text: This may be a buffet for folks who like my hubby and me dislike buffets for the excess they encourage for the wasted food for the lines and carnivore centric formats This may be a buffet for folks who prefer small plates formats and who like to have interesting vegetarian even vegan options in the mix nnWhat we found when we tried Wicked Spoon during a June trip to Las Vegas was it worked for us for a one time stop Whether we will go back or not on another visit cannot say because overall there are things about buffets that give us heartburn no matter how good the quality of the food If you want to know what that is jump to end of review nnBut we are glad we tried Wicked Spoon once to see what all the buzz was about Overall we think it lived up to its Yelp billing Here is our summary assessment nnService nAmbiance as buffets go nFood as buffets go nValue as the Las Vegas Strip goes nnHeres what we enjoyed when we went for brunch on a weekday Breakfast brunch lunch format goes from morning opening to sometime in later afternoon when it transitions to dinner nnSERVICE Ultra friendly as with almost all service in The Cosmopolitan Top notch From check in to purchase your pass to seating at the table to the folks at the food stations nnAMBIANCE Not your normal buffet setting for seating ambiance See photos In particular when in The Cosmopolitan anywhere in the facility look up The lighting fixtures are diverse and interesting throughout Including here nnVALUE The cost is higher than many others in Las Vegas For those who want to chow down on the breakfast buffet at Flamingo where our relatives were on this morning the idea of and change brunch for dinner for a buffet at The Cosmopolitan may seem too much to consider From our view you get what you pay for in food quality and options nnLIMITED CROWDS IF YOU TIME IT RIGHT There was a good sized line on the Monday morning when we first went So we skipped it and went back at about am on Tuesday and walked right in Our advice time it to skip the linesbecause if they are not there at check in they will not be there for the food service either nnUNIQUE FOOD As much as this has small plate formats for some of the items served in little covered casseroles there are also open service bins for some things But somehow the quantities in them suggest fresher food and less come on up to the trough to gorge yourself consumption There is also a large carving station for those who enjoy roasted meat proteins On the morning of our visit it seemed to include things like ham pork belly prime rib and so on nnThe set up for the various food stations was as if visiting different continents or countries nnThere were standard offerings too like pancakes and omelets for the breakfast service but we leaned to the unusual which is our tendency nnThings we tried and enjoyed were nspicy tofu with red curry vegetables from the Asian SE Asian section ncreamy polenta with wild mushrooms from the Italian Mediterranean section nthe very best item of the day a cauliflower puree with clementines and roasted cauliflower on top we had secondsnplump Medjool dates with feta nrefreshing watermelon salad with cilantro and cucumbernwicked good watermelon gazpachonbeautiful fresh raspberries and blueberries nnThe dessert bar which was huge included hundreds of petite sized pastries and also a gelato station This was the disappointment for us Although we liked the tiny sizes like for pastries and maybe oz for containers of panna cotta the flavors in the fruit tart the meyer lemon panna cotta and lavender macaron we tried were not stellar nnBEVERAGES Too funny that the brunch service is offered with a complimentary Mimosa glass of champagne or Bloody Mary but one has to pay for coffee Pretty decent coffee it is too nnWHY BUFFETS GIVE US INDIGESTION Even at buffets like this formatted to encourage reasonable consumption some folks just cannot break themselves of the practice of heaping plates with food and leaving half behind to go get another heaping plate to leave half behind Different strokes for different folks but this is why buffets even pretty good ones like this tend not to be our thing I would like to hand out a copy of Mr Blooms book American Wasteland How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food Wet blanket that I am