Hong Kong Buffet offers new dining experience

OLD TOWN – Slivers of hand-selected meat and fresh vegetables hit the hot, round grill and are stir-fried expertly while the sauce is tossed into the mix before the food is transferred onto a plate and served sizzling hot.

That is how the Mongolian barbecue grill at the new Hong Kong Buffet in Old Town works. Just watching the chef cook on the Mongolian grill is an attraction in itself, owner and manager Sufang “Sue” Wei said. She said the grill is the only one of its kind in the area.

“The customers pick the ingredients they want – the meat or seafood, noodles and vegetables – and the chef cooks it up in front of them with the sauce they choose,” Wei said Friday, two days after the restaurant opened for business.

The experience often brings a smile to the face of the customer, said Wei, who has been in the restaurant business since she was a teenager growing up in New York. The cost of grilling up a special Mongolian dish is included in the price of the buffet.

Wei’s family members are helping her and her husband, Yan Wen Zhao, run the Hong Kong Buffet, located at 492A Stillwater Ave., which is in Stillwater Plaza.

“Old Town and Orono don’t have a restaurant close by with buffet style, so we decided to come up here,” said Wei, whose family has been operating Chef King in Ellsworth for two years. “Our buffet includes over 100 items daily, including sushi, seafood, coconut shrimp, jumbo scallops, mussels and salmon.”

Szechwan, traditional Chinese delights and specialty dishes along with appetizers, salads, soups and desserts can also be found at the Hong Kong Buffet for takeout or dine-in.

“Our chef can create American, Japanese, Mongolian and Chinese cuisine,” said Wei. “He’s the best Chinese chef I’ve ever seen. He creates a lot of different dishes for customers and the dishes are totally different from area restaurants. They’re very special.”

The restaurant offers 26 takeout lunch specials served with rice and a reduced buffet price until 3:30 p.m. daily. The restaurant opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at noon Sunday and closes at 10 p.m. The buffet closes nightly at 9:30 p.m. Prices run from $1.10 for a shrimp roll to $10.95 for the seafood delight. For more information, call the restaurant at 827-4758.