Uncle Willy's Buffet

Uncle Willy's? Really? HEY! What is wrong with Uncle Willy's? I remember begging my parents to take me here since no one in my family ever liked the restaurant and I never knew why. I mean for kids, it is all about the luke warm fries, mashed potato, fried chicken and of course, the self serve soft ice cream! At least for me it was. As for my family, my parents never really liked anything. My father would go for the fried chicken as well as roast beef and my mother went for the veggies and dip since we never buy those, as well as the ham since like any fob wife, does not make it at home. As for my older sister, she always literally sat there with a miserable face, never ate anything and my mother would get annoyed. Me on the other hand of course being five to seven, was easily sold on the ice cream… and still am LOL. Asides from my family's lack of enthusiasm regarding the food, they have always considered the restaurant dirty. Honestly to date, I still do not see it, the restaurant does not look that dirty to me!

Anyways, fast forward to a bit less than fifteen years later, I asked BF to take me here because we had no restaurant in mind and I wanted some ice cream! Walking in, diners pay at the front and can grab any seat. When I started snapping some photos, a couple of the staff members mentioned that no photos are allowed. Usually when no photos are allowed, there have been previous problems regarding the food and the restaurant does not want to accidentally make a mistake which is captured on camera. So, not being allowed to take photos, I literally tried a tiny bit of everything despite not wanting to LOL… the motivation I have just to take photos. By the way, is it sad that out of every non-Asian buffet that I have been to, Uncle Willy's is the only one where I have tried everything? I guess I never realize how picky I am… but hey, lesson learned, I will try everything at Sunday buffets from now on! I mean, I should, they are not that cheap and I never get the money's worth.

ADULT REGULAR DINNER $13.99

CHICKEN SOUP AND MINESTRONE SOUP.

I like that the restaurant has mini sized bowls because if the soup does not taste good, less will be wasted. Both soups are housemade and neither tastes too salty. For the chicken soup, the soup has a light chicken broth taste with generic frozen vegetables such as carrot as well as peas and as expected, tastes like nothing special. As for the minestrone soup, the soup tastes hearty.

SALAD BAR.

Uncle Willy's offers quite a variety of a salad bar and everything tastes fresh. Starting from the bottom left clockwise, the rice salad tastes creamy with a heavy mayonnaise taste, however, does not taste too overwhelming. Next, the coleslaw consisting of shredded cabbage and mayonnaise tastes alright with no complaints, and the peas with mayonnaise tastes slightly sweet. Following are two types of pasta salad, macaroni and shell with a heavy but not too bad dose of mayonnaise. Continuing on is the canned mix of beans, green beans and chick peas, and the potato salad which is quite tasty. There are large chunks of soft potato with a hint of pepper which is definitely the best out of the bunch. Other than the salads, there are vegetables consisting of romaine, shredded cabbage and carrot, cucumber, tomato, broccoli as well as onion and the only fruit, oranges.

ROAST BEEF, SALMON AND CORN.

The cut of beef seems to be the sirloin but does not really taste like sirloin and could possibly be the lower end of sirloin which is the cheapest part. The meat tastes tough as well as dry, however, not too chewy. As for the salmon, the fish tastes stiff as well as dry which can be expected. And for the corn, cooked generic frozen niblets, I like them.

MEAT BALL, SPAGHETTI, PEROGI, FRIES WITH GRAVY AND MASHED POTATO.

The meat ball tastes spongy and the taste of the beef is not very good. Next, the spaghetti tastes like what it is, not overcooked or too mushy. Following is the perogy which has a very thick skin and a potato as well as cheese filling. The perogy tastes bland and is nothing special, I never liked these as a child too. Next, the fries taste soggy which can be expected and the gravy has a beef gravy taste mixed with real gravy and powder. As for the mashed potato, the restaurant uses real potato rather than powdered and tastes more buttery than creamy.

MASHED POTATO AND GRAVY, CURRY CHICKEN, ROAST BEEF, HAM, ROTISSERIE CHICKEN DRUM STICK AND SALMON.

This is BFs plate and I tried some of his items. The chinese style curry has a slight spiciness as well as a settled curry taste and the chicken does not taste too chewy. As for the ham, the slices taste tender and it is pretty hard to screw up in general. And for the rotisserie drum stick, the meat tastes dry which is odd considering the cut, however, the chicken has a tasty seasoning.

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN THIGH, RICE AND BEEF STEW, FRIED CHICKEN, CUCUMBERS, MAC N' CHEESE AND HOT DOG.

The rotisserie chicken thigh tastes tender but not juicy and the fried chicken has a soggy exterior with moist meat. For the beef stew, the meat does not taste very chewy and the stew has a gravy taste. Moving to the mac n' cheese, it has a taste of powdered or processed cheese.

FRIED CHICKEN, CHOW MEIN, ROAST BEEF AND HAM.

The chow mein tastes doughy as well as soggy and could have been cooked on a higher heat, or has simply been sitting there for too long.

DESSERT.

I am not sure what the dessert is on the left and the one on the right is apple crumble? I have never tried these. As for the cakes, Uncle Willy's offers quite a selection of diabetic desserts and I remember sneaking a few when I was younger but never liked them. For the non-diabetic cake that I chose, it tastes pretty crappy… a generic yellow cake with a creamy and not overly sweet but not very tasty frosting. I mean, a cake is pretty hard to mess up and even grocery store bought premix packages taste better. The cakes have never tasted good here and I have no idea why.

SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM WITH CARAMEL AND/OR FUDGE.

Yup, the only reason why I am here and had three of these before leaving LOL. The soft serve tastes smooth and of course fun when you make it yourself. The caramel as well as fudge does not taste bad too, no complaints.

TOTAL $29.38 + $3.62 TIP $ = $33.00

Overall we paid $33.00 because I do not think that many people leave change behind unless they are here with a larger party. As for the food, I would stick to the rotisserie and fried chicken but would not revisit. Also, watch out for your belongings! A group of four sat at our table when we left to grab more food and moved my purse as well as sat on my jacket. Despite being an honest mistake, I am OCD and when someone is sitting on my jacket… Plus, it felt super awkward telling them that, that is my stuff LOL.

POSITIVES

- Large restaurant

- Good for whose who finish working out and want some protein

- Soft serve ice cream is so much better than Chapman's which some restaurants serve (personal preference)

NEGATIVES

- Average eats for the price

- Only worth it for those who can eat a lot and are not picky

LITTLE THINGS

- Worth it for those who come and can eat a lot of chicken? LOL

Food: 2.5/5

Service: N/A