While I've pretty much nixed any chain hotel restaurants, the locally owned places are still a go. I've been to The Montmartre in Hotel Morgan, the Regatta Bar & Grille in the Waterfront Place Hotel, Legends Sports Bar & Grill at Lakeview, and so it was time for Fusion at Lakeview.

There's not really a lot of information about Fusion. I always believed it was the fine, sit-down dining establishment at Lakeview (and Legends was the sports bar counterpart). But, instead, it's a buffet.

They're open Monday through Friday from 6:30-10 a.m., and 6:30 -11 a.m. on Saturday for their hot breakfast buffet. They're open Friday and Saturday from 5-10 p.m. for dinner. Dinner is their prime rib buffet. Plus other American cuisine offerings.

We walked in on Saturday night and were greeted with this menu: "Asian vegetable, field green salad with toppings, Asian blend, jasmine rice, General Tso's chicken, miso cod, 'A Touch of Italy Pasta Station,' slow roasted pepper coated prime rib." That sounded OK, so we went with it.

There's no price to be found anywhere - so we asked. $25. Alright.

So the first portion was just salad toppings - and not very many. I skipped by that since it wasn't too exciting. There was the General Tso's pan, but there was hardly any sauce, and the noodles were not pan-fried - they looked boiled. Which was odd. It was like they were trying to be lo mein, but just looked like spaghetti.

The coconut shrimp was pretty soggy. Yep.

The stations were the best. I had a shrimp alfredo penne with mushrooms dish cooked up. It's nice that it was cooked to order, but it wasn't really flavorful.

The prime rib slice I was cut was decent, though. Ignoring the large chewy/fatty pieces, the actual meat was good. And the horseradish cream sauce that accompanied it was really good. The most standout part of the entire dinner, really.

Dessert was OK. Average. Though there were a few choices - a few pies and cakes.

It might be a good choice if you're sticking around at the hotel, but there are other options around town. Lakeview does host a bevy of cooking competitions, which are great, so I hope to go back soon for those.

Grade: C

You see, I have this friend. Let's just call her Afton. She's obsessed with Indian food. Like, really likes it. Like, has it for multiple meals, multiple times a week.

I've been to both of the Indian restaurants in Morgantown -- Mother India and Saffron -- already, so we searched for the best Indian restaurants near Pittsburgh, and Tamarind Savoring India in Greentree came up a few times. They have another location in Cranberry. As a side note, Afton knew we were getting Indian for dinner ... but she went ahead and had it for lunch. No joke when I say "obsessed."

Tamarind specializes in southern Indian food. South Indian food tends to be spicier and use more rice and more vegetables. North India food tends to be more mild and uses more dairy, breads, lentils and tomatoes. Of course that often gets thrown out the window with American tastebuds, but that's a basis for where to start.


Tamarind didn't have the buffet on Friday night (they only have that on weekends), but we pretty much knew what we wanted anyway. Once we finally found the place tucked into an unassuming plaza, I was a little surprised at it being somewhat run down. The photos online show a more white tablecloth feel. The first table we sat at was so tight, we asked to be moved to the next. That was received warmly, so we then took to our menus.

They have a good bit. Everything from chicken tikka masala and classic and contemporary meals, tandoori, seafood, meat and vegetarian offerings. There's even street food and original appetizers. We were first brought out this brittle bread - like papadam? - but it was almost like a cracker. With a herb chutney and this kind of thin, spicy BBQ sauce. I've never had this before - so someone educate me. But it was a nice little quick bite before our meal.

We started with an order of samosas - crispy and flakey crust stuffed with potato and peas. These were really good. Super full of filling and moist, too. Sometimes these dry out really easily. Super good.

So I've never had a dosa before. We ordered the sada dosa, which is this giant (I mean giant - there's a regular-sized dinner plate under that thing) paper-thin pancake-like thing full of potato with a couple sauces - a yogurt sauce, masala sauce. I was on my third course at this point, so I tried to get a few good mouthfuls of the potato mixture and save some room for the main course. It was tasty - well seasoned, well spiced and I loved the masala sauce to go with it.

Chicken tikka masala, of course, was what I chose because I crave it in my dreams because I am terrible and will hopefully venture outside of this comfort dish soon enough. However, without a buffet, I wasn't sure what I would be crazy for, so I went with my go-to. And it was delicious. Maybe some of the best I've had.

Afton had ordered some garlic naan, which was just a puffy little piece of garlic heaven that went amazingly with the creamy, smokey sauce, complete with onions, tomatoes and peppers. Giant chunks of chicken. Just fantastic. I took turns piling a little bit of rice, then pouring a little bit of the dish. So good. And my mouth is watering thinking about it. Oh, Afton...



Grade: A

I don't really know what's going on with this space located on University Avenue. In the plaza, on the left side, have been a series of terrible Middle Eastern restaurants. Is it the same family reinventing this place? Is it a few different family members trying their hand at something new? Is it a coincidence?

I don't know, but it's terrible. When I first tried it, it was Albasha, then it was La Baba. And now, it's the Gulf Grocery Mediterranean Food and Juicebox.

I totally went in here with an open mind. I walked in. A couple guys were sitting at a table playing chess right in front of us. To the right were some shelves full of grocery product. In front and to the left were a haphazard buffet and the Juicebox menu.

From what I gather, Juicebox is just the little juicebar inside. I'm guessing the buffet falls under the grocery store title. Anyway. I went up to the front and asked what was in the buffet, since they had lids. The man behind the counter was very nice, but didn't speak the greatest English, so what I got out of the conversation was rice and some sort of meat. To be expected. I told him I'll order a juice first and the buffet.


I ordered their cocktail juice, which looked to be some sort of strawberry and banana combo. Yum. the man behind the counter called to one of the guys sitting down to make the drink. The guy sitting down pointed to a premade drink sitting in a tray with two others. The man behind the counter went over, picked it up and handed it to me.

Um, what?

How long has this been sitting here? Why is it already made? It's just sitting out on the counter. Not being refrigerated or anything. Just no.

My friend ordered the same drink, but since there wasn't another sitting on the tray, they actually went back and made hers. During this process, I felt my appetite for the buffet dwindle. It seemed he forgot about it, too, so I looked at the grocery section while I waited for her nice and fresh juice to be made.

I stumbled upon some cool items, but then I saw something not so cool - some Laughing Cow cheese. Just chillin'. On the rack. Not refrigerated. I mean, this stuff does need to be refrigerated, right? Something just didn't sit well with me about that.

I had taken one sip of my drink, which was actually good. But my brain couldn't overcome my stomach. I was concerned about my drink sitting out. And now this cheese on the shelf.

When they returned from the kitchen with my friend's drink, they had two styrofoam containers they gave to her. We told them we didn't want the buffet, but they shook their heads and said it was on the house. They didn't tell us what it was. But we took it.

Considering the experience thus far, I didn't really want to take a chance on the food at this point. Which is unfortunate because it smelled good. But I think it was chicken and rice? But I don't really want to take the chance. Food poisoning is the worst.

I feel like this a pretty unfortunate set of circumstances. Their food could be great. But some things are lost in translation. It could be some cultural differences. I could be totally ignorant and that type of cheese can just sit on shelves to be sold. The drink could not have been sitting there super long. But, as a customer, I don't know any of this. And when I have other options that appear more safe, I'm gonna go after that.

And I feel bad that they were genuinely trying to be cool and give us some food, and that's super sweet. And I want them to do well. But this just isn't it.

Tips: Make EVERY drink fresh to order. I felt shafted my friend got a fresh drink and I didn't.

Don't have cheese - that I usually see in a refrigerator - sitting out on a shelf. Seems odd.

Don't have your employees just sitting around playing board games. I feel like I'm interrupting something private. Don't feel as welcome.

Invest in some buffet trays that are good quality. They look like an afterthought and make me wonder what the quality of food is like.

Grade: D

The much-awaited Lebanese Bistro has finally opened after more than a year of rumors and buzz. Located in the former Careyes Grille (and a number of other restaurants in the past couple years), the Lebanese Bistro shouldn't have had a hard time surpassing the quality of its predecessors, but unfortunately, I think it, too, fell flat.

With all the time this place has taken to open, I was expecting a lot maybe. I would walk by it nearly every day since it's right near work. And when I saw the grand opening on Facebook, I convinced my coworkers we had to go immediately.

Candace, haven't you learned to not go on opening day? Or opening week? It's never as good.

No, I'm an idiot.

So we go in. They have a lunch buffet. Sign me up - get to try a little of everything. It is nice inside - some exposed beams and an open area. We were seated back in a corner area, and we made our way to the front for the buffet. I should note they did have a small lunch menu to choose from, but since they seemed to be touting the buffet, most of us ordered that.



The front bar had cool offerings like hummus, tabouleh, baba ghannouge and more. They had a couple soups, including a lentil soup and a single bar full of items: green beans, chicken with onions and green peppers, kefta, falafel and fries - the fries kind of threw me. But what do I know.

This is the first time - I think - that I've had Lebanese food. So from those of you who actually know what you're talking about, please enlighten me. But I wasn't impressed. Most of the things I tried were extremely dry. That could be because it was buffet quality, where they make large batches and don't always measure out seasonings precisely. It could've been a rough day because it was when they were brand new. It could be this cuisine of food.



The hummus is probably my most favorite that I've had anywhere. Falafel was hard and dry. Chicken was okay. Kefta also dry.

Desserts - they have honey cake, two kinds of rice pudding, baklava, etc. The best one I had was the baklava, for sure. It was tasty - NOT dry. Rich, moist, flaky. I also liked the light rice pudding. The dark, not so much.

I'm very meh on this place overall. Yes, I know, I'm good with the words. But it's hard to get inspired to write about food that just wasn't... inspiring.

Grade: C

Grade: C

Someone explain to me the difference between Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. Because what I usually associate with each seems to be interchangeable. And Greek food for that matter.

I tend to think of olives, pasta, feta as Mediterranean. And hummus, falafel, kebabs as Middle Eastern. But that's not a hard and fast rule.

Regardless, Sahara Restaurant is a Middle Eastern restaurant in downtown Charleston. They have a nice lunch buffet - which isn't too far from work - so a friend and I decided to fill up on pita and roll ourselves outta there.

The lunch buffet runs Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Friday, the Buffet runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The dinner buffet is Friday 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.




There's a long hot bar with some lemon chicken dishes, pasta, kebabs, rice, eggplant and others. To the side is a cold bar with some hummus, baba ghanouj, etc. plus some desserts. It's a pretty good spread with a decent variety for lunch. I do think there could be a little more. And it's the perfect time to try something new if you're not familiar.

I got some grape leaves, meatballs, garlic Parmesan pasta, curry, hummus and pita. It seems to spread to some American dishes, so a hybrid of sorts. The buffet offers a variety of flavors and dishes to choose from. Great quality ingredients, spices and recipes here.

I was a fan of mostly everything I tried, and nothing stood out to me as undesirable. That's rare - usually I try one or two things that I'm not crazy about. Pretty good all around.

It's not a bad price, but if you're not used to spending $10 or so on lunch, you might look elsewhere.

Grade: A