A New Buffet

My sister and I came here the other day while shopping around in the area. We weren’t expecting much; our family used to frequent cheap Chinese buffets when we were little. When we walked in there was no sign telling us the buffet price or anything. In fact, we didn’t even get a chance to loom for it. The host (who’s voice was neither friendly nor welcoming) immediately rushed us to our table, so there was no going back. Alright, so we didn’t know how much money we were spending, but we knew it couldn’t be much anyways, so we went for it.
We each got basic things: mac and cheese, potatos, fries, dumplings, stuffed clams (yikes – why did I trust cheap buffet seafood?), rice, chicken and broccoli and pretty much half the stuff they offered there. Only a few thingd were really good enough to eat twice. Everything else was mushy, all seasoned the same and looked dried out. Actually, the only thing I actually thought was great was the cantaloupe in the salad bar. After about ten minutes, I started to feel nauseous. I can only think to blame the chicken and broccoli since only I had it and I remember pointing out how it tastes strange. Really, I was so nauseous I thought I would’ve vomited, and I hardly ever get swayed by spoiled food.
Service was average. They’re only there to clean you up and seat you, just like any buffet. The women serving drinks and taking plates were very friendly and were always at work. However, the hostess who had rushed us to our seat was very loud and spent almost our whole time there arguing and yelling at the employees. Not a great atmosphere.
Our total for two adults and two drinks came up to about $ 20 and change. Not bad, I would’ve definitely have paid more money to get crappy Chinese takeout from somewhere else, though. Anyways, 1 star for the shitty food and shitty host.

I used to eat here way back in 2009. The food was great, always tasted good and never had a problem with it. There was always steam coming from the food which I just assumed was good because they kept putting out food instead of letting it sit there for hours.
I went there just yesterday and got some food to bring home. The selection was so minimal I only chose like 3 – 4 things. It all looked dried out and unappetizing, but I was in a rush and I don’t know how to leave without buying anything. (I feel like I’m being rude if I just leave) I wish I had left. After eating it I could feel stomach pains, nothing horrible though. Then the dehydration started. Think I may have gotten food poisoning. It wasn’t an extreme case and will probably go away by tomorrow or the next day.
This place has lost what it once had, and it should be out of business instead of the East Buffet that actually had a lot of business and good food.
Don’t eat here unless you come at a busy time when the food isn’t gross, or you don’t value yourself as a human being.

An
old
new
buffet
A New Buffet isn’t really that new, it’s been around for a while. It’s a very typical Asian American type boofay that has pretty much exactly what you expect from this type of place.
The décor isn’t quite as colorful, tacky or interesting as many others, but if did look quite clean. A whole lot of food arranged so that gluttonous people can easily get at it and bring it back to their tables.
This buffet does have more seafood than many boofays and the huge kraken tentacles were especially nice. Really chewy with a nice flavor to them. The veggies were also crisp and fresh and not cooked into mush.
Yeah, it’s a boofay, a cheap boofay, so you should know what to expect. If you want to get all pompous about Asian food and start bragging about how much you demand from a restaurant and how high your standards are and want the staff to grovel around you, then just perhaps you should go to a more expensive place. This is a boofay. Lots of decent food at cheap prices. Nothing more and nothing less.

One hour later, I found myself in a parking lot throwing up the meal. No joke. I got sick. I knew that the place was a risk but I had an appointment to get to and I needed a quick meal. The dark atmosphere, apathetic and disconnected wait staff and overall appearance should have made me leave. But, all I could find in that area for a quick meal were pizza joints and I wasn’t in the mood. Didn’t have the time for a sit down meal. $ 6.30 for maki, noodles and crab rangoons. Famous last words, How could I go wrong? AVOID THIS PLACE. DO NOT EAT HERE

Pretty decent food somethings could be better. But I did not expect awesome good for 6 bucks. The wonton soup is really good. Not many options pretty standard. But trust me I’ve had a lot worse.

Not sure what happened to this place, it used to be good and I’d frequent it often.
For the past couple of years the food has been old — just sitting in the pans on the warmer and very ‘gummy’ tasting.
Maybe they switched owners? I don’t know — but I won’t be returning.

Your typical Asian buffet. Nice selection of food. Most of the food tastes fine and fresh. Clean and quiet environment, not many people, though the waiters weren’t that attentive. If you’re here, try the duck and the watermelons (which were really sweet).

My fiancé and I went here for a quick bite to eat and we witnessed the most horrific thing ever. The owner was plucking hair out of the chicken wings with his bare hands and placing it back for customers to eat. How disgusting!

Went to this place over 2 years ago, wasn’t that great. Decided to try again to see if things had changed. Nope. Even worse. Went at 1:00pm. Food was old, dry and generally not appeasing at all. Asked for a couple items to be made fresh, after not understanding what hot or new meant, I finally got the employees to understand I wanted fresh product. Brought it out, and kept watching me to see if they could sneek the old crap back on the buffet. Crab Rangoons had no filling, about 2 peas worth. Some food looked like it was reheated from day before and inedible. Hot dogs chunks dried up like slim jims, corn on the cob wilted and yellow. Meatloaf sitting in water trying to rejuvenate. Only plus was I found an edible and hot egg roll.

Ehhhhh… the food is usually cold. Wide variety of food. I suggest you go when it’s super busy (Sunday’s) because the food is hot and often switched out! Love the Mei fun and chili pepper chicken!

Your average Chinese buffet. The food is filling and good. Wide selection so that’s good. The servers are attentive and the place is not too shabby. Good Chinese food at cheap prices.

Usually come here for dinner since the man likes all you can eat buffets, but decided to come here with a friend for lunch. I’ve always had a few complains about this place, such as how they stack their raw clams on the half shell by the piles, and how they just seem to mix the old stuff with the new stuff.
On to the fun stuff. Walked in a specifically asked if they take AMEX, they said «it credit card, right?» In that adorably sweet Chinese accent. To which I replied yes, and she showed me a sign of all the cards they take, MC, VISA, Diners club, and AMEX. Great, so no problem. Sat down with my friend and our daughters (6&8), the girls both wanted milk and we ordered tea. The milk was sour, so we told the waitress and she brought us 2 kids cups again, with sour milk. We told the manager this time the milk was bad and to get them some water. No apology, no checking on it, she just brought the water. We began to the giant array of foods! I noticed the good doesn’t look as fresh as it usually does at night right off the bat. The fried rice was dry and old, the chicken broccoli was dried on top, and the crab rangoons were cold in the middle! My friend and I were wondering if we should tell someone, but seeing how they treated the milk issue, we opted out. After having the most unsatisifing lunch of my life, I went to pay the bill. She came back with the card and the bill saying my card won’t go through. I went up to the front desk to ask why and she tried again. She decided to call my credit card company to which they said they haven’t had any charges put through. Come to find out the restaurant wasn’t willing to pay the yearly percentage AMEX charges the restaurant to use their cards, and no longer took AMEX. Not only did they OVERCHARGE me for the buffet prices (charged me dinner price at lunch) but she refused to take off the rotten milk off the check. She told me she has to keep my license while I went back home to get my other card to pay for the meal. I refused to give her my license because I had to drive back home to get my other card. So she kept my AMEX.
Needless to say going out to this place was more of a hassle than anything, I won’t be back! I’d much rather get take out from the much better Peking Station down the street!

I came here last week w/​group of tour from New York.
I just found out they overcharged us 14.00 per person including tips and drinks.
tips for what? Lady told us to get our own drinks and refill ourself.
I would never recommend this place…
This place is awful, dirty and disgusting!!!

Worst waste of space ever. Food was cold. Staff sucked. Bleh. Never ever again.

You must never expect much from a Chinese buffet. After all, you know that for the low price charged you, there MUST be a trade off in quality. I go in from time-​to-​time anyway, if I already know what I want to eat and want it quick.
Yes, it is possible to have a healthy enough selection ff you shy away from the really greasy, icky looking, flour-​coated dishes. For the record, whether in LA or in Atlanta or here in Rhode Island (or even as I see them in the movies), you go to one Chinese buffet and you’ve been to all, save for a few degrees of difference.
That said, I am writing this review because New Buffet has got to be one of the worse ones. Unbelievably, they managed to lower the bar on Chinese buffet. I cringe at the sight of the diners who seem to be enjoying the food, not knowing any better and worse, coming to form the impression that this is acceptable Asian food. Ugh.
Food is extra greasy, some sit on the warmer for a long while as they are dried up. Refill is very slow. Service is extra awful — I had to call the attention of the server several times just to have my used plates bussed. I agree with Cory K’s review. Underwhelming. Even the run-​of-​the-​mill selections — egg rolls, miso soup, chow mein, General Tso’s chicken, and the whole lot — just managed to be bad.
Sure, give me a low price but for heaven’s sake don’t make me feel it that much. If you need to increase your price by a dollar or two to improve quality, then do it rather than train me to eat poorly.
Don’t just walk away from this place. Run!

Well its a Chinese buffet so it’s very difficult to have standards at a place like this, but even so…
I came here on accident, while looking for new buffet that has opened in a different part of East Providence.
This is your typical «sticky booth» buffet. It’s a large place with 2 rows of hot food and one cold. They had a few more seafood dishes than typical places but nothing was particularly good.
Their «sushi» selection was pathetic, the soups underwhelming, and ‘traditional’ dishes mediocre at best. I should have just had $ 10 worth of shrimp cocktail and chicken wings and stop there but as buffets go, it’s a good place to eat a lot of food and suffer from the food coma afterwards.
I can ignore the fact that it is a completely depressing place, but only because no one I know has gotten sick from the food.
Also it’s pretty telling when the staff set up a little hot pot at a booth to make food for themselves– If nothing is good enough for them to eat, then why are we?

Here’s a comparison. Friday afternoon my wife and I had lunch at P.F. Chang’s. The food was okay, nothing spectacular. Certainly the ingredients were fresh. Our bill was ~$ 40.
Saturday night we ate at New Buffet. Ate until we stuffed ourselves. Chose from ~20 different dishes. Topped it off with dessert. And beer to boot. All for less $$ than Friday’s lunch. And the food overall was tastier/​more satisfying.
Can’t beat this for the price.

Yummy. I was pretty impressed by the quality and selection of the food at this buffet.
I understand that buffet food isn’t going to be as good as going to your local restaurant. But considering the price (under $ 7 per person) it’s pretty damned good.
The staff was very attentive and were always on top of plates to be cleared and drinks to be refilled.

Before I moved away from RI my friend and I came in about three times a month.
The selection was always very good and food items were hot and well prepared. My companion always loaded up on the huge crab legs while I favoured the clams on the half shell, teriyaki on skewers, fried rice, lo mein, and a few score other tempting edibles. You’ll also find pizza slicees, hardboiled eggs, French fried potatoes and sundry other non-​Oriental foods that make for an unusual but tasty combination.
Usually we would ask for iced tea, but from time to time I’d savour a Tsingtao beer, really good brew that echoes China’s Victorian-​era past, when the area around Tsingto was in the German trade concession and Germans had taught the Chinese the art of brewing.
For those who chose to leave far fewer stars, I venture to suggest that perhaps the law of averages might have taken over at the times that they visited. Employees don’t always have the best days, though that cannot be an excuse per se, only a possible reason…
All in all, I’ll say this: Though I’m in a sunnier and more picturesque milieu, I do miss A New Buffet greatly. Ding hao and shishi!

I have to wonder about the standards of the people giving this place four and five stars. I’m with Marlena on this one, folks.
Gamey-​tasting chicken, tough (!) steamed dumplings, and inedible seafood dishes. Luke warm at best. Worst Chinese I’ve ever had.