Seated dip machine is always what I knew them as.
The trick with buffets when you are trying to limit calories is to just reverse all of the maximum bulking rules:
Before you even go inside the restaurant, drink 16-20oz water in the car.
Begin with copious veggies. A big salad of lettuce, spinach, bell peppers, some chopped broccoli or cauliflower, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, mushrooms. Pile it high, and go very light on the calorie additions like cheese, olives, croutons. Make sure to use a light dressing.
Get a calorie-free carbonated beverage like a diet cola if you enjoy them, otherwise stick to water or unsweetened tea. If you have coffee, enjoy it black. Carbonation is filling, and caffeine curbs appetite slightly while better partitioning glucose.
Make sure to focus on lots of leaner meats as possible and try to incorporate cooked veggies as well. Avoid fried things and items with lots of added sugars. You aren’t going to be able to get away from fats.
Eat any carbs you truly desire last, and make yourself go back for a third plate to get them after you have had more to drink with your meat/veggie plate. If you must have dessert, keep the portions to big bitefuls so you can enjoy a lot without actually eating a lot. Fruit can be a really enjoyable, much healthier alternative here.
I reverse all these to max out calories. Drink minimally, no drinks before, drinks must have empty calories, avoid veggies, pursue hyper processed items, added sugars, fried things, and bring multiple plates back at once. Most importantly, eat fast as possible and go back before you have time to process feeling full. Time is of the essence. If you sit and enjoy a conversation, you will naturally fill up. Eat dessert until you are sweating and nearly sick.