East Buffet & Place d'Armes

New thing of today, ate at East Buffet in Simi Valley.


We were completely exhausted from yesterday's whirlwind outings. Somehow we had breakfast and then all of a sudden it was 5pm. I was craving seafood, so we decided to give our local asian/seafood buffet a try. Husband and I really like LA Buffet in Northridge, so we were hopeful, and boy were we happy.


Yum, yum, yum! It wasn't very busy. The buffet was very clean and nicely decorated. The food was a lot better than I expected.


Notable mention - the sushi/Japanese section. Very good stuff. They had the basic rolls and a few creative ones that were quite good. Salmon, tuna, mixed rolls all good. Sashimi was great. There was a cut/fried roll which was especially tasty and restaurant quality, that I was pleasantly surprised was part of the buffet. The Japanese section of their buffet had a lot more variety and better quality then other buffets I've been to.


As for the Chinese section - excellent! They had tasty chow mein. All the veggies we tried were tasty. They had these salt and pepper chicken wings which were amazingly tasty and awesome. Also, great salt and pepper crab and shrimp. They had a really great salmon in sweet garlic sauce. There were only a few items that I didn't care for, and I tried a number of items. There was a deep fried sushi something, the whole thing dipped in batter and fried, that I didn't recognize what I tasted and didn't really like at all. The crab stuffed shells, egg custard and hot and sour soup weren't that great. One thing I really liked was that the fried food wasn't oily, just cooked very well and everything we liked had a lot of great flavor. Absolutely loved the sesame ball I had for dessert, smaller portion size which was good for a diet. Also I really enjoyed their tapioca pudding.


We really enjoyed it there. Stuffed ourselves, not realizing how hungry we were when we showed up. The only thing we didn't try was the Mongolian section where you choose your food and sauces and they cook it for you. We will have to try it next time. Staff excellent, polite and very quick to respond. Great place! We're going again and bringing friends and family. Plus unlimited seafood at $9-$12 a person, what a deal! Go visit and try it out!


Another new thing of the day, we booked our HOTEL for New Orleans! That may have been why time went so quickly this afternoon. I was scouring for deals and looking for nice places to stay, affordable, yet good location and something I wouldn't regret spending a week in. We've stayed in cheap/bad hotels - so not fun. I've stayed in luxurious hotels which felt partly like a waste since not sure how long we'll be in our room. Also spent time in noisy places and dirty/creepy places and fine places. 

Anyway, taking all the reviews, the statistics, the costs, location into consideration, finally decided to book - at the Place d'Armes by Jackson Square - as smack dab in the middle of the French Quarter as you can get. It's a fantastic location. It's not by Bourbon street which will prevent loudness and drunk craziness hopefully. It's family friendly but I'm hoping there will be no kids in the area at that time. Plus they have a great pool/inner courtyard area which basically stole my imagination and sealed it. The rooms look awful gaudy and atrocious. Quite possibly the ugliest room photos in New Orleans, but like a cruise ship or Vegas, how long are we going to be in our rooms anyway? 

Best thing of all, we got a cheap yet cancelable booking. If we find a better deal or a better hotel, we can change our reservation. I'm just glad we have something booked/set. Didn't want to wait until later when all the rates were ridiculously high. At least this way, we have something good (hopefully good) booked, and will keep an eye out for great/better deals. Plus the hotel guarantees their rate is the cheapest, and it's true because we looked at other sites for better deals for a few days - and the hotel listing had the best/same one. So we booked directly through the hotel. If they do have a better deal later, we can always request that one - for the week we're there.


I just really really really hope this is a good hotel room. Some of our last ones have been sketchy. Our honeymoon room on the cruise ship was located right underneath the galley, so I heard loud clatter of pots, pans and cleaning at about 2-4 AM. Most nights I was so exhausted I heard it but slept through it. One night it woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep, so it was awful and I had to go to the front desk and argue with the clerk over it. They refunded one night because of the sleep missed, but it still sorta ruined that room for us, the noise every night.


Then Gilroy for the Garlic Festival - stayed in a very icky dirty creepy Gilroy Inn - so not even redeemable and I felt like cleaning the place and doing laundry before even sleeping. That was pretty gross. 


Our anniversary hotel room in Santa Barbara Ramada was ok - no issues. Our Vegas hotel room in Palace Station was a bit dingy but the bathroom was nice. We weren't in there much anyway so it didn't matter. They weren't fancy or great, but descent, but not cushy. Maybe it's me getting older, but I'm getting way more picky about hotel rooms. Perhaps in my old age I'm wanting something more fancy or feeling more pampered. I want a room to feel and smell clean, and for me to feel like I'm on vacation. I think the Gilroy dirty trauma was especially scarring. I just really want a nice room, but I don't want to pay a ton of money. Put into perspective, 70% of our conscious time we'll be outside the room. Plus, we can always change our reservation, right?


Those were our hotel rooms in 2010. I really hope 2011 has something better in store. So that is my big hesitation/reservation about reservations. Are there any affordable/fabulous rooms in New Orleans? Maybe I'll split the reservation and stay somewhere else a few nights.


Anyway that's it. I'll be dreaming of New Orleans. Goodnight :)