Agreed - buffets for breakfast at nice hotels are a good idea.

LOL - I do think the Korma Sutras in Overland Park, KS and Westport - Kansas City, MO after flying into MCI are well worth a try. Their lunch buffet with Butter Chicken, Na'an, Mango Lassi, Goat Curry are really excellent.

I used to have no self control.. nowadays I seemed to be able to walk out just being full enough, not having to stuff myself to the point where I'm rolling out the door..

I prefer to have buffets at hotels for my kids sake.. quick eats and selection..

I would say it depends on the price.

If it includes a free ride on the ambulance, I might eat a lot.

Till around a few years ago i used to have a nearly bottomless stomach. Ive been asked one or twice(politely of course) to stop eating as they were running out of food.:D. This was at a local Indian all you can eat for £4.99 place. I still go there once in a while, but I have learnt to control my portions now.

Yes, I enjoy Korma Sutra, too!

There are buffets and there are buffets. On one of my trips to India I told my husband that I hope the afterlife includes an Indian buffet. My favorite is at the Taj West End in Bangalore, and the Crowne Plaza Delhi is a close second although it was grossly overpriced a few years ago. I try to keep my weight under control (female, 5'7, 135 lbs) so I don't pig out, but I love being able to get a little taste of a variety of dishes, with no waste. I eat what I put on my plate. And the desserts. On my first trip to India I told my husband I was going to propose marriage to the dessert chef. All in tiny servings so I can have one and throughly enjoy it. (When I take guys in my office to the TWE for lunch they each have 3 or 4.)

I'd put Cinzetti's, near us, in the middle of the road. Decent food but quite expensive if you're eating moderately. My son likes it but mostly he pigs out on the bruschetta with the chopped-tomato spread so they probably make money on him, too. I go light on meat and go back for vegetable-type stuff several times. The place is usually crowded with overweight diners, some of them having to use scooters to get around. Scary. I think my son and I ($40 for 2 people with tip, I had club soda, he had tap water) subsidized a few of them.

We're headed to Myrtle Beach tomorrow- it's plagued with All U Kin Eat joints. I suspect the food quaity is notches below Cinzetti's and my husband is a very light eater. We'll stay away, thank you.

Used to be a huge fan of buffets, particularly when I was a small kid and my family loved to go for buffets during family gatherings/celebrations. I do enjoy a good buffet but more often than not the quality is compromised in most places to deliver the quantity required. With my experience with buffets I normally go for food that are most expensive on its own, seafood would be the main target, followed by most meats. I'm usually stuffed when it comes to desserts but wouldn't reject some good ones.

Detroit MGM serves all you can eat snow crab on Wed for $33. I'd say at least 5 pounds of crabs.

I think that's my general thinking as well, to go for the higher end food.. or the food I would prefer..

Funny, at the Asian buffets, nowadays if there is a Mongolian grill, I would prefer to have the dishes cooked fresh, accompanied with some delectable selection offerings off the buffet.

I go more for Thai and Brazilian formats nowadays.. although the all you can eat Korean and Sushi BBQ is a nice substitute for buffets.. you know, the ones you cook on the table..

Actually, many restaurant/hotel buffets are their opportunity to empty the walk in fridge of all the food that did not sell the prior week. They build their buffet menu around those items. Many buffets are actually the anithesis of 'waste'.

Athena53 said ""I'd put Cinzetti's, near us, in the middle of the road. Decent food but quite expensive if you're eating moderately.""

WOW -another of me/wife favorite haunts. Incredible variety. We used to drive from Richmond, MO down 210 then to I-35 south and then Metcalf (over 1 hour) just to go there.

Good food management.:)

The buffet food after the meal is waste anyways.. As long as the food isn't spoiled, I wouldn't be opposed to hotel food management along these lines..

I've never met a buffet I didn't like. :D

That's not entirely true, but mostly. I remember being a kid when my family was relatively poor. We thought a trip to the local steakhouse was a treat. Having an all you can eat salad bar was my first introduction to buffet style eating. Buffets don't seem to be very big item in northern California where I used to live, but there are some here in North Carolina where I am now. Like some other posters have mentioned, I love a good Indian buffet. I like the variety. There is also a good southern food buffet restaurant that is a solid 45 min to 1 hour away. When I was unemployed I'd actually drive the 45-60 minutes it took just to have lunch their. I wouldn't pig out but I'd get a little bit of everything.

I do a fair amount of hotel breakfast buffet, generally comped due to program status. I'm not a fan of most ethnic buffets, and the food service sanitation background from working in restaurants when I was younger gives me pause. Suburban Americanized-Chinese buffets really turn me off, but a good and busy Indian buffet is fine.

What I do enjoy about once a quarter is a mid-scale casino lunch buffet, where I can go just after the rush and have a leisurely lunch and get some work done. A less expensive one such as Green Valley Ranch outside of Vegas isn't going to have tremendous variety, but for $10 including tip I can fashion myself a nice salad, a sandwich using freshly carved roast beef or turkey, some sort of roasted vegetables or pasta, and some cookies or a brownie.

I immensely enjoy Salad Bars.. unfortunately its becoming moreso a thing of the past where I live.. Plus salads are healthy for the most part if the right items are chosen..

The restaurants we frequent, some of them do offer all you care to eat soup or salad.. so I find that to be a reasonable substitute for intake of veggies when I feel like it

My buffets are limited to two types:

(1) Cheap Indian buffets for lunch. I used to make a few trips through every visit, but I can usually get by with one plate now. Not sure if buffet is the most economical way to go, but enjoy the variety.

(2) Nice Hotel Breakfast Buffets - Sure, I am probably spending half of my per diem for breakfast ($25 - $30 w/ tip), but it always seems to be worth it. Maybe hit an Indian buffet for lunch to balance out the cost (j/k!).

Never used to.. but I'm taking a liking to the indian buffet.. I'm into curry nowadays.. good for cancer..

Thai is a good buffet as well.. very busy, and very few thai restaurants where I live.. but great to go to Thai, and I make it a point to stop into one during our travels..

I live in a medium sized city and there are a decent amount of Thai restaurants, but no buffet. I have always said that if a good Thai buffet opened, I would frequent more than the Indian restaurants. The Thai restaurants are very competitive and I don't think any do extremely well; thus, I am surprised that none have gone to a buffet as a point of differentiation.

I try to avoid buffets. They always sound/ look so good but I end up leaving feeling disgusting...
My buffet game plan when I rarely go is to make lots of trips to the buffet and not pack it all on the plate each time. I take a taste of the food and if I don't really like it, on to the next trip for more choices!

Only one Thai buffet I know of that's open 5 days a week buffet for lunch.. Thai Garden on 8th Avenue downtown Calgary..

The other two holds a buffet only once a week..

Thai Nongkhai on Tuesdays, on Macleod Trail near Chinook Centre by Big Four Chrysler, and Thai Boat on Wednesdays on 32nd Ave and near Barlow..

So yes, rare, even in Calgary

I hit the breakfast buffet at the Las Vegas Hilton yesterday. I made three trips:

1. Crab legs, salmon, steak, eggs benedict
2. French Toast, pancakes, bacon
3. Yogurt, fruit

Worked out great as I didn't have another meal for 12 hours :D

Love the Crab, steak and salmon.. can't say I've had the crab, or steak that often for breakfast.:D

Sounds awesome

SE Asia has been a treasure trove for my buffet hunting. Anywhere that has an ostensibly limitless supply of eggplant, avocado and papaya will see me go back for (much) more. The former Dusit hotel in Jakarta kept serving up an avocado dish with olive oil, pepper and a bit of sea salt, and I never wanted to leave. Later that day, I left.

Then they became a Le Grandeur, so I moved my buffeteering ways to Le Meridien, which may not have been the best, but they were close to me, and had the same three favorites, with an addition of waffles and whipped cream. Perchance not the healthiest of options, but I was able to swim it off in the rainy season.

Inter-Continental in Bangkok did it well, at least before their most recent renovation. Banana and coconut jams, and even decent pastries (as opposed to the usual mayonnaise or noodle-stuffed breads common in those dens of depravity).

Japanese Buffet
 

We have several Japanese buffets nearby. I am a HUGE sushi fan and both have great sushi, made almost every 15 minutes and a large variety. I eat some of the other items (also very good) , but fill up on a large amount of sushi.

I don't have a huge appetite, and I'm vegetarian, but that doesn't prevent me from dropping top dollars at top-end buffets, especially at top hotels in Asia. I think for me it's more about the sense of bountifulness, the presentation (colors, shapes, arrangement), the extravagance, and the ambiance. I definitely don't get my money's worth in terms of value for the food, but it's entertaining and fun nonetheless.

I have to admit that I do love desserts, and I'd rather go to a dessert buffet. The Tiffin Lounge at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong used to be my favorite for that, but it hasn't been as good the past few years.

In YYC, I haven't seen a all Japanese Buffet.. just quasi asian with some sushi set out. We have the all you can eat and order Japanese restaurants.^

I avoid them. But life is short - enjoy if you like
 

Unless there is no other alternative, I avoid buffets like the plague. Many of them are actually like the plague.
I've read statistics that more germs are passed at buffets then on gas pump handles - and that's a lot of germ-passing.
I've been at buffets where mom was holding junior up and letting him help himself while he was coughing and hacking and nose-running all over the buffet and picking things up with his bare hands. That was good enough for me to pass on the buffet.
I'm not a germophobe, but I frequently use this as an excuse to keep my waistline under control.
I'd rather have a controlled portion. But that's just me. I tend to overeat at buffets. So any excuse to avoid one is good enough for me.

Life is short. if you enjoy a buffet, go for it. I try and do without.

I've certainly come across a good amount of dessert buffets in East Asia, particularly in Japan and Hong Kong, though reckon I've seen mention in China and Thailand as well. Though, the decor at the ones I've seen (more in Tokyo than elsewhere) are wayyy too feminine for my liking...then again, that's a bit selfish. They cater to yuppie women in general, so why not? Besides, I could just plop on a pair of headphones, look down and EAT-that's the point. Avoid chiffon cakes, aim for the "heavy" stuff.

I consider myself more of a buffet maven than miles maven. I think buffets are best for variety not quantity.

I don't like many Chinese dishes, so at buffets, I only get one-two types of chicken, broccoli, and rice. Not good value because I might overeat, so I prefer to just order a meal at a Chinese restaurant.

Indian food, on the other hand, I like almost every dish, so I get tremendous value from a varied Indian buffet.

Here are my tips for maxing out an Indian buffet specifically, but any buffet really:

1) Know how much food is too much and will make you feel bad. Go in deciding to have less than this amount. At my favorite Indian buffet they have regular size plates and tiny ones for the salad area. I've found that exactly one regular plate followed by one tiny plate of my favorite dishes is the optimal amount, and I enforce this rule on myself every time.

2) Go easy on the rice. How?

3) Layer your food instead of putting each into a section of the plate. I start with a one grain thick layer of rice. That way I can get it in every bite, but I eat very little of it. Then I put a quater to half inch layer of each veggie dish, then scoop the chicken on top. The mixing of flavors and portion control of this method is top notch.

Too often, I'll eat until I feel sick (my cheapskate self wants maximize the value, but then it all ends up doing more harm than good). So I never go to buffets anymore.

I like buffets especially in Vegas, but the problem is everyone tries to "get there money back," by over eating. That's not a healthy eating mentality so I try to limit myself. Or I'll skip breakfast and have a big early lunch and be good to dinner or something along those lines. They probably still come out ahead most of the time anyway.

There are many kinds of buffets including Casino Buffets, Chinese and Asian, Farm House Restaurant, Hotel Sunday Brunch and pizza chains. I prefer taste not quantity and taste a lot. ;). I take a quick tour before piling food in my plate and select what I like most then put small quantity in my plate and try to taste everything.

I like the pizza buffet places, get to try their various pies. As with buffet places, I eat too much:D

I usually take one plate for the main meal, and then one helping of desert. I load my "main" plate fairly heavily, but not so that there's a mountain on there.

I don't go to buffets often though. There's one in the local area that I used to really enjoy, but the quality of food has deteriorated massively, and now stuff sits there until it's dried out and disgusting :( I'd rather a small helping of nice stuff than an all you can eat pile of junk.

^ Me also:D

At all you can eat crab buffet at MGM Detroit, usually 3-4 plates of crabs alone, followed by plate of cocktail shrimp and oysters, and desert.

Have ye been to (Japan) to eat at a Shakey's? They have lunch pizza buffets with toppings less likely to be found in the states. Not that I think any of it is weird (save for that one glop that East Asia goes ecstatic for-mayonnaise), but if you're down with tuna and corn, that's one variant.

Buffets in Turkey have my number. The variety of breads, spreads, cheeses, and vegetables combined with free-flowing olive oil make for a swell treat.
Other notable buffets in my travels include the Majapahit Hotel in Surabaya and the Inter-Continental in Bangkok, and probably ones in Dubai. I'm willing to eat any meal at anytime, so hummus, basterma and baklava for breakfast sounds...good, but I'm going to be down for the count for the day.

Haven't been to Japan yet, and I haven't eaten at a Shakey's since I was a kid.
At least I have a good meal suggestion.:D