FOOD

The traditional buffet is the center of gravity, and its strength is an unusually deep run through Chinese comfort food rather than a collection of filler. General Tso’s chicken and lo mein set the tone: hearty, familiar and built for the kind of plate you immediately understand. With roughly five to six hot lines, those staples are only the beginning.

The sautéed dishes keep that comfort-food character without becoming heavy. Chicken with broccoli comes lightly sauced but savory and well seasoned, letting the chicken and vegetables keep their own texture. Pepper steak pairs tender beef with green pepper that still carries a fresh crunch. The rice noodles, prepared in a mi fun style with egg, crisp vegetables and restrained seasoning, make a particularly good base when the plate starts collecting pieces from several sections.

There is plenty of meat beyond the familiar chicken and beef standards. Thin, bone-in short ribs bring a sweet-and-savory richness that feels more substantial than the usual buffet beef dish, while the broader rotation moves through pepper steak, chicken with broccoli and a long list of other sautés. The scale lets a plate stay entirely within classic Chinese-American comfort food or wander into dishes less routine on an all-you-can-eat line.

Seafood gives the buffet another dimension. Salt-and-pepper shrimp add a crisp, savory counterpoint; whole steamed crabs bring the kind of visual abundance that immediately changes the look of the seafood section; and steamed fish fillets provide a lighter option alongside the fried and sauced dishes. Sushi is part of the spread as well. It is not the sprawling specialty-roll production of a dedicated AYCE sushi restaurant, but there is enough familiar sushi to build another direction into the meal without distracting from the buffet’s Chinese center.

The appetizer side can become a meal of its own. Crab rangoon arrive as crisp, cheese-filled wontons, and the fried mozzarella sticks are exactly the sort of unexpected buffet find that makes an unlimited format fun. Sesame balls are crisp outside and warm through the center, joined by egg rolls, spring rolls and other fried small bites. Hot-and-sour soup and steamed dumplings add still more ways to begin before moving into the larger entrées.

Hot pot creates a completely separate unlimited experience. In its own dining room, diners choose from a dedicated ingredient area stocked with meats, vegetables and other additions, then cook the selections at the table in Chinese-style hot pot. It can stand alone as the entire meal or become another layer in a broader China Palace outing, helping the restaurant feel less like one buffet than several dining experiences sharing the same enormous building.

Dim sum extends the menu even further, this time à la carte and built for sharing around the large lazy-Susan tables. Pan-fried chive dumplings are a recurring favorite, alongside shrimp dumplings, shiu mai, barbecue-pork buns, custard buns, turnip cake, sesame balls and traditional choices such as chicken feet and beef tripe. It is an unusually deep companion to an AYCE restaurant and completes China Palace’s choose-your-own-adventure identity: buffet, hot pot or dim sum, with room to combine the paths.