Friday, March 14, 2014

A Chinese Buffet in Lenoir City Tennessee

We try to stay away from buffets… They just aren’t good for our waistline or our health!  Laurie doesn’t have a problem but I tend to regard any buffet as a challenge…eating enough food that I come out financially ahead in the bargain!

Nevertheless, a couple of times a year we will go for an ‘all-you-can-eat’ buffet meal.  In East Tennessee these forays have been limited to Chinese buffets and the Dinner Bell Restaurant with its country cooking over in Sweetwater Tennessee. 


China King Buffet and Grill is the surviving Chinese buffet operation in Lenoir City Tennessee.  It had a competitor just up the street on US 321, (Panda Buffet), that we had visited about 3 times since we moved here.  However, it has closed and the property is being converted to a Chick-fil-A.  Yippee!

China King Buffet is located at one end of the Wal-Mart strip mall and we had never eaten here before…


The first piece of good news was that the restaurant was busy.  If you’ve eaten at many buffets, you know that ‘busy’ or ‘popular’ is a good thing.  It means that the food doesn’t have much of a chance to sit and it’s replenished frequently.


The various buffet tables/steam tables offered a wide variety of choices.  China King advertises their offerings as being Chinese, Japanese and American.

   
Here are 2 more steam tables loaded with a plethora of dining decisions…  The staff at China King was continuously refilling the trays of food.  The restaurant claims to offer over 150 items…but we didn’t count them.


The buffet price also includes a number of basic sushi items such as California Rolls, Spicy Tuna Rolls and Spicy Avocado Rolls.  In addition, hibachi and Mongolian grill items are available.

Adult beverages are available including beer and mixed drinks.  Lunch specials (from the menu) are served Monday – Friday for the very reasonable price of $4.75.  Luncheons include fried or steamed rice and an egg roll or soup.


Laurie really goes for variety and, as you will note, her plate(s) of food look lighter and perhaps healthier than mine.

China King offers an extensive menu in addition to the buffet.  It includes appetizers, soup, chow mein, fried rice, lo mein, mei fun, sweet and sour, vegetable, egg foo young, seafood, pork, beef, poultry, combination platters, family meals, specials and sushi as well as hibachi and Mongolian combinations. Other than the family meals, the most expensive entrĂ©e that I could find on the menu was the Seafood Combination. ($10.95) It includes lobster meat, jumbo shrimp, crab meat, fresh scallops, bok choy, broccoli, snow peas, celery, fresh mushrooms, bamboo shoots and carrots.


This was plate #1 for me.  I love stir fried green beans and you will note the hot peppers sauce that I used with just about everything.  Note: That fried chicken wing was pretty tasty!


Plate #2 for me… More stir fried green beans with some broccoli, coconut shrimp (too sweet for me), and a couple of chicken offerings.


Laurie ate her veggies too…plus she picked up on some mushrooms, something that she rarely has at home…because I won’t eat them.  The little Chinese ‘donut’ at the top was a real winner!


I just had to go back for a little dessert!  After all this is an all-you-can-eat buffet… The ice cream was good but I agreed with Laurie that the donut was the real champ!  To be polite I had brought back 2 teaspoons…but Laurie was done eating.  I had to polish this off by myself!

The food at China King Buffet and Grill is solid, satisfying and plentiful.  Gourmet it isn’t, but one doesn’t really expect that for 99.9% of buffets.  Pricing is very reasonable.  The dinner buffet (Sunday - Wednesday) is $9.19 for adults.  Thursday – Saturday the price is $10.39.  Seniors over 60 years of age get 10% off…although I didn’t claim that discount.  We will be back…

China King Buffet and Grill is located at 925 Highway 321 North in Lenoir City Tennessee.  It’s not really on the highway…just look for the Wal-Mart and keep your eyes open.  Phone: 865-988-5988.  I couldn’t locate a website for this restaurant.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave


3 comments:

  1. I agree that a busy restaurant is a good indication of its quality. We rarely visit buffets because it's too easy to overeat and often the food isn't that good. This looks like a great place you've found. In our neck of the woods, the best Chinese food is at our house :)

    Hope you and Laurie have a nice weekend.
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like you both got your money's worth, which is also why I avoid buffets.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A delightful and fairly-priced buffet is worth adding a few more servings, if you ask me. Looks like you’ve found a good one, seeing how delectable those foods are. Have you gone back there since the last time?

    James Moore @ Lin's Grand Buffet

    ReplyDelete