Palette in the MGM Grand - Detroit, Michigan

On the occasion of my birthday my parents decided to treat me to an experience that I would never treat myself to. It was a morning of gambling followed by Sunday Brunch at the MGM Grand Casino's buffet. Yes indeed I come from foodie stock just not budget minded individuals. I am indeed a genetic anomoly but in my defense I also make a lot less money too.

The MGM Grand is a lovely casino. They are also home to the foodie legend Wolfgang Puck's restaurant. I did admire the place but the prices there were something that did indeed make my heart race a bit faster. The menu though was utter bliss. It was hard to walk away but I did not feel I would survive the bill if indeed I did dine.

We chose to dine at Palette, which is one of my parent's faves. It is a very nice buffet indeed. They have just about everything one could hope to find in a top notch all you can eat atmosphere. I did a tour of the restaurant before I even started and was impressed with the array. It also helped me plan what to eat and what not to bother with.

I started at the seafood table. I quickly decided very small portions of everything was the order of the day in order to try as much as possible. The shrimp ceviche was fresh and had nice bite. The fried shrimp and catfish were fine but nothing super special, although they were refilled and piping hot so that is impressive. The lobster mac and cheese was rich but tasty. The tilapia was lovely with the crab topping, the cod was happy with its rich lemon butter sauce. The salmon was ok with the pineapple teriyaki glaze. The peel and eat shrimp and oysters on the half shell were fresh and had all the lovely accessories needed to fully enjoy them. The asian crab salad was a bit too veggie and not enough crab for me though. I was also sad no sushi, they really could use some.

I followed this with a half a fresh bagel with cream cheese, lovely smoked salmon with capers, eggs, onion, tomato and cucumber. They have everything you may need to go with anything, I was happily surprised. I also had a bite of the different types of breads dipped into special dipping sauces. The sauces were ok, the various bread was very nice indeed.

I moved on to more carnivorous fare next. The brisket was falling apart and just happy. The lamb was a bit tough but had good flavor. The pork was shredded and nice. The rotisserie chicken was lovely and fresh off the spit. I sampled a slider on a homemade roll that was awesome after I mixed up some ketchup, onion and mustard to put on it. They had four different types of sausage, kielbasa was my fave but I am partial. I swiped some excellent chicken and veggie dumplings from the Asian table too, unimpressed with the pink dipping sauce I found a good aged soy at the end of the line, definitely a good call there.

I cannot wax more poetically on the perfection of the bacon here. Thick sliced and pressed flat. Perfectly done, neither too crisp nor too floppy. I could have eaten a pound of it. Heavenly. It gets it's own section here as I was that enraptured by it.

Believe it or not I managed to save room for dessert. I must tell you I am not a huge dessert girl, particularly after I eat a big meal. That is not a problem for me here. Heck next time I may start with dessert, it is really awesome. I had a small ramekin of gelato, the to die for tiramisu variety and the merely dreamy vanilla. I also took advantage of the chocolate dipped treats. The fruit was amazing, except I did not care for the canteloupe with the chocolate. The strawberries and pineapple were more than acceptable though. They had cheesecake on a stick dipped in the same chocolate and it was utter bliss. I was over the moon to find chcolate dipped pretzels and a chocolate covered peanut butter bar too. I was sad the creme brulee had a butterscotch flavor but the delightful caramel flan satisfied my need for creamy.

Yes I did indeed make quite a pig of myself. I don't regret a bite. It was fun and frivilous and so perfect. The bonus of a buffet is if you do not like something you can move on until you do. There were way more hits than misses to be had. Nothing was glaringly bad and several things were simply fabulous. I will be back.

Besides I guess I am lucky. I hit for forty bucks on a penny machine (did you have any doubts I would be a cheap gambler too?) before I left ;).