Buffet Palace, 12570 S.W. Center St. in Beaverton. (Photo by Amy Wang/staff)

Buffets get no respect.



In Portland's dining-out pantheon, the all-you-can-eat buffet sits somewhere below food carts and just above gas station burritos. The smash hit buffet chain of the 1980s, Sizzler, has vanished from the local market. Fresh off their sustained attack on Applebee's, Millenials are likely to blame.



But buffets offer a few things that can be hard to find elsewhere: Value, of course, but also selection, with options for each member of a large family or a big work group.



The problem? How to separate the good from the bad.



That's where we come in. At the start of the year, The Oregonian/OregonLive fanned out across the metro area looking for inexpensive buffets. We visited Round Tables and Sweet Tomatoes, mom-and-pop Middle Eastern restaurants and sprawling Chinese-American buffets, all in search of good food and better deals. A few of them that didn't make the cut.



Before we get to the reviews, an important caveat: We only considered inexpensive restaurant buffets for this list. That means no inclusive hotel breakfasts, no pricey river-view brunches at Salty's on the Columbia or all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouses such as The Brazil Grill or Fogo de Chao.



Below, you'll find the results of that survey. As you might have guessed, Indian restaurants fared well, not just because there are more of them than any other cuisine (there are), or because curries tend to keep well on a buffet line (they do), but because there's a built-in clientele for this specific type of Indian-American fusion from Portland to Hillsboro. Ethiopian restaurants, on the other hand, once a central part of our lunch buffet landscape, seem to have ditched the option entirely.



Not everything on the average buffet line is room temperature glop. At their highest level, inexpensive buffets can offer a diverse array of quality food. Without further preamble, here's our guide to inexpensive buffets in the Portland metro area, ranked from just OK to the best of the best.

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Kale Williams/staff

25. ROUND TABLE PIZZA

Round Table Pizza excels at giving you exactly what you would expect from a national chain pizza restaurant. If you are looking for an average pizza, at an average price in average accommodations, you're in the right place. If you are looking for anything above average, you might want to keep looking. On the day we visited, several pies sat beneath the heat lamps including a Hawaiian, pepperoni and a sausage/olive combo. The salad bar left a lot to be desired, but had the requisite lettuce mix, mushrooms, carrots and other various salad sundries. This location is situated in a strip mall on busy 82nd Avenue with booths lining the walls and a few small tables scattered about. For the kids, a few arcade games were plastered against the back wall next to a reservable room for private parties.



Details: Lunch buffet 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays. Family night buffet , 5- 8 p.m. Tuesdays; 10389 S.E. 82nd Ave., Happy Valley. roundtablepizza.com



Price: Lunch $10.38; family nights $7.99 for adults, $4.49 for kids



Surprise: Not all the tables were round!



Pass: The salad bar.



-- Kale Williams

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Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian

24. GODFATHER'S PIZZA

You go to Godfather’s Pizza for one thing: The endlessly flowing pizza. At the Beaverton location of the restaurant where Herman Cain was once CEO, the theme is ostensibly old timey gangsters, but that doesn’t extend much beyond cards on the tables exhorting you to join the “family” and get a free mini pizza on your birthday. Instead, the place has a homey vibe, with booths as well as tables long enough to accommodate the whole T-ball team. When we visited, the pizza turned over quickly, with employees announcing each new hot arrival to the room. The pizza was warm and greasy, just like you’d expect. The meat lovers version was especially satisfying. Less satisfying: the perplexing salad bar, which featured two tubs of iceberg lettuce and odd accompaniments like raw broccoli, peas and carrot sticks.

Details:

Lunch buffet 11 a.m.-2 p.m. daily Godfather’s Pizza 11140 SW Barnes Road,

Price:

$9.99

Pleasant surprise:

Delightfully savory “monkey bread.”

Pass:

The salad bar.

-- Lizzy Acker and Kale Williams

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India House has served customers in downtown Portland since 1991. (Photo by Michael Russell/staff)

23. INDIA HOUSE

If you’ve spent more than a decade in Portland, especially if you’ve spent any of that time working downtown, you’ve probably found yourself at this pleasant Indian restaurant, which opened in 1991. The lunch buffet can still pack in crowds, though on my visit, the selection was pretty sparse, particularly for the $12 price. That day, the hot line featured three meat dishes, all chicken, including both a deep red curry and a nicely charred ginger tandoori chicken, plus two veggies curries, with an unlabeled zucchini and green bell pepper medley and some overcooked aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower); plus some basic biryani and watery basmati rice. The thinness in that rice dish carried over to both the rice pudding dessert and a warm mango lassi add-on. Want some plain naan? It’s available, but you have to know to ask for it.

Details:

11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday-Friday; 1038 S.W. Morrison St.; 503-274-1017;

Price:

$12

Pleasant surprise:

The corner table overlooks the MAX and streetcar tracks, as well as the West End’s new Blue Star Donuts headquarters.

Pass:

The rice.

-- Michael Russell

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Elliot Njus/staff

22. MIZUMI BUFFET

Sushi doesn't often win the game of portion sizes, so a sushi-focused all-you-can-eat buffet can be tempting – if not tempting fate. If it's quantity you're after, eat up; the fish seemed reasonably fresh on a recent visit, and there are fully cooked options for the wary. That said, there's a reason the best sushi comes in small servings. Most of the rolls here are colorfully topped with mango, avocado or a generous drizzle of spicy mayo, and the more simply prepared nigiri and picked-over platter of sashimi suggest bright colors mask middling ingredients. The hot foods are better suited to buffet service. The seafoods seem fresher than the meats, in part because diners load up as soon as a new tray comes out.



Details: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; 13500 S.W. Pacific Highway #17, Tigard; 503-747-4447; mizumibuffet1.com



Price: $10.75



Pleasant surprise: Hidden and unlabeled near the French fries was a tray of crispy salmon skins.



Pass: The nigiri and sashimi.

-- Elliot Njus

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Amy Wang/staff

21. BUFFET DYNASTY

Housed in a plain storefront in a ho-hum strip mall on Forest Grove's main drag, this buffet serves a range of ordinary American-style Chinese food to match, with baked salmon, onion rings and fries sitting among spring rolls, potstickers, stir-fries and other items that play to the mainstream. Seafood lovers do get a varied selection of fish and shellfish dishes, including a tray overflowing with crack-and-eat crab legs, as well as a modest selection of sushi rolls. There are plenty of dessert options: Try the fruit in the salad bar, the small selection of baked goods on a back table or the ice cream freezer where you can either scoop your own portion or just grab a pre-scooped dish.



Details: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 2834 E. Pacific Ave., Forest Grove; 503-430-7144; buffet-dynasty.com.



Price: Lunch (until 3:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday): $8.99 for ages 11 and older; dinner: $11.99 Monday-Thursday, $12.99 Friday-Saturday and all day Sunday. Children's discounts available. Takeout starts at $4.99 a pound.



Pleasant surprise: The hot and sour soup, while neither hot nor sour, did have a quite flavorful broth packed with mushrooms, tofu and bamboo. In a nice touch, chopped fresh scallions sat in a nearby bowl for use as a garnish.



Pass: Among Chinese buffet aficionados, it's a truism that you don't waste stomach space on fried rice. Stick to that rule here.



--Amy Wang

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Amy Wang/staff

20. BEST BUFFET

This is definitely the best all-you-can-eat-and-drink Chinese buffet in its Happy Valley strip mall. Also, this is the best buffet to bring guests who have differing opinions about Chinese food, because only half of the dishes are Chinese-style and the other half consist of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, potato salad and other American classics. But this is not the best buffet when it comes to the actual food. The Chinese dishes were mostly bland, with mostly tough meat, while the mac and cheese was tepid. The salad bar went mostly ignored by the lunch customers on a recent Wednesday. Service is nearly nonexistent; pay upon entering and choose your own table or booth in the surprisingly capacious restaurant.



Details: 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11211 S.E. 82nd Ave.; 503-794-9202.



Price: Lunch, $6.95-7.75 Monday-Friday, $7.95-$8.75 Saturday-Sunday; dinner, $8.50-$9.25. Children's discounts available. Takeout starts at $2.25 per pound.



Pleasant surprise: Two dishes not seen at other area Chinese buffets, salt-and-pepper chicken wings and beef curry, were deftly executed. The potstickers were bigger than average and had a nice filling.



Pass: The hot and sour soup was extremely salty.

--Amy Wang

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Kjerstin Gabrielson/staff

19. ERNESTO'S

Yes, it’s a simple Italian buffet, with just what you’d expect from a comfy neighborhood restaurant with straw bottles hanging from the ceiling and bunches of artificial grapes dangling from a garden-style wooden arbor. You can spoon marinara, Alfredo or meat sauce over your self-serve spaghetti. On our visit, mixed vegetables and roasted chicken followed the pasta, along with beef alla marsala and Italian sausage marinara over pasta and the requisite herbed focaccia. Despite there being room for only two pizzas, toppings were varied enough to please different tastes (but as at any buffet, you’ll be happier if you wait for a fresh pie). Entrees change daily (lasagna fans will want to visit Thursdays; roast beef Fridays come highly recommended). The salad bar doesn’t get too fancy, yet covers the basics well. Service is friendly and responsive, but the crowd is relaxed, like there’s all the time in the world for a quick lunch. Unfortunately, on our visit that meant several of the hot items had been out too long.

Details:

Ernesto’s, 8544 S.W. Apple Way, Beaverton.

Price:

$11.50, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. weekdays

Pleasant surprise: The roast chicken Italiano was moist, tender and tasty.



Pass: No need to reach for the soup cups for the overly salty, mushy minestrone.

-- Kjerstin Gabrielson

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Kristi Turnquist/staff

18. HOMETOWN BUFFET

The Portland area overflows with restaurant choices that dazzle the eye and stimulate the palate. Ambitious menus read like lists of ingredients, with detailed explanations of where each aggressively seasonal item was sourced. Hometown Buffet is not that kind of place. But folks who come to this national chain know that already. This is old-school buffet, with fried chicken, baked chicken, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, and much more. Exotic flavors? Nope. If you like to know what you're going to get, you'll call it comfort food. If you're more adventurous, the well-lit décor (complete with framed Norman Rockwell prints) and menu may remind you of a school cafeteria. But the staff is welcoming, the vibe is family friendly, and the choices are vast, from the salad bar (complete with gelatin cubes, sunflower seeds and bacon-flavored bits!) to the dessert selection.



Details: 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday; 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sunday. 3790 S.W. Hall Blvd., Beaverton 503-627-0336; 10542-A S.E. Washington St., Portland 503-252-0741; hometownbuffet.com



Price: Lunch (11 a.m.-4 p.m.) $10.19 for adults, $9.19 for seniors (60 and over), kids (4-11) always $6.49; dinner, $13.99 for adults; $12.99 for seniors; breakfast (weekends only) $9.99 for adults, $8.99 for seniors.



Pleasant surprise: The fried chicken breast was tasty and not greasy, with nicely crispy skin.



Pass: The overcooked, mushy green beans.

-- Kristi Turnquist

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Michael Russell/staff

17. MAHARAJA

Tucked between an Econo Lodge and a defunct McDonald’s, this petite, family-owned Indian restaurant and its fake grass patio are easy to miss. At lunch, the restaurant sets out a small buffet with butter chicken, palak paneer (cheese in creamed spinach) and punjabi kadhi, a yogurt curry bobbing with soft onion pakoras. Elsewhere, mixed pakoras and tandoori chicken were both a little past their prime by noon, which, to be fair, is fairly common for fried food in buffet land. Chai is free, as is naan, though you’ll have to ask for both, which you should, particularly the naan, as it’s among the best versions served at any Portland-area Indian buffet. Maharaja’s selection isn’t vast -- dessert is limited to a nice cardamon-scented carrot halva -- though at this price, that feels about right.

Details:

11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily; 610 S.E. 10th Ave., Hillsboro; 503-214-4858;

Price:

$9.95

Pleasant surprise:

That naan, toasty on the sides but chewy in the middle.

Pass:

The tandoori chicken.

-- Michael Russell

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Amy Wang/staff

16. BUFFET PALACE

Walk by the gold-colored lion, step under the chandelier and open the doors to a spread fit for royalty - at least in terms of quantity. There's truly something for everyone here: soups, stir-fries, deep-fried dishes, freshly made sushi, Japanese appetizers such as edamame and cold tofu, a mini-Mongolian grill (choose your own ingredients and hand them to a cook), a salad bar, a dessert bar, even pizza. But the sheer size of this operation made us wonder if each individual dish gets correspondingly less attention. Several selections featured chewy rather than tender meat, and nothing really stood out flavorwise, which is unfortunate given the relatively princely prices at night and on weekends.



Details: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday- Thursday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday (lunch until 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday); 12570 S.W. Center St., Beaverton, 503-526-8888.



Price: Lunch, $11.95; dinner, $17.99 Monday-Friday, $19.99 Friday-Saturday and all day Sunday. Ages 65 and older receive a 10 percent discount. Takeout starts at $6.25 a pound.



Pleasant surprise: The pork shu mai dumplings were plump and juicy, worthy of any dim sum joint.



Pass: The vegetable tempura, which should always be served and eaten instantly, was left to languish in a pile.



-- Amy Wang

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From the grill at Izzy's. (Photo by Lizzy Acker/staff)

15. IZZY'S

Izzy’s chain of buffets holds a certain nostalgia, for a time when end-of-year soccer parties meant bottomless graveyards from the Coke machine and all the pizza you could shove in your mouth. But the Izzy’s of now feels more polished than the Izzy’s of the 1990s, with laminated menus and corporate decor that makes it impossible to pretend you are in a locally born establishment. Still, the vibe of families resigned to the fact that the kids will spend the next hour creating soft serve sundae concoctions that may or may not feature elements from the salad bar persists. That salad bar is unchanged from the old days, with salad greens sure, but also red bacon bits and pasta salads and melon. There is a pizza bar, where the less popular flavors go uneaten and become less and less appealing and the pepperoni remains pleasantly greasy under the lights. Then there’s the section that features an edible if uninspiring assortment of chicken wings, green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy. The secret to getting the most out Izzy’s, we discovered, was ordering from the grill, which is included in the price. There, they will cook you up a steak or deep-fry you a fish fillet. On our trip, those were warm and surprisingly tasty.

Details:

11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Locations in Portland, Hillsboro and Hazel Dell.

Price:

Lunch, $3.99-$9.99, dinner $4.99-$14.99, both depending on age.

Pleasant surprise:

The cinnamon rolls are exactly what you remember -- warm, chewy and just crunchy enough around the edges.

Pass:

The pasta, which managed to be both dry and soggy, depending on the bite.

-- Lizzy Acker

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Amy Wang/staff

14. CHANG'S MONGOLIAN GRILL

Here's a twist on the usual buffet: Instead of just scooping up your choice of fork-ready food, you fill as many bowls as you want with meats, vegetables, noodles and flavorings, then line up at a circular counter to hand off your ingredients to the cooks inside the circle for stir-frying and plating. It takes longer to get to the eating part this way, but the cooks handle multiple portions simultaneously, providing a little show with your meal. The meats -- beef, chicken, lamb and pork -- are all frozen. Veggies at the Beaverton location we visited were crisp, fresh and plentiful. Flavorings included garlic, ginger, sesame oil, sherry and soy sauce. Once you're back at your table or booth in the unassuming but high-ceilinged, spacious dining room, a server will bring steamed white rice and rice crepes for making moo shoo-style wraps and offer you a choice of hot and sour or egg flower soup (all included in the buffet price).



Details: Lunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. weekdays, noon-3 p.m. weekends; dinner, 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Seven Oregon locations in Beaverton, Gresham, Milwaukie, Portland, Salem and Tigard; changsmongoliangrill.com.



Price: $12.45-$16.45 for adults; $6.25-$8.25 for kids ages 10 and younger.



Pleasant surprise: Your meal includes a complimentary scoop of vanilla or chocolate soft serve, with your choice of sauce, for dessert.



Pass: With raw, albeit frozen, meat and fish in the mix, it would be nice to see a sign encouraging customers to put their meats and vegetables in separate bowls. Also, the food bins are deep enough for a lot of the serving tongs to end up completely inside, forcing customers to reach in to retrieve them. Still, the food is cooked quite thoroughly.

--Amy Wang

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13. NAMASTE

Namaste has three Northeast Portland restaurants and a fourth in Vancouver, though to find the full experience, you’ll have to head to the massive location on Northeast 82nd Avenue close to Portland International Airport. Open the large wooden doors adorned with metal wheel handles to find a runway’s worth of of salad, curries, rice dishes, desserts and more lined up along the middle of the huge restaurant. This isn’t the place to come for big spice, though with this much acreage, there’s something for almost everyone. Come for the usual array of chutneys, a not-bad boneless biryani keeping warm in a rice cooker and a straightforwardly creamy chicken makhani. And stay for the mango and coconut soft serve.

Details:

11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily (dinner prices start at 4 p.m.); 8303 N.E. Sandy Blvd.; 503-257-5059;

Price:

$11 at lunch, $14 at dinner

Pleasant surprise:

Namaste isn’t skimping on dessert, with a selection that includes not just the usual halva and kheer, but also fruit custard and, better yet, a machine dispensing mango and coconut soft serve.

Pass:

The aloo tikki, a pan-fried and spiced potato-pea croquette, was in need of a refresh on my visit.

-- Michael Russell

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Elliot Njus/staff

12. KUMI BUFFET

This pan-Asian buffet tries to do a lot of things, and all things considered, it does them reasonably well. There are plenty of sushi offerings — all unfortunately unlabeled — but also a noodle soup bar, dim sum classics and fresh-carved, roasted meats. On a recent visit, nothing tasted as though it had been sitting out, and a fresh tray of fried chicken wings was a surprising hit. The pho from the noodle soup bar hits the right note — though it's perhaps a strategic error in an all-you-can-eat situation. The chocolate fountain is a fun dessert gimmick that would benefit from more dipping options beyond a tray of marshmallows.



Details: 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 11358 S.E. 82nd Ave., Happy Valley; 503-387-5068



Price: $11.99



Pleasant surprise: A delicate Chinese herbal soup was a nice break between heavier dishes.



Pass: The chocolate fountain seems fun in theory but suffers in execution.

-- Elliot Njus

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Amy Wang

11. CHINA GARDEN

If this buffet roundup had a "best value" category, China Garden would be a leading contender. Though it was one of the cheapest buffets we visited, it offered a generous spread of sushi, fresh fruit, deli salads, soups, hot dishes and desserts, as well as a Mongolian grill -- choose your meats and vegetables and have them cooked to order. Families, landscape workers and retirees arrived steadily during a recent weekday lunch hour to pile their plates with orange chicken, potstickers, fried rice, noodles, stir-fried green beans and other Chinese American comfort food, most of which was on par with the typical Chinese takeout joint -- not great, but good enough. Cantaloupe and honeydew slices on ice nearby were perfectly ripe palate cleansers. The one oddity, especially given the copious amount of meat being served: Table settings included forks and spoons, but knives were stashed in an out-of-the-way spot in the cavernous dining room.



Details: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday; 2059 N.E. Burnside Road, Gresham; 503-491-1279.



Price: Lunch $7.99, dinner $11.99.



Pleasant surprise: If you like fish, go for the steamed fish fillets, served with a delicate ginger-scallion combination. Meat lovers, head to the far end of the buffet and stock up on the juicy teriyaki chicken and barbecue pork.



Pass: The deep-fried "meat roll," whose taste was as off-putting as its name.



--Amy Wang

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10. DWARAKA

When I tried the door at this longtime Southeast Portland Indian restaurant, the dining room was empty save for some building materials and broken sheetrock. But when I looked inside, customers were lined up in the semi dark before a well-stocked buffet. Turns out, Dwaraka isn’t closing, but rather expanding on its own timeline, taking over the space next door to the old dining room with a handsome bar and additional seating in a gilt tunnel at the back. The main dining area should be ready to seat the old Hawthorne Street head shop clientele around the end of the month. As for the buffet itself, flavors were subtle, with bright chutneys, basmati rice and butter chicken, plus a nice array of veggie curries that didn’t lean too hard into sugar or spice.

Details:

11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily; 3962 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.; 503-230-1120;

Price:

$10.95

Pleasant surprise:

On my visit, Dwaraka’s buffet offered a tender bone-in goat curry.

Pass:

On the grains, generally. The naan, plain basmati rice and vegetarian biryani all lacked pizzazz.

-- Michael Russell

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A plate of aloo tikki from Chaaya Indian Bistro in Beaverton. (Photo by Michael Russell/staff)

9. CHAAYA INDIAN BISTRO

Beaverton’s Chaaya has pale green walls, spa-like decor and a menu that advertises its special thali, kebab and dosa nights (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, respectively). Found not far from the Aloha Costco and Nike, the lunch buffet has a loyal following, with a mid-sized crowd already filling the tables near the back windows by 11:45 p.m. And that buffet has a few welcome surprises, most notably a selection of interesting, well-executed fried dishes rarely seen in a buffet setting, including a mildly spiced chicken majestic and some wonderfully crunchy aloo tikki. The only misstep was a noticeably bland butter chicken, which is saying something given the dish’s signature characteristic can often be blandness.

Details:

11:30 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday-Monday (closed Tuesday); 16755 S.W. Baseline Road, #110, Beaverton; 503-747-3009;

Price:

$9.95

Pleasant surprise:

It’s a neat trick to pull off crispy fried food in a buffet setting, so hats off to that aloo tikki.

Pass: Both that butter chicken and the tandoori roaster version, typically the most popular Indian buffet dishes, lacked punch. Skip them in favor of a curry with some character.

-- Michael Russell

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Amy Wang/staff

8. SUPER KING BUFFET

Even amid the car dealerships and neon on Southeast 82nd Avenue, Super King Buffet stands out with a huge white sign announcing its name in red capital letters. That same no-nonsense attitude extends to the vast interior, which is barely softened by a handful of decorative flourishes. But no one's here for the fake flowers. On a recent Saturday evening, diners paused at their assigned seats just long enough to set down their coats and put in beverage orders, then made beelines for the buffet, which offers dozens of choices including classic Chinese American entrees (think sesame chicken and vegetable lo mein), seafood (one section of the buffet is devoted solely to peel-and-eat shrimp), a small sushi roll counter, a few dim sum dishes, salad and dessert bars, and endless soft-serve ice cream. If you'd rather enjoy all this abundance in the privacy of your home, takeout is an option.



Details: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 5015 S.E. 82nd Ave.; 503-774-7775; buffet-dynasty.com.



Price: Lunch $10 (until 3:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday), dinner $15.50 Monday-Thursday, $16 Friday-Saturday and all day Sunday. Children's discounts available. Takeout starts at $4.99 a pound.



Pleasant surprise: Perfectly roasted chicken that any Chinatown restaurant would be proud to serve and fried shrimp that somehow managed to remain crisp and moist.



Pass: Save your dim sum calories for an actual dim sum joint.



--Amy Wang

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Kjerstin Gabrielson/staff

7. SWEET TOMATOES

Families flock to this soup and salad bar haven for the fresh veggies on what feels like a milelong, all-you-can-eat salad bar and the range of kid-friendly soups, pastas and breads that keep everyone happy. No, nothing is anything like gourmet, but it’s reasonably healthy and always fresh. Finicky eaters can satisfy their parents’ demands to make good choices with spoonfuls of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers or plain greens and then go crazy on pizza bread or macaroni and cheese that’s a little watery for adult palates but perfectly bland for picky eaters. You’ll find at least eight soups to choose from, whether you’re in the mood for chili or rich, nothing-like-canned cream of mushroom. Seasonal offerings keep things interesting both at the salad bar and soup counter. Plus, there’s dessert! (Pro tip: Always scope out the brownies or baked desserts before you head to the soft serve machine.) This is the place to go if you have a teen or pre-teen going through a growth spurt.

Details:

11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday; locations in Beaverton, Tigard, Clackamas and Vancouver;

Price:

$3.99-$10.49 lunch, $3.99-$12.49 dinner (depending on age)

Pleasant surprise:

Everyone will have a favorite item (I never skip the Joan’s Broccoli Madness on the salad bar), but nothing tops the comfort found in a cup of the Big Chunk Chicken Noodle Soup.

Pass:

Adults will be happier if they leave the lines for the pasta bar and the soft serve machine to the kids waiting to load up their plates and mini cake cones.

-- Kjerstin Gabrielson

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A full plate and hot chai from Indian Grill (Photo by Michael Russell/staff)

6. INDIA GRILL

Found at the top of an old home across from the East Burnside Street Whole Foods, this 25-year-old Indian restaurant has a loyal clientele for both its Northern Indian and Pakistani entrees and small but tasty lunchtime buffet. Though you won’t find lamb biryani, palak paneer or other dinner-side favorites at the buffet, the L-shaped buffet does feature a nice navrattan curry (essentially a vegetable and paneer korma), spiced rice pilau, decent naan and a buffet rarity: papadum crisps, perfect for pairing with the restaurant’s mint and tamarind chutneys on the charming enclosed balcony overlooking Burnside. The selection is on the small side, but at $9.95, this is one of Portland’s least expensive Indian buffets.

Details:

11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; 2924 E. Burnside St. 503-236-1790;

Price:

$9.95

Pleasant surprise:

Bring on the papadum.

Pass:

Cauliflower pakoras had good flavor, but no crunch.

-- Michael Russell

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Stephanie Yao Long/staff

5. DARSALAM LAZURDI

Like the blue and gold mural of Babylon's Ishtar Gate painted on its wall, this downtown Portland location of Portland's sole brick-and-mortar Iraqi restaurant should be a gateway to this wonderful, underrepresented cuisine. Weekdays at lunch, Darsalam Lazurdi downtown offers a quality buffet with vegetarian stews, good hummus, yellow-spiced chicken, coconut shrimp (that would be shrimp in a mellow coconut sauce, not the deep-fried Applebee's app) and flatbread brought to order. It doesn't touch the diversity and complexity you can find on the a la carte menu here or at its charming sister restaurant on Northeast Alberta Street, but it might be the most inexpensive sit-down Middle Eastern meal in the city.



Details: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., weekdays; 320 S.W. Alder St.; 503-444-7813; downtown.darsalamportland.com



Price: $12



Pleasant surprise: Warm, all-you-can-eat pita and smooth, creamy hummus.



Pass: On seats near the window -- the tall-ceilinged restaurant was struggling to stay warm on a chilly day earlier this month.



-- Michael Russell

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A selection of Indian and Middle Eastern dishes from Zaiqa in Hillsboro. (Photo by Michael Russell/staff)

4. ZAIQA

This hybrid Pakistani-Indian-Mediterranean restaurant replaced one of Hillsboro’s best Indian restaurants, Urban Masala, in the fall, adding veggie kebabs, falafel, hummus and other Middle Eastern dishes to the South Asian lineup. Early reports have been mixed, but on our visit, the buffet line was plentiful and enticing, with dark red Pakistani-style spiced mutton korma, an oily saag paneer with some legitimate heat hiding behind the creamy spinach and, when it was eventually refilled, some very good tandoori chicken. You might find the Pakistani-influenced dishes most interesting, particularly since the Portland area doesn’t have many overtly Pakistani restaurants. But there was also some novelty in wrapping crunchy falafel and soft hummus in butter-brushed naan.

Details:

11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; 2401 N.E. Cornell Road. 503-844-6161;

Price:

$11.95

Pleasant surprise:

Desserts include both a carrot and plain semolina halva, both good.

Pass:

On waiting for specific dishes. On my visit, several customers grew restless when the tandoori chicken and other in-demand trays sat empty for too long.

-- Michael Russell

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Lizzy Acker/staff

3. ABHIRUCHI

It's easy to overlook this Beaverton Indian restaurant, which sits in an aging 1960s strip mall, wedged between a shuttered Kmart and a dive bar. But it's worth seeking out for its impressive 25-item lunch buffet, which features a vegetarian-heavy mix of North and South Indian dishes, along with lamb curries and mountains of tandoori chicken. On a recent visit, offerings included perfectly cooked Aloo Gobi (cauliflower, potatoes and tomatoes in spicy sauce), mild curried yellow lentils and rich lentil soup, along with a spicy curry of eggplant, tomatoes and onion. To sop it all up are pieces of airy naan and fluffy plain and tomato basmati rice. The buffet is popular with workers from Washington County government offices across the street, as well as mechanics and salesmen from nearby car dealerships. And the crowds mean the buffet is frequently replenished, so you don't get dishes that suffer from too much time on the steam table.



Details: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily; 3815 S.W. Murray Blvd., Beaverton; 503-671-0432; abhiruchirestaurant.com



Price: $10.95



Pleasant surprise: Crispy papadum lentil crackers come with a rainbow of chutneys and sauces. The big-screen TV blares Bollywood musicals, drowning out any car dealer chat about the latest lineup of Hyundais.



Pass: Even though buffet items are frequently replenished, spinach and potato pakoras lose their crispness after only a few minutes under heat lamps.

-- Grant Butler

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The buffet line at Swagat Northwest. (Photo by Michael Russell)

2. SWAGAT

This stately brick-and-timber Indian restaurant on Northwest 21st Avenue has a pair of equally glamorous sister locations in Beaverton and Hillsboro and distant roots in the San Francisco Bay Area. After more than a quarter century in the region, the food remains good -- good enough that you wouldn't feel slighted if you ordered it a la carte from a regular menu. Chicken makhani is tender and creamy. Palak paneer, aloo gobi, and other vegetarian dishes are bright and fresh. Even the basmati rice is a cut above most of the competition. If you don't like Swagat's buffet, most Indian buffets probably aren’t for you.

Details:

11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily; 2074 N.W. Lovejoy St.; 503-227-4300; 4325 S.W. 109th Ave., Beaverton; 503-626-3000; and 1340 N.E. Orenco Station Pkwy., Hillsboro; 503-844-3838;

Price:

$11.95

Pleasant surprise:

The red-black tandoori chicken was legitimately tasty, with real heat on the spice rub and noticeable char on the skin.

Pass:

Vegetable pakoras retained their crunch (perhaps because they were almost all batter).

-- Michael Russell

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(The Oregonian/file)

1. CHENNAI MASALA

If you know anything about Hillsboro’s robust, ever-evolving Indian restaurant scene, it’s probably this decade-old standard bearer, which still draws lines both for its Southern Indian-influenced dinner menu and this lunch buffet. Some of those Southern Indian dishes make their way onto the buffet, including a nicely spiced sambar; the crunchy fried chilies called cut mirchi (not as spicy as the sign warned); and sand dollar-sized uttapam, the soft pancakes made from dosa batter, stacked in their tray like so many flapjacks at a free hotel breakfast. The vegetarian jalfrezi is very good, as is the paneer and mushroom curry. You can pair both with plain basmati or a minty pudina rice. Better yet, aside from a trio of Indian buffet standards -- excellent tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala and naan -- most of the options change day-to-day.

Details:

11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 2088 N.E. Stucki Ave, Hillsboro; 503-531-9500;

Price:

$11

Pleasant surprise:

Some seriously spicy chutneys and a tasty kheer with golden raisins each offered more personality than the average buffet.

Pass:

You probably wouldn’t come here specifically for chicken tikka masala, but if you do, you’ll find it’s just fine -- only worth noting because Chennai Masala sets such a high bar elsewhere.

-- Michael Russell

503-294-5013

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