The 10 best buffet restaurants in NYC

This East Village spot takes inspiration from traditional London curry houses, putting its fare a notch above the other Indian joints on 6th Street. The celebrated lunch buffet (available daily from noon-4pm) features many classic dishes prepared perfectly, including a sumptuous chicken tikka masala and a heady spiced chai tea. Mop it all up with the addictive naan bread; the garlic version is sublime.

If you’ve never experienced the meat sweats, bring a towel with you to dinner at this Midtown Brazilian steakhouse. There are 15 different cuts of beef, lamb, chicken and pork offered here in unlimited quantities, but that’s only the tip of the carnivorous iceberg. The Market Table is a salad bar writ large, offering 40 different items including fresh and roasted veggies, cheeses and charcuterie.

If you’re looking to cover multiple bases of flavor profiles without sacrificing on actual flavor, Hibachi Grill in the Bronx is your spot. The Chinese-Japanese-American-hybrid menu features more than 200 different items, from sushi to pasta alfredo. The lunch buffet is a total steal at just $12.99 for adults. While you can’t expect any frills here, you can count on friendly service and a regular rotation of fresh food throughout meal services, which is undoubtedly more important.

While not technically a buffet, the unlimited table-side pasta service at Lydia and Joe Bastianich’s is so good it’s undoubtedly worthy of inclusion on this list. For $34.95, guests can choose a starter, then dig into as much of the three different pasta specials prepared each day as they like. There’s also an excellent and extensive $40 wine list to select from to wash it all down in splendor.

At this Staten Island temple of Sri Lankan cuisine—outfitted with Buddha statues and colorful stone walls—you can get Southeast Asian staples, like lampreis (rice and vegetables wrapped in a banana leaf) and edible rice-flour bowls filled with curry. Temper the spice with a cool mango lassi, or a bowl of coconut milk pudding for dessert. The Saturday and Sunday brunch buffet from 12:30 to 9:30pm is a feast filled with these comforting dishes for just $14.

Seafood lovers, rejoice: Coney Island’s Crab House is here to fulfill every desire of your heart (via your stomach). At this “contactless buffet,” everything is made to order; diners choose from the seafood buffet, which includes all-you-can-eat crab, shrimp, mussels, oysters fishes and other seafare prepared nearly two dozen different ways for $80 or the lobster buffet, which includes all of the above plus three different lobster preparations for $115. And if you go on your birthday (with at least three other, paying customers), you eat for free.

Korean BBQ is never a light meal, but this all-you-can-eat buffet in Queens’ Murray Hill should be reserved for only the most dedicated of bulgogi aficionados. Choose your raw meats (beef, octopus and everything in between) then load up on sides like seafood pancakes, Korean fried chicken wings and plump dumplings.

There’s something about hot pot that feels simultaneously personal and communal. That’s especially true at Hou Yi, where the countless combinations of soup bases (spicy, tomato, herbal or bone broth), proteins (beef, pork, chicken, lamb, fish and shrimp) and complementing veggies and noodles on offer truly make a something-for-everyone situation a reality. They also serve several a la carte add-on dishes like dumplings, spring rolls and wontons.

What’s better than all-you-can-eat sushi? Buffet-style all-you-can-eat sushi. Mizumi’s expansive, multi-aisled buffet offers a mind-boggling amount of sushi, nigiri and sashimi alongside a wide variety of hot and cold Japanese favorites such as yakitori, gyoza, tempura, shrimp katsu and wakame salad. Save room for the strawberry layer cake and mochi.