In the years since the pandemic, all-you-can-eat buffets brimming with fresh seafood and premium cuts of meat have gradually regained momentum, as diners grappling with cost-of-living pressures look for bang for their buck. Buffets are back – and booming.

“When COVID hit, obviously everything shut down, and buffets were one of the last things to come back, because of the general feeling towards shared food,” says Steven Beaumont, executive chef at the five-star Grand Hyatt Melbourne.

The Hyatt’s “Living Grand” buffet, at in-house restaurant Collins Kitchen, is one of the most expensive and extravagant all-you-can-eat options in Melbourne. When the buffet relaunched for Sunday lunches post-COVID, appealing largely to families, it was a sleeper hit. It’s since become so popular that the hotel has added a Friday night buffet to draw in a younger demographic.

Those diners have likely seen it on TikTok, which is partly responsible for the buffet resurgence. Influencer videos featuring buffets in Koreatown and Chinatown – and the queues they create – garner tens of thousands of views. There’s even a dedicated social media acronym, “AYCE”, to signal all-you-can-eat dining options.

In Melbourne’s now-official Koreatown, barbecue buffets are everywhere. But BBQ King remains a crowd favourite, with a line of punters up Little Lonsdale Street most nights. To keep up with demand, the team recently opened a new upstairs area, adding more than 250 seats, plus a second location, in Glen Waverley.

“We became popular through word of mouth,” says Sophie Cho, BBQ King’s marketing manager. “But we also invite [social media] influencers sometimes.”

But not everything you see online is a true representation of the experience. Most notably, the buffet at Crown’s Conservatory restaurant – billed as the “finest and most indulgent” in town and costing up to $160 – isn’t as grand as the Hyatt’s $139 option.

A recent visit by Good Food found haphazardly stacked oysters and prawns; the shellfish at the top of the heap were lukewarm because of their lack of contact with the ice below. (At the Hyatt and other buffets, each fresh seafood item is individually placed on ice.) Under-seasoning was an issue across the board at Crown’s buffet. Wilted leaves haunted the salad bar.

Essentially, your buffet bucks are better spent elsewhere – such as these four venues.

Maalu Maalu, Brunswick

$23 for lunch; $25 for Monday to Thursday dinner; $27 for Friday to Sunday dinner.

All-you-can-eat Sri Lankan awaits in stainless-steel bains-marie, from colourful curries (meaty, vegetarian, vegan) to rice to sambols galore. The buffet is $15 at happy hour, 3pm to 5pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and hoppers are an extra $3 on Saturday nights.

246 Sydney Road, Brunswick, instagram.com/maalumaalubrunswick

Divine Hotpot, CBD and Footscray

From $32 (plus soup base) for lunch; from $39 (plus soup base) for dinner. 90-minute limit.

Hate getting out of your chair to restock at a buffet? This one comes to you. It’s a hot-pot joint run sushi-train style. Choose a soup base (from $5, such as the Sichuan malatang or the Thai tom yum) then add your pick of more than 50 items, including meat, seafood and vegies.

Midtown Plaza, 246 Bourke Street, Melbourne; Hopkins Street, Footscray; instagram.com/divinehotpot

BBQ King, Glen Waverley and CBD

$39.90 for weekday lunch; $49.90 for weekday dinner; 10 per cent weekend surcharge. 90-minute limit.

Grill your own wagyu beef, gochujang-marinated pork belly and heaps more at this all-you-can-eat Korean-barbecue spot. Also find a sushi bar, ready-made hot foods including fried chicken and japchae, and an instant-noodle station. NB: there’s a $15 fee for excessive food waste.

280 King Street, Melbourne; 23 Railway Parade North, Glen Waverley; bbqkingmelbourne.com.au

Collins Kitchen at Grand Hyatt Melbourne, CBD

$129 for Sunday lunch; $139 for Friday dinner.

Save for the commanding seafood tower of oysters, prawns, crabs and (sometimes) Moreton Bay bugs, the Hyatt’s buffet is all about quiet luxury with sashimi on ice and made-to-order options. And for dessert? A pancake and waffle station and a chocolate fountain, no less.

123 Collins Street, Melbourne, hyatt.com/collins-kitchen