Coyote Buffet at Spirit Mountain Casino
27100 S.W. Salmon River Highway
Grand Ronde OR 97374
(800) 760-7977

Disclaimer: All reviews and original content Copyright © Mike Blackwell [remove "nospam." or it won't work] of Oregon Sushi -- All Rights Reserved.

April, 2004 (exact date forgotten)

Since early 2004, the Coyote Buffet at Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde has been running "Cuisine From Around the World" theme buffets on Thursday nights. Each week, native foods from a different country or region are featured. I have been to most of these theme dinners, and in general I have been pleased. The "Greek" and "Cajun" (Mardi Gras) buffets were especially good. So I was really looking forward to the "Cuisine of Asia" night, which would include a sushi bar. Sadly, I ended up very disappointed.

Disclaimers:

• I understand that it's unrealistic of me to expect quality sushi from a general-purpose casino buffet. Sushi is a specialized cuisine requiring a fair amount of training to execute properly.
• I understand that the quality of the sushi does not reflect the quality of the buffet overall. In fact, since I live so close to the casino, I dine here about once a week on average, and, with the single exception of the sushi, I have always been satisfied with the food quality.
• I also understand that certain liberties must be taken with ethnic cuisines in order to satisfy a wide range of visitors. Most notably, dishes from countries famed for their spices (e.g., India, Mexico, Thailand, China, etc.) must be "dumbed down" and made less spicy in order to cater to more sensitive palates, especially those of the senior citizens who make up a large percentage of the guests.
• I also understand that, in order to satisfy health regulations and squeamish diners, ingredients for sushi must be carefully prepared, and raw ingredients might not be offered at all. I was sad they didn't have any sashimi, but then I wasn't really expecting any.
• I further understand that offering sushi can be a very expensive proposition for a buffet, and that using less-expensive ingredients (as well as doling out smaller portion sizes) may be necessary to maintain the desired profit margin.

However, those disclaimers aside, it is not that difficult to make good sushi rice, so why were we subjected to rice balls so heavy and gummy they bordered on inedible? Wasn't there anyone in the kitchen who had been to a real sushi bar and could tell the chefs, "hey, you need to throw this batch out and start over"? And why had the fish been cooked nearly to the point of becoming shoe leather? I know you had to kill the parasites, but did you have to kill the flavor, too? And I know you have to control portion sizes in order to maintain a profit margin, but don't you think it's a little ridiculous to put a shriveled piece of sturgeon two-thirds the size of my pinkie atop a ball of rice the size of both my thumbs placed side by side? I feel sorry for anyone who had their first sushi experience here: it could sour them on it for life.

Again, let me close by saying that I dine here frequently; in fact, I had breakfast there the very morning I wrote this review (May 31, 2004), and everything was fine. But on Asian night, the sushi was horrid, worse even than my first feeble attempts at making it myself, and I hope they do a better job next time.