Royal Buffet — Restaurant in Elizabeth City

Usually I order “to go” from buffet. Today I dined in(I’m a foodie).

Foodie: A person having an enthusiastic interest in the preparation and consumption of good food...

Most people eat with their eyes first and I’m no exception. So hopefully my review may help to improve on the cons: Pros: 👉🏼Fully stocked buffet 👉🏼Looks neat(appearance is everything) 👉🏼Variety of selections on a Friday dinner time (after 2:45 pm) ($17.00 was surprising for this dinner menu, but it’s new so)

Cons:👉🏼The crab body/ leg/claw portions(very small half body with claw & legs) meat dry inside not moist… seems the crab was baked. The meat stuck to insides and difficult to get to..I asked for the gadget to break the claw(was provided promptly), still the meat dry tasteless… the cocktail sauce helped a little.

👉🏼Seating: too close proximity to other guests but I guess they had to make use or maximize the space they had. No, I have no issues with being around others but a little more coziness would have been delightful. I see there’s another section I guess privacy dining …maybe I’ll see if I can get that if not full another time. 👉🏼Cheese-n-Mac: I just knew I’d bite into some cheddar cheesy goodness , but it tasted bland/ plain….Tasteless. 👉🏼Must pay before being seated, but if take out you pay afterwards(because plate is weighed…. Understandable)… the old restaurant(China Buffet) you paid afterwards. 👉🏼Label read “Shrimp of egg foo young,” but on examining the item on my plate I saw no shrimp, just onions and what looked like tiny portions of soft scrambled eggs. Disappointed in no shrimp egg foo young as label read at the buffet.

So I hope if management gets to see this it will be viewed with open heart and improved.

I hope to return….. but maybe...

Open your eyes Elizabeth City! I read quite a few reviews and based on them i got some mix reviews from them plus including a friend who said the food was good. Well, I have to say that upon my own experience that Royal Buffet food is absolutely terrible. As per my visit on 13 June 2024. I judge my experience of Chinese buffet by how well there hot and sour soup is. Well, Royal buffet defiantly missed the mark on that as theirs was tasteless and down right disgusting. How could anyone serve that let alone allow it to be served. Price, 11.99 for adults at lunch and there is nothing more than a basic buffet with 1/3 being basic American food, Mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, corn, mash potato, okra, potato wedge fries, get the point. The few things that were Chinese food was basic stuff and didn't look let alone taste appealing and left me wondering if this is the best they have to offer and for the price they ask for at lunch. Remind you there is no real seafood served at lunch, no sushi or Hibachi just a basic buffet and to ask 11.99, save your money and spend it elsewhere. We walked in with less to no great expectations and they sure met it. Other than the service by Kelley who was very attentive, that is really only the high point of our visit. The question is how long do they plan to be open with such poor...

We came here to enjoy food and relax but servers were rude and not caring acting as if they are NPC's walking back and forth confused on what to do and where they should be, dishes were also piled high in the walkway so customers walk by with their food they can see the left dirty dishes being piled up on the trolley, we were also left thirsty and with no napkins even when asked multiple times politely for some water and napkins they would say nothing or sure and walk away leaving us baffled and confused then they would walk past and gather more dishes from other Empty tables rather then service tables with people waiting to be served. The food was delicious but the service was terrible. Front of house spoke too much with guests which is ok and welcoming just for some (me) are looking for food not chats. The table behind us had to ask for a freaking whole pitcher of water because the server would not serve them water which we would have done the same thing if we had only been able to actually...