Sunday Brunch at Azie on  Main – Villanova : I am normally not a “brunch” kind of guy. French toast and bacon from a steam table just doesn’t really appeal to me and I don’t eat omelettes. I’d enjoyed Baba Olga’s because Eliza Green is pretty inventive, and made things like quinoa taste good.

Since my wife, who is not really a sushi fan offered to take me out for sushi as a Valentine’s Day gesture (and most sushi places are closed on Sundays) a quick Web search found this Azie weekly special.

For $25 pp (including a complimentary mimosa) this was off the charts. Rolls and nigiri were awesomely fresh, and constantly replenished. The variety of rolls was impressive given this is an “all-you-can-eat” situation.

The sushi alone would have been worth the price of admission, but along with the omelette station and traditional breakfast offerings (all of which we ignored) there were gossamer-light pork dumplings, crispy crab and cream cheese spring rolls, crunchy wings (BBQ and plain) as well as Chow Fun noodles and fried rice laced with finely minced Wagyu beef. To top all THAT off, at the end of the table was a steam tray filled to the brim with miraculously medium rare melt-in-your-mouth tenderloin, prepared with a sear whose crunch was still noticeable.

Desserts were the selection of petit fours, Napoleons, mini-cheese cakes and parfaits one might expect, and the ones we sampled were quite delightful. Service was cheerful and efficient, and water/iced tea refills came without prompting. Plates were cleared immediately.. The staff was actually huge.

This absolutely changes my mind about buffets. I’m not sure how they get away doing this for $25, but will certainly be back. We booked at 11:15, and when we arrived they were sold out and not accepting walk-ins. I’m kind of glad we got there early, as the place was getting crowded, but Azie seems to handle it well, and I saw no stations that were not replenished gracefully. They have this buffet thing down. Highly recommended.

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