The buffet can be your friend or foe. It all depends on how you look at it. You can either load up your plate with piles of high fat, high calorie foods with little nutritional value or you can take advantage of the variety and opt to cover your plate with the abundance of healthy foods usually available on any given buffet.

When you have the option to choose, you can spend time to really make the healthier decisions than if you had to order a set meal. Also you're able to determine your own portion size, rather than be tempted with a gigantic meal. You can often choose all kinds of lean proteins as well as veggies and fruits. Just be sure to steer clear of foods that are fried, glistening with butter, and loaded with sugar. When in doubt, ask a server how a food item is prepared.

Source [1]