Amber Waves7675 Cresent Ave
Buena Park
714-995-1111
Amber Waves no longer serves this prime rib and crab legs buffet!
Ambers Waves is in the Knotts Berry Farm Hotel. Every Friday and Saturday they have an All You Can Eat Prime Rib and Crab Legs special for $18.95.
I have heard about Khoury's in Long Beach that has an all you can eat Prime Rib and Maine Lobster for $40 and the all you can eat prime rib and seafood buffet with crab legs as the highlight for $40. But this buffet at Amber Waves is half the price and I can't imagine either one of those places being any better.
The buffet has two tables. The first table is filled with cold items like salads, fresh fruits and peel and eat shrimp. The second table has the steam trays with mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, fried shrimp, King Crab legs, and Prime Rib. You help yourself to everything but somebody will crave the prime rib for you.
I like my prime rib on the rare side and this was perfect. Not the most tender but very good with good flavor. The au jus and horseradish added the right touch to the prime rib.
Then I started on the crab legs. They were warm at the steam tray but when I got my second helping, they were cold. The lady who was carving the prime rib, checked and noticed there was no water in the steam tray. She quickly filled it up and my third helping of crab legs was warm. The crab legs are huge and have a large amount of meat. Some places boil crab legs in very salty water. But at Amber Waves the crab legs are tender and not salty at all.
The buffet is served Friday and Saturday from 5pm-9pm. The cost is a steal!! I would most certainly go back and I enjoy every bite of prime rib and crab leg!!!!
There is a guard gate and it says $9 for parking but if you tell the guard you're going to Amber Waves for dinner, they do not charge for parking.
Update Feb. 9, 2010.
I went back to Amber Waves for the first time since 2006. I was both happy and relieved. I was happy because Amber Waves still has their prime rib and crab legs buffet. Though the price is $24.95, it is still a steal!!!
I was relieved because I heard that Amber Waves switched to snow crab legs. But as the pictures show, they are still King Crab Legs!!! They are still great!!! Some batches were a bit salty but huge pieces of tender, flavorful king crab legs!!!
A tip about breaking open king crab legs, kitchen shears or scissors are much better than those nut crackers; just make sure the shears are sharp. They will cut right through the crab shell.
The prime rib was also very good. If you want to get technical, this isn't really prime rib, it is a ribeye steak. The difference between a ribeye steak and prime rib, is that the prime rib is on the bone.
The prime rib was pretty tender and flavorful. But as the picture shows, there was a lot of fat in the portion I had. I didn't like the au jus, which was a thicker, gravy style, it was OK but I want a thinner au jus on my prime rib, not a gravy.
Service was a bit slow; it took a long time to get our drinks and for our table to be cleared. But the server was nice.
As long as Amber Waves is serving king crab legs, I'm going!!
