King China Buffet
43-02 Ditmars Blvd. (LaGuardia Center), Astoria, 626-0880

Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian

Hours: Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Credit Cards Accepted: American Express and Visa

Parking: There is a parking lot in front

The biggest dish at King China is, of course, the buffet and no matter how hard you try to compose yourself, your eyes will end up having a bigger appetite than your stomach.

With a price of $10.95 for the dinner buffet, King China offers more than 150 items daily at the buffet bar . . .including Chinese, American, Japanese and Italian style dishes.

To pace yourself, first take a tour of the bar before delving into any of the dishes . . . the boneless spare ribs, fried scallops, General Tso’s chicken, Vegetable Lo Mein, Shrimp Balls, and the zesty crab legs in a ginger sauce. The bar also includes egg drop soup, and an interesting digestive . . . a coconut rice ball with bean paste. Another excellent pick is the Peking Duck in sweet bun with bean paste.

There’s also the stir-fry bar at the Mongolian section of the bar. Diners can choose from a variety of cold items. I had some fun choosing strips of beef, shrimp, mushrooms, green onions, zucchini and diced garlic and wine sauce. Then I rang the bell on the counter and had the chef stir-fry it. I topped it off with sesame oil and sesame seeds. Needless to say, my own creation turned out well. The trick is to keep it simple, because it’s easy to go overboard.

Desserts at the bar range from banana pudding to various pastries. But a more permanent fixture and a clear winner is the self-serving soft ice cream machine with the vanilla chocolate swirl.

King China also serves traditional Chinese dishes such as beef with sting bean ($7.25), sweet and sour pork, and chef’s specialties such as crispy squid ($8.75).

And it’s a great venue for parties. In one corner there are video games. The room is equipped with TV that remains on sports. The entrance has a huge fountain with a model of a Chinese rocky mountain and statuettes.