Nonya B.
Yelp
Drunk. Staggering. Under the influence. Starving. Bright lights. iPhone blaring "party and bullsh..."
Wait, wait, wait. PAUSE. Back up.
That was another time and a different place. Moving along.
I was with a party of 8, which included two small children, and was recommended to this restaurant by someone who has never been, but had "heard" it was good. Not being one to venture out to Levis Commons very often, let's just say it took us longer than the 21 minutes estimated by Google Maps.
My first impression of Blue Pacific Grill was "this is nice". Nice in that, "I-hope-this-place-is-better-than-it-actually-appears" type of nice. Not that there is anything wrong with the appearance. The restaurant is very casual, with cool blue tones. It really has a relaxed vibe. I am just the type of person who enjoys walking into a facility and being overwhelmed by the smell of delicious food, and getting an adrenaline rush every time a server passes by, just hoping and praying it's yours, as your stomach trembles in anticipation, whet with appetite. I didn't get that here.
Aside from my party, I saw various couples on dates, other families, and another large party which consisted of teenagers. Overall, it's definitely a place to come and sit down and enjoy a fresh meal and talk with someone without having to scream at the top of your lungs because of loud background music and other patrons.
The buffet has an extensive amount of fresh ingredients to choose from like (many, MANY more than I can remember): broccoli, black beans, bean sprouts, mushrooms, red & green peppers, onions, jalapenos, banana peppers, mandarin oranges, etc. The list goes on and on. The meats included sausage, steak, chicken, crawfish, etc. Again, the list continues. I was very impressed by the many choices.
You then get to choose from various seasonings and sauces. Now this is where things get messy, literally. I mean, you would think that the garlic and onion powder that was spilled all over the counter, were lines of cocaine being carefully prepped and available for the nearest junkie to enjoy with their meal. This, paired along with multiple flavors of sauce all over the saucing station, could put one off. Not to mention the shrimp on the floor and this particular area being kind of a tight space.
You will then have the mind racking choice of rice or noodles. And if rice, white, brown, or fried. And if noodles, do you want plain boring noodles, or pretty, enticing, corkscrew noodles. If it is one thing this place gives you, it's options. I settled for fried rice, and watched as my 'chef' prepared my food on the Mongolian grill. It was only then, that the aforementioned adrenaline kicked in.
I must admit, I was VERY satisfied with my meal. I really didn't have a theme with my pickings and choosings. If I liked it, I tried it. So you could say my bowl had items you wouldn't normally put together, but that made my meal even more delicious. I went for a kick, and included things like cayenne and jerk in my spices.
The color, the smell, the well-done SLIGHTLY charred goodness of the chicken and sausage was amazing. The taste greatly exceeded my expectations. For some odd reason, I think if I took the same dish and slapped it on a grill at home, it couldn't dare compete with Blue Pacific Grill. My only complaint was the fried rice. There was a peculiar taste to it. Although I did not like it, others did.
I will be visiting again. My only suggestion would be, since the "servers" aren't technically serving, it wouldn't hurt to have them wiping down the spice/sauce area every 30 minutes or so.