Turns out the poor experience was at the Shuangjing location, not Chaoyangmen. But, the Chaoyangmen location has been very nice regarding all of this.

Thanks to the generosity of a contest run by The Beijinger, I was able to attend the Thanksgiving buffet.

I had googled the dining room before, and the pictures on the website were misleading. I was expecting ugly geriatric florals, but the room was cream-colored and pastoral. Very pretty. This was my first time at an upscale Beijing buffet, so my review can't compare it to other popular options.

The quality of the cooking was surprisingly good. The turkey was moist, and other yummy options included mashed potatoes, lamb stew, dumplings, gravy, etc. I also had lox with onions and a squirt of lemon--delicious. Not all of the food was uniformly great; the sushi was too chewy and a little stale, the pumpkin soup was bland, and the desserts didn't include apple or pumpkin pie. However, there was definitely enough yummy food to construct more than enough plates. I especially enjoyed the variety of olive oils and balsamic vinegar for the breads.

The service was attentive, and it was overall a great experience.