Summit Suite Buffet is located in the main upper deck of Skylon Tower, a structure similar to the CN Tower but roughly one-third the height (predating the CN Tower by a dozen years), at 5200 Robinson St. in downtown Niagara Falls. It's about a 45 min. walk from the Niagara Falls GO station, so is possibly transit-accessible; I'm sure there are local bus options ie WEGO to reduce this travel time as well, but we don't use them. Access to Skylon Tower via its outdoor elevators is included in the buffet price, this would usually cost $18. The only thing to mention about the decor is the view, which is probably why most people come here... We were lucky enough to get a view of the Horseshoe Falls which is probably the best seat in the house. There is a steady stream of tourists who it appears are just going to the restaurant to check out the view, and if you have a window seat and they're not careful they will barge between the tables to take pictures. It's also very noisy when full as it is a very compact space given the restrictions of the tower. To prevent lineups, the entire buffet including the dessert area is mirror-imaged so that you can approach from either end and still encounter the same food in the same order (note the photo of this effect with the dessert buffet.)
Mishy liked the samosa which had a sweet chili sauce; they were clearly from from frozen, but at least there was the reasonably good sauce nearby to liven them up. . Seafood salad was quite good, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Cold deli meats were delicious, including chicken and an Indian spiced meat I have not had before. I loved the charcuterie cheeses, especially the smoked gouda which I have not had in an AYCE before and it was excellent.
Mishy described the prime rib as tough but good. I definitely agree... it was tasty but hard to cut and chew. She loved the pasta farfalle aka bow tie salad, and salad with French dressing, the latter of which she had seconds of and she never does this that I can remember; she mentioned that it had radicchio. I enjoyed it with ranch dressing. I agree that the bowtie salad was delicious, especially the cheese. Meatballs and red pepper cream sauce were quite good, though the meatballs themselves seem pretty standard and probably commercial, the sauce was tasty.
Rice pilaf wasn't the most flavourful, but at least it was fresh. Chicken tenders were delicious, moist and nicely seasoned. Roast chicken drumsticks aka herbed chicken legs were not bad, but (again) kind of blah in the seasoning. Italian pork sausage was good and went well with the peppers. Basa fish was pretty good, the seasoning was a little odd but it was still quite edible.
For dessert, carrot cake was slightly dry but still delicious and very well seasoned. Walnut tart was excellent although Mishy wasn't big on it. Blueberry tart was good. Cookies were delicious but probably commercial. Chocolate cake square was good. There's no soup and no ice cream, the latter probably as space is at a premium and two mirrored freezers would take too much of it. Weekend lunch is $45. Beware the “APF” which is a 2% municipal "tax" that is quasi-legal; I asked for it to disappear from the bill and it did. I subtract the $18 elevator access fee which I am sure is built-in, leaving $27; my reasoning for doing so is that it could easily be made separate, ie lunch being $27 and one needs to also pay the $18 access fee to get there. Normally this would be a good price, but we also must then consider the exceedingly overpriced $10 AYCD pop cost, which is about $7 too much. Ironically this location is surrounded by casinos at which one can go in, spend nothing, and drink unlimited pop out of the self-serve dispensaries, which makes this all the more excessive. All in all was a not-bad but understated lunch. Having crossed Skylon off our bucket list I don’t know if we would return as there are so many other places that need our attention, but it was nice to have been there.
Rating: 8 / 10 - 1 value adjustment = 7 / 10
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