Golden Corral – Punishment for When You Can’t Decide Where to Eat

Golden Corral

Audubon, NJ

Today was a busy day for us.  It was my first visit back to my surgeon since my hospitalization, and it seems that the nurses, even Nurse Ratched, are not lulling me into a false sense of security when they tell me my wound is looking good.  I have one damn sexy wound.

We drove out to Medford to pick the girls up, and having already been up since before six this morning, while I answered questions for www.disneyworldmoms.com, Jim took a nap.  We then left for his 4:45 appointment with the family doctor, just to see how he is and check on his blood pressure.  To top all of that off, we’ve been filling out disability forms that are really enough to drive anyone to mental illness, therefore qualifying them for disability.

So when we left the doctor’s office at just after 5, the thought of actually cooking dinner was appealing to no one.  When Jim offered to get something for dinner, I couldn’t decide what.  Granuaile wanted the diner for their SpongeBob special (fish sticks).  Eilis was happy with McDonald’s.  I couldn’t decide.  As a result of my indecision, we opted for Golden Corral – a chain buffet restaurant.  Surely they would have something for everyone.

And they did.  If what you were looking for was sticky tables, empty buffet stations, cruddy floors, nasty bathrooms (no, these bathrooms were beyond nasty – with an overwhelming odor of urine, filthy floors, and inadequate hand washing supplies), and dirty trays and utensils – they had it all.

The food here is basic American buffet fair.  You’ll find an abundance of fried food and starches; meats of some sort (on this particular evening, there was baked ham; pot roast; meatloaf; Bourbon chicken; Mongolian beef; and ribs); and something resembling a form of seafood – tonight being four different kinds of fried shrimp; fried catfish; and shrimp in lobster sauce.  It’s not good food, but it’s not bad food.  It’s mediocre food, all you want of it, cheap.

I’m not knocking Golden Corral – it is what it is, and it doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t.  But it should at least be clean.  And it isn’t that.  On a night when there was no line waiting to get in, plenty of empty tables, and no packed buffet line, you have to wonder how bad it would be on those days we’ve driven past and the place is mobbed.

And next time, I’ll be quicker and more decisive so we don’t end up here again.