Top All-You-Can-Eat-Buffets

From Las Vegas to Singapore and New York, the best spots to satisfy a big hunger.

Visitors to the Bellagio in Las Vegas who’ve worked up a hearty appetite at the poker tables know what’s next on the agenda. It’s buffet time. And the Bellagio comes through: the 12 live-action food stations range from prime seafood to prime rib, with gourmet pizzas and freshly made stir-fried options thrown in. All this for $19.95 on weekdays. On weekend nights the price goes up to $35.95—but that includes Kobe beef.

Nothing says indulgence like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and destinations like Vegas—the capital of excess—have been cultivating the genre for decades. The first rendition there, designed as a quick stop for late-night gamblers, opened at El Rancho Vegas, the Strip’s first hotel, in the 1940s. The Chuck Wagon restaurant advertised a “Buckeroo Buffet” (for a buck, of course) where gamblers could “hogtie a tantalizing selection of cold cuts” or “lasso a fresh crisp salad” to “appease the howling coyote of your innards.” Today, Vegas buffets are attractions in their own right, with diners parking themselves at the trough for hours.

The all-you-can-eat phenomenon goes well beyond Sin City, of course. For connoisseurs, the appeal is as much about variety as about quantity. “You’re in control at a buffet, whereas if the food’s being served to you, you’re at the mercy of the restaurant,” says Chris Raab, a California-based sales executive and buffet fan whose travels have taken him from Chicago to Bali. “You can be more adventurous and try something you might not have tried.” For example, Porcão, in Rio, offers no less than 30 different cuts of barbecued meat alongside its buffet of salads, soups, and vegetables. The 125 desserts at Café Fleuri in Boston, made from every texture, temperature, and type of chocolate, guarantee something for every sweet tooth.

In these belt-tightening days, many restaurants have set their price tags to match shrinking budgets. At the Indian spot Copper Chimney, in New York City, diners don’t have to shell out more than $10 for all the delicious curry, masala, and vindaloo they can handle. At top-end establishments with higher price points, people heap their plates with the most expensive and rare items—lobster, Kobe beef, exotic fruit. “People eat more than they should,” says Edmund Wong, executive chef at the Bellagio. “Some even ask for take-out containers.”

Feeling hungry? Head to one of the world’s most appetizing all-you-can-eat buffets and you’ll leave as full as you want to be.

A standout in a neighborhood crowded with Indian restaurants, this discreet establishment packs in the midtown Manhattan lunch crowd. On a banquet table along the wall, steaming copper cauldrons hold specialties from both North and South India, including the Goa specialty chicken xacuti (succulent morsels of chicken with chile, vinegar, and whole spices) and the Punjabi chana pindi (chickpeas stewed in an onion, tomato, and pomegranate seed sauce). Waiters rapidly replenish dishes and bring piping baskets of naan to the table.

Price: Lunch buffet, $8.95 per person weekdays; $9.95 on weekends.

Save Room for: Jardaloo ma gosht, a spiced lamb stew with apricots and crispy potatoes.

Besides spectacular views of the Royal Palace, this landmark hotel serves up an authentic smorgasbord—a centuries-old Swedish tradition. Chef Andreas Askling (formerly of Aquavit in New York City) carries the torch with a lavish spread worthy of the residents across the harbor. The assortment of hot and cold dishes—like smoked reindeer sausage, carrot-and-cumin herring, and Tvarno ham with melon salsa—are to be sampled in small portions, in several courses, accompanied by crispbread and boiled potatoes, then chased with shots of aquavit and frosty Scandinavian beer.

Price: $62 per person (drinks not included).

Save Room for: The Swedish meatballs with lingonberries—there’s a reason it’s the national dish.

With belly dancers shimmying to Arabian rhythms, impressive falconry displays, and camel caravans, this open-­air restaurant—modeled after a desert village—knows how to put on a spectacle. Though the setting is over the top, the menu is authentic Emerati. Hot and cold mezze range from halloumi and romi cheeses to fried eggplant with cumin. Mains include lamb ouzi on the spit to marak bil khodra (a thick vegetable stew). If you make it to dessert, try the sweet and syrupy kunufa (shredded wheat pastry). Afterward, walk it off at the souk, or take a nap under a billowing canopy set in the dunes.

Price: $68 per person.

Save Room for: The traditional foga, leg of lamb sautéed with basmati rice, onions, chiles, and a local masala.

This three-floor, 330-seat southern kitchen grew out of Paula Deen’s lunch delivery service, back in the days before Deen became a Food Network star. Keeping true to her roots (and to her Grandma Paul), Deen has her staff turn out the classic southern staples: creamy mac and cheese, pork stew, collard greens, black-eyed peas.

Price: Lunch, $13.99 per person; dinner $17.99.

Save Room for: Fried chicken—this version’s coated with the house special seasonings.

The Dutch colonizers of Indonesia put their own spin on the local nasi padang feast, an array of small dishes served with a helping of rice. Today, the toned-down rijsttafel is more popular abroad than in Indonesia itself. And no better rendition is available than the one at Singapore’s Rice Table, where diners mix and match 20 options, like daging rendang (spicy beef stew), potato corn fritters, and tofu omelette. The array of sauces, spices, and flavors are pungent testaments to Indonesia’s multiethnic heritage.

Price: Lunch, $12 per person; dinner, $20.

Save Room for: Sambal udon, spicy prawns in a coconut sauce.

Chef Martin Maginley abides by the motto “Grow what you eat and eat what you grow.” Fittingly, the theme of his weekly banquet is 100 percent local food. Island-sourced items on the menu include jerk chicken and sausages with watermelon, papaya, and mango chutneys, breadfruit salad, and mashed ground provisions (boiled cassava, eddo and potatoes). The centerpiece: tender suckling pig, roasted for eight full hours in a charcoal and pimento-wood pit, then displayed on a platter covered in banana leaves.

Price: $49.95 per person, Friday nights.

Save Room for: After a slice of the suckling pig, it’s worth a stop at the grill station for the catch of the day cooked to order.

In 1834, a samurai made his claim to fame with his fruit and vegetables shop, introducing the then-isolated Japan to imported produce. More than 150 years later, the fruit parlor and its reputation are still intact. Once a week, the restaurant at the flagship store hosts an all-you-can-eat fruit extravaganza (seatings are limited to two hours). The selection changes seasonally, but expect more than 20 varieties of premium fruit—all impeccable specimens—which could include pineapples, kiwi, durian, and mangoes, some locally grown, like the Miyazaki mango from the mountainous southern island of Kyushu.

Price: $40 per person.

Save Room for: Hokkaido’s famous Yubari muskmelon—sold separately, one would cost you $160.

The Langham Hotel is kicking off the 21st season of its chocolate buffet. New to the scene is pastry chef Jed Hackney (formerly of Cambridge, MA’s Harvest) who’s dressing up Langham classics (like the chocolate croissant pudding and Boston cream pie) and whipping up his own creations (fleur de sel caramels, Mexican hot chocolate with cinnamon marshmallows). The 125-dessert spread includes a made-to-order crêpe station and three-tier fondue fountain. To prevent sugar shock, portions are rationed out in sample sizes.

Price: $38 per person.

Save Room for: The pumpkin chocolate mousse cake—a dense flourless chocolate cake topped with three types of mousse (white, Verona milk, pumpkin) and dark chocolate shavings.

It’s Carnivale for carnivores at this famed riodizio-style churrascaria, where beach-tanned waiters slice up skewer after skewer of beef, pork, or poultry until you flip a coaster that says “stop.” To supplement your protein bonanza, help yourself to the soups and vegetables at the buffet, or head to the salad bar, which features hearts of palm and sushi and ceviche galore. Caipirinhas not included.

Price: $39 per person.

Save Room for: Bacon-wrapped filet mignon and pork sausages and, for the adventurous, chicken hearts, a local delicacy.

Though it serves 4,000 patrons a day, the Bellagio buffet manages to balance quantity and quality. The dining room’s high traffic requires constant turnover at the 12 food stations, which range from seafood to pasta. So you’ll see chefs pulling pizzas right out of the oven, carving fresh roasted prime rib, or throwing a sauce on a stir fry. Don’t like the ready-made ahi tuna salad? Have a chef toss a fresh one. And if you have dietary restrictions, a staff member will help you make the rounds. Be sure to try the gourmet dinner on weekends, when the kitchen brings out the Kobe beef.

Price: Weekdays: breakfast, $14.95 per person; lunch, $19.95; dinner, $27.95. Weekends: brunch, $23.95; dinner, $35.95.

Save Room for: The king crab legs, with a side of drawn butter, a brandy cocktail sauce, or a squeeze of fresh lemon.