LEWISTON - Food trends, you know, have a tendency to come and go.

Archaeologists digging in the former Roman world are always finding amphorae (those pointy-bottomed jug-looking things) that were once filled with a very bizarre substance called garum.

It was a sauce - like garlic aoli or soy sauce or ketchup - that the Romans just adored. They reportedly ate it on or in nearly everything: pear soufflé, steamed lamb, eggs, meatloaf. It is featured in nearly every dish in Apicius' "De Re Coquinaria" (a cookbook from 1st-century Rome).

All well and good, you might say. Until you know how it was made: with fish bits, spices, lots and lots of salt, fermented and liquefied. Apparently, the smell from manufacturing garum was so heinous that laws were passed restricting production to outside the city limits.

The actual sauce, however, was supposedly quite tasty. Along the lines of an Italian-ish soy, perhaps.

The use of garum eventually disappeared, falling out of favor for a variety of reasons.

Maybe, just a little bit, like the American-food buffet restaurant.

Now, before you get all mad, let me say this: I am not comparing buffet restaurants to nasty-smelling fish sauce. I'm just saying food trends have a tendency to fall out of favor, and when they do, the things that were once considered the pinnacle of cultivation tend to fall prey to abuse of the worst kind.

There was a time, at least according to news archives, when buffets were the height of fashion. A 1964 New York Times article says, "it is axiomatic in the nation's restaurant industry that if you build a bigger buffet Americans will beat a path to your door." A 1951 article in the Hartford Courant explains that, "An increasingly popular method of serving a group of people is the buffet, which relieves the hostess of the burden of work and lets her join in the fun."

But now, it seems, American-food buffet restaurants - and, perhaps, buffet-style dining in general - have fallen, like garum, into a sort of disrepute - which you probably know, if you ever watch TV and hear buffets being maligned.

Well, maybe comedians poke fun at them, but people love them anyway. They're fast, they're usually inexpensive, and best of all, you can choose three or four main courses, if you want to, rather than having to pick just one. Which is totally awesome.

Choice and price are certainly two big things going for Dudley's, in Lewiston's Ramada Inn. I went with two pals this week, not really sure what to expect, as I hadn't been to an American-food buffet restaurant in at least five years. The first thing I noticed was how delicious it smelled inside: like a very hearty soup, maybe - something savory. It was also quite busy: Nearly all the tables in one section were full, as were four or five in our section.

A few minutes later, after walking in and being seated in a very nice booth, I saw three price boards: Lunch was $4.99. One of my companions wondered if the low price for the meal would be made up for by sky-high drink prices. We learned a few minutes later that was not the case: Her soda cost $1.

My friend and I went up to the buffet once for soup and salad. The salad bar boasted an iceberg lettuce mix - not my favorite - sliced vegetables, chickpeas, some potato salad and other salad-bar-y offerings. It wasn't the best salad bar I've ever circled, but it was good enough to warrant us each getting a full salad plate of salad. We shared a bowl of corn chowder. I liked it - it had a rich, mellow flavor that corresponded with the wonderful smell inside the dining room.

Back at the bar, there was a ham dish, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, stuffing, sliced turkey, pasta, meatballs, fish sticks and gravy to choose from. I put a bit of everything but the ham and pasta on my plate and went to sit down. The turkey was fine. It didn't have that home-cooked taste, but went well with the potatoes and gravy. The stuffing was much too tasty for my own good - sort of Stouffer-esque, and called my name. And the fish stick was divine. I mean, it was a simple fish stick, of the frozen variety, but I love them and, as they're rarely on a menu anywhere, I hardly ever eat them.

But my favorite part of the meal was the one thing we actually ordered: a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate jimmies, shared between the three of us. At $1.70, it was one of the least expensive desserts I've ever gotten at a restaurant, and it was absolutely delicious. The cake was great, everything went wonderfully together, we all loved it.

What: Dudley's Restaurant

Where: Ramada Inn, 490 Pleasant St., Lewiston.

When: Breakfast: 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday-Saturday; 7 a.m. to noon on Sunday. Lunch: 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Dinner: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

Why: Well-stocked buffet offerings for breakfast, lunch and dinner, fabulous prices.

Atmosphere: Low-key, but nice and very comfortable. Prices: Fabulous. Lunch specials at $4.99

Call: 784-2331