Conservatory - Crown Buffet Sunroom

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Conservatory - Crown Buffet Sunroom
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• I first came across Conservatory when I was
  traversing the first level of Crown Casino
  looking for Koko. It looked so clean, bright and
  organised, I really did not think that I was in
  the bowels of the Crown, but instead something
  like the Surfers Paradise Marriott on the Gold
  Coast where the buffet is a fabled event much
  like the one that I observed in the Mecca of
  pokies, blackjack and sin.

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• Earlier this week I returned to Conservatory with
  one other as we were both extremely hungry. I had
  completely recovered from the hangover that I had
  leftover from my visit to Sydney after a marathon
  party which commenced at Spice Temple, this being
  the first occasion that I felt that my stomach
  could handle anything and everything without
  revolting.

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• We turned up at 1150 AM. A mob had gathered
  outside of the entrance to the restaurant. I was
  half expecting to see One Direction in the place
  with the volume of children in the wings however
  the demographic was just not limited to the
  pre-pubescent, but also the aged, willing and
  unwilling visitors to the casino.

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• Everyone was gathered waiting to be first past
  the barrier as the restaurant states that lunch
  commences at high noon - 1200 PM sharp and they
  enforce it. Nobody is let in even a minute before
  which I thought was just a process for the sake
  of having a process.

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• Surely the mob of people would have been happier
  having a seat, placing a drink order and
  commencing their culinary gorge without having to
  look through the windows and allow their saliva
  to drip on the worn Crown carpet outside of the
  restaurant in anticipation of the clock striking
  noon. Rules are rules though.

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• Regardless, when the morning evolved to noon
  officially, the gates were open and the warm
  bodies raced inside. It reminded me of the
  Emirates Melbourne Cup the way punters charged
  over the white parquet floors, bumped into the
  perfectly set tables and claimed the various
  tables of food for their own.

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• Some larger groups had some sort of arrangement
  for tables next to the large windows which in
  turn gave them good views over Southbank
  Promenade out toward the Melbourne Aquarium. It
  was a beautiful day in Melbourne however these
  patrons I believe were not there for the view,
  but for the endless supply of food and the most
  extensive dessert bar that I have ever seen.

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• We secured a table that some would say would have
  been the worst in the house, in the corner near
  the bar but it was away from the action. I wasn't
  there for the view either but we were also civil
  enough to enjoy our seat and wait for service to
  order a beverage before taking on the buffet.

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• I found myself in the seafood area first. I hate
  working for my food so I never get prawns that
  require being deshelled. All of the tables have
  bowls for prawn shells but also one filled with
  water and lemon for your messy fingers.

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• It would seem that others that normally frequent
  this place do not mind working for their food. I
  saw a fair amount of shucked oysters available,
  but I passed on those also. Instead I opted for
  salmon and tuna sashimi, kippler potatoes,
  intentionally cold beetroot quail and what I
  would find a very tasty watermelon-lamb-feta
  shooter.

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• When I returned to my table, our drinks arrived.
  The food was consumed. Everything was rather
  bland except the shooter. My second trip to the
  battlefield was to the area that had the curries.
  I wanted to sample them as I was interested in
  some spice. There were five available, along with
  some tandoori chicken.

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• There were many meats and vegetables available at
  the carvery and it was a very popular area but I
  normally do not go out to eat things that I can
  easily make at home. I would later find the
  curries bland also however the second round of
  watermelon-lamb-feta shooters were the highlight
  once more.

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• Exhausting my two main forks and knives, I
  wandered over to the very extensive dessert bar.
  I kept thinking that I want to actually lose
  weight this month so I took it easy however
  everything I selected was both rich and perfectly
  presented on display. This was one of the few
  times I wanted to act like a tourist and take a
  photo because it was a beautiful and symmetric
  setup.

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• Service was quick to turn up to remove the used
  plates when we were at the various buffets. They
  were also quick to return to ask if we wanted
  more drinks but other than that service did not
  have much to do. I liked the design of the
  waterglasses and how they matched the paper
  straws that you are given should you order a
  carbonated beverage.

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• It was a nice and whimsical touch. For 48 for
  lunch (61 on Saturday and 75 on Sunday (98 if
  you want to match it with unlimited cheap
  champagne)) I thought it was a reasonably priced
  deal since you could sit and graze for 2.5 hours
  if you were keen. We lasted about an hour but it
  looked like the hungry mob was only going to be
  dislodged from the place when the cow bells rang
  at 230 PM when lunch ended.

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• An interesting place with a beautiful set-up.
  With the view and the good selection of food and
  desserts especially on offer you could impress
  visitors to our fair city easily but more
  importantly go if you want some medium-quality
  food in endless supply.

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• For more information, please visit us

http//www.epicureanofsouthbank.com