Old Country Buffet

1701 Us Highway 22 , Watchung, NJ 07069

http://www.oldcountrybuffet.com/

It's not easy finding a breakfast buffet in Northern NJ. Old Country Buffet is a decent value with various selections. All the breakfast staples are here, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits, pancakes, French toast and more.

Steve's Review

It was actually brunch when we arrived, So we had several other options to choose from as far as lunch and dinner items. I'd have to say the omelette bar was the highlight, which had a server cooking made-to-order omelettes behind the counter. You just hand him a little bowl of the toppings you desire and he makes the omelette up for you (I stole some jalapeños from the taco bar) and some sautéed mushrooms. Then I asked for cheese. I had the feeling you could hand this guy anything from the buffet and he'd put it in your omelette.. If you ever decide to venture to this establishment, try messing with the omelette guy and putting in strange requests, like a popcorn shrimp omelette or another idea would be to chop up some bacon and throw it in your bowl, why not, right? I would actually like to go back and see just how far you can go.. Perhaps throw a piece of fried chicken breast in your bowl and see if he attempts to make a fried chicken breast omelette? The possibilities are endless. If I ever go back, I think I'm going to try to make the ultimate Frankenstein omelette.

I'm a big advocate of toast with my breakfast..There is a toasting station where you can toast your own bagels and bread. On the downside, Some of the items don't keep well sitting out in the hotplates, such as the French Toast, which was hard. There is an all-you-can-drink beverage station with Coffee, OJ, Soda and Iced tea and even ICEE slushies. Plus there is also a wide selection of desserts, but after filling up on eggs, I didn't have room for dessert. I know there is a lot of people that would complain and say the staff didn't refill the dishes fast enough, or that the food was average or bland, but, it's a breakfast buffet and breakfast buffet's are all about stuffing yourself with endless mounds of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. The floor manager was friendly and helpful and the staff seemed to get the job done. Normally we don't do chain restaurants, but for an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, we made an exception. Overall, you don't go to a place like Old Country Buffet for goumet food, but to overindulge in a Smörgåsbord of breakfast treats and you can eat as much as you want.

Sc00tz's Review

Old Country Buffet was a good "bang for the buck", offering excellent variety and a delightful self serve atmosphere with diner quality food at very reasonable prices.We were there for breakfast and the scrambled eggs were good, the custom made omelettes were very savory. The french toast was a bit hard and the hash browns a little greasy but everything else that I tried seemed good. I even cheated a bit and had some of the pizza because they had brunch out and it was very tasty.There was so many different dishes out that it would have been a tough task to try them all. Many deserts were available too from cheese cake and chocolate cake to soft ice cream and yogurt.

Because of the variety I had no issues finding enough vegetarian friendly food to eat which can be a problem at some places.I think anyone who desires a large quantity of food or has a family of picky eaters or even a party of friends that cant agree on what to eat will be pleased with this choice. To summerize its good food with excellent variety, cheap prices and good family friendly causual atmosphere but not the highest quality food you can get.

BIGGIE B's REVIEW:

It has been a long time that I have been craving a huge pile of scrambled eggs that I can scoop from a large tray on a breakfast buffet and load my plate up with.  It has been a running joke with my Breakfast Tour Colleagues for about a year now and everyplace we have been to eat so far has not satisfied my craving for a Mound of Scrambled Eggs.  It was my endless searching on the internet that brought us to The Old Country Buffet in Watchung, NJ.  Although this was a pretty long trip (80 miles round trip) I must say it was worth it.  Being a “Buffet” I expected all the usual buffet flavors, textures and over cooked bland foods you always find at places like these but not here!  We arrived at 10:45am and Brunch started at 11:00am.  

We were told by the cashier that they are on their Brunch menu and it’s now $ 13.99 a person.   I wish we would’ve arrived earlier so we could just experience 100% breakfast but maybe next time.   As we walked around and picked which table we wanted to sit at, of course I was scoping out the tray of scrambled eggs in hopes there would be a huge pile waiting for me.  My jaw hit the ground when I saw the tray was nearly empty and being the first time there, and it being brunch time, I was afraid they would not refill it.  Once we settled in at our table we all walked up to the buffet and my eyes opened wide as I noticed a fresh fill of the most beautiful looking pile of freshly made, fluffy scrambled eggs.  I raced over and filled my plate nicely.  Of course I went back 3 more times afterwards (so I didn’t look like a complete and utter pig overfilling my plate) to load up on more Mounds of Scrambled Eggs I have craved for ages!  Now that I got that out of the way, I gotta say the buffet was pretty darn good.  There was even a carving station at which the manager on duty was slicing the meat himself.  And speaking of the manager, I think he had some kind of radio device because he would walk around all the buffet dishes and tell people in the back things like “we need more bacon out here”.   

There was never a time that I thought they were behind with re-filling dishes and getting fresh stock out.  Yes, the initial French Toast that Scootz picked up was hard.  I bypassed that the first time but shortly afterwards a fresh stack was up and it looked soft and yummy.  BTW – none of the dishes are labeled so you kinda have to figure out what some of the items are.  However, at one point I was picking up a brunch item with the tongs and the manager came over to me and mentioned “That is Country Fried Steak, Sir” which I thought was really nice of him.  BTW – that Country Fried Steak, although tiny, was delicious.  Oh, and that omelet dude makes fantastic omelets!  Give him anything and he’ll cook it up.  Although it seemed like relatively simply ingredients I gave him to put in the omelet I must say it was one of the tastiest omelets I have had in a while!   Give Old Country Buffet a try…it’s worth your time.  Come on New Jersey… why on earth do we have to drive over an hour for a breakfast buffet?