Rio - 3700 W. Flamingo Rd.
Las Vegas, NV, 89103
(702) 777-7777
Reputed to serve a mind-numbing 5,000-plus meals on a good day, the Carnival World Buffet offers just about anything anyone could want, at prices almost anyone can afford.
Entering this buffet almost feels like going to sea, being faced with wave after wave of hot and cold food, a veritable tsunami of carbs, fat and protein.
The dim sum station features dishes such as char siu bao, bread dumplings with a sweet, barbecued pork filling; and a toothsome shrimp dumpling called ha gow. At the noodle bar, another Asian station, you order your noodle of choice by number. The noodles are diverse, things like the flat rice pad Thai, Vietnamese-style pho, and various Chinese pastas. The chef will then place your noodle in a delicious broth, and you will embellish it at a nearby condiment bar. The possibilities are endless.
The hummus here is just fine. So is a raft of Italian pastas, with sauces to match, all sitting in their respective trays at a steam-table station. An impressive array of dishes such as chile verde, quesadillas, enchiladas and carne asada is the ticket at the beautifully stocked Mexican station, with condiments, hot sauces and leafy green herbs to match.
There are three kinds of peel-and-eat shrimp, all differently spiced, by the first-rate seafood section, which also features a stainless steel wall into which portholes filled with blue water have been etched. Also in this station are assorted fried fish, like scallops, halibut and shrimp.
Hand-rolls and sushi are available at a well-stocked sushi and Japanese food station, which also features pop-out-of-their pods edamame (salty, green, boiled soybeans), plus teppanyaki, meats and veggies cooked on a grill, Benihana style.
And of course, there are the desserts. A wonderful hot crêpe suzette server is filled with citrusy, butter-drizzled crêpes, as good a version of the dish as you would have had in an old Vegas gourmet room. A gelato bar serves eight different flavors of the dense, creamy Italian ice cream, and tiramisu in little chocolate cups is a treat, as well.
-- Las Vegas Weekly
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