The Buffet at Bellagio

The Buffet at Bellagio used to be the top rated buffet in Las Vegas, but over the past few years a few new buffets have come along that have trumped it.  Still, this is an impressive buffet, and depending on what you're in the mood to eat, it might be exactly what you're looking for.

I first went to this buffet several years ago, back when it was rated #1.  I went again today, a Friday, and I was pleasantly surprised.  I had forgotten about the outdoor decor like street lamps and brick decorating the dining room area.  I had also forgotten just how big this buffet is.

We arrived at lunch and stayed for dinner.  You know about this trick, right?  You arrive shortly before lunch ends, pay the lunch price and stay for dinner.  This works out well if you're willing to eat an early dinner (or a late lunch) since dinner starts at 3:30pm.  For frugal people, this is a really good deal, especially on Friday and Saturday when Bellagio has a special gourmet dinner featuring 3 kinds of caviar.  That's right folks, pay the normal lunch price, and you too can taste caviar.  I actually didn't try it.  Eating fish eggs just doesn't appeal to me.

We arrived around 2pm.  The line was almost nonexistent, and we were seated right away.

They serve Coke products here, which I like.  I had Diet Coke.  They also have coffee, tea, etc.

At lunch they also had breakfast food, making it more of a brunch.  I enjoyed the eggs benedict.  The egg was cooked long enough that the yolk was hard.  I don't like runny yolks.

As far as lunch food, I enjoyed the salmon, the mashed sweet potatoes and the pesto mashed potatoes.  They had beef and turkey sliders which tasted a little bland and overcooked.  I like the sliders much better at the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace.  There were several different carving stations.  They had flank steak, but it wasn't nearly as good as the flank steak at The Buffet at Wynn, and they had turkey, but it wasn't as good as the turkey at Le Village Buffet at Paris.

As far as dinner food, I enjoyed the beef wellington, which I hadn't seen at any other buffet.  They also have crab legs (but so does every buffet at dinner time), and as I mentioned earlier, 3 types of caviar.

Regarding dessert, I especially enjoyed the bread pudding, bananas foster and coconut macaroons. They had chocolate covered strawberries, but I like them better at Wicked Spoon at The Cosmopolitan.

They don't have gelato, which is a huge negative considering this is an Italian-themed resort/casino/buffet.  They do have 2 soft-serve ice-cream machines.  One has chocolate, vanilla and swirl.  The other has peach sorbet, raspberry sorbet and swirl.  The ice-cream and sorbet were too icy and cold.  It wasn't creamy enough.  If I wanted soft-serve at a buffet, I'd rather eat the soft-serve at Le Village Buffet at Paris.

To end my meal, I finished with a cup of coffee, which was perfect.  That's one nice thing about buffets, everything (except alcoholic beverages) is included.

As far as buffets go, I rate Bellagio's buffet as #4 in Vegas.  It has a lot of variety, and most of the food is well cooked and well seasoned, but the flavor is better at other buffets.  Also, the lack of gelato is unforgivable considering it's Italian theme.  And, one more annoyance, some of the food labels were wrong.  For example, "peach sorbet" was labeled "raspberry sorbet" and vice versa.  Also, the "eggs benedict" and "eggs florentine" labels were switched.  I didn't see mislabeling at any other buffet.  It just seems like sloppy work.

Still, there are some "gourmet" items on this menu that you won't find elsewhere.  If you want caviar, this is the buffet for you!

Happy eating!