"He tells me not to worry about it and to let them eat as much as they want," Chan said. "He refuses to increase the prices, even though our food costs are rising."

For $7.95, the lunch buffet is equivalent to what you would pay for a plate of noodles at other Chinese restaurants. And it's the same price as some plate lunches.

"But we've got more than 40 items on the buffet line," Chan said, pointing to the row of hot and cold chafing dishes. "You can start with salad, have an appetizer, then go on to the main entrees. You can even have dessert."

Marking their first year anniversary this month as owners of this Kapolei Marketplace restaurant, Chan and Choy have done steady business by keeping prices affordable and catering to the needs of private parties.

"We can accommodate up to 160 people in the dining room and 200 altogether if we use the outdoor lanai area," Chan said. "We'll even take special requests, such as substituting a certain dish on the buffet line for another, just as long they have enough guests in their party."

And as Chan was quick to point out, the cost of the buffets does not change.

So it will be $7.95 for lunch Mondays through Fridays, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and $10.95 during the Saturday and Sunday dim sum brunches. Available from 5:30 to 9 p.m., the crab leg dinner buffets are priced at $12.95 Mondays through Thursdays, and $14.95 on weekends.

"Our crab leg dinners keep going strong," Chan said. "We go through more than 1,000 pounds of legs a week."

Flashfried then sauteed with salt, pepper, garlic, green onions and bits of chili flakes, the Dungeness crab legs are crunchy on the outside but juicy in the inside, according to Chan.

"Some people will only eat the crab legs and shrimp when they come here," he said. "I've seen people eat two to three pounds at a time, including this thin elderly women who told me she couldn't stop eating the crab legs."

Others have an equally hard time refraining from filling up on their share of mussels, shrimp, mapo tofu, fried noodles and the popular crabmeat-and-cream-cheese wontons, which go like hotcakes.

On the cold side of the buffet, patrons will find tossed green salad, desserts and soft-serve ice cream.