This wasn't my first time visiting this buffet, but it had been a while since my last visit. I had…read morea good experience here before, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case this time.
I understand that this is a budget buffet, and I wasn't expecting anything fancy. However, I did expect basic standards of cleanliness, properly cooked food, and decent taste.
I brought my boyfriend here for the first time because I remembered it as an okay place to eat. After paying and finding a table, we went to get our food. Our first stop was the soup station, where we looked for clean bowls.
I noticed a stack of bowls in a plastic basin to the right of the soup station, but some of them had cilantro on them. I figured they couldn't possibly be clean. My boyfriend, who is much taller than me, suggested checking the bowls in another basin on top of the soup station. He took one out, only to find seeds on it.
I then checked another basin to the left, next to the crackers. One bowl had brown stains, while another had dried seeds on it. At this point, none of the bowls we found looked clean.
I asked a staff member, who was busy on his phone, where we could find clean bowls. He pointed to the stack on the right side of the soup station. When I showed him the cilantro on the bowls, he looked at them and removed the dirty ones. My boyfriend then showed him the dirty bowl he had found and asked him to bring the manager to our table. I also pointed out the other dirty bowls on the left. The staff member removed those as well and set them aside.
Needless to say, our impression of the restaurant had already been tarnished before we even started eating.
I also noticed that the cut tomatoes in the Mongolian BBQ station still had their stem scars attached, which added to my impression that not enough attention was being paid to food preparation.
I had originally planned to enjoy some sushi, but after seeing the condition of the bowls, I didn't go anywhere near it. I simply didn't feel comfortable taking the risk of getting sick. I did try the seafood soup, but it was extremely salty.
I decided to stick with the cooked food instead. I took a mussel with corn, but the moment I bit into it, I felt something poking my gum. When I looked at it more closely, I found a small crab inside. I believe it was a pea crab, which can sometimes be found inside shellfish. I wasn't sure whether it was safe to eat, and since I wasn't expecting to find a crab in my mussel in the first place, I decided to play it safe and not eat it.
Meanwhile, the manager never came to our table. I eventually asked a very nice lady who was cleaning tables if she could call the manager for us. She was extremely friendly and immediately contacted someone using her walkie-talkie.
And guess who showed up? The same staff member I had initially asked to bring the manager!
My boyfriend raised the issue of the dirty bowls again, and the staff member said he had taken care of it immediately. The problem was that he never apologized or identified himself as the manager when we initially asked to speak to one. I wasn't sure whether there was a language barrier, but his handling of the situation was disappointing. He didn't seem to have the customer service skills needed to address a complaint professionally.
On the other hand, Nancy, the lady who was cleaning the tables, was friendly, responsive, and knew how to handle the situation appropriately. If the owner happens to read this review, I hope they recognize Nancy's excellent customer service skills. Based on my experience, she demonstrated the kind of professionalism I would expect from someone in a management position.
The dessert section was another concern. Each dessert serving was placed in a small bowl, and I noticed several empty bowls with visible food scraps still inside. I couldn't tell whether customers had eaten directly from the bowls and returned them or had transferred the desserts to their plates before putting the empty bowls back. Either way, it looked unappetizing. There also didn't seem to be any staff regularly clearing away the empty bowls, which made the entire section look messy and unhygienic.
Overall, I was genuinely surprised by how much this place seems to have gone downhill. I can't say for certain what caused the decline, but the way the staff member handled our complaint certainly didn't help. Throughout my visit, he seemed more occupied with his phone and occasionally taking pictures than attending to customers. I couldn't help wondering whether he was busy with social media or something else, but whatever the reason, the lack of attention to customer service was disappointing.
It's sad to see a place I once considered decent fall to this standard. I understand that a budget buffet won't offer a premium dining experience, but cleanliness and proper customer service should never be optional.
Unfortunately, I don't see myself coming back. What a disappointing experience!