Good Buffets in Northern NJ

[zhelder]

I know that some people frown upon buffets, and some of them are truly awful, but when I find a good buffet, I love it. A new buffet in Wayne called Majestic Buffet opened a few months ago where Nationwide Electronics used to be. They are excellent. They have a big salad bar with different types of seafood, hot stations with the usual Chinese fare (but good quality) and a wide variety of dumplings. The best parts of this buffet, however, are the stir-fry and sushi sections. They have a sushi section that will make custom rolls for you (although they limit the amounts of some rolls that a person can get, understandably). They also have a grill/stir-fry section where you can select various meats for a chef to grill for you or create a stir-fry with various meats, shrimp and scallops (yum!), veggies, and noodles. They also offer Peking duck and noodle soups in this section. Finally, they offer a wide variet of desserts, including both hard and soft ice creams and a very good Italian-style cheesecake. Dinner is $12.95 on weekdays, and I think it's $15.95 on weekends. I went on the weekedns a couple of times and found it to be identical to the weekday dinner. Lunch is $7.95, but you don't get all the cool stuff like the custom sushi rolls or the stir-fry. The dining area is large, comfortable, and attractive as well. I love it!

What other buffets are good in Northern NJ? Bon Buffet in Maywood used to be great, but they have gone downhill in recent years. Dynasty Buffet in Saddle Brook is good, but it's always jammed. Grand Buffet in Ramsey is good, and I've been going there for years, but now that I've sampled Majestic Buffet, it seems very limited! I've also been wondering about a place called J.P. Lee's in Millburn. Looks good, has anybody been there? Any recommendations (or suggestions on places to avoid) are welcome!

[Curlz]

Haven't been to JP Lee's in a loooong time, but it's Mongolian BBQ. There's a 'bar' of sauces, veggies and frozen shaved chicken, beef and pork...you put what you want into a giant bowl, they cook it for you on the big flat-topped grill, and they bring it to the table. Pretty average, iirc.

[jwjojo]

The best buffet I have been to is the Japanese buffet Minado. There are two locations, Parsipanny area and Little Ferry area. Really good fresh food. I was happily suprised...and stuffed!! http://www.minado.com/

[zhelder]

I've been to Minado's in Little Ferry before. I love it, but it's very expensive (about $25 for dinner, $15 for lunch) and it's always insanely crowded. That's why I love Majestic Buffet. This is the first "all purpose" buffet I have seen that offers "real" sushi instead of just vegetables or imitation crab wrapped in rice. Granted, the sushi isn't quite as good as Minado's, but it's decent and half the price, not to mention you get all of the other stuff included in the buffet. I will say, though, that Minado's udon noodle soup is terrific.

[NJ2FLA]

I like the Essex Grand Buffet in West Orange in the Essex Green shopping center. I think it's excellent but I am biased because I am good friends with the owner. I have tried many of these buffets here and in FL. I went to one on 17 somewhere north and saw a cockroach walk by the table. I also tried the one mentioned by Willowbrook and found it to be overpriced for a weeknight meal. There is also a new looking buffet on Route 23 north maybe in Pompton Plains that is pretty decent but a bit pricey for what she offers.

[NJRay]

EAST STAR RESTAURANT EAST

6971 W Main St

Somerville, NJ 08876

(908) 252-1777

Fax: (908) 252-1778

East Star is an excellent choice, just a few minutes off Route 287. They have a huge selection of Salads, Fresh Sushi, Mongolian BBQ which includes, chicken, beef, pork, tofu, and shrimp. Usually 4 or 5 dumpling selections and the food itself is excellent quality, not what you come to expect from your typical buffet fare. The food is always fresh as it is fairly busy and they do a good job kleeping up and keeping the buffet full of food.

[Jason Perlow]

The best asian buffet in NJ is the Sunday Dim Sum Brunch at China 46 restaurant. We've discussed it here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=4364&st=100

Its an incredible bargain, at $12 per person.

[NJ2FLA]

EAST STAR RESTAURANT EAST 

6971 W Main St

Somerville, NJ 08876

(908) 252-1777

Fax: (908) 252-1778

East Star is an excellent choice, just a few minutes off Route 287.  They have a huge selection of Salads, Fresh Sushi, Mongolian BBQ which includes, chicken, beef, pork, tofu, and shrimp.  Usually 4 or 5 dumpling selections and the food itself is excellent quality, not what you come to expect from your typical buffet fare.  The food is always fresh as it is fairly busy and they do a good job kleeping up and keeping the buffet full of food.

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Funny how a place on the West side of the road has East in it's name twice.

[thereuare]

I read this thread a few weeks ago and kept it in the back of my mind, finally had the chance tonite to give it a try:

It's certainly big on variety... but overall i was not impressed. The quality of the food just isn't up to par with the Grand Buffet in Ramsey (and in my opinion not really close).

What this place does have going for it is that they have some 'cooked to order dishes' so there is opportuntiy to get some hot food straight off the grill, and these selections were better than the rest, but the stuff in the serving dishes wasn't very good. Also to note, a chinese buffet with no spare ribs?!?

I will add that although i wasn't a fan, this may be a good choice for somebody that is really into seafood... which i'm not. They did have many seafood dishes: shrimp, prawns, sushi bar, lobster cantonese, big crab legs, and a few others... items you don't see at the typical buffet. I didn't have nor do i know much about sushi, but my wife had some and said it wasn't very good, so i can't comment on the overall quality of the seafood.

Staff was pleasant although there was a bit of a language barrier which may get overcome as they're open a bit longer. This also made it hard to understand the 'procedure' at the sushi and cooked to order stations.