China Town Chinese Restaurant in Conway, Arkansas

Conway, Arkansas is well supplied with Chinese food buffet restaurants. In the last five years, many have opened, but China Town Restaurant on Highway 65 still remains popular. With a wide selection of food on the buffet, a clean, comfortable dining room and attentive service, it is easy to see why China Town has been successful for so long.

China Town has an extensive menu featuring traditional and fusion Chinese and American cuisine, including special plates for low fat dieters and children, but their lunch and dinner buffet is what brings customers in.

On a recent trip, I dined alone, and my server seated me promptly at a nice table by the window. The buffet offers tow traditional soups, Egg Drop Soup and Hot and Sour Soup. I elected to try the Hot and Sour Soup. It was piping hot, even from the buffet, and had large strips of tofu. It was slightly spicy with a pleasant tang.

After the soup, I loaded my plate with Sesame Chicken, Green Pepper Beef, Vegetable Lomain, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and an Egg Roll. The Sesame Chicken was plump and crispy with a slightly sweet sesame glaze. The Green Pepper Beef was tasty, but was much the same as what you would find at a comparable Chinese Buffet restaurant. The Egg Roll was the same, pleasant, but unremarkable. The Sweet and Sour Chicken was incredible, however. It was very lightly breaded with huge, tender chunks of all white meat chicken. Without the accompanying sweet an sour sauce, the chicken is lightly bland, but it is left unseasoned so any sauce flavors will come through.

In addition to the traditional Chinese food buffet offerings, China Town also offers a small selection of sushi that is based on the popular California Roll. The California Rolls are fine, especially with the special spicy sushi sauce, but don't go expecting top notch sushi. It's fine for a quick sushi fix, but not good enough for a special trip.

The dessert bar is a good way to end the meal. There is a wide variety of desserts to choose from, including brownies, cheesecake squares, cookies, pudding and fresh fruit. China Town also has self serve soft ice cream with available toppings for making your own sundae.

The service at China Town is quick and friendly. The wait staff makes an effort to remember the names of regular customers, so the service is personal as well. The lunch buffet is $5.49 Monday through Saturday.