Krazy Buffet

FOOD

Krazy Buffet follows the familiar Chinese-buffet formula, but seafood occupies more of the spread than the low pricing might suggest. Lunch already reaches across shrimp, fish, clams, hot Chinese entrées, soups, sushi and fried appetizers. Weekday dinner extends the same basic format, while Friday and Saturday dinner and Sunday put the clearest emphasis on shellfish, with snow crab legs added to the buffet.

Shrimp is served in several forms and gives the seafood side much of its range. Salt-and-pepper shrimp is the most recognizable preparation, joined by coconut shrimp, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp and skewered shrimp. The line can also include black mussels, spicy clams, baked mussels, oysters, baked salmon and steamed sea bass. This is not a narrowly focused seafood buffet; shellfish and fish are worked into a larger Chinese and Pan-Asian selection.

Snow crab is the main meal-period upgrade. It belongs to the higher-priced weekend seafood service rather than the standard lunch spread, and it changes the way the buffet is used. Crab, oysters and other shellfish can support an entire plate before the hot Chinese food enters the meal. At roughly twenty-five dollars for that service, Krazy Buffet keeps the emphasis on abundance rather than premium presentation.

The sushi counter supplies another distinct part of the meal. Rolls range from simple vegetable and seafood combinations to American-style pieces using ingredients such as cream cheese and pickled radish, with fish-topped pieces appearing alongside them. It is a buffet sushi section rather than a made-to-order AYCE sushi program, useful for adding cold, compact bites between heavier trips through the hot line.

The Chinese side stays close to recognizable buffet food. Pot stickers, egg rolls, crab rangoon and steamed barbecue pork buns cover the appetizer end; chicken wings, teriyaki chicken, chicken with broccoli and beef dishes move into the hot entrées. Fried rice and noodles give the plate its expected starches, while a Mongolian-grill station provides a cooked-to-order route for diners who want to assemble meat and vegetables separately from the prepared trays.

Soups and smaller items fill in the gaps without changing the basic character of the buffet. Hot-and-sour soup and miso soup offer two different starts. Sesame balls with red-bean filling bring a chewy, lightly sweet finish to the Asian side of the menu. Frog legs remain one of the less routine items in the hot selection, though they sit naturally among the many fried and savory choices rather than functioning as a novelty centerpiece.

Dessert is simpler than the savory side. Fresh fruit, sheet cakes, cookies, muffins and soft-serve or ice cream close the meal without a separate pastry-showcase feel. The food hierarchy is clear: seafood gets first attention, the Chinese hot line supplies most of the meal, sushi and the grill widen the choices, and dessert stays familiar. Krazy Buffet succeeds by keeping all four available at a price that encourages another plate.