The World's Best Buffet
Les Grands Buffets in Narbonne, France
Introduction to Les Grands Buffets - LGB
This buffet is astounding. It destroys every notion about what a buffet is. It is a tribute to the most influential chef in history, an homage to dishes that have resonated throughout time, a system of preparation that respects the recipe and presentation of each dish, a service level that equals Michelin star levels and an art and artifact collection that is worth visiting on it’s on merits.
Is each individual dish the best of it’s kind? No…the scale is too vast for that - but on average the quality is better than many/most humble and fancy restaurants in France and around the world. How did this beautiful buffet come to be?
It was started by Louis Privat as a cafeteria attached to a leisure center with swimming, bowling and ping pong in 1989. Over the next 20 years it evolved into the gastronomic palace that was renamed Les Grands Buffets in 2009 as a full on tribute to Escoffier.
August Escoffier The father of Modern Gastronomy: 1846- 1935
Antoine Carème invented the toque (giant chefs hat) most of the mother sauces and the beginnings of kitchen organization. It was Escoffier who brought it all together and practically invented the canon of great French cooking. Les Grandes Buffets is a tribute and homage to the legacy of this monumental figure in the history of world cuisine.
If I had to choose a last supper - this would be it. I would gorge on all my favorite dishes from history and pair the feast with 2-3 bottles of their €1500 Lafite Rothschild.
LGB is not the biggest buffet in the world. It would not make the top ten in Vegas, Dubai, Macao nor Orlando (except for the cheese room). So what is all the fuss about? It is the World’s Best Buffet It bills itself as having the largest cheese selection in the world but the internet has taken on a life of it’s own and mislabeled it as biggest. How, then is this different from 1000 other buffets around the world?
This is the largest selection of delicious food anywhere on earth. While places like Bacchanal in Las Vegas boast about selling 1000’s of tons of bacon - Les Grandes Buffet offers delicacies from the catalogue of French gastronomy down the ages. It is nearly inconceivable to imagine how they have developed such a vast offering of the best and most exotic French classics.
This is one of the most astounding dining experiences on earth. Educational. Cultural, Delicious. A gastronomic religious experience. There are many parts of this enigma to discuss - including how can you visit without being overwhelmed and missing out? Mark Wiens and I went to find out. They may not be the biggest buffet but - they do, have the largest fork.
They give you a map but - it really does not help at all - so I am going to organize this for you. There are over 200 items plus 111 cheeses. These 300+ items are spread across 24 stations. Below I have organized the 24 stations into Eight related Clusters. Each cluster sometimes containing multiple sections and/or items. I have put a star next to my favorites
Start in the Cheese room:
Cluster 1: Starter sections: This is a huge room with lot’s of distracting stuff that should be very lightly sampled or skipped. Allow yourself a single plate with a few samples. Consider these 6 stations a light snack or you will regret it.
Salad Station in the center island. Very plain. Skip it
Small hors D’ouerves station (in front of the oysters) - start here, select two that look good and move on
Foie Gras Station ⭐️ in front of the cheeses - So good - pick 2 out of the 6 and move over to the wall of salami’s
Salami / cold cuts Station - Just cut a thin slice of 2-3 three items and get a small scoop of the delicious Nduja sitting there like a giant watermelon…or skip the section.
Pate en Croute Station - These are delicious - maybe the best of the 6 stations
A Dozen Hand carved hams - Find the aged ham and ask the carver to carve a thin slice. Take multiple cuts of NOTHING
Cluster 2 - The Cold Seafood Stations - Again Restraint!
The lobster station - Totally gorgeous with a 7 story lobster tower for taking selfies. Hold the urge to earn back the entire buffet cost of €62 by stacking lobsters. The pro move here, as usual, is restraint. Grab a single half lobster and then mosey over to the giant caviar bowl and smother it.
The fish soup station - Tasty - serve a small cup and spoon off a giant mound of the insanely delicious yellow garlic aioli ⭐️ (smuggle a liter out in a canister) it goes on everything
Other seafood - All good but restrain yourself. Maybe try the delicious marinated salmon. Lot’s of tasty things here but - avoid them.
Oyster station - They are just ok - skip them IMHO.
We have been through 2 clusters and 10 stations and It is like the Brazilian Rodizios with their salad bars and hot cheesy bread. Avoid them and wait for the swords of meat. It is Cluster 3 where the magic really begins
Cluster 3 - The three hot self serve stations feature 12 Escoffier specialties
There are three stations with those round open and close mechanisms for self service - here is a photo to orient you - they are the stations on the left in the photo - with the ham carving station mentioned earlier on the right:
The Garnish Station features 6 items: - Go light - they have tasty mushrooms, and ratatouille. Go light.
The Sea Station ⭐️ - 5/8 items are from Escoffier - 1. Poached squid in persillade 2. Small fried anchovies 3. Small shrimp cakes 4. Saffron mussel “timbales” and 5. Cuttlefish stew. This is a fantastic plate.
Legendary Escoffier Station ⭐️ At this station 7 mythical recipes and stews are served: 1. Old fashioned veal stew 2. Frog legs sauteed in fine herbs 3. Veal kidneys in Madeira Sauce 4. Wild boar stew 5. Braised beef in wine, spices and herbs 6. Tripe stew and 7. Veal head in Ravigote - You have held back until now - now try all of these on one or two shared plates
Good news - you have followed my instructions and served with restraint and - EATEN MORE THAN YOU HAVE EVER EATEN BEFORE.
Bad news- you are only half way through.
Cluster 4 - Roasted Meat Carving Stations - I love them but - they are “roasts” you can get from any buffet in the world.
Crunchy suckling pig station
Beef station
Leg of lamb station
Get one slice of each to share on a single plate or PASS!
Cluster 5 - Legendary Escoffier specialties circa 1907 - This is why you are here
Escoffier chef’s station - Now you are well F*CKED. Here are some of the greatest plates of French cuisine ever created. Luckily - there are only 20 🤣. This amazing restaurant has created an a la carte station where a dozen serious chefs prepare your selection one by one as you order. If you ate an entire plate once every 15 minutes - it would take you 5 hours to make your way through these legendary dishes. (circa 1907) Here they are - made one by one with love and skill. Highly recommended are highlighted:
Hare Royale ⭐️: The house specialty and his most celebrated dish
Foie gras stuffed quail⭐️: - ❤️!@#$%^&*() ❤️
Tournedos Rossini - Filet mignon with foie gras and black truffles in port sauce
Beef filet with choice of sauce (NAH)
Duck breast in puff pastry with mushrooms
Duck breast in mushrooms
Fat burgundy snails
Onion soup in mushroom bullion w/ port wine
Cassoulet from Castelnaudary ⭐️ - Such a difficult dish - This was very good indeed
Bio mushroom omellet - Pass
Intestines (5A Andouillette) in mustard sauce - A hard yes!
Sauteed veal foie in parsley 😍
Sauteed veal kidneys
Steak tartar (Hache)
Lobster “Americain” ⭐️ - Skip the cold one in cluster 1 and get this one
Poached lobster - get the Americain above but if you must get this one? Run back to the cold bar and whack It with 100 grams of flying fish eggs
Whole wild turbot in butter sauce - Good but - not essential
Royal sea bream in licorice sauce
Salmon filet in sorrel
Skate ray with capers
There is really no way to deal with this if you are two people - get six dishes and split them all. Even better if you are 4 people - split 8 dishes.
Cluster 6: Pressed duck ceremony ⭐️
Duck station - This is unprecedented. One of the most complicated and exotic dishes in the world (made famous by La Tour D’Argent in Paris) on an All You Can Eat buffet? It really is delicious. One plate can be shared but this cannot be missed. Upon arrival confirm with your waiter what time the flaming duck appears. Watch the video:
Cluster 7: The World’s Largest Cheese Display: Guinness Book of World Records
The Cheese station is indeed stunning with 111 cheeses from around France. It is hard to decide what do because cheese is available elsewhere - other dishes here are not (se strategies below.
Cluster 8: Desserts - Three stations of wonder
Dessert station features over 50 kinds of sweets including cakes, pies, chocolate mousse etc…
The Chocolate fountain station - Much photographed - nice over strawberries
Ice cream Station is an entire room dedicated to ice cream and ice cream creations - They seem ok - it’s Ice Cream. Try the Norwegian Omelette because they light it on fire!
Crepe Suzette Station - A grand show indeed
I don’t have a sweet tooth. But I do love anything with crunchy caramel - so the best dessert on the menu for me is the luscious Ouefs a la niege ⭐️ (Floating Island).
The local, wine list, almost exclusively from Occitanie is interesting and cheap with wines by the glass, and bottles sold at ex-chateau pricing. They also have Lafite for €1500. But this is not really a wine connoisseur thing.
The service is insanely great. there are 240 servers for each 500 person service. They are synchronised like a ballet - serving bread, clearing cutlery and attending special requests.
TWO STRATEGIES TO TAKE DOWN THE BEAST 🐘
Under both scenarios you should be a table for 4 and share everything
A. Go the night before for dinner and then again for lunch the next day (not kidding)
B. I have organized the 300+ items into 24 Stations and 8 Clusters. Cluster 1 has 7 stations with dozens of items for example - Proceed as follows:
Starter Cluster, 7 Stations, Restraint: A little of each station on one plate to share
Seafood Cluster, 4 Stations, Restraint: A little of each station on one plate to share
Escoffier Cluster, 3 Stations, Medium: Serve one full plate from each station (Garnish, Sea and Escoffier) and share
Roast Meats Cluster, 3 Stations, Restraint: One juicy slice of each and share
Escoffier a la Carte Custer, 20 Items, Gorge: 4 people should each order one different plate and then share with your table mates, Repeat this and together you will have tried 8 specialties
The Bloody Duck Cluster, Gorge: 1 Station, Gorge: Serve 1 plate per two diners
The Cheese Cluster, 1 Station, Restraint: 1 plate of 12 cheeses and share amongst 4 diners - that is 10% of the cheeses!
The Dessert Cluster, 4 Stations, Gorge: Get 1 Crepes Suzette to share, 1 from the ice cream Parlour to share, 4 from the dessert station and then a bowl of chocolate fountain strawberries to share.
PRO MOVES: The pro move is to reserve a ticket at "The Pub" (easy to do once you have a rezzy) and then skip the line and be the first one in at 12:00. Scout the floor with my 8 point plan in hand and then you get 4 1/2 hours. The early stations like appetizers close earlier, middle stations like roasts and bloody duck get decimated by 3 and are not replenished while the later stations like cheese and dessert close last.
Here is what Forbes had to say about it:
Forbes: The environment is spectacular. 4 elegant, themed dining rooms are decorated with both newly commissioned and collected paintings, sculptures, sterling silver pieces, stained glass windows in one room, antique maps from Napoleon’s time in another, lemon trees like in the gardens of Versailles, and beautiful table settings. For each room there’s a little brochure as you enter with an explanation of the historical period, the art and artifacts. Diners receive a map of the buffet stations and a large, grand menu, including an extensive wine list.
They have a scale to weigh yourself on the way in and the way out.
Here is the unmissable video from Mark Wiens
That’s a wrap for free - Below the paywall are 12 of the world’s great buffets in Egypt, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, Las Vegas, Scotland, Sweden, Thailand as recommended by a group of the world’s most experienced foodies (from our secret society). ☮️❤️🍷
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