Lunch Buffet at Strick's

I am usually not a buffet fan, but there are a few exceptions and Strick's is one of them. Today I had lunch with some friends at the Original Strick's on 4th Street. The Strickland Family has owned and operated Strick's for years and it's become a lunch staple for an interesting group of college students, professionals, blue collar workers and an unusually large number of mail carriers.

This was only the second time I had been in since the renovations after Katrina, and the atmosphere is nice and kind of makes me feel at home. Yes, I am a redneck at heart...

Today their Southern comfort buffet featured several home style vegetables including small lima beans, butter beans, collard greens, fried squash and creamed corn. They buffet also included fried chicken, smoked chicken, smoked ribs and sausage.

I got a couple of veggies, a smoked chicken breast and a couple of ribs. The veggies were very good, fresh, hot and seasoned well. I used some of the pepper sauce on the baby lima bean. The fried squash was a little over cooked and got a little "mushy".

The smoked meats were the highlight of the meal. I'll be the first to say I really don't care much for the BBQ that Strick's makes, but they do a great job with their smoker. The chicken was tender and cooked to near perfection. The ribs were good, not great but good. If only I could sneak in a little of my favorite BBQ sauce it would be great.

On a side note, they have great sweet tea!

Bangkok Cafe

Today the wife and I took in lunch at Bangkok Cafe on Hwy 49 South in Hattiesburg, near Forrest General Hospital. I had heard several folks talk about it on MyHattiesburg.com and wanted to see what all the talk was about. The rumor was that they had a lunch buffet.

When we arrived the parking lot was packed and there was only one empty table in the dining hall. Very good signs if you ask me. I then noticed two other things - there was indeed a buffet and local celebrity chef and food writer Robert St. John and a couple of friends were having lunch. If RSJ is there, the place is usually well above average.

We were seated quickly by a friendly host and our beverage order was taken by an attentive server. Being relatively new to Thai cuisine I was honestly wondering how they would pull off a Thai buffet.

On the buffet they had a full compliment of several traditional Thai dishes. The kind folks at Bangkok Cafe are kind enough to list on the buffet how spicy each dish was from mild to Thai Spicy.

When making my first round I over-heard (so sue me) RSJ recommend the Gia Katiem (Chicken) to one of this lunch friends, so I just had to take his advice. The Gia Katiem with thai fried rice was very nice. The Gia Katiem was chopped chicken with Thai Chilies, fresh basil leaves, onions, in a very nice red sauce.

Another highlight of the buffet was the Pad Khing with chicken. Pad Khing consists of sauteed chicken with fresh ginger, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers and baby corn in a medium spicy light brown sauce.

In addition to the above mentioned dishes they had Thai fried rice with shrimp, Thai Spring Rolls, Gang Curry (Pork), and several other dishes that I really can't remember.

I would say that this is well above average for any Asia buffet that I've had and despite my reservations, they pull off a pretty good Thai buffet. Overall, I would say that this was a very positive dinning experience and I would recommend their lunch buffet to family and friends. I can't wait to go back another time and try their sit-down service and menu.

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