Peking Restaurant — Restaurant in Williamsburg

I wish I could give no stars. After initially eating here 2 years ago and having a pleasant experience, we came back on 3/20(Saturday dinner) after a long day at busch gardens. Having a toddler, 8 year old son and 11 year old daughter who were exhausted from walking in the park and hungry we were looking forward to the all you could eat buffet and the experience we had 2 years ago. What a mistake! We arrived and were instructed to wait because of 3 other parties in front of us. We waited 20 minutes and when it was our turn to be seated they seated the person behind us instead. I made a point that I thought we were next and soon after we were seated. We got our drinks ordered and oh boy were we ready to go to the buffet and dig in. Well what was left of the buffet that is. No macaroni and cheese, spaghetti for our toddler, scraped cleaned. Person asked in front of me if they were going to refill but were ignored. I left the chafer dish off to show them it was out but nothing was ever replenished the whole 40 minutes we were there. Moreover, four large chafer dishes full of rice, gone. My wife and I had to scrape the bottom of the chafer dishes to get any type of rice for our 3 kids, nothing replenished. All shrimp, beef and chicken had slim pickens, leaving us with left overs that resembled a pig trouf. You guessed it, not replenished. Fortantley, I found some cheese pizza for my toddler but after grabbing two slices for him, I turned around and it was gone. You guessed it, not replenished. When my wife asked, why they didn't have anything and why it wasn't being restocked, we were told they were closing at 7:30 and that they werent restocking. That's great you were willing to seat my family and I at 6:50 after everything was cleared out with no intent to restock or tell us. I think the real kicker is my daughter was only able to find wonton to which she loved and had a bowl of it and that was it. Then when I received the 70 dollar bill she was charged as an adult at 11 years old. The most expensive soup I have ever purchased! To the end, I would have rather gone to 7-11 and paid 80 dollars for roasted hot dogs and been content and more importantly filled up, than ever stepping foot in this establishment ever again. Who leaves a buffet on a Saturday night, still hungry? This place ☝️ takes the win. Advice, go anywhere else except for...

About two months ago, I posted a 1 star review entitled "The King is dead...long live the King!" Yesterday I decided to give Peking another chance, and I’m happy to report that things have improved! First, I must commend them on an excellent job regarding preventative measures related to the pandemic (thankfully these same procedures were in place the last time I dined there). The Mongolian sauces were back to their former robust flavors, and the missing tomatoes and jalapenos were back on the buffet. The most important improvement (for me) was that the hot chili oil was actually HOT (as in spicy). When I first came in on this visit, the meats again were not chilled, but by the end of my visit I realized why – the restaurant is no longer as busy as it used to be (pre-pandemic). When it was busier, the meats did not have as much time to “thaw” - people were going through the line more frequently and consequently, the meats were replenished more frequently. As I was going through the line on this occasion (luckily for me) the chef added some fresh (cold) beef to the bin. By the time I had finished my meal (two trips to the Mongolian buffet), all of the meats were looking quite sad - like limp wilted lettuce - quite unappetizing - they had just been sitting too long. A possible solution would be to put out less meat so that it would not be sitting as long – the downside being that the potential for an empty bin increases. The chef would need to keep a close eye on the buffet to ensure all of the bins are filled – during a busy day, this could be a challenge. On this occasion, the only bin that was lacking replenishment was the tomatoes. Overall I was quite pleased that the majority of issues I encountered on my last visit had been corrected. I would have given this visit a higher star rating, but I found the Kimchi to be quite disappointing - you can get much better off of a grocery store shelf (e.g. King’s brand). Also, the urinal in the men’s room was STILL out of order along with some missing decorative tiles on the wall near the Mongolian buffet. I assume this could be due to reduced income (fewer customers) as a result of the pandemic, therefore it’s reasonable to expect that some infrastructure issues are being put on a back burner until additional funds are available. I will certainly...

Coming from Minnesota we knew the food would be a different flavor then what we where use to, but that’s not the reason for this review. My concern with this restaurant is food safety. I picked up a couple rolls of sushi on the train (which is a fun addition) brought back to the table and started eating. The rolls were not cold, or warm, and I didn’t think anything of it because I have had sushi both way’s depending on the heat of the rice. I went back to look at more and noticed that they had stacks of rolls premade sitting out on the counter. These were not in any refrigerator or warmer to control temperature. And when I say stacks it was a big block, at least four rolls wide and about 6 on top of each other. I understand being prepared and having stuff premade especially at a buffet, but the fact that these were not in any temperature control is what got me. I felt the train belt and that was also not controlled. You could have a roll of sushi circling the belt for hours and they wouldn’t have a clue. The other food itself was okay. Not what we were use to for Mongolian and an Asian buffet, but I was expecting that. What I wasn’t expecting was pieces of meat sitting in liquid sauces for all the choices. Sesame chicken, honey chicken, ect in very liquid like sauces. It was just a different way of eating the meals. Flavor wasn’t too strong in any of the dishes. The food wasn’t very hot either which also concerned me on food safety as well, but at least it isn’t raw fish. The floors and table was sticky when we arrived as well. We thought maybe because it was the cleaner but not sure. The one saving star for this place was our waitress. She was very very sweet and always willing to help us. Kept our plates cleaned almost immediately and refilled our drinks. All in all, we will not be back. The food safety is my number one concern, but the food didn’t have a ton of...