Royal Buffet – New Hope, MN

CLOSED 2012(?)

7112 Bass Lake Rd

Unlike the paint by the numbers Chinese buffets in the TC, Royal offers dim sum. On this visit Royal had about 20 different dim sum items including daikon cakes, egg tarts, siu mai, beef tripe daikon stew, chicken feet, sticky rice in lotus leaf, shrimp balls, beef chow fun, cha siu so, and cheung fun.

Some of it was good such as the beef chow fun and the shrimp balls, some average as the beef tripe daikon, and some below par like the egg tart and cha siu so. I don't expect the quality of a dedicated dim sum eatery so you won't hear any complaint for $12 that includes premium offerings such as crab legs, crawfish, and 35 count shrimp as well as the standard Chinese offerings. The crawfish was cooked even well.

The place was packed at noon with a lot of families in a frenzied grubbing mood. The food can't be categorized as spectacular but for $12 including the dim sum, this is a tremendous value.