Do you have an Asian Buffet near your place?

[aliensalmon]

How often do you go to that buffet?

There's several in my home city and surrounding area. I go to the "Super China Buffet" and "Royal Buffet" occasionally when I'm in the mood.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

when I was in high school, there was this one AWESOME Asian buffet that was also really cheap... they went under... probably because they only charged like 6 dollars and that wasn't enough to meet costs even then.

I have not often been back to Asian buffets as an adult since they make it REALLY easy to overeat, lol.

 

[aliensalmon]

when I was in high school, there was this one AWESOME Asian buffet that was also really cheap... they went under... probably because they only charged like 6 dollars and that wasn't enough to meet costs even then.

I have not often been back to Asian buffets as an adult since they make it REALLY easy to overeat, lol.

Yep, that's one thing to be concerned about at a buffet!

 

[Khamon]

No but we have a local tavern that has hired an itamae and the response has been quite impressive for a small town. We go once a week or so and have enjoyed it every time. Dim sum is fun too but that's not available anywhere near here. One could live on Cheung Chou and eat seafood dim sum every day! They have no vehicles on the island other than the golf cart ambulance.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

I literally live in the "International District" (apparently it's not supposed to be called Chinatown any more). So, yeh, maybe half a dozen? A couple that would be in walking distance if my knee wasn't blown out.

How often do you go to that buffet?

Before 2020, all the time. Don't hardly eat out any more unless it's socially required.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

I haven't gone to a Chinese buffet in years - I know there was one in town (that I went to once) but, meh. I don't know if it's still there or if there's any others - maybe they're around but I'm kind of oblivious.

My thing was Mongolian grill. There are - or were - two here, across town from each other, named "Khan's Mongolian Grill" and "Genghis Mongolian Grill" because as we all know Genghis Khan was the only Mongolian. They're - kind of like a buffet? I guess? If you know how they work.

But like Argent I don't eat out very much since the Sick Times started. At most I hit a drive thru now and then. So I don't know how those places are doing; I know a few eateries have not survived.

 

[Beebo Brink]

What is this "eat out" of which you speak?

 

[Noodles]

We have a few. I used to go maybe once a month or two but have not been in years.

 

[Sid]

In NL most Chinese restaurants are Chinese-Indonesian ones. That has its roots in the fact that Indonesia was a Dutch colony until the end of WWII.
We have lots of them, some are more specialized as take aways. There you don't see much customers in the restaurant itself.

Nowadays at least half of them are wok-restaurants, that means they are in buffet form, but on the buffet tables are plates with raw meat, seafood and veggies.
You chose what you want to have stir fried, hand it over to one of the chefs, he puts it in the wok together with the desired sauce and stir fries it for you in very short time and most of the time in a bit spectacular way.
There are side dishes like boiled rice, bami, fried rice, sate, salads etc. And the buffet has soup and deserts as well. Most of them are all inclusive, meaning eat and drink as much as you like. Sometimes they have time frames.
These wok-restaurants are very popular at the moment and a lot work with reservations only.
My hometown has two of them. In a circle of 10 miles around my home there are at least 10 of them.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

When we lived in the South buffets were the only place to get Chinese food. In Ohio there are buffets but the best food comes from sit down restaurants.

When I lived in Portland there were not just general Chinese, there were plenty of Chinese regional places (Hunan, Canton, etc). But there were good buffets too. As a student at Portland State, I would study at a buffet downtown above a porn shop that would turn an eye if you brought some Tupperware.

 

[Essence Lumin]

Nowadays a lot of them are wok-restaurants, that means they are in buffet form, but on the buffet tables are plates with raw meat, seafood and veggies.
You chose what you want to have stir fried, hand it over to one of the chefs, he puts it in the wok together with the desired sauce and stir fries it for you in very short time and most of the time in a bit spectacular way.

That sounds delicious!

There is an expression here in the US called going Dutch. It means each person pays for their own meal. I don't know where that came from.

 

[Sid]

There is an expression here in the US called going Dutch. It means each person pays for their own meal. I don't know where that came from.

It is not uncommon over here in NL that one goes Dutch, especially when with more than 2 people.
When you take a date out not so much (when clever) or if you go out to celebrate something like ones birthday a promotion or so.

For instance the 6 people who live on the same floor as I do in our apartment complex, go out once a year to enjoy spring somewhere on a terrace from a café or restaurant, with beverages, some snacks, sometimes a small dish. We always divide the bill through six and each pays that part. We go Dutch.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I pretty much never do buffets. I just can't get over getting squicked out about God-and-everybody handling the serving utensils at the buffet stations, or chancing upon that one food item that sat out just a little too long. We've been to Hometown Buffet a few times years ago; none of us had ever actually gotten sick, but we've always felt just not right afterward.

I'll do salad bars, though. Somehow I'm able to put aside thoughts of snot-nosed kids wiping their faces with their hands then grabbing for the utensils.

Interestingly, buffets around here have pretty much gone the way of the dodo after Covid hit, and, sadly, that includes my favorite salad bar.

 

[Casey Pelous]

No but we have a local tavern that has hired an itamae and the response has been quite impressive for a small town. We go once a week or so and have enjoyed it every time. Dim sum is fun too but that's not available anywhere near here. One could live on Cheung Chou and eat seafood dim sum every day! They have no vehicles on the island other than the golf cart ambulance.

Chung Chao! OMG I love that place! Spent a week there doing a training --- to which I had to hike WITH LUGGAGE.

God, I miss HK so much and I doubt I will ever get to go back. For almost 20 years it was like my second home city.