well, it's been a long time, and i still don't have anything good to write about. next week, i'll be visiting the Chocolate Bar at Cafe Fleuri in Boston, and that will undoubtedly result in a ginormous post, but until then...

this past weekend, i went to see Anita Baker in concert at Pala Casino. she is my all time favorite A-#1 singer, so you could say i was pretty excited. the concert was not bad; she sounded great, but the venue was pretty much crap. nonetheless, a good time was had by all...



but this blog is not about r&b artists, so let's talk about Pala's buffet. i gotta say, i was kind of impressed. so far Barona has been my standard for "good" buffets outside of Las Vegas, but i'd have to rank Pala a close second. turns out Saturday is "steak and shrimp night," which sucks because i do not enjoy either steak or shrimp, but there was plenty of other stuff for my grazing enjoyment.



but of course my real focus is on the desserts. i was impressed first and foremost by the cannoli-- i don't know if these were fresh out of the kitchen or what, but the shells were actually CRISP. usually the filling works quickly to soggify the shell, resulting in a gross semi-solid mass that bears almost no resemblance to a legit cannoli. i don't know that i've ever encountered a better buffet cannoli (tho still not in the same league as the REAL THING from an italian bakery).

their chocolate chip cookies were studded liberally with semisweet chocolate, but had an odd sour aftertaste, so i have to give those a pass. the tiramisu was exceptionally creamy, and although dusted with cocoa powder, remained somewhat bland. i preferred the white chocolate raspberry mousse cups, which maintained that luxurious texture along with, you know, some actual flavor.

i found it interesting that they served a variety of bar cookies, which are probably extremely cheap to produce but suitably tasty. one unidentified item tasted lightly of cinnamon, walnuts and white chocolate. the other was nothing more than a Magic Bar, but i happen to like these and they were executed well enough.

Pala also had an assortment of cream puffs, ice cream, warm desserts like cherry cobbler and bread pudding, fruit tarts, etc. all in all, there was lots to choose from, including plenty of sugar-free options. verdict: worth the $20. but especially because my friend paid :p