Both were good, but not enough to have put Cronin's on our site. The potato skin presentation was nice, but they were a little more done than we would have chosen. The dog was a nicely flavored, large dog that was good, but isn't what I would pair with the chili. The house cut fries were good as always!

The restaurant is in the small mall, just east of US-69, a couple of doors from Garozzo's. It has an attractive interior and a large buffet, which is served from 11 AM to 2 PM daily. You can also order off the menu.

I arrived a little after 12:30 PM and almost had the dining room to myself, though more parties continued to arrive, particularly after 1 PM. Everything was spotlessly clean.

There were too many dishes for me to sample in one go, but I made a valiant attempt, having tiny servings of at least 17 items. I enjoyed every single one, with favorites including the chicken curry, Navratan korma (creamy vegetable curry), Baingan Bhartha (roasted eggplant with onion), garlic naan (flat bread), bhatura (North Indian deep fried bread), and mango kulfi (dessert). The food was all wonderfully seasoned, though not particularly spicy hot. There are a wide variety of chutneys for those who wish to have the spice taken up a level.

I tend to not eat enough vegetables, but one of the things which I love about Indian cuisine is the wonderful things they do with vegetables. I could have a terrific meal at this buffet without ever touching the meats (though I sampled all of them).

Service was good. The person who seated me, quickly brought a pitcher of ice water and asked if I wanted anything else to drink. So many Indian buffets fail at this! He also faithfully refilled my Diet Coke throughout the meal.

At $19.99, this meal isn't cheap, but it is a bargain for the level of quality and variety. I will definitely return.

Spice of Bombay
 
 
 

Buffet

Today we had Enchilasas Playa Azul (Two rolled corn tortillas filled with shrimp, pico, and shredded cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream and chipotle cream on top) and Molcajete de Mariscos Rey (Octopus, shrimp, scallops, mussels, cooked surimi, and crab legs in house seafood sauce, served in a hot molcajete and garnished with radish, avocado & black sesame seeds, along with salad, rice and fries).

The enchiladas are one of the least expensive items on the menu at $14.99 (there are several at $12.99). They were fine, but not a dish which I think would draw people to come any distance. The Molcajete de Mariscos Rey is worth a drive.

The Molcajete was served while still boiling and is an impressive presentation. It has a rich, garlicky sauce that will be too hot for some, but should be a treat for someone who tolerates even a little heat in their food. This is one of the best seafood dishes that I have ever had. I am a big seafood fan and have had seafood dishes from simple to complex in at least 10 countries.

The food took about 25 minutes to come out. When combined with waiting on seafood emersed in the sauce to cool enough to eat and the time to peal shrimp and get the meat out of the crab legs, it was a long meal, but one I will do again. The octopus was tender and when dipped in the sauce was my highlight from the dish.

For supper, we went to Sierra Grill in Lenexa, Kansas. It is the first time that we have been there for supper since they added curtains in the dining room to deaden the excessive noise. Although the sight lines aren't as nice, they really do help and this was a better experience.

We arrived during happy hour and too advantage of it. Our meal consisted of four appetizers, three of which were on special prices: Grilled Chicken Skewers, Fancy Deviled Eggs, Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Dip, and Steak & Frites. The "dip" was a but of a surprise, as the smoked salmon was in relatively large slices sitting on top of the cream cheese. It was still good.

I also had "When Pigs Fly," WhistlePig 6 year Piggyback bourbon, barrel aged maple syrup, Aztec & aromatic bitters, and a single large ice cube in a maple wood smoked glass, garnished with house made "Millionaire Bacon." It was sweet and very enjoyable, the bacon garnish was nice from soaking in the cocktail. For happy hour it was $2 off the usual $16.

We shared a generous Apple Caramel Bread Pudding. It was good, but seemed like it was reheated, rather then fresh made as we had it before.

Molcajete de Mariscos Rey
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

When Pigs Fly

My review isn't going to be all positive, so let me lead with the positives and you can see if they make you want to rea d more. The prices were quite reasonable. I liked the Escargot and the Moltan Chocolate Cake, which reminded me of the wonderful Cioccolata Amore at Cinzzetti's in Overland Park. It would have been better with ice cream! There are large windows and the view of the trees in Park Places covered with small white lights was very nice.

The restaurant was full and it felt like the staff was struggling to stay on top of things. The pace was extremely slow and servers were trying to take dishes to the wrong tables.

We started with two house specialty cocktails, a Maple Old Fashioned and an Angels Kiss. I can't see my photo of the menu well enough to describe them, but neither of us cared much for the, so that doesn't matter.

We started with escargot and French onion soup. The snails were good, while the soup was all bread and cheese with little broth and only a tiny bit of onion.

The Moules Maria (Mussels in a shallot and white wine herb broth, served with pommes frites). The fries were quite good. The mussels were tiny and I would have liked the broth to have more seasoning. Chicken Paillard (Boneless chicken breast, capers, tomatoes, shallots and lemon with vegetable du jour and mashed potatoes) was OK.

I may return at lunch someday to try the Croque Monsieur (French ham, gruyere cheese, béchamel, on sourdough bread).
 
 

Maple Old Fashioned & Angels Kiss

Moltan Chocolate Cake

For the first time in several visits, they had chicken wings available, so we ordered pork spare ribs, chicken wings and fries. A space heater was running near our table, but it was still fairly cold.

The ribs had a little less flavor and were a little less tender than I remember. The wings were just like before, smoked and then finished in a fryer so the skin is crisp. I liked them with just a touch of the vinegar based BBQ sauce. The fries are still lightly battered, thin, shoestrings.

It doesn't feel like any effort was put into the presentation.
   
  

Ribs & wings