China's Cheapest vs Most Expensive Buffet: Is the $200 Splurge Worth It?

We got full service crab and shrimp peeling here. That is so beautiful. Look at all that seafood. In this video, I'm in Chongqing, China, and I'm taking you to see the difference between a two and a $200 buffet. Let's go check it out. Today, I'm on a mission putting two extremes head-to-head. The cheapest $2 street food heaven in Chongqing versus one which costs 100 times more. And I want to find out, does paying more actually get you more in this viral city of Chongqing, or is the $2 one good enough despite it being so cheap? Oh, there's an odor in there. Oh, I think we need to palate cleanse now. So, let's discover is spending $200 on a buffet worth it in China. And you're going to want to watch this whole

video cuz we're getting into the kitchen see the making of some very unique Chinese delicacies you're not going to want to miss. Oh, here comes the chilies. Look at all those chilies going in. Let's eat. Okay, guys, and first up we are at the $2 buffet here in a residential area of Chongqing. Just look at this. There's dumpling and wonton shops on the ground level. We're going to go upstairs to the $2 buffet for Sichuan spicy lunch to start the video. Let's go check it out. And as I entered this affordable little Sichuan food heaven, little did I know that this joint would bring back some memories of one of my least favorite dishes in

Sichuan. And if you've been following for a while, you know that one of the lowest food ranger ratings happened in 2017 on the tea horse road in Sichuan. I don't know if I like that. Well, today we're revisiting this dish. And luckily, we're having some incredibly tasty Sichuan food, too. Look at the action here, guys. Nonstop. Each dish here Oh. Is like a little miniature Sichuan dish. Look at this, guys. Look at the menu. Each dish is about 7 RMB or less, which is under a dollar. And you can see this whole restaurant is just packed. Look at this. $2 buffet.

Oh, lobules, radish slices. And pork ear slices and tofu slices and they all go in the chili oil. Look at this. What's your name Jiao Er Duo Ma? Jiao Er Duo? So we're going to get the pork ear. Oh, fei chang, oh, pork intestines, okay. Ke yi ya. How you doing today? We're going to get the century egg. We got tofu slices. How you doing today? Oh, Jiega, oh, Jiega, yeah, eggplant. Look at that eggplant.

Wow, it's all here. Look at this guys, this is the douhua, silken tofu pudding. Wow, that is incredible. Hen mei, hen mei, it's so beautiful. And look at the steamer, WE GOT STEAMED PORK. OH, mei cai kou rou, steamed pork with mustard vegetables there. Oh, and steamed pork with pumpkin. Wow, xie ni, extra chili. Tai xiang le, look at the beautiful dishes here. Xie lao ban, zhe li ke yi ma? Look at that guys. Beautiful $2 buffet. I think we might have gone a little above $2, this might be like $4 or $5 for this meal, but tai bang le.

Wo jiu shuo ni men de cai kan qi lai hen hao chi. Wo hao. Tai piao liang le. Okay, here it is guys, you got this giant basket of rice, you just take it. And this is an amazing $2 buffet before the $200 one. I love this joint. Look at this. Just love the action here. And there it is guys, $2 buffet in China. Most of these veggie dishes are like 25, 30 cents each. The meat dishes are under a dollar, so you can have a full meal here for like $2 or $3. It's an amazing deal. Okay, let's take a look. We got silken tofu douhua served with this amazing local chili oil. Then we've got a spicy pork intestine with these yellow soybeans. We've got a pig's ear salad with chili oil. We've got doufu

gan, sliced tofu strips in chili oil, eggplant in chili oil. We've got some green beans in chili oil. We've got some fen jian rou, which is this butternut squash pumpkin and a sliced fatty pork. And then look at this, we've got century egg, that's going to be a pidan, century egg in chili oil, seaweed pork bone soup, and a meicai kou rou, which is sliced fatty pork and these fermented pickled mustard greens. And I think that's going to be the one I try first. A classic favorite amongst foreigners in China, meicai kou rou. Look at all that fatty pork, it's like upgraded bacon. Mhm.

Oh. Woah. You got the umami from the pickled mustard greens and the fattiness and juiciness of the upgraded bacon. It's incredible. Next up, one of the dishes you need to try if you come to Sichuan, Chongqing area, is douhua. This is a silken tofu and you can just cover it in this local chili oil. And this isn't just any chili oil, guys. This is chili oil upgraded with doubanjiang, fermented broad bean paste. Because they ferment these broad beans in these giant vats for years. So it has so much umami and spice. Mhm. Woah. You can get full for a few dollars here. This is only 7 RMB for this douhua, which is like 80 cents. Next up, look at this, guys. This is fermented century egg. Oh, and it's in a local

chili oil soy sauce mix. Try it out. Mhm. Oh, it's like a jelly salted century egg. It's very sulfurous, but with the soy sauce, it's salty and spicy with the chili in there. Okay, guys, and if you remember on this channel about 10 years ago, deep in Sichuan, 10 years ago, we filmed a intestine dish, which was exactly this dish. And I gave it a zero because it wasn't cleaned very well, I think. So let's give it another go 10 years later. Try it out. Mhm. I think I'm I think 10 years I think I'm still not ready. I think it's still not my favorite dish. Oh my, I think this place is clean.

Maybe that's just how they taste. The There's an odor in there. Oh, I think we need to pallet cleanse now. This is fatty pork belly with pumpkin and rice meal flour. The ben chang row not for me. It still has an odor 10 years later. Oh, that is nice. It's like a sweet squash pumpkin with this rice meal fatty pork belly. Little spicy, little smooth. Oh, tai hao chih le. 40 years history here. Wow, chih nien. Lao tzu hao. Wow, guai bu de na me hao chih. Of course it's that delicious. Wow, hao.

Ah, ya pien yi. Ah, lien kuai. Yeah, cheap he says, yeah. And delicious, dui. Ma si de ban. And people are so friendly here, guys. Chih ni. Chieh chien. Hao, chih. Tai hao chih le. Chieh chien. Hao, hao, bye-bye. Chih. Tai hao chih le. Amazing. Let's keep going, guys. Going to go to the next buffet, guys. $200 buffet. See how it compares. This $2 buffet was actually pretty good, to be honest. I was fairly convinced at the time that it might be hard to beat. But that was until we walked into the $200 buffet and got invited into the kitchen and saw

just exactly what they offer. Just watch, you're going to be blown away. Okay, guys, and next up we are at the $200 buffet in this luxury area of Chongqing. Look at this. We've got a luxury mall here. I think it's in the mall and we're going to go see what a nice $200 buffet gets you in China. Let's go take a look. Wow, this is luxury, guys. Luxury mall. Look at this, guys. Aquarium in the mall. That's luxury. I have a feeling this is going to be good. Let's see. We're going to decide at the end of the video which one is better, the $2 or the $200 buffet. Wow, here it is, guys.

Full all you can eat luxury seafood buffet in Chongqing, China. Okay, we're going fishing. Now I see him now. Look at all this seafood. Oh, we got dog ears here. These are the hairy mitten crabs from the lakes around Shanghai. Super luxury, super expensive. The row on the inside is a delicacy. It's called the huang, the eggs. Let's just take a few of these hairy mitten crabs. Oh, that's a pure delicacy. These are expensive. And look at this, guys. Unlimited giant crabs. These must be Alaskan king crabs. This was absolutely insane. As soon as you walk in, you're overwhelmed with selection. Unlimited lobster, starfish, oysters, abalone, sashimi and more. And the kitchen went a

little overboard for us, inviting us in to see the making when they saw us filming and brought way too much food to our table. So we had to ask them to share with other guests. But just watch and you'll see just how much value you get. And it was actually only $100, $200 for two people. Okay, we're going into the kitchen next to see the stir-fry of Oh, look at this. Mala spicy numbing crab. Ooh, tai shang le. So look at that. You bring your seafood and then they fry it in the wok for you. Okay, we're going in, guys, to see the kitchen, the wok station.

Oh, shendai do shendai. Okay, we're going to make a beef tongue mud tongue. Okay. Okay, we're going to make a beef on tongue mud crab beef on tongue style, which is fried garlic. Let's see how it's done. Here we go. Oh, he's just adding a little chili, little peppercorn, and then he's just reaching. Oh, he's just reaching in. These must be some like breadcrumbs. What is this one? A member, yeah. Breadcrumbs. He's adding in some MSG, chicken essence into the wok. Little green onion. Oh, and then here comes the seafood. Look at that. Prawns and mud crab.

Oh, look at the skill. That is amazing, guys, to see in the kitchen a beef on tongue style crab and prawn. Look at this. Then here is served. Wow, looks good. Oh, and then he's just covering it in the breadcrumbs after. Look at that. Next up is the mala version, guys, spicy and numbing crabs. Oh, little oil going in. Oh, here comes the chilies. Look at all those chilies going in. Oh, and all that chili oil. Tons of chilies in there. And he's just getting that aroma into the oil here, high heat oil.

Okay, and then here comes look, tons of garlic. Oh, Oh, yeah, a little bit of seafood sauce and garlic going in there. Oh, and loading in hot pot spice into there and chili oil. Look at that. Little cucumber, onion. Oh my goodness, that is one of the most aromatic things you'll ever smell here. This wok here, the oil is just being infused with all those spices. So aromatic. And then just adding in a little MSG, chicken essence, sugar. And there it comes, all the seafood. Oh, prawns and crabs. And then he's just adding in a little starch here. Wow, oh, that is so potently you'll ever smell. Here it comes. This is the moment. That is so beautiful. Look at all that

seafood. Wow, it's just glistening with chili oil. Just going to add some crab heads on top there. That is so beautiful. Oh, here's the sauce. Look at all the chilies on top. And there we are, guys. Look at that. We got one mala version here, spicy and numbing. Oh, it's just glistening with the chili oil. So beautiful. And one beef wonton version here. Let's go try it out, guys. We got a lot of food now. And just blown away here. Let's keep going. When we came back to the table, it was full. The chefs went above and beyond. So we had to ask to give some of the food to the nearby tables. But first, take a look at the selection.

Okay, how? Look at all the stuff we got on the table here. Giant Russian crab. Oh, we got steamed oysters, lobster, tons of salmon sashimi. And this is still alive. Okay. Oh, and here's the Russian crab, guys. Look at that. They've been steaming for a while now. This is just mind-blowing, the amount of food you get here. Just discovered $100 per person buffet, seafood buffet. So we've got the Russian crab. We've got beef wonton style, mud crabs and prawns, Boston lobster, unlimited sashimi. First step, I think she's going to cut this giant Russian crab for us here. Oh yeah, look at that. Giant Russian crab claws and legs.

Okay. Yuan Wei. So she says first bite you got to try the Yuan Wei, the natural flavor. We got the Russian crab claw here. Mmm. Oh. Wow. I've never tasted a more juicy piece of crab flesh in my life. That meat is just so tender. Wow, I've never tasted a more tender piece. Oh, it's just melting. I really want to try is this mala spicy numbing prawns and mud crabs. And then she's just going to break it for us. That's the juicy crayfish meat. Oh, handle rose that are in there. Lots of meat on the inside. And look, guys. That's the flesh. She just took it out for me. I'm just going

to make sure it gets coated in mala spicy and numbing chili oil because that's what life's about, having good flavor. Let's try it out. Mmm. Wow. How true to him. Oh my. That flavor, guys, is unreal. Burning with delight. That is worth coming to Chongqing, China for. Here comes the beef wonton style. Xie ni, ma fan ni la. We got full service crab and shrimp peeling here. Oh, xie ni. Look at that, guys. Fresh, juicy prawn flesh. Wow, covered in those bread crumbs and garlic, Sichuan peppercorn, chili. Let's try it out.

Mmm. Oh. Wow. Wow, so tender. Light garlic flavor, light chili. I think I personally like the mala more. It's more potent, more intense, more fragrant, really delicious. Next up, we're going to steam a couple lobsters here. Oh, and here they come. Fresh Boston lobster. Oh, we're going to steam those. Oh, they're still alive. I guess that's the best way to steam a lobster, isn't it? Alive, then you know it's fresh. Wow. Tai hao la. So much sashimi here as well. Time for the lobster. The Boston lobster. Look at that. Wow, those look meaty, full meaty. Look at the color on that. Okay, here it comes.

Oh, wow, this is beautiful. Look at that. Oh, wow. There it is, guys. Look at all that meat coming out. Whole hand of row, hand of row. Wow, nam adola. Xie ni. And there it is, guys. Boston lobster flesh. I think what I got to do here is dip it in delicious chili oil. Just try it out. Oh, it doesn't get any better than that. Oh, it's so tender. Spicy and numbing. Oh. Look at all the dips you get with it, guys. Which one should I try?

Oh, this is their signature seafood dip. Looks like it's got soy sauce, maybe vinegar, chili, garlic, onion. Let's try it out. Next up is the da jia xie. The Shanghai Around Shanghai, there's a lake where they have these famous hairy mitten crabs, and the huang the row on the inside is a delicacy. It's like super creamy and umami. And we're going to steam these. Two minutes how? 15 minutes and then they're going to be ready to eat. Here's the da jia xie. Look at this, guys. Hairy mitten crabs from the lakes around Shanghai. Oh, look at this. That's the huang on the inside. And I think what you do, it's been a while,

but you pop off this back part. Oh, look at the huang in there. And then there it is, guys. Look at that. That's the huang. That is the delicacy there. The head butter, the huang, the egg, it's all in there. And then you dip it in this vinegar. Look at that. Dip a little touch of vinegar. Oh, oh, it's so creamy. With the touch of the sour vinegar. Oh. Actually, that's really nice. This is the fatty beef. Oh, who knew? Wagyu beef and fatty beef and then you just take a look at this guys. You got unlimited Wagyu beef as

well and you got your own personal Chongqing spicy hot pot here. You just boil that for about usually just 10 or 15 seconds and there it is guys. Wagyu beef let's just try this in the spicy broth plain. Spicy Chongqing hot pot incredible flavor. Thank you have a good bye-bye. That was delicious. It was delicious. That was delicious. Bye-bye. Amazing guys. That was totally worth it. Okay guys, now to choose between the $2 and the $200 buffet. It's a hard choice because they were both delicious but I'm going to have to go with the $200 buffet because the amount

of variety was just incredible. The flavors were so good. Thanks guys.