Review: This restaurant in Sheffield, Ohio offers a great all-you-can-eat buffet

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SHEFFIELD, OH - After doing a double feature at Regal Cobblestone Square, I was hungry. Because I was hungry, I didn't want to travel too far for dinner.

So I went to Royal Grill Sushi Buffet, which was a short walk away from the movie theater and located in the same plaza at 5234 Cobblestone Rd. I arrived at the Sheffield restaurant right after they started serving dinner, which cost $14.99 on a weekday before tip and taxes (on the weekends, it costs $16.99).

After the hostess seated me at a table that was right next to the indoor fountain, I proceeded to grab two plates and fill them with food: pieces of a California roll, salmon nigiri, eel & avocado nigiri, an egg roll, teriyaki chicken on a stick, lo mein, a Chinese donut, fried cream cheese wonton, frog legs, and mussels.

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Overall, the sushi wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. It's hard to mess up a California roll, and Royal Buffet's California roll was perfectly adequate. But the piece of salmon on my nigiri was thin and wasn't as delightfully fatty as the salmon you would get at a dedicated sushi restaurant. In short, your average buffet sushi experience.

For the most part, Royal Buffet did great on the Chinese buffet staples. The egg roll was hot, crispy, and tasty as was the cream cheese wonton. I'm a sucker for mussels, and I was a sucker for Royal Buffet's mussels, which were fresh and plump. I also thought that the Chinese donut was pleasantly airy and just sweet enough. However, I was a little disappointed by the lo mein, which was kind of bland and in need of more sauce.

But the frog legs - which were probably my favorite things at the buffet - easily made up for the lackluster lo mein. The frog legs had plenty of tender, juicy meat on them and were covered in a flavorful breading. I came back for seconds (and thirds).

For future plates, in addition to frog legs, I loaded up on more mussels, honey chicken (which was sweet like a dessert and tasty), and General Tso's chicken, which was good but held very little spice, which was fine for my wimpy taste-buds but might disappoint people who like their General Tso's to have heat. I also got some hibachi steak and mushrooms, which were made to order.

Finally, for dessert, I got some slices of watermelon and strawberry ice cream, which came in the form of a small Hershey's cup.

All in all, if you're looking for a filling dinner that costs less than $20, you can't go wrong with Royal Buffet.

If you want to check out the restaurant for yourself, you can find it at 5234 Cobblestone Rd, Sheffield, OH 44035.