at the eighth floor. Other tourists were assigned rooms in the other tower of the hotel so it's a bit far from theirs. They need to memorize their way around the casino area on the ground floor.

On the night of my first attempt to avail of my stub, the queue to the reception alone was a bit long. I did not want to wait so I ended up at STRAT Café.

This time on the following night, the place was quiet. Well, it was more than an hour later than my first attempt anyway. The previous night, I attempted to dine at just around seven in the evening. This time, it was almost half pass the hour of eight in the evening. By this time, most people have eaten and are busy in the casino.

On one of the posts to the reception is this pricing board. So, it was $23.00 after all, not $25.00 as the tour guide said. Either way, $18.00 was still a bargain.

The pricing was affirmed by this another pricing board on the counter of the reception.

I handed my stub to the receptionist. He did some validation and handed me a piece of paper with number 1 written on it. I took it and went straight inside. When he saw me going straight to the dining area, he called out.

"Please wait here, ma'am." I was a little shocked.

"Why?"

"Please wait to be seated." Ooppsss...

"I thought this says 'table number 1'?" I asked.

"It says table for one," he replied. Ooppsss again... I laughed.

It did not take a minute when a smiling woman with greying hair (she's nearing her senior year) came towards me. I swore she's a Filipina!

She led me to the dining hall. As I was following her, I couldn't wait to ask where she is from.

"Philippines."

"Saan sa Pilipinas!?" I exclaimed with delight. That's "where in the Philippines?"

She immediately turned around, looked at me and laughed. She was from the Visayas area. That is somewhere in the middle part of the country if considered from north to south.

She had to leave me on my table and go back to ushering.

Another woman (white this time) who seemed to be also nearing her senior year approached my table and asked what I would have for my drinks. I requested for tea and started making my rounds.

The buffet area was pretty spacious. Most of the counters were to the walls unlike other buffet restaurants that have the counters in the middle.

It was also not like other buffet restaurants where the foods can be recognized from a bit afar. In here, the counters seem empty though not really. I guess it was because it was already late at night so they limit foods on display.

If I remember it right, the only counter in the middle was this for desserts. All others in the middle are tables and chairs.

When we go to buffet restaurants in the Philippines, most of my companions would take small volume and go back to the dining area a few or even several times. That is something that I am learning because for me, get all that you want, sit down and eat until you're done without or very limited instance of going back to the buffet area. The challenge with this is I have to be very good in estimating what I can take. I made few rounds to my table.

Anyway, here's what I got.

Wanna have a closer look at my plate? Here you go... Paella, veggies and fish with white sauce.

Paella (/paɪˈɛlə/ py-EL-ə,[1] Valencian: [paˈeʎa], Spanish: [paˈeʎa]) is a Spanish rice dish originally from Valencia.

Paella is one of the best-known dishes in the Spanish cuisine. For this reason, it may be seen internationally as Spain's national dish, but Spaniards almost unanimously consider it to be a dish from the Valencian region; those who live there, in turn, regard paella as one of their identifying symbols. [2] [3]

I was not expecting the beans to have been dropped in the pot without being cut and as long as that. I kinda of smile at the irony when something does not seem right to you but still okay in a supposedly presentable restaurant. It's a matter of presentation, as they say.

There were not much options for fruit desserts. My first instinct was for pineapple but the pineapple was standing on the counter, still unpeeled and apparently for display only. There was nothing of it in the food trays.

And my tea? Ah, it was very good. It came with honey and lemon, not just plain black tea. Love that!

In the middle of my meal, my usher earlier came to my table and started a chat. Oh, she has time for it unlike the one in STRAT Cafe. It also means that the restaurant management is not strick about

She asked if I was based in the US or if I was just having vacation. I said it is just a short vacation. Her answer struck me.

"Buti ka pa, nakakabakasyon ng ganyan.Samantalang ako, kailangang kumayod ng kumayod."

"Good for you, you can take vacation like that. For me, I need to keep earning."

I asked her tenure in the restaurant and she said eight years.

"Then you can already take vacations."

"Yes, but I need to keep earning. There are bills to pay. I also have a son in college. I have to work for his expenses."

I did not like the topic so I switched by asking what they do in the Philippines. That was where our conversation got a little longer.

The usher (my bad, I forgot her name on a plate on her chest), left after few more minutes of chat and went back to the back of the reception area. That was when I noticed that the dining area was almost empty. It was about half full when I started my meal. Most of the diners were gone before I knew it, even those who came after me.

There was also no more soul of diner lining at the reception. It looks like the receptionist was finding a way to be busy. Ah, people are in the casino. Good luck to them. I'm going back to my room.

CRAFTED BUFFET
GF STRAT Hotel and Casino
2000 S Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas
NV 89104
United States

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Restaurant Information

Crafted Buffet

2000 S Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89104, USA

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Crafted
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