Sometimes Valentine's Day is magical and filled with love, laughter and deep, romantic, meaningful moments with your special someone. And sometimes you're alone, and all you want to do is drown your sorrows in as much food (and wine) as humanly possible. Often, this is accomplished by buying a whole pie, a gallon of ice cream, a large bag of tortilla chips and two jars of salsa, then taking all of these items to bed with a napkin and a horror movie on Netflix.
Or maybe that's just my solution.
But this year, get out amongst the other sad sacks and commiserate over a lengthy Chinese buffet. Or Indian, if that's what you're in the mood for. Or even some good ol' southern cooking, sure to warm an icy disposition.
Whatever your lonely heart desires, you'll find it at one of these (surprisingly good) buffets.
8. Khyber North Indian Grill On any given day, the sign outside Khyber North Indian Grill will display a pithy response to the sign outside of Pappadeaux next door. The owner who comes up with these cheeky comments is often at the restaurant helping out by waiting tables and seating guests, but he's only the second best thing about Khyber. The best thing is the lunch buffet. It's a little pricier than many other buffets in town, and there isn't a huge variety to choose from, but what's there is high-quality food. The curries aren't incredibly spicy, so they appeal to even novice Indian food-lovers, while those interested in some sinus-clearing sauces can add extra heat.
7. The Bombay Brasserie Indian buffets get a bad rap because so many people can't handle the spice and unusual flavor combinations of Indian food. So they eat too much of it and end up sick and blame the buffet. That won't happen at The Bombay Brasserie, where the food is a great blend of traditional Indian with modern culinary sensibilities in a slightly more upscale dining environment than your average Indian restaurant (Kiran, Indika, Himalaya and Pondicheri are not "average"). Many people who don't think they like Indian food have been won over by the extensive lunch buffet, which features just about anything an Indian food-lover or novice eater could want.
6. Kim Son Restaurant Kim Son Restaurant on Bellaire claims to be the original spot for Vietnamese food in Houston. While we kind of doubt the veracity of that claim, we can attest to the fact that it's one of the best buffets in town. Lunch and dinner are both buffets, and the menu changes every day. For around $10 per person, you can get an insane variety of Asian food (not just Vietnamese) from sushi to dim sum to all-you-can-eat hot pot for only $1 more. Is it the first Vietnamese place in town? Probably not. But it's consistently one of the best.
5. Dimassi's Mediterranean Buffet The Dimassi family is Lebanese, but the buffet at Dimassi's features food from many eastern Mediterranean countries, which means the cuisine straddles the border between Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. Each buffet order comes with freshly baked pita bread. From there you can delve into vegetarian dishes like falafe, fattoush, baba ganoush and hummus, or meaty options like lamb shank, baked fish or chicken kebabs. The buffet also features made-to-order pita pizzas baked before your eyes in a brick oven. The interior design of the Dimassi restaurants (there are several locations across Texas) leaves a bit to be desired, but the quality and variety of dishes is pretty great.
