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Here in the
Like the name suggests, New China Buffet does most of its
business with an all-you-can-stuff-down-your-greedy-gullet spread of steam
tables. One thing the place has that's a little unique is canned beer.
Another would be the tray of $2.99 sunglasses and Puerto Rican flag bracelets
near the cash register. The piped-in music is different too. Instead of the
flute and rushing water at most buffets, New China's soundtrack was like early
Red Hot Chili Peppers (before Kiedis turned crooner) mixed with glitchy
percussion and Cantonese (or Mandarin, I have no idea) vocals.
Dish: The to-go luncheon specials are what we'll be talking about
today, class. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3:20 p.m., you can order
31 different entrees for under $5. The only restriction is that you
can't eat it there. The kitchen loads up a foam box with pork fried rice, you
pay and you leave. Nine more entrees, most made with shrimp, run between $5.29
and $5.99.
Kung Pao chicken ($4.39) is dark-meat chicken,
green peppers, carrots and celery; all chopped into equal-size pieces. The
spicy brown sauce hit me more in the nose than on the tongue. My only gripe
would be that the peanuts on top weren't skillet-toasted, just straight out of
the jar.
Sesame chicken ($4.39) is the battered and fried
chicken nuggets you'd expect, doused in a sweet sauce with hints of molasses
and sesame oil. Dusted with untoasted sesame seeds, a couple spears of steamed
broccoli were also tossed on top. Like all my choices, the sesame chicken was
still steaming-hot after a 10-minute drive back home.
Roast pork egg fu yung ($4.39) comes with two
CD-sized patties and brown sauce in a plastic container on the side.
Undercooked, egg fu yung patties are spongy and oily. Overcooked, they're dry
and chewy. These are right in the middle with crispy edges and a steamed,
fluffy interior.
Shrimp with lobster sauce ($5.29 – yeah, I went a
little over) includes at least 20 medium-ish shrimp in a thick, eggy broth,
flavored with white pepper. It's actually a lot like egg drop soup, down to the
webby egg-white thingies. Like all the choices, the shrimp comes with that
massive pile of roast pork fried rice. Oily but not greasy, it's shatteringly
yellow and, despite the pork, tastes of chicken broth.
I was initially worried that to-go orders might be
dished right off the buffet, but everything looked and tasted fresh and hot.
I'm confident that, in some cases, I got fresher food than folks spooning out
of a steam tray.
Damage: You've got plenty of choices for fewer than five
bucks. Plus, you get that free dessert loved by cheapskates – the fortune
cookie. New China Buffet stocks the kind with vocabulary on the back. For
about five minutes, I knew the words for “happy,” “apple,” and "pear” — but I've
already forgotten.
Decision: Get three or four friends and hit
New China Buffet together. Each of you order something different. Then, go to a
park and spread it all on a picnic table. Tear the lids off the foam boxes to
use as plates and you've got your own cheap, fresh buffet in the sunshine.
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