I didn't have good experiences with the last two buffets I went to despite others IRL saying they were good, or at least good enough for their standards. However, my co-workers insisted that East Buffet was good and wanted to go there for our annual end-of-year luncheon. The ratings from my Yelp friends are literally all over the place with two awarding five stars, two awarding one star, and most others choosing middle of the way.
I guess there's a reason why they say, "third time is the charm!"
East Buffet is located on East Carson Street, on the southwest corner of the intersection with Norwalk Blvd. You shouldn't have an issue with parking since the lot is ample and spacious. As a matter of fact, we found a spot literally right in front of the restaurant.
As soon as we came in, we saw a sign posted on the front door indicating two things: 1) Tips aren't expected, and 2) There's a service charge of at least 10% added to your bill. If your party size is in the double digits, that 10 becomes a 12. We would have been a party of 10, but one was ill, which saved us 2%, or about 40 cents if you do the math.
8 of us got there first, but they were happy to seat us at a table in the middle of the dining room while the 9th one was running late. The server who took us to our table asked if we'd like drinks. There's a menu of drinks posted on the side of the napkin dispenser, but we all chose water, which wasn't specified on that menu.
Soon after, we all went around the buffet, which in conjunction with the lobby, circumnavigated the dining area. The buffet ran from the sushi on the left to the hibachi station on the right, and plenty of good eats in between.
The left (sushi) side of the buffet was mostly vacant. I only saw one chef there shortly after the start of my visit, and for the remainder of the time, that whole half was unsupervised. There was plenty enough food and not nearly enough customers to necessitate replenishing, so it's understandable why that side felt like a ghost town.
After finishing my first plate of seafood and BBQ chicken, I noticed there was no line at the hibachi station, so I grabbed a plate and filled it with raw ingredients. When I was done assembling my plate, I didn't see a hibachi chef to hand it to, but my co-worker simply said to leave it there. We noticed a lot of other patrons were following us, leading me to think I'd have a difficult time discerning which plate was mine, but she assured me that our plates would be done first since we got there first.
While I was finishing my second plate, I was wondering if my Hibachi plate would be done. She had just gotten her plate, so I sauntered up there to get my plate. I liked my Hibachi plate, and I'm glad I got there before the lunch rush.
The rear of the buffet reminded me of Panda Express. I tried a lot of what they had to offer, and I felt it was better than what I had at Panda Express! I was hoping to try everything, but there was just too much to choose from.
I was curious why nobody was getting any sushi, so I grabbed a few pieces. A couple of comments regarding the sushi bar: 1) Not everything will have labels, so you may not know what roll you are getting, and 2) They had a couple of sauce bottles that weren't labeled either! Luckily, they have cups to pour these sauces into. I believe they were spicy mayo and teriyaki, the latter of which I thought was soy sauce, but they also have some soy sauce on the tables alongside sriracha. The sushi was quite tasty with the teriyaki. Much better than at Hokkaido, or as I like to call it, HokkaiNO lol.
Including the sushi, I used 6 different plates and an ice cream bowl for my lunch. The only plate that left a bad impression was the fruit. The honeydew and cantaloupe weren't fresh, and the grapes had seeds in them. I thought about getting a salad, but the salad bar adjacent to the fruits wasn't what I was expecting. Just raw leafy greens and cold ingredients that I didn't think would go well with those leafy greens.
Service was quite decent, at least for a buffet. They were very punctual in removing plates from our table and filling our glasses that at one point during our lunch, I almost thought a server was trying to clean my plate with water lol. I don't think I ever had two plates in front of me except for when I went to pick up my Hibachi plate.
However, I must say I loathe and abhor the red herring that is the menu posted on their website https://east-buffet.com/. The menu depicts $15.99 for a weekday lunch buffet, come to find out, the price had went up by $1 between then and now. Nickel and diming (or dollar-ing) scheme? But with how good my experience was here, I'm okay with spending that extra dollar here, but wish the website was updated to better inform the clientele.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience here, and so was everyone else. The interior looks like it was recently remodeled, and I'd be open to a return visit next time I want AYCE. read more