And head to Pizza Hut this week.

A5

The Two Fat Guys

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Pizza Hut is located at 930 Mountain Rd., Moncton. The Two Fat Guys stopped by there recently to sample some lunch fare. For more information on the Hut's take-out, delivery and dining hours, please contact 859-7900.

Fat Guy's verdict:

I too have Pizza Hut memories, like most of you. These are associated with high school, friends pooling their funds for a large 'za and then arguing with the person that ate more than their fair share (that would be me). At the time I remember loving the Hut - I loved extra cheese, the dough and the pizza sauce.

Either my taste buds have evolved or the Hut has changed. The Fatter Guy and I decided to head over at lunch and check out the buffet. This way we'd get to taste a pasta, a salad, pizza and so on ($7.99 but you need to buy a beverage). Really get a general overview of the place.

We had a very kind waitress who ensured we had enough napkins, that plates were taken away and so on. The buffet however is where I get lost.

They had some fresh, and crisp, salad leaves. There were two different varieties, one was romaine for those who wanted caesars. The other was a mixed greens situation, with what looked like slivers of purple cabbage and the like, there was French and ranch dressing provided on the side along with a caesar dressing, bacon bits, crutons and some dry parmesan.

What bothers me about salad buffets is that usually they have nothing but leaves and dressing. Which you and I both know doesn't really make a salad. Where's the chopped tomatoes? Onions? Cheese? Cucumber? Radishes? All the holistic things that make a salad worth eating and actually good for you? Well you won't find anything of that nature sitting alongside a Pizza Hut salad buffet.

After filling up on greenery and dressing, I tried the pasta. A spiral noodles in tomato sauce with cheese on top, it essentially tasted like spaghetti with cheese. I then grabbed a piece of pizza, which was cold, and found that the tomato sauce on the pasta and the pizza were eerily similar, except one taste as if a bit of oregano had been thrown at it and missed.

I have to say there just isn't much at the lunch buffet I liked. My expectations of buffets are fairly high, the food should be good enough that you'd like to return for a second helping. Which to be honest, isn't asking a lot is it?

In this case, one trip was enough for me. Though the service was great, the seating comfortable, and the environment clean, I have to say the Hut's buffet just didn't meet my expectations, nor was it close to my long ago memories of good food and good times. I can't eat memories and for that, I have to give the Pizza Hut a 5/10.

Fatter Guy's verdict:

I have many Pizza Hut memories including high school days of 'Hut-tin' as we called it; we'd head to the restaurant almost every Friday at noon. "Personal pan pizza with pepperoni and a Pepsi" "" it was less than $5!

So when Fatty and I headed there for lunch, I instinctively reached into my wallet for my student ID card "" something we always had to drop in the basket at the cash before we were seated (a way to guard against the dine and dash high school students may get into). But low and behold my student ID card days are long gone.

Now personal pan pizzas don't cut it, one must go for the lunch buffet ($7.99).

I'll be blunt; the buffet isn't fantastic. When we arrived the pizza selection was low. . . pizza with onions, tomatoes, green peppers and cheese was one choice and then there was one with pineapple; they were on the cool side.

But the next trip up had a meat lovers pizza, pepperoni, hamburger pizza, dessert pizza and a few more assortments. . . I tried one of each and can say they were hot off the press, but could have used less hamburger on that particular pie.

I find the Pizza Hut sauce is very distinctive, it's almost spicy, but not really; and it's definitely not sweet. For quite some time Pizza Hut's pizza was my favourite "" and this mostly had to do with that sauce. My first few slices of pizza at the buffet table didn't really have the Pizza Hut sauce wow factor, though as more pizzas came out, the more the overall taste improved.

The buffet also provides romaine lettuce with which to make a caesar salad, and a garden salad mixture. They separate the salad dressings, croutons, fake bacon bits and other such toppings from the lettuce "" which works to the customers' favour as the lettuce doesn't get soggy from sitting in dressing at the buffet. But it also means you have to 'make' your own salad "" which I did a decent job at, though could have used more items to make a better salad. The lettuce seemed really fresh and crunchy "" which I must say surprised me.

The buffet also includes breadsticks "" these aren't garlic fingers "" just sticks of bread coated with parmesan and a bit of garlic powder. I really like these, thought there really isn't much to them.

All-in-all for less than $15 I ate lots, tipped, drank a pop and paid tax on this lunch. And for less than $15 the food really wasn't that bad, but it still wasn't great. Next time, I'll order from the menu.

I give Pizza Hut 6/10.

E-mail thetwoaftguys@gmail.com