The lunch crew decided to hit a favorite of ours -- the Chinese Gourmet. From the outside this is definitely a Chinese restaurant; from the inside it offers so much more. The Mongolian grill always grabs our attention from the get go. This is the only Mongolian Grill I'm aware of in Utah County and it definitely deserves attention. As with most any Mongolian Grill, you need to be cognizant of what others around you are ordering because it will more than likely end up with yours as well. I can't tell you how many times I've seen carrot strips in mine and other items I intentionally did not add but somehow came into fruition after the grill. But I definitely wouldn't eat it if I didn't think it was worth it. And it is worth it. Not only do you get to choose which items you want on your plate (such as pineapple, water chestnuts, carrots, noddles, chicken, beef, or pork) but you can also choose your sauces (such as BBQ, garlic, sesame, and a few others). It truly is good, but hold off on your second plate -- there's several other good things to choose from as well.
On the right are a few of the items (a few of my favorite items) that I also get every time I come. But this is only a few things of what they have. They also have fried rice, a salad bar, chocolate and vanilla moose, cut up fruits, pot stickers, soups, and many other food items. The only thing they do not offer that some other Chinese buffets offer is sushi (which isn't Chinese, but with sushi who's that picky?). However, even without the sushi this is probably the biggest Chinese buffet in Utah County as well. There are some buffets around town that offer only a very limited number of items; this has a lot.
Did I also mention that all of this only costs $8 at lunch and includes a drink with refills? Great value! If you don't want a soft drink, no sweat! It also includes hot chocolate (with unlimited refills) as well. The waitresses always keep the drink topped off and I've so far never had to ask for another refill.
True there's already a lot of good options on the table, but don't fill up quite yet. They also offer a dessert bar with several different choices. I usually like their chocolate chip cookies; however, the last time it wasn't soft and chewy like I've had in the past. They also offer small cake slices of chocolate cake and carrot cake as well as sugar cookies. And, of course, after you've officially stuffed yourself with the last bite of dessert, they hand you a fortune cookie on your way out the door. This is definitely a good find and worth coming back.
