Buoy's Restaurant In Buxton, NC

While we were waiting for Surf or Sound Realty to insure that our rental was ready to be inhabited we decided to take a short ride to see where some of the local sights were. We drove through Avon and found the Food Line Lion, the BP (nice selection of premium Soda's there), Bubba's Too (more on this later), the Pier, The Village Grocery and a few more places. Then we hit the road to check out Buxton and grab some lunch. As it was Sunday we figured we'd be able to find something that wasn't too crowded, especially since it was off season. We settled on Buoy's Restaurant, since we had heard good things from Foodies at Roadfood.com concerning the food there.

We opted for the Sunday lunch buffet and the food was decent. All in all I think I'd choose menu fare next time, tho. The place wasn't crowded and all the folks who were there looked to be the usual after church crowd.

The buffet was just what you might expect from a small North Carolina town on a Sunday. Fried seafood of various sorts, turkey, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, etc...add in Iced Tea and you'll be alright. I did make one off the menu order and that was for a cup of Hatteras style Clam Chowder that turned out to be the best part of this meal. It was a simple clear broth chowder with clams, potatoes and onion and it was all about the clam. This was a good addition to the order!

The rest of the meal was OK, at best. They offered up Crab Cakes, Stuffed Crab, Corn Fritters, Hush Puppies, Bay Scallops, Fish and assorted vegetables. The Crab Cake and the Stuffed Crab were essentially the same thing in a different package. The Corn Fritters were nice, crunchy and corn sweet. The Bay Scallops could have been a bit fresher from the fryer, they were just a tad wilted in the coating and wet. The Hush Puppies at Buoy's are bullet-like and crunchy, not at all like the Hush Puppies one often gets that are ping pong ball sized. They are also not the most flavourful of Hush Puppies, but they'll do in a pinch. Avoid the Mac & Cheese. Also avoid the sheet cake pan of marshmallow, chocolate encrusted yellow cake stuff. It is less than good.

Despite the rave reviews I've seen concerning Buoy's I can't say a lot for their Sunday Buffet. Yeah, I know as a food service professional that's when most restaurants foist off their crappy leftovers and back bin fish but that shouldn't be the case in a coastal town. I have no issues with the quality of the food. The quality of the cookery and the turnaround on the buffet leave a bit to be desired, tho. On the plus side, their service is great. I likely won't be heading back to Buoy's, given the number of other places on the Outer Banks but, feel free to experience it for yourself since, as we all know eating out is like a carnival ride...you buys your ticket, you takes your chances. Buoy's is mediocre, but not bad.

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