Union Station Buffet, Harrah's Casino, Joliet, Illinois

Casinos are one of the best places to find a good value for food dollars if you know what you are looking for. They are also one of the best places to find some fairly high end, gourmet style dining to well beyond. The nice thing about eating at casinos is you can get from the low end to the high end to everything end eating without ever gambling so it becomes a matter of what you are willing to spend and the dining experience you want. In general most larger casinos have an excellent quality when it comes to buffets making them a frugal choice for eating out.

Union Street Station

During our travels we stopped at Harah's Joliet Hotel & Casino. Harrah's Joliet Hotel & Casino is located at 151 North Joliet Street, Joliet, IL. There is both self and valet parking. The hotel sports lovely, spacious rooms with excellent room service. What will really stand out immediately about this resort is the friendly atmosphere! I would have to rate this resort as one of the friendliest you will ever visit. I will note that this is a smoke-free resort something my husband and I really appreciate.

Union Station Buffet is located on the same level as the gaming floor but outside of the gaming floor. You can visit Union Station without going through the gaming floor as well. Union Station is well laid out with a nice choice of foods including salad bar and deserts. The price was $24.95 each so well within the average for an all you can eat buffet price.

Clams & Crawfish

When it comes to buffets I try to get pictures of foods I have not presented before on this blog. That doesn't always happen but I do try. There was a gorgeous looking clam and crawfish dish on the buffet. The colours were so bright and bckoning that I just had to try it!

The clams and crawfish were cooked to perfection with just a lovely hint of the south for seasonings. I took a huge scoop with a side of marinated mushrooms and rice. I definitely would like to try duplicating the clams and crawfish dish at home. We can get clams in the local grocery stores but I have seldom seen crawfish however if one knows where to look crawfish can be had for free. During one camping trip one of our kids practically filled a cooler with crawfish something the local racoons greatly appreciated which is a great story that perhaps I will share another time. At any rate I'm doing a bit of scouting for a nice supply of local crawfish to recreate this tasty dish.
Cherries Jubilee

Most casino buffets have an amazing array of desserts! I'm not a huge dessert fan myself preferring to end my meal with a little fresh fruit however my husband has not problem pointing out all the good dessert finds. I actually spotted this dessert, cherries jubilee. The tantilizingly sweet tangy aroma mingled with the eyes' delight. I just had to try a small scoop. It did not fail to delight! The cherries jubilee was warm, sweet, tangy and aromatic with a nice bit of light crust that my husband said went nicely with a bit of vanilla ice cream although I had mine without the ice cream. It was still quite good!