The proud winner of $100 (me!) holding a crisp new Ben Franklin dispensed from the cash machine

On Saturday morning, we decided it was time to get our poor car (which sits in the garage most of the time since we live, work, and play downtown) out on the road.

Amazingly, we’d never made the trek over I-90 to the (relatively) new Snoqualmie Casino, although we’d heard good things from fellow foodie friends (Kathy and John Casey) about its Monday-evening Dungeness crab buffet, and were curious about it’s upscale restaurant–Terra Vista.

Turns out Terra Vista is open for dinner only, but luckily there were several other dining options.

We opted for the lunch-time buffet, although we could also have chosen the good-looking Kindai Sushi and Noodle bar or the more casual Box Car New-York-Style Deli.

Behind the Falls Buffet line, we watched a cadre of Chinese chefs huddled over the Mongolian grill, were tempted by all the usual breakfast/brunch items one could ask for (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, Eggs Benedict, Belgian waffles), a nice assortment of salads (one quibble–several of the leaves in my spinach salad were wilted to the point of slimy–a BIG no-no in my book!), standard lunch items such as meatloaf and chicken parmesan, and some really good desserts.

We tried the sugar-free peanut-butter cookies and peppermint cheesecake (which were really good and didn’t taste at all artificial), the chocolate torte (several to choose from–ours was dense as fudge and studded with bittersweet chocolate chips), and the swirl-your-own French Vanilla, soft-serve ice cream (which is as much a treat for big kids as younger ones).

After gorging our way through the buffet (reasonably priced at $17.95, especially for the wide selection of offerings and the fact that you can go back as many time as you can “stomach” it), we decided a coupla turns at the slot machines was in order.

The $20 we pumped into the Lucky 7 machine, wasn’t so lucky. But after moving on to a nearby machine, on the third pull, we won $100! After playing that up to $120, then back down to $100, we stepped away, determined to walk away with something in our pockets. A final $20 stop at a penny slot near the Men’s room that I figured would be “hot” wasn’t very. . .

We figured out that after the $60 we put into three slot machines, plus the $38 we spent on brunch buffet ($17.95 per person, plus a $3 tip), we went home with $2 in our pockets.

The handsome dining room at Terra Vista, along with sweeping mountain views outside and a thoughtful regional and seasonal menu from chef Bruce Dillon (King Salmon Trio–Pacific Northwest, Scottish, and New Zealand) piqued our interest, and had us vowing to return SOON!