Buffet@Asia

FOOD

The food at Buffet@Asia is Chinese-forward, but the buffet stretches beyond a single cuisine. The hot line supplies the familiar foundation—chicken, beef, shrimp, vegetables, rice and noodles—while sushi, soups, a Mongolian barbecue station and a stronger seafood selection widen the meal. The selection is broad enough that a plate can stay conventional or move quickly into shellfish, sushi and made-to-order cooking.

Seafood becomes most important at dinner, especially from Friday through Sunday. Crab legs, lobster and oysters distinguish the premium weekend service, with shrimp appearing in several other forms across the buffet. Salt-and-pepper shrimp adds a dry, seasoned preparation, while fried shrimp and other hot seafood provide easier small-plate choices. Mussels, clams and fish broaden the category without requiring every plate to revolve around the premium shellfish.

Sushi has enough presence to function as its own course. California rolls sit alongside tuna, salmon, eel, shrimp, octopus and house-style rolls, with nigiri and other pieces appearing in the display as well. It is a buffet sushi counter rather than a made-to-order sushi program, so its usefulness is variety: a few pieces can start the meal, or a larger plate can make the sushi section the main focus.

The Mongolian barbecue station adds the clearest made-to-order element. Proteins, vegetables and noodles can be combined for the grill, giving the meal a hotter, more customized plate than the steam-table dishes. It also breaks up the self-serve pattern: instead of choosing only from finished entrées, the guest can assemble a combination and have it cooked together.

The hot buffet stays close to recognizable Chinese-American and pan-Asian staples. Orange chicken, teriyaki chicken, salt-and-pepper chicken wings and beef with broccoli cover several familiar flavors, with other spicy chicken, pork and beef dishes rotating through the line. Fried rice and rice noodles provide the obvious base, and cooked greens, string beans or tofu make it easy to build a plate that is not entirely fried or sauced. The vegetables leave room for a lighter pass through the hot line.

Soups and appetizers are useful between the larger categories. Tom yum seafood soup brings a sharper chile-and-citrus direction than egg drop or hot-and-sour soup. Crab Rangoon, potstickers, egg rolls, chicken skewers and fried shrimp supply compact buffet foods that are easy to add one or two at a time. Baked mussels, seaweed salad and sesame balls give the edges of the spread a little more range than the standard fried-appetizer lineup.

Dessert remains simple compared with the savory side. Fried sugar donuts, sesame balls, cakes, fruit and frozen sweets finish the meal without competing with the breadth of the hot food. The practical approach is to treat the buffet in sections rather than build one oversized plate: seafood and sushi first if they are the priority, a grill plate or hot entrées next, then the smaller fried and sweet items that are easiest to miss on the first trip.