A Chinese Buffet With a Made-to-Order Mongolian Grill

At the Mongolian grill, the buffet meal shifts from choosing ready-made favorites to building your own dinner. Start with a plate of meats, vegetables and noodles, take a little more of the ingredients that appeal to you, and watch the combination go onto the grill for a hot, made-to-order finish.

That grill is included with the buffet, a useful detail for diners who like a little control over their plate. You can keep it simple with noodles and vegetables or make a more ambitious pile, then return to the rest of the dining room for sushi, seafood, hot entrées and dessert.

The broad selection is the pleasure here. Chinese entrées, fried items, noodles and several stir-fried vegetable dishes give the meal enough range that a first trip down the buffet need not look much like a second.

Food is served hot and is known for fresh, flavorful preparation. Fried chicken wings and fried shrimp have drawn particular appreciation, especially for diners who want a crisp, familiar counterpoint to saucier dishes and noodles.

There is also a substantial noodle selection, which can become either a side dish or the foundation for a plate. Pair noodles with vegetables, move on to prepared entrées, or save them for the grill station, where they can take on a more personal direction.

The all-you-can-eat sushi selection adds another lane to a meal that already has plenty of choices. It makes sense to begin with a few pieces rather than treating sushi as an afterthought at the end of a very full plate.

Seafood selections have included shrimp, snow shrimp, clams and crab legs. Availability can change, as it often does on a large buffet, but the seafood options add welcome variety for a table with different appetites.

A buffet can be easy to navigate when you want some vegetables alongside the richer choices, and this one has several stir-fried options. The spread also includes a large vegetarian selection, with vegetarian dishes clearly labeled.

That clear labeling is especially handy in a mixed group. One person can focus on vegetables and noodles, another can head for fried shrimp or seafood, and someone else can assemble an entirely separate grill plate without much negotiating over where to eat.

Dessert does not stop at the standard buffet sweets. Sliced fruit provides a lighter finish, while lemon meringue offers a more old-school, pie-case sort of choice.

A fortune cookie is a small but fitting final note after dessert. It is one of those familiar Chinese-restaurant rituals that takes only a moment but neatly marks the end of a long, choose-your-own-style meal.

The setting is clean, well maintained and comfortably casual, with indoor tables and booths. Booth seating gives solo diners and small groups an easy place to settle in while the buffet provides the movement and variety.

The restaurant suits an unhurried lunch, a family dinner or a low-fuss meal with friends. Some local diners have returned over several years, an encouraging sign for a place built around the simple appeal of a large, dependable spread.

Service is attentive and prompt, with drinks replenished and finished plates cleared during the meal. That matters at a buffet, where a table can acquire several small plates in a hurry.

The hospitality has a family-friendly side, too. Staff have taken time to show a young child how to use chopsticks, a small gesture that can make dinner more fun for the whole table.

A free parking lot has offered plenty of space, and reservations were not needed for at least one visit. The restaurant also offers takeout for days when a full buffet outing is not on the agenda.

For a dine-in meal, the easy approach is to make a few smaller rounds: sample sushi or seafood, try a hot entrée and vegetables, build a grill plate, then leave a little room for fruit, lemon meringue and a fortune cookie.