We reviewed the new Mirage buffet, Cravings, right after it opened in the July 2004 issue of the Las Vegas Advisor. Here’s what we wrote:
"Cravings, has debuted to mixed reviews, but our experience was overwhelmingly positive. We eyeballed lunch and haven't been in for dinner yet, but we tried breakfast, which was outstanding. It's tough for breakfast buffets to distinguish themselves, but this one definitely does. Along with the omelet station, French toast, eggs Benedict, and other usuals, there's hash with real corned beef, quiche ("breakfast pizzas"), hot and cold cereals, a big selection of muffins, fried plantains, ham and Portuguese sausage at the carving station, and a lox station. The highlight is a dim sum station. You can fashion some amazing breakfast plates with this line-up. Breakfast is served 7-11 am for $13.95 and $9.95 for kids 5-10.
"As to the buffet as a whole, there's nothing groundbreaking in terms of concept. The room is beautiful, but it's still just a multi-island/action-cooking set-up. Lunch looked intriguing, with a strong selection of seafood, including high-quality sushi. There's a little bit of strangeness in the serving set-up, as some stations (such as the salad bar) require that an attendant prepare your plate for you. Of primary importance, however, is that Cravings offers high-level fare at a price that's less than its competitors.
"There's a strong counter play here. If lines are long (and they haven't been yet) you can walk past them and pay and eat at the 14-seat counter bar in the back of the room."
Since this breakfast review, we hadn't had a chance to revisit Cravings, but your question inspired us to try out the lunch offerings. We were generally impressed. Cravings is one of the new-styled gourmet buffets that features a scaled-down selection in each area. This serves to keep quality high. The raw bar features cold Dungeness crab, medium-small peeled shrimp, lox, and one of the best buffet ceviches in town. Other food stations include Middle Eastern fare (good hummus), Italian, Chinese, Latin, rotisserie, carving, and dessert (excellent cheesecake and an interesting bread pudding made from croissants.) The sushi bar was weak, but the noodle bar serves good freshly prepared dim sum.
The adult prices are $13.95 for breakfast, $17.95 for lunch, $24.95 for dinner, and $22.95 for champagne brunch.
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