Best Asian-style buffets

BY JOAN REMINICK
Newsday Dining Critic

Eat all you care to for one price at these eateries, which only represent some of the Asian-style buffet restaurants on Long Island. When planning a family outing, keep in mind that children generally are charged by height; anyone over 4 1/2 feet tall usually is considered an adult.

Queens

East Buffet, 4207 Main St., Flushing, 718-353-6333, Lunch, $10.99 Monday to Thursday, $12.99 Saturday and Sunday (children $7.99); dinner, $20.99 weekdays, $24.99 weekends (children $11.99 weekdays, $13.99, weekends).

Nassau

Asian Buffet Restaurant, 276 W. Old Country Rd., Hicksville, 516-433-6688, Lunch, Monday to Friday, $8.99, Saturday and Sunday, $9.99 (children, $4.99); dinner, Monday to Thursday, $13.99, Friday to Sunday, $14.99 (children, $6.99).

China Buffet Restaurant, 394 Merrick Ave., East Meadow, 516-489-2525, Lunch, $6.50; dinner, $11.95; Children under 2 free; children under 7, half price.

Harvest Buffet, 14 Northern Blvd., Great Neck, 516-498-1888, Lunch, Monday to Friday, $12.95, Saturday and Sunday, 13.95; dinner, Monday to Thursday, $21.95; Friday to Sunday, $23.95; children eat at half price.

Minado Japanese Seafood Buffet, 219 Glen Cove Rd., Carle Place, 516-294-9541, www.minado.com, Lunch, Monday to Friday, $13.95, Saturday and Sunday, $15.95; Dinner Monday to Thursday, 23.95, Friday to Sunday, 25.95 (children eat at half price).

Suffolk

East Buffet, 179 Walt Whitman Rd., Huntington Station, 631-385-0800, www.eastbuffet.com, Lunch, Monday to Friday, $10.99 for adults, $5.99 for children, Saturday and Sunday, $16.99 adults, $9.99 for children; dinner, Monday to Thursday, $19.99 for adults, $9.99 for children, Friday to Sunday, $24.99 adults ($11.99 for children).

Sushi Park, 6137 Jericho Tpke., Commack, 631-499-1465, -1466, www.sushipark.net, Lunch, $14.95; dinner, $24.95; children under 3 1/2 feet eat free; half price for children between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 feet; 15 percent discount for everyone in effect now.

New Grand Buffet, 1704 Veterans Hwy., Islandia, 631-582-3888, Lunch, $6.45 ($3.75 for children); dinner, $11.99 ($6.49 for kids).

Eating like there's no tomorrow

Bellying up to the buffet at a restaurant where the food keeps flowing.

It's 6:30 Friday evening in early August at East Buffet in Huntington Station. A man wearing the expression of a child in a candy factory carries two plates piled with pork, shrimp, beef and crab legs. He takes a seat at Billy Kava's table of 13.

"This is Cousin Peter," said Kava, of Maspeth, as Peter Freeman of Ridgewood sets down his plates. "He's a 50-year-old buffet virgin."

That may have been the case half an hour earlier, but no longer - not since Kava, guru of the groaning board, has shown Freeman all he's been missing. An apt pupil, Freeman already has mastered Kava's two-fisted approach to the chafing dishes. He will need to make only two - at most three - trips to get his $25 worth of food. "Coming here," Kava said, "is like having a sure winner at the horse races."

At the buffet, everyone is off and running the moment they're shown to their tables. The 7-year-old restaurant seats up to 350, and those smart enough to have made reservations avoid the logjam at the door. Once seated, the only thing anyone might have to order is a drink; no need to see a menu or wait between courses. It's as close to instant gratification as you can get.

"They come from Nassau, from Queens, from Brooklyn and some from Chinatown," said manager Kevin Kong, who estimates that about 30 percent of his clientele is Asian. East, which is under different ownership than the Flushing restaurant of the same name, includes some Italian, American, Korean, Thai and Japanese dishes, such as sushi and sashimi. And, of course, there's a wealth of Chinese selections, many of them hard to come by elsewhere.

"Where else can you get quail?" asked Kathleen Scheppke of Ozone Park, who estimates she and her husband, Irwin, have been to East 20 times.

Referred to in the 2005 Zagat Survey as "the mother of all buffets," East's assortment is dizzying. There are exotic Chinese cold appetizers including crisp anchovies, alongside Japanese sashimi in sesame sauce and Korean kimchi. For those so inclined, there's even seafood pasta Alfredo. There are carving stations, where prime rib and Peking duck are sliced to order. Dim sum lovers can load up on all manner of buns and dumplings. And then there are the perennial favorites, like the grilled portobello mushrooms and the Cantonese-style filet mignon.

The quality and the variety of the food are the main draws for John Hsu of Old Bethpage, who was born in Shanghai. Hsu has come with 15 family members and friends, one of whom he considers the consummate culinary judge. "My friend Nancy Li is a superb gourmet cooking expert and entertains a lot of friends here," Hsu said. "When she says it's good, you know."

Li, who said she has been a customer since opening day, has, in the past, even brought the mayor of Sands Point, her hometown. "I really like the crab claws stuffed with shrimp," Li said.

Among buffet veterans, there seem to be two kinds of people - generalists, who like to eat a little (or a lot) of everything, and specialists, who know precisely what they want. For Jack Arias of Farmingdale, the object of desire is seafood - clams, oysters and, most of all, crab legs, which, according to Kong, the restaurant goes through at a rate of 1,200 pounds a night. As Arias eloquently expounds upon his love for shellfish, he works his way through a pile that reaches from his plate to his chin.

A place to diet?

Jim Kokotas of Brooklyn, a regular since the place opened, just lost 30 pounds. "If you don't eat to exhaustion, you could easily follow an Atkins type diet here. There's plenty of seafood and chicken, and you could eat sushi, which is low in fat," he said.

Many of those circling the buffet tables, though, do not give a hoot about fat or calories. For them, the point is to get their $25 worth of food - and then some, if possible. The fact that no one is allowed to leave the restaurant carrying leftovers only fuels what, for some, can be a gluttonous frenzy.

Dean Zenie of Melville, a first-timer who has come with two friends, is turned off by the implicit pressure to overeat and sees more value in dining at a regular Chinese restaurant, where, for less money, he would leave with enough food for several meals. "Right now," Zenie said, "I'm full. I would normally stop eating, but I'm going to take more."

Taking more isn't what bothers Kong. What irks him is when people load up their plates, then just take a bite. "Sometimes," Kong said, "they just throw it away." He also has witnessed people sneaking food into plastic bags. "We tell them that buffet is for eat-in only. If you want to take it out, we could sell you the food by the pound."

For Jerry Filiberto of Melville, eating his $25 worth isn't nearly as much a problem as coping with the noise level in the cavernous space. "Half of this conversation I haven't even heard," he said ruefully.

The kid factor

One cause of the clamor is the high ratio of young children in the restaurant.

Fanya Schleifer of South Huntington has come with a group of 13 - six adults, seven children, two belonging to her. The kids have their own table. "My oldest is 6, my youngest 2, and they both love it here," Schleifer said. "They have a pattern - they start with wonton soup, ribs, rice and lo mein, and then go for ice cream. It never changes."

Everyone who visits the buffet, it seems, has a pattern. One tendency among the restaurant's core clientele is toward socializing. Ethnically, the place is a melting pot. "We often run into the same people," said Arias, who hails from Central America. "We've met Russian, Italian and Jewish families."

As the evening winds down, the predominant noise becomes the clatter of plates being cleared. Until tomorrow, the vast space will be empty, silent. But - like the belly of a buffet regular - not for long.

Quantity that works

Culinary highlights of my night at East included the ultra-tender filet mignon, in a rich brown sauce, and superior Peking duck, a glistening mahogany masterpiece that was carved to order. Served with steamed puffy bread, to be slathered with hoisin sauce, it was quite possibly the best of the genre I've come across.

The sushi was good quality, but it wasn't the stuff addictions are made of.

The fare at a buffet, even a great buffet, is at its best when first brought to the table. While the staff seemed to be constantly refilling the chafing dishes, I was never able to get the quail while it was hot. Yes, I liked its flavor, but I couldn't help thinking how much better it would have been had it just come off the grill.

A major problem, for a controlled eater like myself, was keeping track of what I was eating. I also felt I needed to sample a lot and kept jumping up every five minutes to get this or that, often putting things on the same plate (like sashimi and General Tso's chicken) that didn't belong together.

It was not exactly a leisurely dining experience.

In the main, however, as buffets go, I would call this one a definite winner.

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