Okay, this is the first Buffet des Continents in Quebec at which I've eaten, having eaten here a…read morefew times. I also tried the Brossard location once. My last experience was at this location in St.-Jerome and I'm writing an update for it.
Let me say that this is a very nice store. This northern suburb skews newer and this restaurant aligns with that observation. It's also nice that it has a mezzanine and even an outdoor upstairs seating patio. This location has the leaning tower of Pisa in the midst of it while Brossard has the Eiffel Tower, making this chain kitsch in this regard, albeit with "clear" branding.
I went with the typical 4 plate system: salads and vegetables, entrees 1, entrees 2, and desserts. I also had coffee.
The variety of food is quite vast. Popular foods tend to be North American/Canadian, Italian, Greek, and some Asian and Mexican choices. There is also a rotisserie and carving station.
The first plate with the salads and vegetables was uniformly good. For the most part, the second plate, with meat and fish, was also good. I had some issues with the third plate, upon which I had put on some slices of pizza and a small Greek casserole. Some of the items tasted a little flat, with the Greek casserole in a round tin being especially so. Then, the fourth plate was good, and it had different flavors of jello, cake, as well as pudding Chomeur. I laughed at all the jello that was on display, thinking that the residents of a senior housing locale would be very excited by all that jello! As for the pudding Chomeur, it wasn't as moist as what I had at the Brossard location.
I want to add that I went into this Buffet des Continents within an hour of closing. I was immediately told that, because it was a week night and the patronage was a little low, it was not likely that additional food would be added. This could account for some of the mains being a little bland after sitting out for a while.
The apparent manager was very friendly and helpful. The younger employees servicing the table were nice enough. However, in going up to the buffet area to get the next plate, I found my table cleared off not once, but twice! They rectified it and the manager explained that some staff members were newer. I found these errors both irritating and funny because, with a packed house on a wintry day in Brossard, the serving staff there seemed to have connected with the patrons, as in engaging with them and remembering them, such that my table was never erroneously cleared.
For four plates of food, the week night dinner price was definitely fair. I also like that this store/chain has adopted a system whereby you can have an automatic 12% put onto the tab that will act as a tip. I like that they chose a percentage between 10 and 15, which is about where I tip when at an AYCE/buffet sort of set-up.
Take note that there has been a name change. Buffet des Continents is now Saveurs des Continents, which means "flavors of the continents" in French. This store could easily get back up to 4 star status. They have a very nice restaurant that is spacious, quirky, and interesting, and the distribution of what they feature has something for almost everyone. They just need to fix a few of the blander items, such as some that I mentioned, and it will be all good ... at least in my book.
