Is Hong Kong Buffet the best buffet in Rhode Island? A review of the food, sushi, prime rib, desserts, prices, service, and overall dining experience.
| Pros | Cons |
| Many food items are a homemade take on typical Chinese-American fare; a few unique options are available Restaurant and buffet areas are kept clean and organized Comfortable, quiet, upper-scale atmosphere | Limited food selection across buffet stations Dishes generally lack seasoning and flavor No hibachi component Price is slightly expensive given their offerings; weekend prime rib isn’t worth the upcharge Mixed staff interactions: let people stay after close, not as attentive as they should be |
The verdict? Hong Kong is closer to the middle: 6/10 stars.
Review
Hong Kong Buffet is an interesting, unique restaurant that you won’t find in Rhode Island, and likely not nearby if you venture further. The experience is like a Chinese buffet with a grandma in the back kitchen who loves home cooking. Another interesting dichotomy is that the food selection is much smaller than that of your typical buffet. Lastly, the buffet costs slightly more on weekends because it includes prime rib.
Following all of that, you end up leaving and asking yourself, “What kind of buffet was that? What did I just experience?”
You are likely to leave with mixed feelings.
The food tastes — no, much of it is a homemade take on typical Chinese-American fare. In comparison, the popular Chinese-American cuisines you often find feature bold, pronounced flavors, while Hong Kong’s smaller selection offers similar, fresher items alongside a few unique dishes. Most dishes are clearly made from scratch, resulting in a fresh-feeling eating experience. However, there is a reason why your typical Chinese buffet has what it has: it’s tasty. For example, Hong Kong’s General Tso’s chicken is noticeably less saucy and flavorful; however, the chicken itself is fresher and leaner. This is in contrast to the typical extra-saucy, super-deep-fried General Tso’s you find at competitors. Another example would be their cheese rangoons — yes, I can cheese. Instead of the microwave-like triangle crab rangoons, these were rounded, as if handmade, and filled with thick globs of creamy, high-quality-tasting cheese. You will find similar experiences with many of the dishes in Hong Kong: copycats that are fresher but less flavorful overall.
Hong Kong additionally offers a few select dishes that aren’t typical. Aside from those extra-thick cheese rangoons, they also had egg foo young, honey-glazed wontons, crab, and Hershey’s ice cream cups. As a side note, their website advertises the buffet as incorporating “Hong Kong style,” but for the most part, it was a typical Chinese-American buffet with a home-cooked vibe and a few unique options, as mentioned above. Unfortunately, that’s also where much of the originality ends, and many downsides become apparent.
The selection at all of their buffet stations is disappointingly small. Their regular foods, like their meats, rice, etc., are limited to only two small rows. The desserts, my favorite spot at any restaurant, were sad. A few thin sheet cake slices, macaroons, and chocolate and vanilla pudding. Wait, I’ve seen these at other buffets, but unlike the others, this one is missing literally everything—where are the sauces, toppings, fruits, cookies, nuts, and everything else? Ugh, so boring! But at least they had Hershey’s ice cream… limited to tiny cups of plain chocolate, strawberry, and coffee. So frustrating!
Their sushi offering was at least mostly average. They were a little thicker and fresher-feeling than your typical fare, nothing to write home about here. And oh, look, a poke station? It even has a fancy sign! Hold up… what are those toppings? It’s just a few chopped-up fish and basic salad ingredients from their salad station! Speaking of the salad station—oh no. There were only a few pieces of iceberg lettuce left (two hours before close, right in the middle of dinner), and some very basic chopped vegetables. They at least had fresh spring rolls… without the critical peanut sauce—or any sauces, for that matter. Seriously, what is going on?
Going on the weekend at least offered us a hand-cut prime rib station for a few extra bucks. After standing there for several minutes (yeah, it’s supposed to be manned), we had to ask someone, who was either the owner or one of the managers standing a foot or two nearby as if they were ignoring us, for assistance. They replied, “You should have just rung the bell!” and proceeded to cut us a piece. Needless to say, the wait and extra cost were not worth it. The meat was of average quality and, like many of the dishes at the restaurant, needed seasoning and was exceptionally fatty.
We covered all the stations: regular food, dessert, sushi, poke, and salad. It’s missing one key part: hibachi! Yup, completely absent, adding to the already shortage of options.
There were a few upsides, notably the atmosphere. This place was packed with a mix of clientele and kids, yet remained completely quiet. The music was soothing, the staff was generally friendly and decently attentive—we had to ask for refills a few times. That aside, the overall vibe felt more intimate and upscale. They even let people stay past closing time, even leaving several food options out still fresh and ready!
A common complaint I have about buffets is that they close parts of them early, so it was nice to see them let people stay while keeping some of the buffet offerings open. Yet, it still happened. The poke station was broken down almost an hour before closing. This part was especially weird because they took out the serving utensils but kept the poke food out, so we had to find a spoon to serve ourselves. After another 30 minutes, the desserts, minus the ice cream, were put away. Not to mention (I did), the salad bar had run its course 2 hours beforehand!
Overall, Hong Kong Buffet isn’t bad, but it’s not necessarily good either. Its limited options aren’t fully offset by the homemade feel. Similarly, letting people stay afterward doesn’t justify breaking things down early and running out of critical items like the salad portion in the middle of dinner, or missing the hibachi portion entirely. Also, the extra cost of going on weekends, because they offer prime rib, just wasn’t worth it. Hong Kong is, at best, a place to take a date or immediate family due to its quieter, homey atmosphere and home-cooked dishes.
