Royal Buffet

The food is decent. Not amazing or excellent, but not terrible. From a buffet stand point it could use more variety, but the food that was there was good. Cheap, 11.70 per person.

We are Chinese buffet «experts» and have hit them all in the NoVA area. Royal Buffet is CLEARLY the best of the Chinese buffets in terms of selection and taste. Is there a better one in the area — if so, let us know. It is by no means an upscale place but if we are talking buffets, this is the best. We have been going here every 2 weeks for the last 8 years.

This place is completely beyond redemption. The food is disgusting across the board, and frequently cold when you pick it up. It sits for hours. The staff are generally unintelligent and slow. I can’t imagine coming here again. I’d sooner buy shitty junk food at Big Lots than be given greasy, expired garbage for $ 12.50 a person.

No. Just don’t.
I’m not proud (or maybe I am) but I’ve been many different Chinese buffets all around the DMV and I guess even around the U.S. This buffet reminds of what Chinese buffets had to offer when they first started getting popular about 10 years ago. It’s not that it’s horrible, it’s just that there are so many Chinese buffets who offer double the items for about the same price.
The Teppenyaki Grill buffet is all over the place and for $ 1 or so more, you can have so much more variety like a noodle bar or hibachi grill. Even their dessert options are bigger than one of Royal’s entire main entrée area.
Came here on a Fri or Sat night and it was about ¹⁄₃ full. You can also tell how good it is by how many Asians there are. lol sorry but it’s true! They might not come for authentic food but they know a good deal.

Me and my family have been coming here for years but last time we went my mom found a bug in her food. The lady said it came from outside but it had no wings and was clearly not a fly or gnat. The bug must have came from the kitchen. Never coming here again.

I have to agree for the most part with the other reviewers. For Chinese buffet this isn’t too bad but not great. Yes it’s «Americanized» Chinese food. Yes the food is probably over-​salted and not so good for you.
I think it’s a little on the high side price-​wise (at least at dinner time), but they have a pretty good array of dishes here and some surprises like crab meat, crawfish and shrimp. It’s also all you can eat. They refill the buffet often and everything is hot and fresh appearing.
The service is very good. They bus your plate very quickly and refill your drink. I also like that they stay open later than other restaurants in the area and take credit cards. It seems clean enough and the atmosphere is okay.

The food was sub-​par at best. They have a wide variety of seafood, if your into that. I like seafood just not from a Chinese buffet so I didn’t try any of that. The rest of the food was okay.

Okay im surprised. We came as i wanted american chinese and thought this might be a good option nearby. A bit scared of the reviews we still went with low expectations… a bit surprised…
Everything seemed hot with a buffet being well tended. Hubby dig onto a pile of cold peel and eat shrimp and steamed crawfish. The shrimp were nicely cooked but the thin shell made peeling a bit difficult. The crawfish lacked any type of significant spice and were obviously frozen but still were a nice treat on a buffet and surprisingly not mealy. I think he went back twice fir both.
My initial plate was a yummy baked crab (imitation) the caramelized edges adding a big of crunch. The star was the small quarters of fried whole crab. If your like me and will munch on crunchy shells then these are worth it. If you want to pick out the meat than forget it as not happening. I also tried the bbq rib which was fatty and a bit of roast duck that was hit or miss. Some pieces great but most dried out.
I enjoyed the chinese pickles as they helped to cut the richness of the fried crab. I tried the sushi but the first piece was so dried out it wasn’t worth trying any others. Hubby enjoyed the veggie spring roll and while i prefer pork the chicken dumpling wasnt bad.
Like most of the others around me we focused on the seafood so didnt get to the other main or noodle dishes. Hubby did try the hot and sour but his first comment was too thick and he then ignored it.
While i wouldn’t go out of my way to get here it wasn’t a bad option but its obvious that the quality is a direct function of turn over so come when busy so things are hot and fresh.

The food was really bad and did not look fresh. The ambience was depressing and the rest rooms were dirty. I will not come back to this place again. Definitely not worth the money.

Sometimes, you’re really hungry, short on cash, and know the dollar menu isn’t going to cut it. That’s when you have a revelation — Chinese Buffet! Sure, the last time you were burned, but we’ve had some good times, right? I reminisce about my love affairs with General Tso and off I go, taking the next left to make amends with my husbando. «I forgive you! Please, take me back into your sweet and spicy arms. I want to make you part of me once again…» But alas, before his sodium could bloat my belt or spice could burn my bottom, I was scorned by the bland and somewhat sour taste of the General’s army (sweet and sour chicken aside).
It was then I remembered why I had left him in the first place. I was better then this… and you know what? So are you. If you wish to dine like Royalty, then avoid Royal Buffet. Even by buffet standards, this location is sub-​par.

Yum, when I got there around four thirty on a tuesday, the food looked hot and fresh and just put out. All delicious, espically the duck. four stars only because the sushi was a little dry, but I did ask for fresh and they made to order.

I’ll start by saying «it’s Chinese buffet in northern VA». Now, this place isn’t terrible, but it’s not one of the best I’ve been to. Service is good, place is clean, and the prices are fine. The food is average as far as quality, but great variety.
The space on this place is huge and you certainly don’t feel cramped. The tables and chairs are comfortable enough. The wait service was nice. Our waitress was very nice a promptly asked if I needed a booster seat for our four year old.
The dining experience is nothing unique or special. There are three serving buffets: two that carry entrée fare and a third with deserts and sushi. There is also a soup stand that carries 3 – 4 soups on any given day. I will say that one thing odd about the experience was that the restaurant places all plates at the opposite end of the rice and noodles. Something I haven’t seen before and a little out of sorts.
For food — the only items that shined through for me were the General Tso chicken (wasn’t too spicy) and the plantains (which is a bit of an identity crisis for a Chinses joint). I love plantains and these were cooked better than most. They also had McDonald’s style chicken nuggets — again, that whole identity crisis thing. The sweet and sour chicken was waaaaay too breaded and the Lo Mein was a bit on the salty side. They also had pork pot stickers that were steamed — not bad. I preferred those to be fried, but oh well.
I also appreciated the sign on the buffet that basically ask patrons to refrain from wasting food. I like that. It’s so sad when people throw whole plates of food away only because their eyes were bigger than their stomach. Overall, not a bad experience. It’s only about a mile from house house, so it’ll do in a pinch. Lunch buffet for adults is $ 8.95, kids $ 4.95 and to-​go plates are priced at $ 4.95 per lb… that’s actually a really good deal!

Quality buffet food. Very busy place, which is good because they keep the food fresh. Excellent selection including crabs and sushi. Highly recommend this as an easy option with something for everyone. Around $ 11 for all-​you-​can-​eat is a bargain! We’ll be back.
Our young kids love being able to make multiple trips and choose their own food.

Short: Cold food, crunchy soft noodles — Avoid.
Long: Let me first open up and state, I avoid going to a restaurant when they are closing within an hour. They close at 10 o’clock so I figured the buffets would still be reasonably fresh and hot with two hours to spare. I walked through briefly and saw the overall selection was minimal but time was important so off to the table I go.
My first entrées selected were beef and broccoli, chicken and something with a few chicken pot stickers. My first taste made me think two things… Why the hell is the food so cold and if it was warmer it would probably taste pretty darn good. I had finished my plate and try to find something else that was hopefully a little warmer. My next few selections were a little better but at least there was some heat and I’m talking about temperature. The rice noodles were kind of warm but more importantly a little crunch — like they have been sitting out untouched for a long time. I completely avoided anything to do with seafood because of the temperature issue. It is a shame because they actually did have a large number of options that looked quite good.
I ventured back over to the salad bar area where the fruit selection looked like it had been sitting out for a long time.
Overall the food was nothing remarkable and the service with minimal. I am sure there are much better options in the area with a larger selection.
I’m sure during their prime time the dining experience would probably be better but like I said overall it was not a memorable dining. As I returned back to my hotel I’m starting to feel somewhat ill and I am honestly hoping that I don’t get food poisoning.
I shall not return.

I had more fun watching my aunt, uncle and uncle in law enjoy this Chinese buffet. The options were not as plentiful as most buffets… The white rice, low mein and donut was decent.

The Chinese buffet I frequented in NORTHERN MINNESOTA blew this place out of the water. Unless you want to fill up on fruit and rice, go elsewhere.
Edit: given two stars, because the facility and staff are good.

I will update my review of this place. The food here has gotten better. The food seems to be hotter than before. Also the choices are a bit better. My fav thing on the menu is still the clams and black bean sauce. I could just eat that stuff all day. If I didn’t want to look like a stereotypical asian person, I would just get 5 plates of that stuff only :). I’ve been to enough buffets with my family to see them do this. Uggg :)
Even though the food is ok, you can’t beat the price. Less than 9 bucks if you don’t get a soda.

My fiancé’s family lives in the area and took us all here — party of 19. We reserved the space in advance only by a couple days, but still enough time for them to plan accordingly. When we arrived, they had not secured the proper amount of tables for us. Fortunately, they were able to rectify the issue immediately. They were very accommodating with moving the tables around for us several times, after we couldn’t make up our minds on how we wanted them to be set up.
The restaurant is decently clean. Not the cleanest, not the dirtiest at least that is visible to the patrons.
The service was good. They were attentive and brought refills immediately.
The price is really good for what they offered $ 8.45 for lunch on a Sunday.
This Sunday lunch, they offered an array of seafood items which is my favorite. They have an abundance of fried goodness, rice, noodles, dim sum and sushi. Although, the dim sum and sushi looked decent, I didn’t try it. Honestly, I didn’t really want to risk the disappointment and stuck to the more «can’t go wrong» items. I really liked that they had fried crab and lobster. The lobster runs out fast and has to be served to you in portions by the buffet employee. But worth it. I definitely ate more than $ 8.45 worth of crab, lobster, shrimp, fish and squid. I thought their fried seafood items were very good — yes greasy and deep fried but hey… good nonetheless. I thought their other items were alright.
I’d definitely come back for the seafood, but since I live in MD I wouldn’t make the trip here just for this place. If I am in the area — I might.
My fiancé didn’t feel too hot after eating here, however I seemed to be just fine.

If you’re like me and you get excited about going to the beach not because of the sand and water, but for the copious amount of cheap chinese buffets beyond the boardwalk, then you’re in luck — Royal Buffet is here! I’m half-joking…but Royal Buffet is all of that.
The food isn’t fantastic, but it’s good enough, it’s cheap, and there’s a ton of variety. The place stays pretty busy from what I’ve seen, especially on days that there is seafood. It’s like all of Herndon is here stacking plates of crab legs like the world is going to end.

Gross.