Though not kosher, Rampart’s Thursday specialty night is about as authentic a Jewish buffet as you’ll ever eat; whoever came up with the selections is almost certainly Jewish or at least knows a whole lot about the food.
Not only won’t you get chicken livers, noodle kugel, gefilte fish, knishes, and pickled herring at any other buffet, but the quality is surprisingly high.
Also tasty are the carved brisket, beef short ribs, latkes, corned beef, matzo-ball soup, smoked whitefish salad, and rugelach; the holiptshes (stuffed cabbage) and pastrami are passable.
The salad bar completes the theme, with creamy horseradish (for the brisket), applesauce/sour cream (for the latkes), mustard (for the knish and cold cuts), and seeded rye (for the makings of fat sandwiches).
Members of the Lost Tribes also appreciate good Chinese food (they’re the only restaurants open on Christmas), so there’s a large selection, with shrimp (fried rice and kung pao), barbecue pork ribs, and seafood stir fry.
For goyim, the cioppino is excellent and the baked salmon, chicken (rotisserie and cacciatore), pizza, and spaghetti and meatballs fill the bill. Dessert includes bread pudding with whiskey and caramel sauces and a dozen hand-scooped ice creams (the spumoni gets the raves). This buffet costs $18.99, though you save $2 with a club card. But use your 2-for-1 or 50%-off MRB coupon; $10.28 with tax per person for this deli buffet is a steal.
And it bodes well for a new deli soon to open right across from the buffet.