Su Tao Cafe

Great Valley Shopping Center (Routes 401 and 30), Malvern, PA

http://www.sutaocafe.com

 

When our friend who is vegan planned to come down for a visit to us and the QVC studios, I sprang into action, looking for options. Lo and behold, there was a 100% vegan place just down the road a piece. Kismet!

 

Neither the exterior nor interior are much to consider; strip mall for the former, and lots of plastic with the latter. We sat down and I was immediately drawn to the buffet option; when our friend attempted to order a single entree, she was quickly dissuaded — “it’s all on the buffet”. So, we all did the buffet (which, on a weekend afternoon, was $12.25).

 

The buffet was not expansive, but had enough variety to keep us interested. I guess it’s easiest to describe the cuisine as Chinese with other influences. The old favorites (General Tso’s, Moo Shu, etc.) are all there, along with some Thai and Japanese influences. However, all of them are veganified, so when it says “duck” it’s not duck, but fake duck. Without fail though, I didn’t miss it: textures and flavors were all satisfying, such that if the signifier didn’t really match the signified, I didn’t much care. 

 

So, to follow up on the recent Chinese buffet post, here is another buffet that I highly recommend, even if it isn’t your standard buffet — or perhaps because it isn’t.

Ray’s Burgers & Fries

1850 S. Collegeville Rd., Collegeville, PA

 

When we first moved to Collegeville, a dilapidated golf cart factory welcomed you to town. That has been replaced by a Super Wawa, a bank, and a minimall containing a new restaurant, Ray’s Burgers & Fries, “where the food and service are blue ribbon worthy!”

 

Well, OK then.

 

With two of the walls glass, it’s hard to do much with the space, and they certainly didn’t try: it has all of the charm of a public restroom, with brown tile and brown walls (festively adorned this time of year with wreaths). I mean, it’s not horrible, but it is not exactly a comfortable place or interesting.

 

Let’s get to the food then. I had a 1/4 lb. burger (“100% Angus, Fresh Never Frozen”) with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, ketchup and mayo. The burger had a nice bun and was very flavorful. Unfortunately, the onions were placed underneath the burger, resulting in a mushy bottom bun that made the eating experience less than ideal. I had fries that were good, but not great. They say they are fresh-cut Idaho potatoes, but I have my suspicions: they certainly had evidence of having sat for a while, if they weren’t just cut fresh in Idaho and then shipped frozen here. The onion rings are pedestrian.

 

Here’s the thing: we will likely try Ray’s again because the burgers were good and affordable (your basic burger combo goes for $5; the bacon cheeseburger combo was $6), I want to support a local business, and the service was fine. However, if a place is going to compete against fast food conglomerates, it seems to me it has to really mark itself through freshness and vibrancy: the burgers do it, but everything else doesn’t, at least at this first try. Let’s hope for perhaps some creativity with things like homemade onion rings, or creative burgers, rather than stuff I can get just about anywhere.

Chinese Buffets

King’s Buffet, 223 Shoemaker Rd., Pottstown, PA

King Buffet, Plymouth Meeting Mall, Plymouth Meeting, PA

New Golden Buffet, 700 Nutt Rd, Phoenixville, PA

Panda Chinese Buffet, 4493 Highway One, Rehoboth Beach, DE

Win Buffet, 70 Bucwkalter Rd, Royersford, PA

We’re a big fan of Chinese buffets. Obviously, I’m a glutton, so buffets in general appeal to me. Chinese buffets are fun because of the sampling option, but also because they almost always feature three of my favorite dishes: Crab Rangoon (fried wantons with cream cheese fillings? Um, yeah), General Tso’s Chicken, and String Beans.

However, Chinese buffets can also be depressing and sad. It’s not just the clientele – often fellow gluttons, strangely obsessed with crab legs, which rarely seem worth the effort. And, it’s not just the décor, often too filled with plastic and kitsch that holds none of the cheesy appeal. No, it’s the quality and selection of food – often lukewarm, often mushy, often uniform in flavor (like they are using the same sauces for everything), and often less than fresh.

So, we are often in search of a quality Chinese buffet. The ones in Phoenixville and Royersford allured us with coupon offers but the allure quickly diminished: the spaces are small and more depressing than usual. The buffets featured food that was unremarkable and easily dismissed, leaving only slightly queasy stomachs, not satisfaction.

The Pottstown one offered promise – including being named the best one in the tri-county region (since it’s Pottstown, the three counties are Montgomery, Lehigh, and Berks – not a configuration I’m used to nor one that I think exists outside of this particular designation). Its location next to a dollar store and a Walmart did not bode well, and we were indeed disappointed. Certainly its selection was better, but variety did not translate into a better dining experience. Further, the promise of sushi and hibachi was something of a false one: only rolls and hardly fresh ones, and the hibachi stand remained unstaffed. And, it was just depressing, once more.

However, all is not lost. The King Buffet at Plymouth Meeting is completely serviceable: a wide selection, and that selection features fresh food that tastes good. It also is clean, spacious, and relatively reasonably priced. The buffet in Rehoboth Beach shared many of the same characteristics, as well as improvements: the décor was actually pleasant and tasteful, as was the food.

So, Chinese Buffets do not have to be sad, depressing, and disappointing: unfortunately, most of them are.