Casino Rama is located northeast of Orillia, the town approximately 150 km north of Toronto. The Couchiching buffet was closed for a long time after the pandemic ended, but has now reopened thankfully, and probably stayed closed to be improved and updated. We went for weekday lunch. AYCD pop is included which is excellent. There are no discounts for having a player’s club card so one is not required, although they are free at player services.
This is a large buffet in several sections; I started at one end and worked my way down so I wouldn't miss anything, first off for nachos with cheese sauce, salsa and sour cream, although there are more toppings... It's just like Taco Bell Supreme. There is prime rib on lunch even on weekdays and Mishy said this made it the best buffet ever but she does tend to be enthusiastic. I enjoyed it, though there was a touch too much salt in the gravy, but it was still quite good and also not tough. Meatloaf with stroganoff sauce was absolutely fantastic; a very good flavour mix and Mishy even guessed that's what it was because they went together so well.
Chicken parmigiana was very tasty, and also fresh which is a bonus. Rice pilaf was delicious with a mild flavour. Mishy said the roast vegetables and brussels sprouts with bacon were fantastic. Pollock wings really are made of pollock and so have a fishy aroma, but were not bad. Blackened snapper was not blackened and was excellent with good seasoning and breading; perhaps the blackening refers to the black pepper in it. Chef's choice pizza was very good with plenty of cheese and it was also fresh.
Forest mushroom soup (hope they picked the right mushrooms in the forest!) was delicious as it has a beef base, very gravy-like, which we of course know that mushrooms go perfectly with. Broccoli cheese soup was delicious with a good blend of broccoli and cheese flavours. Mishy absolutely loved the sweet potato mash, and I liked it too, and we figured out that the special flavour is coconut milk.
Barbecue jerk pork was very tasty with the semisweet jerk sauce, which was not too hot thankfully. Mixed vegetables were just plain green beans and carrots, so not much to report on there. Southern fried chicken was delicious, although not KFC, but no worse just different. Cauliflower Mornay was quite good. Onion rings were fresh and crunchy and well-seasoned. Baked beans were quite good and also freshly made.
For dessert, Mishy she said one of the highlights of coming here is the bread pudding which is the best she ever had including, in from childhood. They have the same little mocha, raspberry and mango squares found at so many other AYCE places throughout southern Ontario. As well as vanilla soft-serve with plenty of available toppings, there is fruit punch sorbet soft-serve which as far as I know is completely unique; it is a very sweet Popsicle-like flavour which is just delicious and doesn't require any toppings at all... brings out the kid in me. The vanilla soft serve was excellent with strawberry topping. Apple crumble had fantastic seasoning seeming to be accommodation of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and other things. Butter tart squares were alright but I'm unsure if they were going stale or just had a diminished flavour. German chocolate cake was delicious and seemed to have a rum flavour which added to it well. Tiramisu was very pudding-like and not like other tiramisu I've had, but was still excellent and delicious. Donut holes were fresh and well spiced... the original Timbit. Cream puffs were delicious with plenty of cream filling. Nanaimo bar triangles were quite good, although certainly not like other Nanaimo bars I have had, as had a darker nuttier filling. Carrot cake was quite tasty and well seasoned. Service was fast and friendly with often requests to refill the pop. It was $28.99 for weekday lunch, and this was not a bad price considering the prime rib and other offerings, and quite good with the AYCD pop factored in. With only one minor exception, this was one of the best traditional serve-yourself buffets we have experienced in a long time.
Rating: 9.5 – 10 / 10
