And a panda dressed up like Pancho Villa - with a big mustache, a sombrero, a pistol on his hip, and a bullet belt strung across his chest? Now that's a winner, and one that can turn Panda Express' wimpy, two-tone bear into beef with broccoli any day of the week. All we want is a spoon large enough to change our contacts in, and we'll be happier than Ron Popeil with a new set of steak knives.Įveryone loves pandas. Either way, it makes for the perfect back-scratcher for those hard-to-reach areas. Could this be an attempt to make us believe that the servings are smaller than they actually are? Or maybe he's just expecting Shaquille O'Neal to stop by for din-din one of these days.

(Shocking!) But we wonder about the extra-long dinner fork one's given at Vu. True, Chef Bradley's entrees could be smaller, and his sides are even of near-normal size. After all, isn't it a foodie rule of thumb that the bigger the culinary brain, the smaller the portions? Why, we can even foresee the day when highfalutin hash-slingers of the future, empowered by genetically engorged cerebellums, will offer us a mere whiff of their creations, bottled fresh for sniffing, so we need not even open our yaps, save in praise of the kitchen's commandant. It's probably a given that wunderkind chef William Bradley at the Vu restaurant in Scottsdale's Hyatt Regency is a genius of gastronomy. Yeah, thanks to 'The Fort,' casino buffets aren't just for geezers anymore. There are also crab legs in butter, fried catfish fillets, a near-pristine salad bar, and a dessert section with bread pudding, cinnamon cake and cream puffs. The French? Pork loin in sherry and/or lyonnaise potatoes. The Italian section might offer veal Milanese or spaghetti and clam sauce. And there's the spicy 'okra in yogurt' that's just as tasty.

The Indian section - as in the country, not America's original inhabitants - is the most surprising and rewarding, with rotating selections like a stew of lamb, fenugreek and green peas that would not be out of place at a buffet in a South Asian eatery.

But Fort McDowell Casino, operated by the Yavapai Nation, actually makes an effort to do things a little differently from other gambling spots, and this extends to its international buffet, which eschews the usual not-ready-for-prime-time rib and rubber chicken Parmesan for authentic Indian, French, seafood and Italian selections. When the phrase 'casino buffet' passes through your cranium, your gray matter is instantly populated with scores of classy folk chain-smoking Parliament Lights 100s and hoping for a big win at bingo.

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