barry's restaurant review: river cree's kitchen buffet and bistro.

friends, romans, seafood lovers, lend me your claw crackers. well, not really; those are provided for you at the river cree casino’s kitchen buffet and bistro for their friday night seafood buffet. this past friday, like every friday night, my little crustacean friends were brought in for the masses to consume. don’t worry about them – they’re not alone as salmon, shrimp, clams and mussels join them in their underwater dance to my plate, and they were also joined by some of their poultry and bovine friends.

the feast included a salad bar, peel and eat shrimp, smoked trout, clams (which one of our party commented, “tasted like the sea”), mussels marinara, paella, cheesy mashed potatoes, salmon, ginger chicken, a panache of vegetables, pasta pomodoro, clam chowder, and, of course, crab legs with little pots of butter to dip them in. this was slowly followed by a dreamy dessert bar of fresh fruit, hot fruit cobbler and various delectable cakes like tiramisu, black forest, and a deadly bitter chocolate mousse that was so rich, you could only eat a quarter of it before you started to sweat cocoa.

i know, but there’s more.

one of our group decided that seafood wasn’t for them, so instead ordered a steak. a juicy and succulent steak prepared by the bistro’s sous chef don, who graciously came out later on to see how we were doing. don’s steak soon became legendary at our table. it was created with a delicious sauce of cognac and portobello mushrooms, and accompanied with some deceivingly simple fries. they were the best fries i’ve had in a long, long time, and the steak was so tender that it seemingly melted in your mouth. this was a true masterpiece, and i highly recommend that you try it to see if it lives up to your expectations of good steak in the middle of beef country. trust me, it will.

but back to the main event. you might not think this would be a good place to meet new people, and yes, i was nervous to meet three new faces in the group when i knew i’d probably have food stuck in my hair, but how could you not bond over such a fantastic meal?! so what if crab shells were flying across the table as i hacked away with my claw cracker to get to the sweet crab meat? and so what if a shrimp tail accidently hit the stratosphere as i peeled my way to its juicy body, or that melted butter was dripping off my chin?

we swooned over the clams, shrimp and crab legs. we cried over the empty mussels marinara pan that was always picked over right before we got there in the buffet line, and we sighed over the not-so-great clam chowder or salmon because we had such high expectations from the rest of the dishes. the seafood buffet was a great leveler as we all got messier and messier in our quest for good seafood, and we all had to laugh at ourselves at the disasters that we left in. i now have three new foodies to discuss the ins and outs of world cuisine with. just don’t forget to order finger dipping bowls before you start – it helps to shake hands with clean fingers.

YAY:
• only $19.95 per person! i know!! and if you’re a senior, you get an even better price.
• the crab legs were incredibly sweet.
• the shrimp and clams were incredibly fresh.
• three words: steak and fries.
• children are welcome (just don’t take them through the casino).

MEH:
• they don’t take reservations. we got there after 8 pm, and were warned that it could be up to a 2 hour wait. luckily, it was only 45 minutes.
• the chicken was okay, but really, that’s not why we’re there.
• we missed out on the mussels because too many people liked them. go home mussel eaters and leave some for us!

NAY:
• the clam chowder.
• the salmon was overcooked.

River Cree Resort & Casino
300 East Lapotac Blvd

Enoch, Alberta

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