southern food | One Day Café

Tags

breakfast, breakfast buffet, gluttony, golden corral, restaurants, southern food, USA

I’ve been in a food coma for the past few days, and I am not ashamed.

One of the things I’ve been looking forward to the most for my USA East Coast tour – aside from visiting family and friends, of course – is all the glorious foooooood! Starting in North Carolina, because if you haven’t eaten in the South, you just haven’t lived! (And your heart is probably much healthier for it, but…whatever).

Immediately upon arrival, we hit up the Lighthouse Beer Festival with its glorious array of craft brews. So the following morning was the perfect occasion to visit a breakfast buffet. And where better than the legendary Golden Corral.

The breakfast buffet is all about strategy. First, I always survey my options so I know what is available, can prioritize and allot plate space accordingly. Skip this step at your own risk! Around every corner is another tray of deliciousness that you are going to wish you had more room for.

My personal favorite this time around was the Smokey Cheesy Potatoes because holy hell, there are just no words. Sliced red potatoes in a gooey smokey creamy cheese sauce with peppers and onions. Then there was the sausage egg and cheese casserole, the bacon, the corned beef hash, the cheese grits, the hash browns….and that was just on Plate #1.

For Round 2, realizing I had limited vacancy in my belly I zeroed in on the final non-negotiable: creamed chipped beef over a biscuit. On an impulse, I added an apple fritter that I didn’t expect much from. But WOW, that was the perfect sweet ending. It was like a funnel cake with chunks of sweet cinnamon apples. (Wikipedia link added for the benefit of my non-North American readers – ¡qué lástima si no lo has probado!).

Lest you assume I’m a total glutton, below I present you with the offerings in which I did NOT indulge. How it cannot be considered criminal to include a dessert buffet as part of a breakfast buffet is really not for me to question. And what is pictured is actually less than half of what was available. It took a lot of willpower to skip the chocolate cake, carrot cake, chocolate cream pie, strawberry pie AND the chocolate fountain. But, y’know, we all make sacrifices.