There has been some talk about the Sterling Brunch lately. I thought I might share some facts and thoughts and help to sort out anyones curiosity.

Fact, it's really expensive. I think the base price is in the $65 range. That's a lot of money for a meal where you serve yourself from a steam table.

I arrived early and was offered free champagne. I don't know about this stuff to know good from bad, although this is supposed to be the real thing and the good stuff. It tasted fine to me and I didn't get sick on it. They never let the glass get empty. They seldom let the glass get under half full.

And that brings up service. Service is very attentive. Plates are cleared and drinks are kept full, no matter what you are drinking. What else can a buffet waiter really do for you? They do check in frequently and see if you need anything. If you really wanted to call your waiter, just take a drink and he'll be by to refill your glass.

The dining area. This is an issue. The Ballys steakhouse is the setting for the buffet. The food is in the back of the steakhouse. There is one main aisle going from the front of the room around the corner to the back of the room where the food is. There are tables aside of the aisle, and a raised area to one side with tables. This main aisle can get very busy with customers coming and going, waiters coming and going, and most everyone has their hands full and their focus is not on where they are going. As if this were not enough, there is a restaurant next door to the steakhouse that is used for overflow when the steakhouse is full. This is a double edged sword. It is a much roomier area with much less foot traffic. The elbow room is nice, but it is a gauntlet to get to the food. You must leave the restaurant, go into the steakhouse, and go all the way through the aisle to get to the food. Once your plate is loaded, you must take the same aisle all the way through to leave the steakhouse, enter the other restaurant, called Chang's, and then to your table. Do you get a seat in the crowded steakhouse and possibly in view of the food area, or in a more relaxed atmosphere? Personally, I prefer to be seated in Changs. I'm sure others may prefer the steakhouse.

There are 3 main food service areas in the back of the steakhouse. Along one small wall is cold items. Another area is a semi circle that has sushi and hot items. The third area is in a raised portion of the room and has desserts.

I didn't spend much time in the cold section. I think I saw salmon (lox), a variety of deli meats and cheeses, some fancy salads, maybe some fruits, a cold soup, and seafood on ice. The cold seafood included stone crab claws that were tolerable, crab legs that were not bad although they were a lot of trouble to get into. I've heard that I could have asked for a tool to crack the claws some more. That would have helped on the stone crab and the crab legs. The cold shrimp was good sized and already peeled. Shrimp was probably the best of the cold seafood, and was at least as good as over half of the shrimp cocktails I've had at various steakhouses around town.

The semi circle started with sushi. I'm not into sushi. I did get some caviar from this station. I'm not into caviar either although I wanted to try it since it was supposed to be the good stuff. I think the next thing down from the caviar was hot breakfast items. Basic eggs and stuff. Then there were made to order omelettes. Then there was a carving station with lamb, beef tenderloin, and turkey. The lamb was pretty good but not nearly as good as the Wynn buffet. The beef was very good. I passed on the turkey, as it looked more like "processed" meat than the real thing. Going around were several other hot items in individual sterno heated buffet pots. One had waffles, one had jambalya, one had mini rib eye steaks, one had oysters with stuff on them, one had mahi mahi, and one had lobster. None of these items were outstanding. The jambalya wasn't bad and the meats in it were flavorful. The mini ribeyes looked tempting and were rather tough, probably from the buffet environment. The mahi mahi was overcooked from sitting on a steamtable too long. The lobsters were cut in half and broiled. I guess that keeps them from being soggy. Some were better than others. I strongly suspect that they were bought by Ballys as DOA, which isn't rare in the food industry, but is a sign of inferior lobster.

The last section was desserts. There were some pies and cakes. It was my understanding that these were supposed to be some high quality desserts. I tried a small chocolate cake that wasn't bad. They have a crepe station where they will cook them with Grand Marnier. Those go good with the vanilla bean ice cream. And there are some fruit choices to go with the crepes.

My conclusion is that this buffet was high on menu item listings and pretty low in quality of ingredients used. The buffet environment dropped it a few notches too. I wouldn't call this a meal as much as I would call it an event. I don't think I would ever eat here alone. I would eat it in a group that wanted to go above and beyond a standard buffet. I would know and advise friends from the get-go that good company would be the best part of the day. It was a chance to try things I don't eat every day or every year, or quite possibly ever. If you are trying to weigh the cost versus food value, don't waste your time, 'cause it just doesn't add up. A special situation, special friends, or an event might make this a place to have brunch.