It’s become apparent to me that American Chinese buffets don’t really exist in NYC, especially not in Manhattan. These low overhead restaurants only make sense when space & labor are cheap. That being said, I’d REALLY love to take my fiancé to a Chinese buffet so he can experience it. I grew up eating in these emblems of suburbia. The strip mall standbys that somehow have all the same frozen food, comprising 17 different versions of chicken in sauce, those bright yellow noodles, a salad section with green and orange melon cut into unreasonably large chunks, sugar-encrusted Chinese donuts, a serve-yourself ice cream machine. I remember the tepid egg drop soup and water-logged crab legs like it was yesterday.

Where & how do we do this? We’re willing to go anywhere. The burbs. The outskirts. New Jersey. What’s your advice? TIA.