FLAMING GRILL BUFFET IN BALDWIN, NY IN THE NOT QUITE POST COVID NEW NORMAL

It has been one year since I wrote my previous post on this site. It has been almost two years since I ate last at a buffet.  This all changed earlier tonight. We went to the Flaming Grill Buffet in Baldwin, New York, the last buffet we ate at when Covid was just starting and cautions had to increase.  

We are both fully vaccinated but we have been very cautious. We have slowly started to do things out of the house that we have not done for a very long time. We have been a couple of times to a fast food restaurant for lunch.  We are planning a summer trip to Pennsylvania and we do plan to eat at the buffets there that we had always enjoyed before. I decided that before we do that we need to try eating at a buffet locally.

Flaming Grill in Baldwin, NY during the height of Covid had reopened as a take out or delivery Cajun seafood menu restaurant. A new location that had opened recently then in Brooklyn, NY also became a Cajun seafood menu restaurant. The Facebook page for the Baldwin Flaming Grill still to this day describes the restaurant as Cajun seafood, but their website talks about it as the buffet it had always been in the past. I had tried contacting them through the Facebook page to ask about whether they were a buffet again or still a Cajun seafood restaurant but never got any response.  Finally it was time to call and yes, we learned that they are once again the Asian buffet that they had been pre-Covid. 

We were not certain what protective measures they would be taking and were a little hesitant even though many restrictions have been removed in this state - and other states, but it is no uncommon here to still find many people wearing masks but inside and outdoors, and many are still approaching the "new normal" with caution, as we are.  When we got there we were very pleasantly surprised! The sign on the entrance door says that "masks must be worn at all times when in the restaurant" (only exception being when eating at your table). To us that was excellent.  There were many people in the restaurant especially for a Thursday night but it was not jammed and you were not nose to now (or mask to mask) going around the buffet.

The prices have gone up by one dollar each adult meal. Where Friday dinner in the past was priced the same as Monday to Thursday, now Friday is in the price group with Saturday and Sunday - so Friday dinner has gone up two dollars. The website has a coupon for dinner maximum two to get $1.00 off on dinner. 

During the past two years without going to any buffet there were several dishes from specific buffets that I was missing A LOT. Two of those dishes were from Flaming Grill. One was their seafood soup. This is a thick broth soup with shrimp, fish, and egg whites. The other was Flaming Grills barbecue spare ribs. I was looking forward to those and hoping I would find them on the buffet.

After we paid - you pay here in advance of being seated - we went up to the person who seats you and he handed us four clear gloves - two for each of us and then he brought us to our table - a table, by chance that we had sat at multiple times in the past. The gloves are to be worn any time one goes up to serve themself at the buffet tables. In this way the serving utensils are only touched by gloved hands. (Another EXCELLENT!). This was something that had concerned us before going. This is something that was being done at the Lancaster, PA buffets when they reopened when they were allowed to - and something that from what I have been reading about those buffets, may not be being done still (we shall see when we finally get there).  The difference, however, was that at the Lancaster buffets you received a new pair of gloves every time you went up to the buffet. Here you get one pair each and use the same ones each time you go up to get food.  We were glad to see that all in the restaurant were complying with putting their masks back on and putting their gloves on each time they left their table to go up to get food. The buffet tables were no different in their protection than they had been in the past. Each has the usual cough glass in angled down over the serving trays. Each serving tray has a pair of tongs. 

SO - the meal!!! Donning out masks and gloves, we went up for soup. The seafood soup was not there. There was wontons in broth, egg drop soup, and hot and sour soup. I took two wontons and broth.  We have been taking in Chinese take out from a local take out store front over the past several months - I have had wonton soup almost weekly since we started doing that. The soup here was as good as always. After the soup I was off to see what sushi there would be out. 

Half the sushi counter was empty. The other half had salmon and avocado rolls with shrimp, tuna and avocado rolls, shrimp and cream cheese rolls, and some vegetable sushi rolls. That was it. This is much less than they had in the past BUT I have not had sushi of any kind for two years so I took half a plate of salmon roll pieces and tuna roll pieces. I took a small condiment cup and filled it from the dispenser with soy sauce that was on the counter where it has always been. Before I headed back to the table I took a piece of cold tofu with a sauce on top from the end counter that has had Asian salads.  My wife looked there for seaweed salad which she has liked here - sweet and not spicy - but there was none. That was brought out later. I enjoyed that sushi! Was it the best sushi I have ever had?  I don't care! It was a delightful texture in my mouth and a taste I have missed for too long! Walking back to the table I looked for the spare ribs. OH YES! They were there! 

There was no question about what I was going for next. The tray was completely full - just having been refilled. I chose three ribs that looked to have the most meat on them.  All I added to that plate to go with the ribs was hibachi rice.  I looked at those ribs on my plate all the way back to the table. Off came my glove, off came my mask, and I started on those ribs. I could feel the smile that my mouth was forming as I chewed that first bite.  They were just as I had been thinking about for so long a time.  There had been nights that I could not fall asleep and I cleared my head by thinking about these ribs - and a few other favorites from other buffets. I was not disappointed! They were what I was hoping for and have been waiting for.  I, suppose, that I could have just gone back up and gotten more, but I wanted to get more of the things I liked at this buffet. 

Something that I have not had in two years has been steak. Regular readers will know that I really like steak. There is steak here on the hibachi grill. You can combine it with shrimp or meats, and vegetables and noodles from the raw foods selection leading up to the grill to give to the chef behind the grill to mix together into a dish of your design. I just wanted the steak. I knew that the steak here has always been very tough and so thin that it cooks to well done in a few minutes. What was there were steaks cut to over a 1/4" thick that were semi-frozen and I was encouraged to the idea that if timed correctly it might come off the grill with some semblance of rare. I took two pieces. They filled a little more than half the plate. The grill was very busy and I waited with others for a time for what was on the grill to be cooked and come off to those waiting, and for my steak, and the others around me food selections, to go on the griddle top. There is no flame grill here despite the name of the restaurant. The chef (cook) behind the grill took each plate and briefly listened for any instructions from the person handing it to him. I said, "RARE!" - he acknowledged that and before I could say "Nothing on it!", he was taking the next plate. I stood close by watching my steaks cooking. He had five plates of food on the grill at the same time and kept going back and forth. After he turned my steaks over I knew that if they were to be actually rare they would have to come off the grill very soon. As he came back toward the end of the grill where my steaks were cooking I got his eye and indicated for him to give me the steaks then.  He went over to my steaks and picked up a squeeze bottle of teriyaki sauce and started to squeeze some on my plate. Through my mask, and shaking my head, I said "NO! No sauce - plain. I will take them now." He understood and scooped them up with a spatula and put them on a plate and handed it to me. Through the glass and my mask, as I took them I thanked him clear enough so that he could hear me. With a mask on, you can smile all you want and know one knows. This has been a time to speak up and extend one's pleasure verbally.  I took the plate with the steak to the buffet table and took some mushrooms in a brown sauce and put that next to the steak. I added some more hibachi rice - which is very good here. 

The steak was tough - as I expected it would be - but the taste of it in my mouth was STEAK! That really satisfied what I was looking for.  If one has been in the desert and finally drinks water the water tastes like nectar. The steak was medium done, but that too was OK. It was steak!

After the steak - I went around for some of the dishes I would get in the past. I did not take much. I was eating a lot more, already, than I have eaten in awhile. At some points during Covid at its height - and we are in an area that was hit very hard - leading some areas within this state and other states in case totals and deaths - we were conserving the food we had and we could get. We ate half portions. While some gained weight during Covid we both lost weight to the point of needing to take in some waistbands. But I took some broiled talapia (fish), an egg roll, a large deep fried and breaded slice of zucchini, and, one pan fried dumpling,  some fried rice.  While we could have gotten egg rolls while we were taking in meals in the past several month, we hadn't.  The egg roll I took was just fine! It was small, but it was filled with a nice mixture of vegetables and pork and it hit the spot (that I have been thinking of egg rolls lately helped at that moment of enjoying this one).  There was a lot more that I could have gone back for. I did not take the cold cocktail shrimp or the crab in the shell, or any of the chicken dishes that they did have, or other things that I might have gone for in the past. This was enough for our long awaited return to buffet dining. As this site has in its name, "All you can eat is NOT a challenge!"

There were some dishes that we expected to see from the past that were not there. There is a chicken dish with strips of chicken fried in a light breading with a peanut sauce that were missing. There was no seafood soup as I have already mentioned. My picky eater wife was looking for a few things and not seeing them - one of which was that chicken dish.  We wondered if what was not there is what makes the difference now between the Monday to Thursday dinner buffet and the Friday/Weekend buffet for a dollar more. We know that when Friday was the same price as the weekdays before it in the past these dishes were there - and there were other dishes that we knew were only on the weekend buffet back then. We don't really know. 

There was not much in the way of cakes for dessert. The large layer cakes they had in the past were not there. The lemon meringue pie was not there. What I call the "Little Debbie" squared of cakes that are cut from a sheet cake - which are not "Little Debbie" at all - were out. There were full trays of both fresh and canned fruits. puddings, a small cheesecake, and a freezer full of ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, and ice cream cups. My wife decided not to have dessert. I was thinking about mandarin oranges when my wife pointed out to me that two new pizza's were just put out. That I could not resist and I took some pizza and that was the pie I ate for dessert. Some might question Chinese restaurant pizza - but the pizza here, especailly when it first comes out is soft and full of cheese that just pulls away in long strands - and tasty.  

When we were done, I pushed the plate away from me and just opened my eyes wide and smiled! My wife said to me, "Happy? !". "OH YES!" was my answer.  I just sat there like that for awhile. I realized that I have not used or carried much cash with me in almost two years and, of course, we had to leave a tip. Between us we had the right amount. We had a larger bill that we could have asked the cashier to break for us, but we had a good tip to leave on the table.  I put the tip down on the table. We put on our masks and left. 

Will we go back! Yes we will. Eventually we will try a Friday or Sunday night. Our concern is only that the restaurant generally on the weekend and Fridays was always much more crowded. 

Now, I know that some of our readers go to buffets that I write about their dinner buffets for lunch. I cannot say how the lunch buffet will differ. It is lower in price and there is also a one dollar coupon for lunch on the website.  We rarely have eaten at a buffet for lunch - unless the circumstances required that we leave an area that we wanted to try a buffet before it was time for dinner, but those occurrences are few and far between. 

Some people and news reporters said that Covid killed buffets. Many are coming back! Many are already back. They found ways to make buffets safe and reopened and people are going again!  There is one  local buffet that we thought was closed forever and it just reopened. 

And we are back! Keep an eye on this site and have patience. There will be more articles coming over the summer about the "new normal" at other buffets - some that we and many readers have loved for a long time! And all the time we were in the house, I spent a lot of time watching great looking things to eat being enjoyed by hosts of shows on The Food Channel! It was great to be back in a restaurant again!

ADDENDUM

Two weeks later we went back to Flaming Grill Buffet, Baldwin on a Friday night.  When we were her two weeks ago, Friday nights were included on the weekend price of 14.99. Prior to Covid, the Friday night price was the same as the weekday dinner price. When we got there we were surprised to see that once again, Friday nights are priced at the weekday price of $13.99.

There was nothing different or added to the buffet from what was there on the Thursday weeknight dinner buffet two weeks before. This time we were each handed two gloves each with the requirement to wear a glove on each hand when going up to serve yourself at the buffet. The majority did, some wore one glove, a very few wore no gloves at all. All did still wear masks when leaving their table to go to the buffet tables. 

There were more dessert choices out. Not all of the large cakes that were out in the past but the chocolate layer cake topped with whipped cream and the tiramisu cake were there. There was also more sushi choices including more rolls and also salmon on a bed of rice. Whether these were not out the last time because it was a weekend dinner priced night then OR that when we came in on the Thursday these had been taken and they had not yet replaced them or had not planned to replace them from earlier, I don't know.  Pre-Covid there were different foods out on weekends. There was a steamed ginger fish. This was a very tasty though full of bones fish that would replace the baked talapia.  The seafood soup that I was hoping to find was not there again. 

I will admit that I either ate more than I should have or my stomach has shrunk in the past year and a half when we stopped eating out at any restaurants. When we left the restaurant I was over stuffed and I had that overfull feeling over two hours later. Yes, all you care to eat is an offer - and not a challenge. I certainly was not taking it as a challenge but it has been so long, that I again had trouble resisting taking what appealed to me as I walked by it on the buffet. I did skip desert.  My good wife did take a piece of the chocolate layer cake with whipped cream which was a favorite for her in the pre-Covid dinners we would have here almost weekly. 

I did not mention serving staff in the first article above. The service was as good as it always was. On this night the young man who was our server had been our server for pre-Covid dinners here. He was prompt to clear dishes off the table and came over when my soda glass was empty and offered to bring more - which he did promptly. The service on our first visit was just as good. The gentleman who seated us, we knew from pre-Covid dinners here. I don't know if he recognized us with our masks on - but he greeted us as in the past and brought us to the area that we always liked to sit in without our asking.  The service at this restaurant has always been good. 

I am glad we went back to compare how the restaurant is on a Friday night even though it was not priced with weekend prices which we had wanted to see to find out if weekend priced nights had different choices. I was not very crowded but during this day, there was a severe storm that had passed hours before dinner and that might have kept people away. There were more people with take out containers than there had been two weeks ago.   They accepted the $1 off per adult dinner coupon (maximum two per coupon) from their website. The local community coupons that are mailed in the area have not had a coupon for Flaming Grill since Covid started. They may start to be sent out again.  Use of the coupon does require the purchase of a soft drink each. Whether the weekend buffet has the different dishes that it had in the past is still unknown. At this point we are unlikely to go there on a Saturday as we figure that Saturday night dinner will be much more crowded - as it always was in the past. It is possible that we may go back and try it on a Sunday night just to see if there is any difference.  At this point, weekday dinner is fine - and Friday night in the past had been our regular night to come.

The Future of Buffets - After Covid-19

The last time I was at a buffet was mid-March, 2020. It was a usual Friday night at Flaming Grill Buffet in Baldwin, New York. We had been going with some concerns - carrying hand sanitizer in our pockets to clean our hands after going up to the buffet tables, using napkins to touch serving pieces and disposing of the napkins when we got back to the table.  At that point there had not been one case reported in this area - or in this county. The restaurant had noticeably less diners - many more open tables and that has gradually been increasing since February.  What I remember from that meal - and I think of this a lot - because I really miss it a lot -and have been craving a few of the dishes that I liked the most there. One, in particular, and I am not sure why was a seafood soap that was a thickened whitish grey broth containing eggdrop, tofu, bits of shrimp, and fake crab (krab) chunks. It was very tasty - and satisfying. I miss that soup - and I miss the overly sweet spare ribs - and for some reason I started eating their chicken nuggets covered in sweet and sour sauce. Not the highest of Asian cuisine but tasty.  And now, with understandable restrictions on New York State restaurants - and this buffet - which is part of a chain - the restaurant is closed as it was not set up to do take out unless the takeout was self-served from the buffet. I wonder if it will open again - and what will it be like?

Golden Corral - the most national of buffet chains - has closed all of its company owned locations due to Covid-19 - following a nationwide non-contact conference with its restaurant managers, employees, and franchise holders - and determined that for everyone's safety and well being - it would close. The franchised Golden Corrals were left to make their own decisions but were expected to follow any and all guidelines determined by the states that they were located in.  Some remained open as take out only - and the menu that I was able to see was a single platter of selected meat entree, vegetable, and potato. Not at all buffet but you were getting for example a piece of Golden Corral sirloin steak cooked on the grill - as it is in the restaurant - and you picked the vegetable and potato from the selection offered. I was not able to see a price - which I hope would have been significantly less than the price of a buffet dinner.

As some states have started to re-open, some Golden Corrals will be reopening as buffets again - but with a very different approach. What these have chosen to do is to serve cafeteria style - still a buffet - still all you care to eat - but you go up to the counters and an employee will put the food you wish on your plate - with a limited number of people up to the counters at one time and full social distancing being followed - six feet apart.  This seems to me to be the most logical and safest way to do it.  They have stated that there are sanitizing stations throughout the restaurant. The counters will be sanitized every 30 minutes. The employees will wash their hands on a schedule.  And most important - no one gets near the food but those serving it.

Some other ideas that I have heard involve everyone getting their own serving utensils - one variation I heard of that was these would be disposable. I have to say that this is not a good idea at all.  Over my many years at buffets - I do not trust anyone to not put that utensil to their mouth and then put it into the serving tray - just because they don't think! And then that utensil will go from one tray to the next - transferring what ever is in one tray to the others. Not a good idea at all.

The Lancaster buffets right now are all closed.  Shady Maple has meals to go from the Shady Maple Supermarket - which they have pretty much always have had. Dutch Way Gap's restaurant is closed but they too are selling dinners from their supermarket and have been having some special features -  not buffet in any way - being offered.  One was barbecue ribs offered in platters at their snack bar outside the supermarket. One big event was a chicken barbecue  - chicken barbecue is a popular event in Lancaster County. Chicken is grilled on a outdoor grill and is sold by the platter with sides or sold as in number of pieces.  A few weeks ago, Dutch Way Gap had a chicken barbecue that you went into the closed restaurant lobby to pay for and then get your purchased chicken outside.  Bird in Hand Family Restaurant and Smorgasbord has been closed - along with other Bird-in-Hand owned properties - but they announced for Mother's Day that they would start serving take out dinners. After Mother's Day a menu would be posted on their website to continue take out dinners that would be ordered through a menu form online and then picked up at the restaurant.  Yoder's Restaurant and Buffet is closed. They are offering Mother's Day meals to go with advanced ordering.

I have seen several articles saying that there will be no more buffet restaurants - but, personally, I don't see that happening. First, these are well established businesses that want to find a way to continue. Second - when everything settles down - and things start to get back to near normal - there are ways to continue the buffet style of eating - but perhaps with servers serving as Golden Corral plans to do now. What this might do to the price to have the additional employees that will be required to do this is anyone's guess.  But before all of this - at a Golden Corral to use that as an example - there were employees behind just about every counter refilling trays, cooking and serving from the grill area, and maintaining the buffet. It would not take many more to add servers to a section. It would slow things down a lot - but it keeps the restaurant in business - and those of us that prefer this way of dining happy.

Until then, I think of all of these restaurants - and when I was there last - and what I have enjoyed eating at each of them. Golden Corral sirloin steak rare.  Prime Rib carved to your plate at Dutch Way Gap. Chicken Bot Bie and chicken corn soup at Bird-in-Hand .  Seasoned steak at Yoders. I miss it. And my mouth is watering as I write this.

May you all be safe and healthy! Use good common sense so that you can once again enjoy a good buffet meal.

Chen's Buffet, Levittown NY - Back to See After a Long Time

Asian buffets in our area are getting fewer and fewer. A favorite out in Suffolk County recently closed. We have been going to two on a semi-regular basis - both of which are OK but I was curious to see what Chen's is now like after not going for quite a long time and also how it is attempting to compete with it's directly across the street competition, Global Buffet.

Chen's no longer has a website. I was able to find out that dinner price at Chen's is now $11.99, Monday to Friday, and $13.99 on Sundays. There are no longer any coupons in their advertising but there is a 10% discount for Seniors. We went on a Friday night.

It was not crowded.  At one time this buffet was jammed on Friday nights.

We were seated and we went up to the buffet for soup. The wonton soup has the liquid in one hot pot and the wontons in a steamer. I opened the wonton steamer and they looked dry and yellow. I took one and some chicken broth. The broth was very hot - which is a good thing as this buffet in the past had problems with food not being kept hot enough while out.  The broth had little taste. I bit into the wonton and it was like biting into a small rubber ball. (This was my experience with several things I chose to eat here.)  A lot of chewing of the hard outer noodle wrapper and it went down.  My wife had egg drop soup and said it was OK - at least it was the correct color (she noticed the color of the wontons too).

I went up for sushi. The sushi was OK. There was not a large assortment - mostly it was salmon and tuna in various forms. The fish was cut thick. The soy sauce that was put out for it was excessively salty - far more so than regular soy sauce - even from other buffets. There was not much of each choice out - but there was a man at the counter making it to refill. I normally would have taken more of one or another but I did not want to empty the dish of any one of them.

Let's see... I took a dumping. I thought the wonton was like a rubber ball - this was more so. It was thick with hard spots that were impossible to chew. That found its way out of my mouth to the side of my plate. A grilled skewer of chicken was hard. Most of that got left. A scallop on the shell was not a scallop or even pieces of scallop. I would say it was chopped up fake crab = Krab. At least it was chew-able.

Shrimp out of the seafood delight was OK. Chicken out of the Chicken and Broccoli was rubbery. Teriyaki Chicken was OK. I was going to take Pepper Steak but the beef in this looked like dry, hard beef jerky chips (which likely is not something that really exists) but this was not anything one would want to try to bite - and no one was taking any. There were mushrooms in oyster sauce that was dried out. Along the way, someone from the buffet stirred it and it did not look as bad. I took two small mushrooms and they were really sweet from having sat too long in the sauce. I took lo mein and that was the most normal thing I had. It tasted pretty good but again it was sweet - which lo mein is not usually. I was tempted by a roast beef. I started to slice it and the large serrated carving knife was not cutting it. I walked away without taking any.  I took some fried rice - it was OK.

I next went up to the grill. There was thick slices of beef - thick enough to be a steak though about three inches (maybe) around. I took two and had them grilled. It was somewhat tasty though it needed salt and I don't usually put salt on food (unless it needs it) but it was  tough and chewy. I had to cut it into small pieces to be able to chew it.

Well - one thing that looked tempting when we had walked around the buffet were flat, hot apple pie sealed pockets. I had planned on that for dessert. When we went up to take them they were dried out and burned all around. We went to the dessert bar and took cookies. I also took a small rolled cake - commercial out of the commercial serving package. It was not good and I did not eat it.

I am not sure how they stay in business other than they are less expensive from what is across the street which has gone up in price since it opened. There I find things to eat that are tasty and edible (most of the time).  Before I left I could feel the MSG headache coming on - so something I ate had to have been loaded with it. I wondered if it was the steak as it came on shortly after.

SO - Chen's - No. I was hopeful - and disappointed in that.

Chen's Buffet is located at 3056 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, NY 11756.

Dinner at DJ's International Buffet, Garden City, NY

With a holiday week that was not feeling very special - not that it should - I had thoughts of going off somewhere to have a better than our usual buffet. I thought about the casinos in Connecticut, a drive to New Jersey to Golden Corral, or even all the way to Lancaster, PA for a day. None of that seemed worth the tolls and gas. My wife suggested that we go to a buffet locally that we might only go for for a special celebration.  There were two I thought about - one was going to cost over $80 for the two of us so I ruled that one out - and we decided to go to DJ's International Buffet which we have been to many times in the past, would cost half what that other buffet would cost, and we only go to for special occasions.

We were there a year ago - and had I gone back to read my article from then, we might have just stayed home to eat, but I didn't check and we went. We went on a weeknight for dinner. The price of dinner on Monday to Thursday is $20.99 per adult. They often run coupons which get sent out in local advertising mailers and sometimes in newspaper supplements.

I thought that it would be empty - based on it was a weeknight - but it was fairly busy. We were seated right away and we went up to the buffet. I started with Udon Soup, which is not at the soup bar which still has a number of soups. The Udon Soup is right across from the soup bar at the grill. The bowls are out filled with udon noodles, a piece of broccoli and a piece of krab - not crab though it is supposed to be crab. If you don't know, krab is fake crab that looks like snow crab leg meat but is actually a piece of fish formed to look like that.  There is a hot serving pot of soup for the Udon Soup that you ladle into the bowl yourself. I looked for other things that usually go into Udon Soup but I did not see any. The soup was good. It had the right flavor and the noodles were thick and long. (I will put this here so that it does not get lost later - there were several bowls of noodles out when we went up. When those were gone - not long after - none were brought out again.)

There is a large sushi bar that includes just fish with no rice and that is what I headed for. I took good size pieces of tuna and salmon. I also took some of the seared tuna that is covered on the edges with black pepper and is marinated. All of it was good.

I had a few appetizers - grilled beef on a stick, a grilled pork chop, a baked scallop, a small eggroll, and some mozzarella cheese from the tomato salad where the salads were. The beef on a stick was good. I have been craving steak and grilled beef and this was the start of what satisfied that - at least for this night. The pork chop was slightly sweet but tasty. The baked scallop which was a large scallop shell covered in baked cheese with small bits (barely evident) of scallops, corn, and shredded krab with corn kernels throughout - all in a mayonnaise based sauce. It was tasty but it would have been nicer had there been more evidence of scallops in it. The eggroll was all roll and very little filling. It was as if they took the wrapper for a full size eggroll and wrapped it around into this little eggroll. The cheese was bland.

In the past there has been steak grilled to order on a flame grill. I looked around the grill area and saw a sign for the steak that said to ask. I asked. A nice size but very thin steak was brought from the refrigerator at the end of the grill area and put on the flame grill for me. I asked for it rare - as I always do.  This steak - as many Asian buffets that claim they have steak - was just a quarter inch thick. This steak should cook in a few minutes and rare should cook for no more than 60 to 90 seconds. It was turned after a minute when the flames started to come up around it. What set this steak apart form others at Asian buffets was the fat around it which was not a bad thing. I would have taken it off much sooner but he let it cook for several minutes before he took it off. I added some French Fries to the plate and a few large black Greek olives from the salad bar and took it back to the table. The char taste of the steak was just what I was craving. It was not rare - it was more a juicy grey inside. It was very juicy and it tasted like I had hoped it would taste - a steak off a flame grill. I even had a second one later on. Also not rare but tasty all the same. I wondered while I was eating the second one if I should just ask for it well done - and get the crunchy outside that I also like on a steak. (My perfect steak is charred and crunchy outside with a red rare inside - closest I get to that at a buffet is Golden Corral when the chef knows what he is doing.)

There are snow crab legs served at dinner on weeknights - hot. When we got to the restaurant the tray was empty. When I went up after the steak they brought out more that filled about a quarter of the tray- maybe 15 or so claws and single small legs - not clusters. I took two of the legs. Others were descending on the tray and they were all gone by the time I headed back to our table. (They were not filled again the rest of the night we were there.) They were not hot inside which with crab legs is a problem because that makes them difficult to get the meat out of the shell. They were tasty. It was a good thing I did not want more as there were no more to be had. We left a little after 9 pm (they close at 10 pm) and they still had brought out no more crab legs.

There are a lot of seafood dishes served on this buffet.  A good number of them are spicy - and while there are signs over most of the trays some signs obviously did not match what was in the tray below. I can't eat spicy and "picky" eater wife does not eat seafood other than shrimp - and does not eat spicy, I tried only a few of the seafood dishes. There was a steamed halibut in ginger sauce. it was bland and was not as good as other steamed fish I have had at other Asian buffets (some at lower prices). There was tilapia with their "special" seasoning. It was better than the halibut, not spicy, and OK. Tilapia is the popular fish at Asian buffets. It is not a good fish to eat if one eats fish for the benefits of eating fish. Farmed tilapia is known to actually decrease benefits gained from other fish when consumed.

It came time for dessert and I decided to get one of their made to order dessert crepes. These are cooked on a round griddle at the grill counter. It was 10 minutes to 9:00 pm - they close at 10:00 pm. I caught the eye of one of the cooks as he walked by and asked for a crepe. He picked up a small container that had a coating of crepe batter on it and told me that there were no more crepes for the night because there was no more batter. There were other tables still occupied in the dining rooms that were not yet near ready for dessert. There was an hour and ten minutes until closing. If more batter was made at this point, it would certainly keep until the next day if there was any left over. No, there were no more crepes.

Just about all of the food that we had was good. On our last visit a year ago, I found things not kept hot enough. Almost all that I had was at the correct temperature - the crab legs should have been kept hotter. I felt that we had a good dinner - BUT it bothers me that there were three main items here that you are paying for in the $21.00 dinner price that they ran out of and did not replace - the Udon Noodle Soup, the Snow Crab Legs, and the Dessert Crepes. It is not as if they are going to make this up with a reduction in price - never will happen! You are paying for what you are not getting that you should be getting. This will, likely, not keep me from going back but we do not come here regularly because of the price and it will be some time before we return.

I will let you decide if this buffet is worth going to. It was fine. Long ago - even under this name and owner - International Buffet has a long history of changes - there was much more "international" in foods offered and more of a variety. That was then - this is now. If it matters there is lobster on Friday to Sunday at diner - the price per adult is then $25.

 D.J.'s International Buffet is located at 1100 Stewart Avenue in Garden City, New York. There is a website, linked at the side in the right column. Beware that when you open the website it plays annoying music, which can be turned off, but if you turn it off and go to another page (except the price page) the music starts again.
 

Island Buffet, Baldwin, New York

In 2014 we went to an Asian buffet in Baldwin, NY and walked out before we were seated. I wrote about that then in an article.  Last week looking through an advertising mailer we saw an ad and coupon for a "Grand Opening" and it turned out to be the Island Buffet in Baldwin. We wondered if it was that same buffet and saw right away from the little map  in the ad that it was. But "Grand Opening"?  I did some searching and from everything that I saw it was the same as it was in 2014 and that it had remained in business from then to now.

The prices in the ad were interesting - $11.99 on Friday and Saturday nights. There was a coupon for $3.00 off.  The ad said lobster or crab legs every night. They claimed to be the largest buffet in Baldwin and had great quality and quantity in what they offered on the buffet. It intrigued us enough to decide to go and find out for ourselves. Last time we never made it past the lobby. I wondered if that was going to be different on this visit.

We went. We walked right in. We were seated at a booth - I did not ask for anything specific in terms of seating. We were taken into the dining room and seated in front of the window. My wife commented that this was why we walked out the last time. We sat down. The window is large and on a cold night as this one was, it was not very comfortable - and being on display to anyone who walked past on the sidewalk was not great. There were other tables and booths away from the window - but it seems like they want to fill those window booths. We put up with it.

The buffet includes an hibachi grill, four double sided, double length hot and cold buffet tables and a counter of hard scooped ice cream and dessert cakes.  On an L of the hibachi grill is a sushi bar. The restaurant is 1/4 filled with the buffet area. 1/4 filled with a dining room and 1/2 filled with large party rooms and a lobby. The party room seemed to have two parties going on - one with a rock band and another with small children. As we had walked into the restaurant we could hear the band as clearly as if we were next to them. As we were going up to the buffet several times the children had moved out of the party room for their party and were running through the restaurant. Later we could hear their party entertainment - across the restaurant - as clearly as if we were in the room with them. I had to wonder through this dinner why this restaurant does not just become a party catering venue and forget the restaurant which always seems to be an afterthought here.

The dishes to use at the buffet are located UNDER the buffet tables on near the ground shelf. If you have problems bending over you are going to have a hard time getting the dished to eat off of. Maybe this is minor but I know people who would have had a problem - and not that they are "fat" which might be the assumption.

So how was the meal. I was fairly happy at the start. The food here is tasty. I tried a number of things on the buffet. They have what they call barbecue beef. This is a slice of beef about a quarter inch thick with enough marbling to give it some taste. My first selections of this beef seemed to have been sitting out on the buffet for awhile and perhaps I should have skipped it at that point - but I took a couple of slices. I looked around the buffet for knives - this was not going to be easy to eat without cutting it. There were no knives. I tried spearing it and eating it that way. It was tough but it had a nice taste. So much so that I wanted to eat it but some of it came out into a napkin because after chewing and chewing it was not small enough to get down. I tried other things. There are crab cakes that are rather different - more cake than crab but again they were tasty. There was lobster - the usual buffet lobster in ginger sauce broken into chunks and pieces. There was not a lot out and about one tray and a half of the tray was put out during the time we were there. And the lobster was tasty.

I then had something happen about half way through the meal that I have had perhaps only once in all of the years that I have been writing about buffets and Asian buffets. I suddenly had a headache - and I knew right away from how it felt and how this type of headache has felt before - this was an MSG headache. MSG is a powdered substance (mono-sodium glutamate). used in some Oriental cooking that is a preservative and brings out the flavors of foods. It is not unusual to find this at Chinese restaurants and I am sensitive to it and get the common reaction to it - a headache. I eat at Asian buffets at least once a week and as I say, I can recall once many years ago that I got an MSG headache at an Asian buffet. This reaction to MSG is common - at take out Asian restaurants and at menu Asian restaurants one can request that it is left out. I know that the take out Asian restaurant that I go to uses this - and they do leave it out on request. You can't do that at a buffet - but Asian buffets that I have been at don't put it in the food. Here they must put it in quantity as I can usually get through a meal before I feel it. Quality foods and good cooking does not need MSG added.

There was nothing that I could do at that point and continued with dinner. Several of the things I tried - like the bbq beef that did not chew (I have to say that I took more later that looked less dried out and that was better) - I had a few things in addition that went into my mouth and came out in a napkin. There was fish with bones that were not obvious. There was fried zucchini that  - again - was tasty bu that had a overdone coating on it that almost broke a tooth.

There were things I would not take. The some of the sushi was off-color and dried out. There were raw clams that had an odd color and were dried out. Some of the food on the buffet needed to be hotter. When items first come out to the buffet table they are hot, but they cool off shortly after and that should not happen.

I did not go up to the hibachi grill but only because when I decided I would try it, there was no one there cooking. There had been earlier.

For dessert they have a variety of hard ice creams in a freezer case that you scoop yourself. There are the sheet cakes that you see at many of the Asian buffets. There were some fresh fruits and canned fruits. There was also hot apple wrapped pastry.

The service was fine. We did overhear a discussion between customers at a nearby table with the waitress about the coupon that offered three dollars off. We had seen the coupon but had forgot to bring it. The coupon said $3.00 - limit 2. The discussion at that table was that the two dining gave the coupon and only received $3.00 off and not $3.00 for each of the two. The waitress was telling them that the coupon was only for one $3.00 discount and there had to be two people to get it. This is clearly not what the coupon we saw said - and if this restaurant meant this then the coupon should have read $3.00 off - minimum 2 people for discount. This was not good. Other Asian buffets in this area offer coupons that include all adults who are dining - some specify no more than ten. Some reviews of this buffet that I read after our visit talk of a language problem here - maybe so and that extends to their coupons.

Will I go back? With the MSG issue here I don't think so. Yes, the food is tasty. I was able to find things that I liked but the headache was not worth it - especailly when less than a half mile away is Flaming Grill with a a larger buffet, better quality food, and almost the same price (especailly with a coupon which are put out in local papers and mailings often - and no headache.  If you don't react to MSG then maybe you might like this buffet. There are things here though to be careful about - especially any raw seafood.

Island Buffet is located at 1874 Grand Ave., Baldwin, NY 11510 and their phone number is 516-868-2888. There is a website and that is listed in the right column of this page.

Back again to Global Buffet, Levittown, NY

This is a follow up to the several other articles that I have written about this buffet and since it is local, it is only fair to keep this up to date, especailly when things are positive. We went back to Global. We have been back a couple of times since the last article and this last visit was the most positive.

This was a Sunday night. The meal was pleasant.  I focused on this as an Asian buffet rather than try to get it to be more than that - even though there is the American meat carvings and a few non-Asian dishes and a taco bar. On two Sunday visits including this one there was lobster in ginger sauce. This was whole lobsters in the shell cut up into small chunks - and on this visit they even cut up the claws which made them much easier to get good pieces of lobster meat out of. What surprised me most - give that this is Long Island and is notorious for huge crowds descending on lobster trays as they are put out at Asian buffets leaving the tray empty almost as soon as it enters the steam table - was that there was none of that. I went up twice to a near full lobster tray and helped myself to several nice chunks of lobster. There is no price increase on Sundays or the weekend and there has not always been lobster here - so if you go, don't automatically expect lobster. Things seem to change a lot here as to what is put out.

There is a section next to the sushi bar of oriental salads and there were some interesting salads there to try. There was a beansprout salad and another salad that might have been artificial crab shredded in a cold white sauce that was more than just mayonnaise and it was tasty.

MeiFun noddles with shrimp was good. The fried rice is decent. The lo mein is OK.  Italian sausages sliced in half length wise and grilled with peppers and Onions was OK. I tried the turkey again, and it was much more like turkey should taste - the turkey gravy is thin and could be thicker. It is a turkey breast. I tried a short rib but there was not much meat on it and whatever the sauce they have on it is, takes away from the short rib. So I went back to the Asian dishes. There was a whole crab shell stuffed with a breadcrumb mixture and crab. That was OK.

There are still inconsistencies here. The stuffed baked clams that they used to have are now changed - and that is too bad because the Italian style baked clams that they had were good. I did not try the new ones - it looked as if there was cheese on top of them. There had been pulled pork on the taco bar which made for a good dish just on its own, has been gone for the last visits. Taco meat is now just chopped beef that looks dry. I took Pepper Steak which is a basic Chinese restaurant and buffet dish and it is never spicy - here it is hot and spicy. Maybe you like hot and spicy, but I don't expect Pepper Steak to be that way.  Labeling could be better also - what had a sign over it as Beef Stew was Curry Beef. The actual Beef Stew had a sign over it that it was clams. Definitely not clams.

They seem better at putting things out as the trays empty. They need to pay attention to what the signs say above where they are putting them out.

The soft serve ice cream here is very good - much better than many buffets - regardless of the type of buffet. The ice cream is cream and not icy at all. We top apple strudel with the soft serve ice cream and that makes a good desert - though they have a number of other desserts here.

The women who wait on the tables have always been excellent. They make an effort to keep coming over and cleaning away plates and offering refills on drinks. They are all very polite and welcoming.

Will we go back now? More likely that we would have before. As long as it remains as it is right now - and they don't slip back - and/or they don't raise the prices. I have wondered how set their $14.99 price is going to be, especially if they are throwing in lobster every so often. The $14.99 price is just right for this buffet. A higher price would keep people away. And they are not coming in droves now. Don't expect the crowds that once were here for Old Country Buffet. We were commenting on that to each other as we were leaving the buffet. Those coming here are very different from those who came here when this was OCB. There are more older people coming here and some families. Another Asian buffet that we go to on some Sunday nights is generally jammed with a wait for a table - and that is a large buffet. Not here, but that buffet is priced a dollar lower on weekends and two dollars lower on Monday to Friday. Here the price is the same every day for dinner, less for lunch.  There are coupons here in local newspapers and coupon mailers for two dollars off each person up to 10 at a table. Of course, the other buffet also has coupons with $1.50 off their lower prices.

At this point everyone is going to have to decide for themselves. I don't know if there are still off nights. So far we have been happy twice in the recent past. I can't say that about before that.

Global Buffet, Levittown, New York

We went for dinner to the just opened Global Buffet which is located in the space that Old Country Buffet last occupied. You enter through the entrance that you entered when this was OCB and going through a second set of doors (as you did before) you come into an area that will become a bar or wine bar. There is a long bar counter along the wall to the left, and a lot of glass shelves on the walls holding decorative wine bottles lying horizontally across the shelves. To the right is an opening and this is the entrance to the restaurant. To the right is the cashier but you do not pay as you enter. You pay at your table at the end of your meal. A host brought us to our table. You may just be able to make out the form of the OCB when you see the room but there has been extensive work done and a lot has been added.

There are mostly booths through the restaurant with a few tables. There are two party rooms - one in the back where the OCB party room had been and another area in the front that is separated from the rest of the restaurant by a wall with glass decorative etched windows looking into the restaurant and an open entrance - that did not seem to have a door. There is a very small stage in the back corner of that room for parties. The dining rooms are fancily decorated and are very nice. On the east side of the restaurant are the buffet tables (nine hot/cold, double sided buffet serving tables), a dessert bar that is along the front of the wall that is an L shape - the short leg of the L parallel on the front to the front party room, then a hot foods carving area, followed by a long hibachi grill. Moving back from the grill there is another L with a sushi bar.

Outside in the entrance area from the street there is a sign with prices. The prices are pretty good. There is a lunch price of $9.99 for adults ($8.49) for seniors) Monday to Friday - and a children's price. The dinner price is $14.99 for adults and $13.99 for seniors plus a children's price which is for Monday through Saturday. There is a Saturday brunch price which I did not note. The Sunday lunch and dinner price is the same and is also $14.99 for adults and $13.99 for seniors. Soft drinks are not mentioned on the sign but are $1.99 and you get refills.

Now I will tell you what so many have been waiting to hear. This is an Asian buffet. There is a carving section that has you carve yourself Roast Turkey, Roast Brisket, and Glazed Baked Turkey. With that there is turkey gravy, mashed potatoes, and chunk pan fried potatoes. Over on the buffet tables mixed in with a large variety of Asian dishes are pork chops with peppers and onions on top, lamb with cream sauce, corned beef and cabbage, chicken Marsala, macaroni and cheese, french fries, mashed sweet potatoes, and beef stew. There is fried chicken that has been cut up into pieces - I don't mean whole pieces of fried chicken, but those pieces cut up into pieces. There was Sausage with Peppers and Onions, seafood pasta, Italian-style baked clams and "Italian" shrimp. There were also several fish dishes including a rolled and stuffed fillet of fish that was baked. There was typical Asian buffet pizza. There is also a Taco Bar and a decent salad bar with both salad greens and toppings and also prepared salads - a little better than you usually see in this area. There were six soups: Won Ton Soup, Hot and Sour Soup, Clam Soup, chicken noodle soup, and what appeared to be a seafood bisque of some kind. Most things are labeled, this soup was not.

The Asian foods are just about all that you generally find in an Asian buffet. There is a sushi bar and then there is an hibachi grill. The hibachi grill is a long row of raw vegetables and cut up pieces of various meats that you assemble yourself on a plate and hand it to the chef behind the grill at the end. This is the extent of the grill. Do not expect whole steaks or anything like that.  The majority of dishes here are Asian.

How was the food? I am writing based on the second night they are open. Let's say that what I am going to report is opening shake out issues which hopefully will improve. There is a problem with serving temperatures. Many things were not hot enough. When something is first put out it is hot. Sitting on the steam table, even with hot warming lights over it - in the middle of the table covering both sides and not directly over each tray, the some of the food that I took was cold. I focused my meal on American food items, as at this point, I am "Asian buffeted out". For soup I took the chicken noodle soup. It turned out to be a thin watery cream soup with pieces of chicken and bowtie noodles. It had little flavor.  I took corned beef and cabbage. Corned Beef is a favorite of mine and I was excited to find it. I understand that corned beef varies a great deal and there are many cuts. Some cuts of corned beef are very tough - almost difficult to chew. I took two pieces of corned beef - one from the bottom of the liquid in the tray and the other nearer the top. Both were cold. Both were so chewy and tough they were impossible to eat. I left most of both of them - trying each just in case one piece was better. It wasn't. I carved myself turkey twice during the dinner. The first piece I took was sufficiently warm. There was a small tray of gravy in the turkey tray and I took some gravy and put it on top. Together on that first try it was all fine. Later in the meal I went back for more turkey and this time when I ate the turkey it was near cold - and the tray of turkey gravy had been taken out of the turkey tray and put on the side of the counter and left there - with no heat under it or over it. I was not going to take the gravy this time. I took some of the ham - it was fine and warm enough. I took a pork chop which is more a slice of pork cooked like a pork chop. It was also cold, did not have much taste, and it was very tough - also hard to chew - to the point that I left over some of that as well. I tied chicken salad from the salad bar - real mayonnaise style chicken salad as opposed to Chinese Chicken Salad. It was also hard to chew. I tried the seafood and pasta - the pasta was underdone and chewy.

My wife was choosing a mix of Asian and American foods and she liked what she was having. What did I like? The beef stew was both hot, tender, and tasty both times I went up for it. I liked that a lot. The carved ham was fine. The cut up fried chicken was fine. The mashed potatoes tray had been empty for awhile and when it finally was refilled I took some mashed potatoes and it was fine. The mashed sweet potatoes were fine. The turkey the first time around was fine. I liked the baked clams a lot.

The desserts here include several cut up fresh fruits, puddings, jellos, etc. along with the usual Asian buffet little pieces of commercially baked cakes and a big assortment of cookies. Some of the cookies look beyond usual buffet cookies - but I tried one expecting it to be soft to the bite but it was not. I looked really good. They have hot bread pudding on one of the buffet tables. It is a mixture of egg custard and slices of bread baked on top and it was tasty. Not as great as some bread puddings but good. They also have apple strudel cut into slices and hot. This is found at some other Asian buffets. My wife had it and liked it. They have a soft serve ice cream machine but it is not yet working. It will be shortly. The waitresses were talking about it at a near by table and it will be a few days before they can get it into service.  

I don't want you to come away from this article thinking that the food here or dinner here is not good. They need to progress a bit from their first two days being open. All the time we were there, there were Asian men who worked there going around to all of the food trays making notes on forms on clip boards. They need to get the temperatures of their steam tables adjusted, go around and stir the dishes so that they heat evenly and at the same time don't dry out. We certainly found things to eat - some of it could have been better. We did not leave hungry. The quality of the food seems fine. The price is decent. No coupons - or any advertising at all has shown up yet in the local newspaper for this restaurant - which is surprising. We will see if any start to show up. There were many people around us that seemed very happy.

Service was very good. Our empty dishes were taken away as soon as we were finished with them. Drinks were refilled with our waitress asking several times if we would like more - and it was promptly brought. There were a few moments of confusion by the waitress which were promptly corrected - no big deal. Everyone working was very polite and nice.

Will we go back? Yes. While it is a couple of dollars more than the Asian buffet we have been going to in Baldwin, it is much closer. If I am in the mood for Asian, it has all that I would expect and then there is the added benefit of the American dishes - which most of my readers know have been sorely missed in this area. (Maybe someone could introduce them to a good meat loaf recipe?) So I recommend it? If you are eager to see it for yourself and try it - sure. Just understand that there are some improvements needed which they will pick up on and fix. If you want to wait and give them some time to shake out the wrinkles, we hope that giving them some time will bring it up a notch or two. And is they are smart and read this article they will know exactly what they need to look closer at.

As we go along we will let you know what happens. As I say, we will be going back - and when there is something to write about, we will write it.

Global Buffet (the and grill seems to not be on any sign now - but the grill is here and open) is located at 3541 Hempstead Tpke, Levittown, NY 11756. I have seen three different phone numbers on two different phone listings - one with one number and another with two different numbers from each other and the one on the other listing. As a result I am not listing any phone number. There were no hours listed that we could see at the restaurant. There is no website and there is no Facebook page. Anything that you find about Global Buffet on the Internet if it does not say Levittown, NY it is not them. There was a Global Buffet that closed in Oswego, NY a year ago and there is a Global Buffet in Canada - that is definitely not related to this one. At some point there should be a website and a Facebook page -  but that is only a guess based on standard operating procedure for restaurants for this day and age.

A Dissappointing Birthday Dinner At DJ's International Buffet, Garden City, NY

D.J.'s International Buffet is a Long Island, NY buffet that is primarily Asian cuisine. It is one of the higher priced buffets in this area and that dinner price has recently gone up to $20.95 on Monday to Thursday and 27.95 on Friday to Sunday. There are often coupons in the local coupon saver books and mailings but there has not been one in some time. Their website is now calling this D.J.'s Seafood Buffet, but the sign outside still is International Buffet.  We had a birthday dinner to celebrate and not able to go out of state to one of the Lancaster buffets or up to Connecticut to one of the casino buffets, we decided on D.J.'s International Buffet nearby.

Maybe the change of name on the website should have been a clue because this buffet seems to have forgotten the "International" part that it once featured. Now, it is strictly Asian. It was not Asian that I had a taste for this night, but since it has had American and Italian dishes mixed into its Asian menu, we figured there would be enough of an assortment. As a side note, the only buffets in this area now for almost 70 miles are Asian - and getting off the Island to anywhere else means taking two expensive and constantly increasing in cost toll bridges and gas. If you are in this area and want to eat in a buffet it is going to be Asian.

So we went. This was a weeknight. There were a number of tables filled and both dining rooms were needed. Many tables were filled with Asian families. Even with large tables scattered around the second dining room that were empty, a large family came in just after we did and they were seated at a large table located right behind us and added a high chair to the end of the table that came almost up against ours. We both wondered why this group was not sat one table over which was of equal size and with more room all around for they and us to get up and back down from the table. OK.

So, when we got into the restaurant there was another couple waiting for a table and the four of us were taken into the dining room together. Now, as that table was being seated, the woman in the couple left the man and went to the buffet, while he was seated. We were seated behind them - fine - but I was curious as to why she had to run to the buffet before they even got to their table. We settled into our table and then got up to go off to the buffet. As I was heading toward the buffet tables, the woman passes me with a plate filled and overflowing with snow crab legs. As I soon discovered, she has emptied the steam tray of snow crab. This set the way the rest of the nigh went when it came to snow crab. That tray remained empty for almost an hour. It evidently got refilled some time between our third and fourth trip back up to the buffet but with that fourth trip back the tray was empty again - all except one small leg and one claw at the bottom of the hot water in the tray. They were soon gone as well. No other snow crab went into the tray until we were going up for dessert. One of the reasons for the price being what it is here is the hot snow crab legs. I never got any.

The quality of the food here and assortment of dishes is what does set this, now Asian, buffet from the other Asian buffets left here. However, there are problems here that were not here in the past. Some entree dishes that I took were not properly hot in temperature. Some were dried out. Signage at the buffet leaves a lot to be desired - some trays have different items in them with signs identifying them as the same - far from the same. Some items were obviously labeled incorrectly. Some are not labeled at all. At the sushi bar - which is extensive - and if you like sushi this surpasses the rest - except for a Japanese and sushi buffet not far from here that is even more expensive. And I saw something that I have heard about being in some Asian buffets, but never before have I been in one that said this - if you take sushi that has rice and do not eat the rice, you will be charged a surcharge! I can't eat the rice - I like sushi. They do have a platter out just with the raw fish and that is what I took - but there were some interesting looking - yet totally unidentified things on the sushi bar that I might have tried and pushed off the rice. I did not dare.

There was one item at the grill appetizer section that seemed to be a dumpling of some sort. It was a soft round, tan ball. I took one to try. I cut into it and discovered large chunks of octopus. It would have been nice to know this before I took it. A beef dish that should not have been spicy - was spicy.

This is not the first time that we have been here. I have written about it before - the last time in 2015. It was pretty good then - and in the past there have been various unusual things - always clearly identified - that were intriguing to try. Maybe I am Asian buffeted out, but I just had a hard time with what I was going to eat and what I was picking had issues. There was a good steamed halibut in ginger which had the advantage over other steamed fish in other Asian buffets, that this is not a "flat" fish, like flounder - and the section of bones easily separated whole from the fish preventing finding an unwanted sharp bone in your mouth eating the fish. There is fresh mozzarella cheese sliced with tomatoes on the salad bar - the last of the International selections - not counting pizza and mac and cheese which are now standards in most Asian buffets. The cheese is fresh mozzarella.  They also have a nice olive assortment with Greek olives on the salad bar.

There is a sign over the grill area that says ask for a steak from our grill. There was no one around to ask for a steak. There is a section that makes dessert crepes. There was no one around to make crepes when we went up for dessert. In fact, there was no one behind any counter at that point at all. The restaurant is open according to the sign on the door until 10:00 pm and on the blackboard in the lobby the buffet is seated until 9:30 pm. The staff were cleaning behind the grill and sushi areas at 8:00 pm and were gone before 8:30.

So I got no snow crab legs, no steak, and no dessert crepe. When the check came which after tax and tip was over $50 for two (no beverage, just water or the price would have been a lot more), we figured out that had it not been for circumstances that we could get not get out of town, we could have driven to New Jersey (a long drive) and gone to Golden Corral (with the emailed free buffet birthday coupon) - including price of dinner, gas and tolls for less.  We shall keep this in mind from now on.

D.J.'s International Buffet is located at 1100 Stewart Avenue in Garden City, New York. There is a website, linked at the side in the right column. Beware that when you open the website it plays annoying music, which can be turned off, but if you turn it off and go to another page (except the price page) the music starts again.
 

Holiday Dinner at Flaming Grill Supreme Buffet, Baldwin, New York

We have been dining fairly regularly at the Flaming Grill Supreme Buffet in Baldwin, New York (Long Island). We have written about this buffet when we first went there when it had recently opened in 2014. It is one of the few decent affordable Asian buffets in this area. We have learned - seeing another of this restaurant in Pennsylvania, that they are part of a chain.

This year they had a "special" dinner for both Christmas Day and also New Year's Day - no reservations necessary and a price only $3 more than their regular Saturday/Sunday dinner price of $12.99 (less one of their regular $1.50 off coupons). For the holidays there were no coupons accepted but they did offer their Senior price. At $15.99 (plus $1.69 for unlimited soft drinks) is the best that can be found in this area on a holiday where holiday buffets offered in non-buffet restaurants start at $50 and go up from there. We went and were happy with what we found.

This buffet included several items not offered at other times - lobster with shell in ginger sauce, cold snow crab legs (small clusters), whole flounder in ginger sauce, and a full roast turkey that you carve yourself. All of their usual buffet items were also there along with the large sushi bar, hibachi grill, the raw oysters and clams, dessert bar and chocolate fountain.

This buffet has changed a little in the past four years on regular nights. Weeknight prices have gone up only a dollar to $11.99. The several dumplings once offered are now down to just fried meat dumplings. There are no longer egg rolls but only spring rolls. Small things that do not really matter as there is still so much.

We had a great meal. The usual problem that takes place at Asian buffets with lobster took place here as well - they bring out a full tray of lobster to a crowd of people waiting like vultures for it to appear and then descend on it and strip it clean in a few minutes. The thing though was that once the dinner time crowd has diminished, the tray of lobster would come out and no one ran for it. I was able to fill my plate several times with good lobster pieces. The roast turkey was very good. As I say it was a whole turkey and it clearly was not the first one that went out that evening. There was a carving knife and fork in the tray with the turkey and it carved off easily. It was very good - no turkey gravy, but, after all, this is an Asian buffet. The crab legs were on ice which means they are hard to get the meat out of the shell, but they were tasty and there was hot butter sauce in a tray on the counter next to them. The flounder in ginger sauce went at first almost as quickly as the lobster, but they kept bringing it out and it was possible to get servings of it with patience.

While we had been there a few nights before for a regular dinner, we found enough different added to the things we generally like to eat here, that we were happy. Service here is good and for a very busy buffet they keep up well with replacing empty trays - with the same item - and keeping everything fresh and at the correct serving temperatures.

We had a nice all you care to eat, holiday meal for little money compared to what this could have cost. I am not sure which other holidays they do this for but if you are in this area and don't want to stay home for Christmas or New Year's Day dinner this is a buffet to consider.

 The Flaming Grill and Supreme Buffet is located at 1773 Grand Avenue, Baldwin, New York 11510. The phone number is 516-544-2222. There is a website and it is listed on the right side column of this page.

Price Increase at Yummy China Buffet, East Meadow, NY

OUT OF BUSINESS IN 2016

Yummy China Buffet was our Top Asian Buffet for 2015. At the time of the article detailing that honor we knew that the weekend price - Saturday and Sunday - had increased to $15.99 starting in 2016. The price has just gone up again - only now the prices for all nights have increased with Monday to Friday dinner now at $15.99 and the Saturday/Sunday/Holiday price now at $17.99. Lunch prices Monday to Friday are now $9.99.  These prices do not include soft drinks. We did not see the sign - which is large and behind and above the cashier desk to the outside wall about the prices until we were seated and had started dinner. Had I seen the sign when we walked in I would have walked out.

This is a small buffet that has good Chinese/Asian cooking for an Asian buffet. We have noted this buffet as Best Asian Buffet in 2014 and Top Asian Buffet in 2015. To be a Top or Best Buffet one of the criteria is value for the money spent - and this buffet just priced itself out of that.

We have dined at this buffet for dinner on weeknights, Friday nights, and weekend nights. There has never been more than six tables (including ours) occupied in this restaurant with two dining rooms and a party room. When it opened under this owner and management it was overpriced to the point that the night we went in to try it, we walked out as soon as we heard the price. It took about a year for the buffet to lower its price to a more reasonable price for a small buffet that is in competition with several Asian buffets that have always been lower in price within a radius of less than ten miles, and a very large Asian buffet not far away with a higher price but that offers a great deal more in variety. With the lack of business it is hard to understand why this buffet does not come closer to the lower prices charged by its competitors. There is never even close to a full house at this buffet. I have often wondered - even here in articles how they can remain in business with the little business that they get - and perhaps they need to raise the prices to maintain the cost, but if this is the case it is a desperate move that will put them out of business.

They are calling themselves a "Sushi and Seafood Buffet" but there has always been Sushi and the seafood that is there at this increase in price is little different from what was there before. In the last couple of visits we found that they had added raw Oysters on ice to the buffet. Oysters are nice, but I will tell you that I will not eat raw oysters that are not being consumed frequently by diners present which insures that freshly shucked oysters are going out to be eaten. That certainly does not happen here and the oysters remain on the ice and I have seen that they begin to look glazed over. No, cold oysters have to be shucked shortly before they are consumed raw. They added fried fish to the buffet along with the same shrimp dishes, salmon, half fried crabs, and single leg crab legs that have always been on the buffet. Other than the crab legs all of this is at the lower priced Asian buffets in the area including the raw oysters. What was labeled as a crab dish was not real crab. It was the fake crab made from a fish often called "Krab". Krab does not have the same texture as real crab - and too many Asian buffets are calling Krab dishes "Crab" - which they are not. If I don't see it in the shell at Asian buffets lately, I know it is not real crab by the texture, consistency, and appearance of the meat. For $15.99 I should not be served Krab and have it called crab.

I have also recently observed that temperatures of some of the buffet trays are not being maintained and some of their signature dishes are still there but just not as good as they once were. One of our readers had commented and also emailed to say that they thought that the buffet was under new management (which it isn't) because they had come back with friends for a meal and the food was not as good as it was on past visits. I confirmed that the management is still the same - and at that time we had a good meal as we always had - at $13.99 - and commented that to the reader. I have to say right now, that I, too, find that things are not as good as they had been - and now for a higher price.

If you want to overpay for what you can get at lower prices nearby or don't want to pay a little more for a greater and fresher variety of foods then go. It is still mostly good. I am not going back and at this point I cannot recommend this buffet because there is better value out there near by - some of which feature coupons in advertising that make the prices even lower. Is the cooking as good elsewhere? If this was five months ago, I would have said no. Things are not as good here now - and you are paying more for it.  This really saddens me. I have really liked this little buffet. I have been a big champion of seeing it succeed. There has been a Chinese buffet in this location for may years - various names and various owners - some better buffets than others. If I see a reduction in price, I will go back and try it again. With the current prices, I am not going back.

See our other articles on this buffet for the location if you want to go.

TOP BUFFETS OF 2015

We struggle with the notion of best buffet over top buffets every year. We go to many great buffets - all of which I write about here. We also go to some not so good buffets, and you all hear about those as well. Then it comes to the end of the year and we look at all of the buffets we have been to during that year and try to rank them - and there are some that we had gone back to during the year from years past that consistently come to the top of the list of the best. The problem is deciding which one really is the best. This is not the first time that we came to the conclusion that there are several top buffets that really need to hold a place of honor and that is true this year again. There is no BEST buffet for 2015, but there are four TOP buffets. These are the buffets that are at the top of the list and that have each met the criteria that we set for Best Buffet. And since Lancaster County, PA hosts the most buffets of anywhere, three of this year's buffets are in Lancaster County, PA and one is near home.

The TOP BUFFETS for 2015 named by "Art of the Buffet" are (and in no specific order) - Dutch-Way Family Restaurant in Gap, PA, Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl, PA, Yoder's Restaurant at Yoder's Country Farm Market in New Holland, PA and Yummy China Buffet which is calling itself Yummy Super Buffet now in East Meadow, NY which is named as Top Asian Buffet of 2015.

The criteria for Top Buffet - or Best Buffet - are simple but not easy to meet. The buffet must give excellent value. The buffet must serve quality food. The food must be prepared properly and taste very good to excellent. The restaurant must be managed properly. The service must be good. And all of this must be consistent - meal to meal, visit to visit.Then it must be a buffet that comes to mind to go back to whenever possible. There must be something that sets the buffet apart (in a superior way) to all the rest. We have been to many who don't even come close and then there are some very good buffets that are on their way to meeting all of this. While no one criteria is more important than the others - and they all must be met - the idea that this is a buffet that I cannot wait to get back to is very much in focus when we decide on which buffet makes the cut. And I must say that there is one small buffet in PA that is coming up to this.

Over the next two months (four buffets - four articles) we will talk about each of these buffets and what makes them stand out beyond the rest. We will feature each in its own article.

Each buffet that is a Top Buffet of 2015 will receive a certificate declaring that fact. Some buffets display their certificates proudly - and we are thrilled when we see that they do - but there is no requirement to do so. Look to the coming articles to see why these buffets hold this site's special designation for the year 2015!

Back to Peking Buffet, Williamsburg, VA

A number of years back in 2007 the Peking Buffet was our first "Best Asian Buffet". They still have the certificate framed in their door's entrance way. It is also listed on their website. This was always a buffet that we looked forward to going to whenever we were in this area. Then about four or so years ago, they added some things and made some changes to what was served on the buffet. I am sure many will like what they added - a section of Thai food and also a Sushi Train. Many will also like the changes to some of the dishes on the buffet toward hot and spicy. We don't really like hot and spicy - and most of the Thai food that is on its own buffet section is also spicy - so the appeal for us to come here was reduced a bit. Where we would have come back more than once, it has become a maybe visit once. It is however the only Asian buffet of any significance remaining in this immediate area. Others that we have been to in the past and have written about are now gone.

So - w were there recently and we went back. My experience this time was more positive as I found some entrees on the Vegetarian section of the buffet that are favorites and while I am not a vegetarian, these dishes and a few others made for a very satisfactory meal.

One of the things that has remained here is an extensive selection of soups - and with this there is a noodle section at the grill counter where you select one of several different types of noodles and a soup will be created for you by the chef behind the counter consisting of ingredients of your choosing.  We both had Vietnamese pho noodles with cilantro in broth. It was very good - it always has been.

I have written about the Sushi Train before and you can look up any of my other articles in the past few years about this buffet. Let's just say that if you want to stand and watch unlabeled plates of sushi move past you on a track and "have to" take each single piece with its plate, and try to carry more than two or three back to your table - and you like spicy sushi - you will love this. I don't bother with it any more. It may work in Tokyo where you sit at a counter with this going by in front of you - it does not work in a buffet.

The two dishes that I found on the Vegetarian section were vegetable chow mein and vegetable moo shu.  I wish other Asian buffets would add these two simple dishes. I like chow mein. I like moo shu. I admit that to the chow mein I added chicken from the chicken and broccoli tray as I walked back to our table. I also went to the Mongolian grill - they still have the large round domed grill that was very popular at many Asian buffets a number of years ago - and have now been replaced by small hibachi grills.  At his grill, it is the usual choose your meats and vegetables - then pour over that sauces - and hand this to one of two chefs who move your selections around the circumference of the big grill with sticks until it is cooked. The sauces are spicy or sweet. I put none on mine and added soy sauce when I got back to the table and this made me happy.

While we were eating a family of four came in. The couple had a toddler age boy and girl. They decided that they were ordering from the menu - which you can do here if you don't want the buffet. They ordered sushi rolls for themselves and fried rice and lo mein for the kids. What came were two huge platters of fried rice and lo mein. Enough in each platter to feed four hungry adults. All of this was on the buffet (except perhaps the specific sushi rolls that they ordered). The kids each ate about five spoonfuls of the fried rice and noodles. The parents did not take any. All of this was still on the table when they left. It was not that they did not like it - they seemed very happy while they were eating, but it was way too much. They must have paid more for this than if they had ordered the buffet - for the size of these platters and what the sushi ordered this way costs, they had to have. They should have just ordered the buffet. Even the waitresses who cleared the table after they left were amazed at how much food was left untouched.

There is a lot to eat here if you like what you find and if you can eat what is here. Everything is tasty. The food is good. Service is good. The price is also very reasonable at $12.99 for dinner. I am hoping that when I have an opportunity to go back, they will have the chow mein and moo shu again - not spicy.

If you are in this area and want to have all you care to eat Asian, try it. I am certain that anyone who does not mind hot and spicy Asian foods will find much, much more than those of us who would like to eat it but just can't - but still we found enough to eat to end the meal full.

The Peking Restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia is located at 120 Waller Mill Road in the Big Kmart Shopping Center. (Kingsgate Green Shopping Center – Bypass Road (Rt.60)). The phone number is (757) 229 - 2288. There is a website and that is listed at the side of this page.

Back at D.J.'s International Buffet, Garden City, NY

It has been almost two years since we have been to D.J.'s International Buffet. This is an Asian buffet that is a considered to be a step above most of the others in this area. It has been around for a long time - closed suddenly, reopened a year or more later, with a new owner though keeping most of what it had been prior including most of the menu. Since then it has changed in menu and interior decor a few times. There have been newspaper ads in the past several months - maybe longer - saying new menu and changes. There are usually coupons and we clip them just in case we decide to go. We don't generally go. The price for dinner here is $19.95 on weekdays and $27.95 from Friday through Sunday. This is just too much for just any meal. We have in the past gone to this buffet for "special occasions" when spending the additional amount for dinner for the two of us to celebrate seems more justified. We just had a special occasion and considered two "special" buffets to go to -  Minado Japanese Seafood Buffet or D.J.'s International Buffet. Since the dinner price at Minado is $31 on a weeknight we decided to go to International Buffet - and we had a $3 off each dinner coupon. Prices for dinner do not include the beverage.

There have been some changes since we have been here last. The food on the hot and cold buffet tables is being served now in porcelain platters rather than in metal hot trays. Under the platters are the heaters from the steam table and everything was kept properly hot - or cold. This gives the buffet a nicer appearance than most - though there are not as many dishes now being served - as the platters are going across the middle of each buffet hot table and where there would have been two trays of food - one on each side - there is now one large platter going across. So half as many choices. This is still a large buffet and there is plenty of food to chose. In addition to the buffet tables there is a long sushi bar, a cold seafood bar turning the corner, a hot appetizer grill, and now where there used to be dumpling steamers, there is Udon Noodle Soup which you prepare yourself. Across from this is a soup bar with five soups. Across the buffet room is a dessert bar that is along the wall including a chocolate fountain and soft ice cream - and a hard ice cream treats freezer case.

I did not see the Udon Soup when I went for soup and took what has been my favorite of their soups for a long time - lobster bisque. This is a pink, semi-thick. cream bisque with no recognizable pieces of lobster - though it tastes of lobster. I scoop out a wonton from the wonton soup and add it to the lobster bisque. I like it. It has varied over the years. It was good on this visit. My wife told me about the Udon soup and even though I enjoyed the lobster bisque I like Udon Soup too. Well, before dessert, I went and took a bowl of the Udon Soup. There are bowls full of Udon noodles, shredded "krab", and a head of broccoli in each bowl. These are kept cool next to a pot of broth. In front are items to add to your bowl if you wish. I added dried seaweed and something that I have always seen put in Udon soup that looks like bread crumbs but I suspect are a dried fish of some type.  The hot broth brings everything hot in the bowl by the time you get back to the table. I first removed the broccoli, stirred the bowl to mix the contents and get everything swirling in the hot soup. The soup was very good.

My next course was from the sushi bar and since I don't eat rice I went directly to the tray of just raw fish. I took several large chunks of salmon and tuna. I also took a few other things that I will describe but do not know the names of - all of which I have had before in Japanese sushi restaurants - a partially cooked tuna crusted with black pepper in a thin sauce, the same but with a white fish, and raw, marinated beef with a pepper crust. All were very good. There were many different sushi rolls. If you would like to make a meal of a good variety of sushi it is very possible to do here. Of course, there is a lot more to eat here than sushi so I took a good sampling of what I can eat and then moved on to the rest of the buffet.

I will tell you about the things I took and will not try to tell you about everything that was here. There were two types of dumplings - lightly pan fried pork dumplings and also steamed shrimp dumplings. Both were very good. These were much better than they had been in the past. There were spare ribs that were nicely charred on the outside and while they were brushed with a sweet sauce, it was not the usual Chinese buffet too sweet red sauced spare ribs. There was a lot of meat on the ribs - close to but not quite traditional Chinese restaurant spare ribs (that only one buffet that I know of serves). The ribs were good. There was fresh corn on the cob at the grill that was made on the grill - I took a half ear of corn that was well charred. I have not had corn this way for a long time - not Asian - but good. Steamed flounder in ginger sauce was very good. There are crab legs here every night. They are not full clusters but individual legs. Your server brings an empty plate and a nutcracker to your table. The crab legs are fairly steadily replaced and remain hot - so you are able to open them and get the crab meat out without it sticking and remaining inside a mushy shell (which happens as crab legs start to cool). There was a dish that I have wanted to try - that I have seen on a menu at a Japanese food stand - called Chicken Katsu. I knew that it was a fried cutlet - and these are made with various meats. I was able to try it here and it was good. It is a breaded and fried chicken cutlet with a mildly sweet glaze on top. It is served here cut up into strips. I liked it (and now I know if I go back to that food stand it is something that I would enjoy - I don't only eat at buffets.) I tried stuffed lobster - not what you think. These were lobster heads that were hollow and filled with a crumb stuffing and what must have been bits of lobster. It tasted of lobster, though it was more crumb stuffing than anything else. These were baked. They had similar in crab shells. I tried Mongolian steak - good and and beef in black pepper sauce - OK.I had a King Seafood Roll - this was odd - a breaded fried roll shaped like but softer than an eggroll filled with chopped seafood. It was different and good. I took shrimp and some scallops out of the Seafood Delight platter and this was very fresh tasting shrimp and scallops. I tried Grand Marnier Shrimp which looked like what other Asian restaurants call coconut shrimp. It had the same texture but tasted very different. It was good - but not something that I would take more than one piece of. There was a lot more. These dishes must vary each day as the menus on the website of all of the dishes served only includes some of the things we had and saw and some of what we had are not listed at all.

It is easy to eat too much here but I made sure that I did not walk out feeling like I was going to burst. I stopped when I started to feel full and did save some room for a dessert.

The desserts here are a mix of the typical Chinese buffet little pastries and cakes plus an entire cold buffet table of fruits and desserts. One of the desserts on this table was Tirimisu. Intertnational Buffet for the longest time has had flan on the dessert buffet and it is still there - but it was orange in color (as I have recently seen it at another Asian buffet). I took a serving spoon full (one) of Tirimisu. It was very good. There was a liquor under taste to it but I am sure there was no alcohol in in it. There are lots of children who are at this buffet with families and there is nothing that is going to not be OK for kids as well as adults.

You should know that the weekend dinner includes Lobster in Ginger Sauce. This is why the price goes to $27.95. From past experience here, when there is lobster on the buffet there is a line of people waiting for a new tray to come out and the best of that tray is gone in a few minutes. Lobster is nice - it is not worth the fight or the money - and then come away with a few small pieces that are mostly shell. 

The meal was good! The service was good. There were three birthday parties going on in the room but the servers were still able to attend to them and all of their tables. Dishes were taken away promptly and drink refills were offered and brought.

We were very pleased with this meal. It was a nice celebration for our occasion. Will we go back? Yes,but for an occasion. This is too expensive for us for a weekly buffet meal - even with the coupon. If you feel that the price is within your budget and you are in this area of Long Island, NY try it.

D.J.'s International Buffet is located at 1100 Stewart Avenue in Garden City, New York. Their phone number is 516-227-2472. The hours of the restaurant are Lunch Monday to Friday, 11:00am to 3:00pm; Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11:30am to 3:00pm; Dinner Monday to Thursday, 4:00pm to 10:00pm, Friday to Sunday, 4:00pm to 10:00pm. There is a website linked on the side of this page. 

BEST ASIAN BUFFET 2014 - YUMMY CHINA BUFFET, East Meadow, New York

It has been awhile since we have given a Best Asian Buffet award. We dine at many Asian buffets. It takes a very special one to really stand out and Yummy China Buffet in East Meadow, New York stands out. It is not a large restaurant and in fact, it is one of the smaller Asian buffets. It does not have rows and rows of buffet servers. It has one long server, a wall next to that with cold items, and a combination hibachi grill and sushi bar. What it has is outstanding food, prepared, and maintained better than any other Asian/Chinese buffet that we have been to.

We have been watching this buffet since it opened about two years ago. During its first year it was expensive for buffets in this area and, frankly, because of the price we did not go in. About a year ago, the owner decided to lower the price and to do this he removed the nightly lobster feature from the menu. That was fine as he brought the price down to where it could better compete with other local Asian buffets. During this past year, the price was lowered again - to $13.99 where it is priced just right, especially for the excellent food that he is serving. As our readers are aware, our criteria for a best or top buffet requires value and quality and with the lower price those two criteria were more than met. But we also look at consistency over time and that criteria was easily met as well. The criteria of good service has been very well met - both by the women who care for you at your table but also by the chef who is at the sushi bar and hibachi grill. The Asian gentleman at the grill who also doubles as the sushi chef does an excellent job and prepares your order perfectly to your request. We were realizing that we were in a "best" buffet about mid-year. We dined here several more times to be sure and we are very sure. We have written about this buffet during this past year and you can go back and read the reviews.Our most recent review was at the beginning of December.

One thing that is special about this buffet is that while they are serving the standard dishes that appear on many Asian buffets, they also are serving their special dishes. Every review we come back to one dish that is exceptional and that is their Yummy Pork. This is a slow cooked pork roast - with the skin in a thin sauce that compliments the meat well. You carve a piece off for yourself from the hot serving tray. Sometimes it just falls apart which is good. The meat is tender and moist. We have tried other similar pork dishes at other Asian buffets and there has been nothing like this one. The sign says "Ancient Recipe" and I am sure that it is - and no one else seems to have that recipe that tries to serve a similar dish.

There are many other excellent dishes that you will find here on the buffet. There is a very broad selection of seafood, beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, and vegetable dishes. If the name says "Yummy" try it, as these are their specialties.

The hibachi grill is small but has everything that you would want to have prepared hibachi style - an assortment of vegetables, noodles, chicken, beef, shrimp, and raw eggs in the shell. The chef will prepare it to your liking. What is different about this from other Asian buffets? This chef knows what he is doing. I really can't say that about many other Asian buffets. When this chef is not there, the owner takes over - and does just as excellent a job at cooking.

One very important thing about this buffet is that the owner is out in the dining room and around the buffet servers the whole time. He keeps an eye that everything is running just as it should be and we have seen him bring special things over to a table on request. As we have said so many times before, when the manager is hands on and involved - and in this case the owner - that is what is going to make a major difference in how good a buffet is. This combined with excellent workers and the difference is going to show and it certainly does.

We have found hidden gems in the past and Yummy China Buffet is certainly one of them. This is a must try. Try it for dinner. We have not been there for lunch and while I am sure that lunch is as excellent as dinner, you are going to get the experience that we have had so many times at dinner - and we have been to dinner here both weekends and mid-week.

This is a must try. And we are very happy to name Yummy China Buffet as BEST ASIAN BUFFET OF 2014!

The Yummy China Buffet and Sushi Restaurant is located at 398 Merrick Avenue, East Meadow, New York 11554. The telephone number is 516-486-2525. There is now a website that is linked at the side of this page.  (By the way that website right now  has a coupon for $5 off dinner on Mondays to Thursdays.) The restaurant is NOW open seven days a week from 11:30 am to 10:00 pm.