Just two months ago, Asian Buffet opened in Laburnum Square Shopping Center on Williamsburg Road. The restaurant replaced Grand Dynasty, another Asian buffet that enjoyed a veritable dynasty of nearly 16 years before closing shop. Although new to the area, Asian Buffet is no tenderfoot either.

Owners Dong Cui and her husband Tony Woo owned a restaurant by the same name in Knoxville, Tenn., before moving east to Richmond. The couple and their two small children were looking for a good place to resettle the family and open another buffet.

“My wife traveled and looked for a year,” Woo said. “We loved Richmond.”

He and his wife have been in the restaurant industry since they can remember. Experienced buffet veterans, they know exactly what customers want from a good Asian buffet. While the precise formula seems to be fail proof, it isn’t rocket science: Customers want the option to eat as much fresh, good food as they desire at an affordable price. Some people would call this the definition of value.

Upon moving into their new restaurant, the couple renovated the dining area, including updating the décor and adding a decorative red and black dragon-themed entrance, to freshen up the look. But the most important upgrade was increasing the number of buffet bars to six, thereby increasing variety.

One bar is entirely devoted to sushi, offering fresh California rolls, cheese rolls, salmon rolls and more, with various sauces and accompaniments.

Another features a number of delicious dishes, all fried.

The buffet has all the favorites: hot and sour soup, egg drop soup, Thai chicken, sweet and sour chicken, lo mein, etc. There are several American dishes as well, including chicken wings and macaroni and cheese.

The fried crab legs are a huge hit, according to Cui. Customers can also add all-you-can-eat steamed snow crab legs to their dinner buffet for an extra $3. Those seem to go quickly as well.

One buffet offers fruits and desserts, including cheesecakes and pastries. Some of the fruits are shipped straight from Hong Kong. For instance, the dessert bar hosts plump loquats — a mild apricot-like fruit, indigenous to southeast China — when in season. According to Cui, they are also fabulous for indigestion or to calm the mouth after spicy foods.

Of course, customers can revisit the buffet as many times as their appetites warrant. And the owners boast freshly-prepared food made daily with top-notch ingredients.

Asian Buffet also has a full regular menu, available for dine-in or take-out. And while ordering off the menu will still yield a generous helping of food for a fair price, the buffet seems to offer the best value.

The dinner buffet, served between 4 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., is $7.99. Children eat for $4. And the lunch buffet may be one of the best values in the area. Between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., the lunch buffet is only $4.99 — $3 for children ages 3 through 9.

Plus, with a special promotional card, customers get one free buffet with the previous purchase of nine.

From the outside, Asian Buffet doesn’t immediately look like much. Sandwiched between a tobacco shop and nail salon in a quiet shopping plaza, the façade doesn’t necessarily pop. But a large sign hanging alongside the permanent restaurant sign says it all, simply stating the low buffet prices in large print.

With years of experience and the value equation top of mind, Cui and Woo have a good shot at sticking around as long as their predecessors, creating their own dynasty built on generous quantities of quality food at an inexpensive price.

Asian Buffet | 4734 Finlay Street Richmond, Va.  222.8545

After its 16 years of service to the East End Grand Dynasty has left without a trace. It was unknown to many of the residents of Eastern Henrico that the ownership had changed. Several customers where told that it was the same restaurant only they decided to turn it into a buffet. Oh see and taste. Clearly this was not the truth. The food quality did not compare to that of the Original Grand Dynasty. Grand Dynasty ranked among the top chinese restuarants such as Peking. Now we have just another chinese buffet with ill prepared cuisine and poor customer service.