When an Asian restaurant serves a buffet it is usually a bad sign in terms of the quality of food, but since I was under a time constraint I decided to try the one at Thai Kitchen. It had a larger than usual selection of items for a Thai buffet, and the waitress strongly recommended it.

I decided to try the buffet, knowing that I would at least be able to sample several different items. I started with Tom Yum Kai, a spicy (almost too spicy) lime-based soup, but it did not have the flavor of others I have tried.

The main dishes, though, were much better than expected for buffet food. The Tofu Hot Pepper was very flavorful with a good sauce and nicely textured tofu. The Sesame Chicken was too sweet for my taste, but otherwise had a wonderful flavor. The Chicken with Ginger was also quite good, but not enough to give it five stars (the waitress said it was actually basil chicken, but I could not tell that it really had a ginger or a basil flavor). The Curry was sort of bland--typical of Southwest Thai food. The Tapioca pudding for dessert was a real treat.

The biggest disappointment of the meal was the Thai Ice Tea--it was good but nothing special. Also the curry was not "Thai spicy," although both the tofu hot pepper and chicken with ginger approached the desired heat level. I think ordering off the menu might have provided slightly better food, but less interesting because I could not have sampled as many items. I thought there was an overabundance of sweet things and meat-filled things, but overall the buffet was a great bargain and the way to go here.

I would not hesitate to go back, but now that I have an idea which items are best, I would probably order from the menu next time.