Open in North Babylon: Huge and cheap new buffet
Some of the dishes served at the new Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet in North Babylon. (January 2014) Credit: Newsday / Joan Reminick
Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet is serving just about everything imaginable in the former North Babylon digs of China Buffet City.
As I found on a recent afternoon, this is a cavernous space, its dim lighting punctuated by bright bands of neon here and there. Aisle after aisle of steam table trays hold everything from fried dumplings to apple pie, chicken teriyaki to mac and cheese, vegetable lo mein to pigs in blankets, steamed baby clams to pizza. It's an all-you-can-eat theme park.
At the hibachi counter, manned by a chef, I put together a plate of raw items — thinly sliced chicken, shrimp, vegetables — to be cooked on the hibachi-style griddle top. But the chicken (which starts out partially frozen) cooks up dry and grainy, the shrimp tiny, flavorless. Nearby, a sushi chef rolls spicy tuna, California and a few other popular rolls. They're heavy on rice, light on fish.
Much of the food here is fried and coated with gooey sauces. Not everything, though. Best item sampled: stir-fried green beans. Passable wonton soup, too. Fried dumplings, while greasy, have savory pork fillings.
Still, if people loading their plates look happy, the $8.99 tab might have something to do with it. That’s the price of lunch, Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Children 2 to 4, $3.99; 6 to 10, $5.99.) Saturday brunch is $9.99 (kids 2 to 5, $6.99, 6 to 10, $8.99), and dinner every day (including Sunday all day) goes for $14.99 (children 2 to 5, $6.99, 6 to 10, $8.99).
Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet is at 1114-1116 Deer Park Ave., North Babylon, 631-274-0888.
