The variety of foods that can be enjoyed in San Francisco is remarkably wide: Italian, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese. However, I cannot list them all. Even compared to New York City, San Francisco’s variety of food does not lose its excellence.

Plus, the cost of enjoying these fabulous foods is incredibly reasonable. I find buffet style restaurants to be the most cost effective. About two years ago, we found a very good Asian buffet restaurant, the Beijing Buffet, near the San Francisco airport. I referred to several rating sites before writing this article, and the ratings varied from person to person. However, the overall rating was average. My own experience at this restaurant has been good, and my wife and mother-in-law love it too. Since my wife is a Chinese American who was born in China, her sense of taste for authentic Chinese food is trustworthy.

My wife and I like this place because of the size of the buffet and the variety of food on offer. There are five large buffet tables that keep the food hot. Along the right wall of the square restaurant is the sushi, sashimi, shrimp, crab and fresh seafood counter. The other counter offers warm and cold Asian and European desserts. At the end of the dessert counter, there are automatic ice cream dispensers that offer the following flavors: vanilla, chocolate, or a mix of both.

Each buffet table has its own food categories:
1) hot vegetables and cold salads,
2) fish and shellfish,
3) Chinese and American style poultry,
4) fried rice, noodles and congee, and
5) Steamed, fried or boiled dumplings and Chinese-style meat buns.

Some restaurants offer a regular menu in addition to a buffet. Beijing Buffet does not have a regular menu. However, a barbecue bar is part of the buffet service offered by this restaurant. They have a buffet menu for both lunch and dinner. My wife is not very enthusiastic about barbecue, but I love it. It’s like asking for an omelette to your liking during breakfast in a hotel. The buffet includes options for beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, fish, vegetables, tomatoes, bean sprouts and more. Although some buffet-style restaurants don’t have lobster or crab for lunch, this place offers all kinds of food for both lunch and dinner.

You can also ask the chef to make your dish spicier, sweeter or saltier. Mr. Choi, who works in the BBQ section, became my friend because he thinks that I ask for more options in my food than other people. If you like grilled fish or jumbo shrimp, you can ask to have it skewered for you. If you want to eat Chinese buns, which are called pao, Mr. Choi can grill them for you. It makes only pork pao, pork and vegetable pao, and only vegetable pao, or sweet pao.

Finally, you can order Chinese grilled egg noodles with your choice of meat, seafood, vegetables, or a combination of these options. You can also choose thick egg noodles, thin egg noodles, or rice noodles.