Is Royal Buffet the best buffet in Rhode Island? A review of the food, sushi bar, hibachi grill, prices, and overall experience.
Review
Royal Buffet is a personal favorite of mine, and for good reason. For the price, what’s offered is a steal. Sure, it may initially appear similar to your typical Chinese buffet, but this one has everything–really, this buffet has many more options compared to other buffets, including those in Rhode Island. On top of that, for years, they’ve had some of the cheapest lunch and dinner prices around. Essentially, if you wanted to try all the typical Chinese buffet foods without compromising some selection or your wallet, this is the place to visit.
This large restaurant offers more than ample seating in a well-air-conditioned environment. The place is always clean, especially with staff often going around wiping down various parts of the buffet area. Service is usually attentive, keeping your table clean before you even have time to get up, and the buffet food is generally fresh and replenished. Any time anything starts to look like it might run out, a staff member can usually be seen hurrying to refill it.
A big con is staff friendliness, which depends on when you get there. You can ask anyone for a quick refill or answer a basic question, though it seems servers are often too busy to make more than casual conversation or answer a quick yes or no. Often, it all feels stiff, as if employees are being watched and have to stay in work mode constantly, even when the buffet doesn’t have many guests. Another part of my frustration is that the staff start breaking down parts of buffet sections up to an hour or an hour and a half before closing. Not just breaking it down either, even up to two hours before close, food isn’t always adequately restocked. You really start to feel like you should have been there earlier.
Most notably, expect to start being rushed out an hour before they close. By that time, the staff had already started aggressively cleaning the floors with loud power washers and hurriedly wiping down any unoccupied tables. It leaves you with an unpleasant feeling as you try to enjoy your food calmly. You’re being rushed, even though they haven’t explicitly said anything… yet. I say “yet” because there were occasions when it got so bad that we’ve even been asked to leave a full 30 minutes before they close! Yup, a full-on “pack your bags and go.” Basically, arrive early and expect them to start shutting down earlier than their advertised hours.
Onto the best bit: Food. The variety? Huge. From typical American-based foods to sushi and even a dedicated hibachi. Too many meats, a huge salad bar to create something extra zesty, pizza and yummy nuggets, fried and baked fish, an entire raw bar, sugary desserts, and so, so much more. Where do you start? Well, obviously, if it’s your first time, you absolutely won’t be able to try everything, unfortunately.
The all-important hibachi is a must-visit. It’s where you can select your own ingredients and watch them cook. The hibachi alone is worth the experience, offering a huge set of various vegetables, raw meats, and more. Before they even start cooking, you’re offered a wealth of sauces to add to the already amazing grilled experience. The combinations are endless, and what you end up with is a sizzling plate of oily goodness. I could just go here just for the hibachi experience!
One of my favorite parts: the sushi. Nigiri, temaki, maki–Yeah, there are a lot of sushi choices to pick from. And I’m also going to repeat myself again–the sushi selection by itself would be worth the penny to enter the buffet. Heck, I’ve had “premium” sushi from dedicated sushi shops, so where exactly does Royal Buffet fall in terms of the overall quality and experience? Honestly, and genuinely, it’s pretty darn close. Forget the prices; if I were blindfolded, I’d be hard-pressed to taste or feel a difference. The sushi served at Royal Buffet is not just well-decorated and nicely put together, but also offers completely different experiences depending on the roll you choose.
After your entire dining experience, you can finally choose from their crazy dessert-based treats (unless you ate dessert first), including a variety of tasty sheet cakes, ice creams, puddings, pies, fruits, and more. Some of which isn’t always of the highest quality, but I guarantee you’ll fall in love with at least one option (definitely several) you’ll end up binging on. What’s especially nice is that every time I visit, the desserts differ; sometimes it’s sheet cakes, cupped mousse, and more, or perhaps they’ll substitute the sheet cake for cheesecake and serve thick, luxurious brownies alongside other desserts. Basically, if I somehow get bored, I can quickly run to the extra rows of desserts to chow down on or mix together (yes, we mix desserts here!).
Overall, Royal Buffet offers some of the cheapest lunch and dinner buffet menus available in the state. Those prices on top of perhaps the largest selection around will spoil you silly. It’s a well-cleaned place, the staff is usually attentive, and the options are unlimited. A big takeaway, unfortunately, is to arrive early, because they start breaking down the buffet and rushing you out around an hour before their advertised closing time.
