Le Village Buffet

Duped by Christmas Day Menu. We have been to Le Village Buffet during several trips to Vegas in recent years, and it used to be very good but has definitely gone downhill. We just had their Christmas Day buffet and it was such a horrible experience we will never go back. We expected that there would be a long line, and thought it would be worth the wait for all the tantalizing items listed on their special Christmas Day menu (in addition to the usual fare, there was supposed to be ham, sweet potatoes, pate, duck l'orange, grilled lamb medallions) but after waiting over 2 1/2 hours in line, none of those items was anywhere to be found. There was turkey, but no cranberry sauce, and there was nothing else that was different from their every day buffet except they had gingerbread men, frosted Christmas cookies, and pumpkin pie at the dessert station. So where was this special "Christmas Day" menu?? Did we arrive too late and they ran out? We got there at 4:00 p.m. and waited in line until 6:30. We ate our meal in disgust and left. We didn't bother trying to complain because while we were waiting in line there was a woman who complained about the ridiculous wait time, and she was pretty much ignored. When we got to the front of the line, we had to wait another twenty minutes because they seat the "Diamond" members ahead of everyone else. So take our advice and do not waste your time waiting in line for this very disappointing buffet.…

Good Food but Watch Out for the Seafood. My son came down with severe food abominations after having eaten a small bread bowl filled with seafood items. He was incapacitated for about 5 hours in the early morning hours after having eaten the above mentioned item. It resulted in considerable expense to us since we had to cancel our flight, go to a doctor, rebook our flight at three times the original cost and my son went through severe agony as the abominations worked its way through his system.

I called several days later to simply give the Paris people a heads up about the problem. I couldn't get through to them so decided to call. I explained the situation to the person who answered and they said in a rather cold tone that they would pass my comments along. Frankly, she sounded cold and insincere so I decided to write this.

If Paris would like to reimburse us for our inconvenience and severe food abomination that would be nice but improbable, I know. I can be reached at 209 852 2253. Anyway, if you go to the Paris buffet, I suggest you avoid the seafood. The doctor who attended my son said it is the most common cause of food abolmination in Las Vegas, in general. So, there you have it.

By the way, I had to change the word xxxxxx to abomination because the program picked up on the xxxxxx word and would not permit it. So, let's see if this works.

Bob…

Not What It Used To Be. We have eaten here probably a dozen times since it opened, but not in the last year or two; we were there at about 5:00 PM on Sunday, December 28, 2008. The first thing I noticed was in the menu; the formerly peeled shrimp had been replaced by the "peel and eat" variety. This has long been my own personal dividing line between a "good" and "not so good" buffet. However, as I have pretty much removed shrimp from my diet, this is not a deal-breaker in itself. But more disappointments awaited. Missing were the ceviche dishes from the seafood section; they were replaced by what appeared to be lunch meat. Also gone was the prosciutto near the grilled meat station. The other items available at that station (formerly beef, chicken, and fish prepared on skewers) now consist of three types of sausage, and steak pieces.

As for the quality of the items served, we noted some problems there as well. From the carving station, the prime rib was still good, but the roast beef and turkey were both somewhat dry. The coq au vin, long a favorite, seemed to consist of wings, necks and bones.

On the plus side, the desserts were still as good as we remember them, and our server (a young man named Roilan, if memory serves) was friendly and attentive, despite an apparent shortage of staff. This shortage was evidenced by the slowness of empty tables being cleared, which is inexcusable with a waiting line nearly an hour long.

To sum up, this buffet, which we once considered on a par with the Bellagio in quality (although not in variety) of the menu, has dropped off of our list of places to recommend. This is a sad example of what happens when cost-cutting decisions are made by an MBA armed with an Excel spreadsheet. There is no cell on the spreadsheet which factors "loss of good will" into the bottom line. If you have $25.00 per person to spend, you can do much better by going a bit East on Flamingo Rd. to, for example, Cozymels. And you probably won't have to wait for an hour.…

Wonderful Desserts. Request a dining room rather than the central "street" dining and get there early to avoid long lines. It can be very noisy in the general "street" dining area. Food in general was excellent. Desserts to die for...Creme Brule and Chocolate Mousse Tart...all worth the $25 dinner buffet. My husband got his fill of crab legs and I loved the bowtie pasta and roasted chicken...melts in your mouth. But dont leave without trying the blueberry crepes with stawberry sauce...excellent.…