East Buffet Elmhurst or Flushing?

[Suzanne]

The last time I went to East Manor Buffet in Elmhurst, I wasn't as impressed as my previous visits with the quality and variety of the offerings--especially the barbecue station. Has anyone made a comparison of these two places? Is one better than the other? Are they both going downhill?

[SAM]

the East in Flushing is much better food/quality!

poor mgmt in the elmhust branch.

[Q Jean]

Could anyone tell me where the Flushing branch is located? Also, what kind of food on the buffet - all different Asian offerings?

Thanks!!

[SAM]

theres 2 branches

East buffet
42-07 main st

East Manor

(I dont believe they offer buffet, but great al la carte and dim/sums)

46-45 Kissena blvd

[KR]

I have only visited the buffet at Elmhurst, but I noticed that the food options change depending on the time of day, and day of the week... (the prices change too)

Generally, if you are paying the top $$$ (like Sat night for dinner), there is a greater selection of food to choose from.

Hope this helps...

[charlie_b]

i've been wondering if the East Manor Buffet (just of Queens Blvd, north side) in Elmhurst is related to the one in Flushing. has anyone been lately? it's in my neighborhood (sorta) and was wondering if it was worth a shot...

lunch? dinner?

[lwong]

We had posted earlier this year in April 2006, about the Elmhurst East Buffet restaurant on Albion Ave earlier this year, but we were unable to find the link to the actual post.

An excerpt from that post follows:

“The other day we went to the Elmhurst East Buffet for dinner (on a Saturday night) and we received fairly good value at $26 plus tax and a mandatory 15% tip. As part of the buffet, a hot pot was also included, hence we pretty much ate fresh seafood for most of the night. The buffet included fresh shucked oysters, clams, and reasonably fresh sushi, plus a thin slice of porterhouse steak cooked to order, faux Peking duck, all kinds of raw seafood, meats, and vegetables for the hotpot, a salad bar, and there was the option to order a whole lobster cooked to order for an extra $5 for each diner. There were other options for an extra fee also (a small sign next to the hotpot area), but we do not quite remember the exact details now. The deserts were the typical fruits and other sweets at Chinese buffets, but this time there were also little chocolate cup fruit tarts that were better than we expected. If you stay away from the steam table foods and basically select the fresh items for the hotpot and the cook to order items (many other items not mentioned), you cannot go wrong for the one flat price. Drinks are extra also. This buffet is only good if you have a hearty appetite and enjoy seafood simply cooked (boiling in hotpot), otherwise it is best to go to a restaurant and pay Ala Carte.”

We went one other time later last summer and it was essentially the same as the earlier time in terms of the available food. Both times we went on a weekend night when the price is higher and the available quantity and quality of the food is more extensive. On weekdays the price is lower, but the quality of the food is also lower on weekdays. The trick at these Chinese buffets is to be very selective in your choices. As stated in the earlier post, we stayed away from most of the steam table items unless we saw that it just came out and was fresh and it was something we were interested in, otherwise we only chose the cooked to order grill items (the second time that we were there, they had quite large scallops – 2.5 inch diameter – that they grilled to order) or took the hot-pot raw items that we cooked ourselves. If you enjoy raw oysters and clams that are shucked to order, one has consumed one third of the buffet cost (typically $35 per person tax and tip included) already, since a dozen fresh shucked oysters would cost over $10 in any NYC restaurant. If you look carefully at the sushi bar, sometimes they will have Geoduck sushi, which is a surprising item for them to put out, since Geoduck clams typically cost $18.00 per lb at the Chinese grocery stores. Obviously, they did not put out too many Geoduck sushi out on the counter, as we just happened to be walking by when we saw the sushi chefs put just several pieces out. The Elmhurst branch also has Diem Sum available both at lunch and at dinner on the steam table. We usually avoid the Diem Sum at dinner time (Diem Sum is normally a lunch food), although when the fried squid and fish are fresh made and are just put out when you walk by, they are not too bad.

Unfortunately, we have not been to the East Buffet branch in Flushing for a long time now, since we felt the quality of their buffet had gone down hill for a number of years. The older East Buffet in Flushing, when we went several years ago, did not have the cook to order grill items (steak, scallops, and shrimp) or the hot pot option that is available at the Elmhurst branch now, although the Flushing branch may have them now.

One comment about eating at buffets is that unfortunately, the emphasis for the diner is quantity over quality, as many posters have already pointed out, and there is an underlying game aspect for both the restaurant and the diner in seeing whether one can beat the restaurant in eating food worth more than the flat price that the restaurant has charged. For persons with Chowhound sensibilities, there is the added element of not only beating the restaurant in terms of the flat charge, but to do so eating well. This is not as easy as it appears, since if one does not chose wisely, one will easily lose this game, since the restaurant has their techniques to slow the diner down: the cook to order grill items take a very long time, there is only one shucker for the oyster bar regardless of how long the line is, the expensive and better tasting items are far and few or not in the most accessible areas, and the buffet tables are full of inexpensive filler food. With all this said, however, it is possible to eat reasonably well (for a buffet) and be satisfied at the Elmhurst East Buffet restaurant (as of last summer). However, buffet outings should not be for intimate quiet dinners or important occasions, but instead most buffet outings need to be looked at as more of “sporting” events. Of course, one can just go to the buffets and eat leisurely, without the competitive spirit, and pay the flat charge without regard for value, but this would entail overpaying for your food, which should be an important consideration for all diners. The question is whether this is true Chowhound dining, but we would imagine that while it is not for everyone, there are many Chowhounds who would enjoy indulging in sports eating every once in a while.

Like the casinos who give out free drinks and also have inexpensive buffets, and are there year after year, the East Buffet restaurants are also there year after year and without money making gambling games like the casinos, hence many many people must be losing the eating game to them, otherwise the East Buffet restaurants would have been long gone many years ago.

[budcar]

Thanks, lwong, for the most comprehensive analysis of the East Buffet that has ever appeared on Chowhound. What you say for the Elmhurst and Flushing branches is equally as true for the Huntington Station branch in LI. Sam posted a brief cpmment on the Kissena Blvd branch. I was wondering whether anyone could expand upon it.

[lisadorf]

East is great, but I also like the Harvest Buffet quite a bit. It's all the way in Little Neck and you can't get there without car,though. It's on Northern Blvd just before the Nassau County border. The food is excellent, they have a great selection. The only thing is that there is a wait on the weekends, it's very popular.