Fully aware of the privilege that I’ve had in being able to eat at some of the most popular, hyped-up, and diversified range of buffet establishments since I was a kid, I have something to say about the whole thing: maybe we don’t really need much of these as many might think.

Quantity ≠ Quality

Sure, having a huge selection, bottomless, is fun. Sure, being able to mix-and-match those selections is fun. Sure, having the privilege of being taken in to a gastronomic journey of different flavors in one place and in one go is a great and fun idea.

The problem is: this would get old real quick.

What’s supposed to be about a good dining experience would usually become a sport of who gets the best bang-for-buck experience with how much food you can stuff yourself with what’s on the buffet table.

Quantity over quality only goes so far. And the most that these “eat-all-you-can” establishments could offer at best is just that: quantity.

But quantity isn’t everything. And I’ve been personally shifting from the quantity mindset to a quality mindset when it comes to pursuing good eats.

Because for me, a dining experience is more than tasting random savory things, chewing on meaty things, and walking away on a full stomach.

Come to think of it, quantity could potentially ruin the quality of a dining experience.

A Numbing Quantity

A good dining experience for me is about where a dish takes your palette. Is there a good contrast? Good use of flavors? Texture?

Does the dish shine through instead of getting drowned out of the cooking room’s selections; from being stretched too thin just trying to make everything taste “OK”.

It’s not about “how much” that defines a good dining experience from a not-so-good one but “how good” — how delicious the food actually is.

I’ve been at some well-known American comfort food establishments and perhaps true to the “big-eats” culture of where it came from, they serve these things in big sizes.

No doubt that the quantity is appreciated but every time I’d order the usual: burger, fries, and something meaty, something in me just turns off as of late. I find myself questioning the worthwhileness of feeling stuffed afterwards with my tongue and my soul not feeling much throughout the consumption experience.

There wasn’t a time wherein I didn’t wish I had a kimchi or atchara handy at the sides just to get me through with how monotonous the experience could become.

It was sweet, it was salty, it was savory, I drank soda and I’m full — done. I walk out getting a “pig-out exhaustion” swearing to not have anything to do with food again, and the cycle repeats itself in another engagement.

I’m numbed.

Master of None

This also happens to be how I’ve been with “variety” buffets wherein I get taken to the usual rounds of cuisine (usually from from two to three countries) just to later on end up sticking to only one to five dishes throughout the whole engagement — and call an inconspicuous sukiyaki as the best thing ever in the whole roster throughout the whole night. In my head I’d think: I just went on an eat-all-you-can buffet for the sukiyaki and some raw salmon.

It’s literally being in a place trying to be everything without being particularly great at something. And I think that’s an important point to consider if you’re primarily up for good food.

A La Carte It!

If such were going to be the case, Marugame Udon would be a good place for a great sukiyaki, I’d bet.

If I want to have a good burger and fries, Burger King isn’t that far away. It’s where it’s at.

Good pork? Ping-Ping or Lydia’s Lechon does it the best. ZubuChon had been the rage before, why not opt for that?

Good wings? Frankie’s New York Buffalo Wings. Enough said.

Good cheap general Filipino cuisine (halo-halo, kare-kare, sinigang, dinuguan, fresh spring rolls, etc.) we know who’s the clear winner here: Goldilocks! — freaking Goldilocks!

Barbecued chicken? Mang Inasal! Period.

Good plain fried chicken? Andok’s and Jollibee comes to mind — along with a slew of promising fried chicken brands out there.

I don’t think we need to have all of those in one day and in one go. It just doesn’t make sense — it hasn’t come to think of it.

It doesn’t have to be a buffet. It doesn’t have to be unlimited. It doesn’t have to be a set meal.

And — finally — you’re no longer obliged to eat more of the stuff you don’t necessarily like anyway just “to get your money’s worth”.

Honestly, Is It Good?

Many socially-conscious people complain a lot about excess and wastefulness when it comes to the realm of dining.

I agree with the sentiment. “More” is not always the answer. In fact, it is often not the answer as with many other things in life.

As the years go by, the value of food quantity in my view steadily diminishes. Maybe we have to approach casual dining in a better and more meaningful manner.

All of that, I think, starts with asking the right question. Instead of asking “is it filling?” — maybe we should ask more often: “is it good?”.

Whatever Floats The Belly?

But probably quantity still counts for something, I don’t know.

I am not a fine dining enthusiast by any count. I’m not excited nor attracted to the idea of oversized plates and “sample-like” portions garnished at its center. I’ll be leaving that part of the experience to the Michelin agents.

But, as in everything, there is such a thing as “too much”, which is something we should generally avoid not for the mere sake of “minimalism” or for some modern form of monasticism, but for all the practical disadvantages that come out of being too focused on quantity.

Spread The Quantity

Think of how much cheaper your food bills could be if you didn’t have to have to go to places of “unlimited dining”; and by simply prioritizing quality over quantity.

Life is more than just food (as basic as food is). So instead of recommending an organization that focuses on just feeding those who have little to eat, head on over to World Vision where you don’t just take care of people’s stomachs but also their entire lives.

Then maybe in the future, who knows, you might bump in to a child sponsor and share good talks over some good food for a much more meaningful dining experience.

Cover photo by Asiya Kiev on Unsplash.