Royal Buffet

Royal Buffet is a place where the old saying «you get what you paid for» is abundantly relevant. The all-​you-​can-​eat (AYCE) pricing is very inexpensive, but that being said, do not expect the food to be 5-​star quality. The best food they have is the food that guests make themselves at the hibachi station. The sushi is definitely edible, but it is nothing like the sushi you’ll find at other restaurants that cost $ 8 to $ 18 for every 6 pieces. I come here for my quick fix of sushi for a low-​price.
As far as atmosphere goes, it is what you think a Chinese buffet place would be like. Bright neon lights, waiters and waitresses who don’t speak English well or at all, and all different kinds of guests from many different backgrounds. The staff sometimes lean over your table or booth to see whether or not you’re leaving a tip when paying the check, and that alone bothers me. The only service you get is someone bringing you a drink, otherwise it’s entirely self-​serve.
Again, do not set your expectations too high for here.

It was my first time dining at the Royal Buffet on a Sunday in March, 2015, early afternoon. The food selection was vast.
BUFFET: Among the many offerings were some tasty options (especially the dumplings); however, I found that many of the meats weren’t adequately trimmed, i.e. there was fat and grizzle in the chicken and pork dishes. The flavors were different and somewhat pleasurable, but some things lacked flavor (e.g. Lo Mein, stuffed shrimp). I found that I left more scraps on my plate than other Asian buffets.
SUSHI: There were many sushi options, but there were no descriptions other than «Chef’s Special» to describe what I was eating — this turned me off and I didn’t want to sample something that was unknown to me.
HIBACHI: After sampling the many offerings in the buffet, unfortunately I was not hungry enough to try the hibachi. The hibachi station provided made-​to-​order dishes, similar to an omelet or pasta station. At first it seemed that the station was part of the buffet, and I saw some people helping themselves to some of the raw vegetables which were actually meant only for specific hibachi orders. This was concerning because in addition to the vegetables on display, the protein options (RAW pork and shrimp) were set out front in close proximity to everything else and available for someone to inadvertently take without knowing. I do wish that I tried the hibachi because I was curious about what sauce would be used (teriyaki?).
SWEETS: Dessert lovers would be very pleased as there are so many options to cure a sweet tooth.
SERVICE: Acceptable — no complaints.
CLEANLINESS (OR LACK THEREOF): The carpet was dirty and stained, the booth seats were uncomfortable and repaired with tape, each booth/​table contained a taped hand-​written number for the benefit of the wait staff, and the bathroom (although seemingly newly furnished with tile and fixtures) was dirty with cleaning buckets in plain sight.
Would I dine at the Royal Buffet again? Probably not.

In my opinion this is the best Chinese buffet I have been to. I have been here lots of times and they have a lot options including sushi and hibachi. The sushi i actually wouldn’t recommend but for the price you pay what do you expect. Most of the food is good quality and I don’t find the place to be completely nasty. They have a good amount of classic American dishes too if you don’t feel like having Chinese food. Overall this place is fine if you want to pig out for a cheap price. At the end of the day though a buffet is a buffet.

Still in here eating and it’s absolutely horrible bad food bad service, didn’t even bring drinks. Expensive for what this place is, 0 stars if possible!!!
Edit: hey, I ended up with food poisoning the same night and my daughter was sick the next day, too.

The biggest buffet in the area. The food is always solid, but definitely made for American tastes, including a salad bar, roast, mac and cheese, etc. The sushi is average, but the hibachi is on-​point. I’ve been going regularly for years and I’m rarely left dissatisfied.

Royal Buffet has undergone some renovations with more work in progress. They finally upgraded their bathrooms, which was my biggest gripe about the place. It looks like there’s a party room being built in the back, and they’re offering beer as well now. It’ll be interesting to see how that affects things.
The food selection is largely the same, I noticed a couple different items there like the Mexican Seafood Soup. I think the biggest improvement was to their sushi. It’s been gradually improving over time, but this last time it was markedly better. Instead of a bunch of rolls comprised of random ingredient combinations, there’s items that can be identified like California Rolls, Avocado rolls, and so forth.
While the improvements are much appreciated, and I do think the food is still good, it’s still not something I would call a four or five star experience. They’re still the best Chinese buffet in town, and I still plan to eat here when I’m in the area.

«Why, why, why?» is what we are asking ourselves after visiting this place. Everything was so sad. The food was greasy and sad, the sushi was dry, tasteless and sad. Not at all clean or nice in any way.

From reading the majority of reviews, I can’t believe I ate at same buffet. We ate on a Sat. afternoon. Food was terrible. I can not tell you I thought anything was very good. I eat a lot of chinese, and am a pretty good judge.

Hidden gem this one!
Since it’s in downtown Willimantic, (I don’t want to sound like stereotyping) but the area is eh eh… So I would usually not go around the area for food, if it wasn’t for my father in law recommendation!
The place is huge and I LOVE their décor! When you go in, they have those water fall décor, along with small figures, so beautiful! And right after that water fall thing, they have that arch you walk under, to match their theme, Chinese!
The restaurant is buffet type, usually those kinds tend to be so-​so but this one it’s amazing! They have American and Chinese food including SUSHI! All you can eat!
Their food quality is good! The servers are okay since it’s buffet restaurant so don’t really expect amazing service lol
They have nice options for desserts — ice creams various flavors, cakes/​cheesecakes!

I’ve been a faithful client during my short stay in Willimantic. This is by far the best Chinese takeout place in the area. Trust me, I’ve been to them all.

Willimantic, Connecticut. Is there a sadder place on earth? Somehow, carved out of the beautiful, sweeping landscapes of Eastern Connecticut lies this deteriorating hamlet, forgotten by time, and the middle class.
So now it’s a bastion for college students. Indeed, no weekend at UConn was complete without a post-​binge drinking Sunday brunch at Royal Buffet.
Where else could you stuff your face with unlimited mediocre crap for $ 7? Or $ 10 for dinner. And yes, they do the crab legs for dinner. As far as Chinese Buffets go, they always did a pretty decent job.
I’ll never forget — we once took our friend Dan here for his birthday, and the waitstaff knew about it. Little did we know what was about to happen. They arranged some of the crappy cake from the buffet on a plate, lit some candles, and brought it to the table… all while playing the most broken-​English recording of «Happy Birthday» I have ever heard in my life. Imagine you trying to sing «Happy Birthday» in Icelandic. That’s what this sounded like to American ears… trust me.
Priceless memories at Royal Buffet.

This buffet added a new item to their menu… ROACHES! No joke. I was going to serve myself and saw a roach walking around the food. I called my two co workers over to see it, we told the owner and walked out. We will never return to this place again.

I like this place a lot. The price per person is like $ 9.99 and you get pretty decent food. One thing though the waitresses there sometimes just stand there and stares at you when there are not many customers… And usually when we finished our second dishes, they will bring us our check which I thought was kinda annoying… (Because I wasn’t done eating yet…) But yea it doesn’t prevent me from going back because the price and the food!

Seems like a decent place. Large selection and good food. It’s not in an ideal town for a night out but I had a great time.
Dinner for two with no drinks (except water) for $ 21.95
I’ll be going back again, soon, so I’ll add a little more details and maybe a few pictures.