McCully eatery enchants

Selection of assorted sides

Yakiniku restaurant aficionados know that they can always find something to please their palates at Camellia Buffet, a well-known eatery on McCully Street.

Customers cook their own fresh meats and seafood on their convenient tabletop grills. In addition, the spacious Camellia Buffet offers a smorgasbord of local favorite food items and Korean side dishes.

Patrons can get what they want right from the large buffet station situated at the rear of the eatery. The staff can also help guests turn on the grills and adjust the heat.

Camellia Buffet’s affordable all-you-can-eat lunch buffet ($15.99 adults, $9.99 children) and dinner buffet ($26.99 adults, $13.99 children) has a vast range of choices. Although items may change from time to time, customers can try proteins like marinated chicken, beef and pork, and dishes on the buffet line such as juicy, tender fried chicken thighs and wings. Other side choices often available include foods such as hardboiled eggs, corn, green salad, local style mac salad, and slices of fruit like oranges and pineapple.

Though the lunch and dinner buffet both have plenty of options, some of the meat and seafood items such as clams, crab, shrimp and sushi are only available as part of dinner.

However, whether it’s lunch or dinner they crave, customers can typically select banchan (side dishes) like mandoo, kimchi stew and japchae Korean noodles.

Customers are also invited to dip their proteins in a variety of special sauces, like sesame oil, Korean miso paste, red pepper paste or teriyaki sauce.

Camellia Buffet also has soft serve ice cream available. In addition, the restaurant features an array of wines, beers and liquor.

Owner Shawna Kim notes that the restaurant features free non-alcoholic soft drinks during happy hour from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. What’s more, she says that during dinner Monday through Friday, the eatery offers a 10 percent active duty military discount and senior citizen discount for those ages 70 and up.

Barbecue chicken, boneless short ribs and spicy pork.
File photos

SHORT BUT SUCCULENT

Some of the delicious choices on the lunch buffet ($15.99) are the short ribs. These are high-quality fresh meats, which can be cooked to one’s personal taste by customers with the grills conveniently located the eatery’s tabletops. The restaurant offers two kinds of short ribs, both bone-in and boneless, so guests can choose which ones they best prefer.