I still slip and say "Chinese food", when talking about the exotic and wonderful foods of Asia. I know better. I know that kim chi is Korean, sushimi is Japanese, and beebong is Vietnamese. I eat with chopsticks better than many of my Asian-American friends. I know the proper pronunciation of Tsing Tao. I'm even a pretty decent cook of Asian food in my own right. But I still slip and say "Chinese food".

It came from the days of my youth, when "Chinese food" came from a can packaged by La Choy. I hadn't been to restaurant that served Chinese food until I was in college. It was many years later that I finally ate Vietnamese food and learned that not all of "Chinese food" is Chinese.

And I learned that I love it.

Potstickers and nime chow and spring rolls and beebong and noodle soup and salted shrimp and sterling chicken and sushi and mongolian barbecue and pad thai and peanut sauce and...

And I have also learned that there is one way to enjoy it all... buffet restaurants.

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Rhode Island has several Asian restaurants with buffets. Some of them are limited to a set time period, like weekday lunch or weekend evenings, to supplement a restaurant's normal table service. Some are relatively modest arrangements and available all the time, and some are mega-buffets, packed with food, hot and cold, Chinese and Japanese and Vietnamese and heaven-knows-where-from (and even some American food for people who haven't come to love Asian food.

The mega-buffets in Rhode Island are great. For a single price, usually around six or seven dollars at lunch time and nine to twelve at night and weekends, you can sample Asian food until you beg for mercy. The dishes change, with more beef and seafood at night, some of them even serving crab legs and salmon. But while dinner has the fancier dishes, lunch is the true bargain.

Service in the mega-buffets is always friendly and prompt, so I don't mind getting up and picking out exactly how much of what dish I want to try. Dirty dishes are whisked away, water glasses are refilled, so I don't feel like I'm back in my high school cafeteria.

Here are a few of the buffets I've visited and enjoyed.

King Buffet on Post Road near TF Green Airport was a good example of these mega-buffets. It appears to be closed, now, but its food tended toward what most Rhode Islanders think of as "Chinese", with a few western dishes for pickey western eaters. 401/739-8932 if it reopens.

Batik Garden in Adquidneck Center in Middletown is huge -- a monster of mega-buffets. It has a very polished feel, and a selection that also includes many western dishes like roast beef in gravy and mashed potatoes. 401/848-0663

China Buffet in East Greenwich near the Showcase Cinemas is fancy for a mega-buffet. Recessed lighting in blues and purples, cozy booths. They tend to have a lot of seafood dishes, particularly at night, along with a great selection of western-friendly sushi. They also have an

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exceptional menu, so if somehow their fantastic buffet can't satisfy your cravings, so you can consider it the best of both worlds. 401/884-8836

Grand Buffet on Bald Hill Road in Warwick is a fairly recent addition to Rhode Island's list of Asian mega-buffets. They don't use MSG in their food and they'll grill up your food on a huge Mongolian barbecue with your selections of meats, vegetables, and sauces. 401/823-8877

East Buffet in Narragansett Park Plaza in East Providence has remarkable service, even among the buffets I've mentioned. Add to that a broad selection of both aisian and western dishes and you have a buffet that should satisfy everyone in the family. 401/431-2248

I know that there are others that I haven't visited. Yet. They all have some kind of way to handle to-go orders and most have a menu you can special order from. But if you like variety, then stick with the buffet for your Chinese food.

Woops. Asian food.

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