Everyone knows the Mandarin! I've been to this location a number of times and I'm generally pretty happy. The food is generally very good and they re-stock any trays that are empty pretty quickly. See something empty? Go back in a few minutes and it should be there. They have a ton of employees always keeping watch of what needs to be re-stocked or cleaned and with the amount of people that are always here, it's highly appreciated. Only oddity is that once, my girlfriend noticed the bunch of crab legs she got was a slightly underdone, but the next batch she got was much better so she was happy. The service is generally pretty good. The waiters and waitresses usually check up on you fairly often, mostly to check if you need a drink re-fill and they're usually really nice (I had one instance where they were ridiculously slow with bringing drinks and clearing old plates though). The owner / manager usually introduces themselves too. You'll want to make a reservation if you're going anywhere between 6 and 7pm on any given night, just so you aren't waiting. The take-out counter's pretty efficient in that you're in and out of there quickly. Parking's also very plentiful and you shouldn't have an issue as long as you aren't one of those people that 'must' park right in front. My only minor gripe is the way they place the tables. Sometimes they place or move another person's table in a way that makes it a little hard for you to walk through the room, especially if you need to get around people who are seated. It's a problem with some rooms more than others. One weird fact is that they use those plastic fold out tables. They look pretty sturdy so I hope they monitor their condition. All in all, you can't go wrong with the Mandarin at this location. I'm really not a fan of the Woodbine location because it's usually a lot busier with less parking. So go to this location if you have a choice. read more

I came here tonight with my family and this Mandarin confused me a great deal. First off, it was weird seeing a Mandarin not packed with long lines outside during a holiday weekend. In fact, the place was half empty. The food here split into 2 categories: Crab legs ... and then everything else. The good: 1. The crab legs were surprisingly small. 2. The sashimi/sushi here are starting to be passably authentic. 3. I loved the peking duck and turkey dish for Thanksgiving. 4. The pineapples (for the first time in forever was sweet) at the salad bar The bad: 1. HOW WAS THERE NO BREAD AT THE BREAD STATION?! I walked by here several times and there were your usual rolls but the sliced bread was demolished. 2. The dessert place was falling behind as it got later and later into the night. Everything started becoming half empty: especially the waffles ): and the cook was too busy to use both griddles at once. Everything else was your usual "Chinese" (westernized) food as per the Mandarin quality - not bad but not brag worthy. My service was excellent. We got Joe as our server and there was never a time we couldn't find him when we needed him. He refilled drinks and napkins constantly without being asked. I loved how the manager came out to greet the tables and inquired about satisfaction. I think the only other thing I have against this table is that the servers that come out to refill the pans in the buffet tend to walk backwards and talk to others who are still on the floor. Almost caused me spill everything on their heads a couple of times. I'll be back when I'm craving crab legs again. read more

Mandarin Box Grove specifically does not disappoint! One of the best AYCE Buffets serving a variety of Chinese themed dishes. PROS: Snow Crab legs, when its that time of year for this special its a must! Enough crab for everyone. They do not hold back, refills after refills unlike some other buffets. Food, Quality is always beyond my expectations of buffets and very consistent. Service at Mandarin is exceptionally good, warm greetings one of the best if not the best. Environment, is very clean and tidy, very sanitary from the food stations all the way to the restrooms! CONS: Price, especially during weekends and holidays when crab legs are around easily $30. May not be appealing for frequent trips however on special occasion Mandarin always delivers. Sushi Stand only offers vegetarian style sushi, would love to see at least some spicy salmon maki I have not tried any other Mandarin Locations except the Box Grove Mandarin, I cannot the same for the others. A must go on special occasions and for those in the area. read more

Woah, a revolving door. This place is fancy. OMG the decorations look amazing, bonus points. The food, I'm sorry, but it really doesn't work for Chinese people. Mandarin literally made Chinese food Westernized. It's not worth paying about $30 for all you can eat food that I can cook better at home myself for less than $10. I mean the variety is good, and awesome if you like Westernized Chinese food. Typical AYCE food, quantity over quality. read more

I'm not a big fan of buffets because the quality of foods being served is questionable. However for the most part, Mandarin has always kept its presentation spot-on for being clean. Out of all the Mandarins I've been to, this location seems less busy than some of the other locations that are crowded due the area. In terms of food selections, they've got Chinese, Japanese, and a few choices for western foods. Most of all the food area is always kept clean regularly, and presentable! Their service is generic across the table (aka locations) calm, courteous, and always willing to go above and beyond your expectations. overall experience was good.. I was impressed. :) Solid 4! read more

Mandarin is in a nutshell a nicely decorated canadianized Chinese buffet with many options to offer. The service is okay, though sometimes it's slightly hard to catch the staffs attention to clear plates. Buffets are always quantity over quality- but Mandarin has many options to offer for appetizers, mains and desserts. The food isn't bad, but that doesn't make it good. I've tasted much better for a reasonable price. For those health conscious readers, healthy options here are harder to come by. So make sure you do that extra work out. Good for groups - pricing is meh ... Can be cheaper. The decor has this nice appeal to it- Asian themed. Somehow - I will make a trip here every year during Christmas time :) read more

This review is for a weekday lunch. I have not gone to a Mandarin for almost a decade, so I really don't know how this location compares to another Mandarin. Comparing to other buffets, such as Dragon Pearl, Dragon Legend, even the former Wasabi, this Mandarin is pleasant. The interior is roomy, clean. The decoration is tacky. I really like the high ceiling. The food quality was average, but nevertheless it is authentic Chinese food. For reference, an average Hong Kong tea cafe can cook as good as or better than the food here. But then, one doesn't come to Mandarin for food quality, does one? One comes for the selection. And the selection is good, even for a weekday lunch. If you like desserts, you are in heaven here. Weekday lunch cost $16 for adult, which is not bad value considering the selection. Children lunch is half priced, or $8. This is a super deal if your little ones eat as much as adults. I know many who are. read more

We go here a few times a year and it is excellent. Wide variety of food, high quality and delicious, very clean, friendly service. HOWEVER. The desserts are not good. They LOOK good but most of them taste atrocious. I believe a lot of them are prepackaged and the baked goods often taste quite stale. The only exception is the bread pudding which is always fresh and delicious. If they improve the dessert taste, I would give 5/5. read more

Usually come here for AYCE snow crab legs in the evening weekend. That is good but everything else is good, not great. Service is good, food is replenished quickly. Wish the mango salad wasn't that spicy, would eat more if it wasn't that spicy. Huge dessert section. read more

We felt the all you can eat buffet was mediocre. . There was a lot of variety though we personally felt it all tasted similar - salty and greasy. read more

I would say, it should be 3.5 but I'm giving it a 4 because service was really good. The food is slightly above average. However, I think they really should have more people looking after the dessert area. I saw this little girl licked the ice-cream scoop and then put it back in the water tray. I don't blame her, she look as if she was 4 (not sure why the parents were not with her). We came here for the lunch weekend buffet. The food was fresh & service was friendly. I would come back to this place. read more

This is my last going to this mandarin restaurant . The food quality has become really bad, sushi is not fresh and dry. Food is on the buffet table for a long time and makes it dry. I came on a weekend dinner buffet, normally they have king crab leg, some special seafood. This time the manager said we don't carry those now, we replace it with lamb. However the lamb seems like it's been under the warmer for the longest time, it's over cooked and dried. I can't even chew it. I guess this restaurant is going rapidly downhill, it's only 1/20 full on Friday night, maybe that's the reason why all food is under the warmer and all dehydrated. We had a birthday in the group, the kid has a bowl of fresh cream as his birthday cake. Isn't it better to grab one of those cake on the buffet table and put a candle on it. They gave us a happy birthday hat, those one time use dollar store hat, I was surprised they asked us to give it back to them. I do not recommend this restaurant to anyone and will not come back again read more

I've been going to Mandarin for years because it had so much to choose from, and could satisfy pretty much anybody who went. (Except those who have severe food allergies, are gluten intolerant & raw food eaters, lol) Mandarin is not in fact traditional chinese food, it has asian influence and a few asian dishes, but it's not exotic or anything, in fact a lot of the food is north american) Overall my love for it is seriously diminishing, the location is fine, and the layout/aesthetic is fine, it's clean, inviting, pretty, in fact. Their food is the same, has been for years, and I've gotten bored of it. They don't experiment with new dishes, they keep everything the same, and after awhile your palette is just tired of their meals. For a vegetarian, I imagine eating here is very easy because they have veggie rolls, steamed vegetables, soups, breads, fries, pizzas, sushi, etc, but as a vegan it is so difficult, I had a few veg rolls & steamed vegetables, and for dessert I took some raw fruit. It was disappointing because they serve bloody meat, which literally oozes blood, and fishes with their heads intact, and they don't strive for any new dishes, or new decor, but it is overpriced as well, I paid $27 just for myself and keep in mind what I ate, and I went for lunch, which is cheaper than dinner. The ambiance is okay, usually pretty loud with overpowering chinese music, it's sometimes hard to hear the other people in front of you, or the waiters, and sometimes the dishes when you go to pick them up, aren't completely clean. (Wet or with crumbs on them). I probably won't go again unless i'm going with a huge group of people and they're all picky eaters, ha. Food quality scale 1-10: 5/10 Location/aesthetic: 1-10: 6/10 read more

Sure, we survived 2012 - but I'm going doing something here that might be a sign of the apocalypse: 3-stars for Chinese buffet... from a Chinese guy that hates Chinese buffets. Okay - maybe I'm being soft. But just say 'all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet' to most Chinese people and you will most likely receive a look of disgust. Beyond just being 'inauthentic' (more on that later), it simply just sucks. It's not like a western buffet, where you can have a salad bar and things like mashed potatoes or roasted chicken that keep well in heated trays (... barbarians...). Most Chinese food translates poorly in this format. So, even during my youth - when buffets were the greatest thing in the world to me - I avoid Chinese buffets. I've been been to one that didn't suck. Well - Mandarin doesn't suck. It's more like a western buffet with a focus on Chinese food. We were here for Christmas Day lunch and they had a lot of items with high turnover. We had reservations (it being Christmas Day and all) and we were immediately seated ahead of the big lineup of people that didn't think ahead. You have your typical western buffet items (salad bar, dessert bar, roast beef, chicken, pasta, steak, torpedo shrimp, etc) with a Chinese food section, sushi stand and some dim sum. Overall, most of the items were pretty good. As expected, there are a lot of faux-Cantonese items like egg foo yung, egg rolls and sweet & sour chicken balls (it was my first time having the latter two). It wasn't bad. Definitely inauthentic - but that in itself doesn't make it bad. For what it's worth, the other Chinese items (i.e. har gow, siu mai, stir fried beans) are pretty close to the 'real' thing and pretty good. It's comparable to a mid-level Vegas buffet. Selection is good, turnover is high and food was inoffensive. This might sound bad, but 'inoffensive' is probably the highest compliment you can give to a buffet. Out of all the food I tried, nothing really sucked. And that's all you're looking for when you're just having foodstuff at a buffet. The only downside was the pricing. On regular days, it's $12.99 for lunch - which is a fair price. On weekends and holidays, they add another $5 to the price. Sure, I understand supply and demand - but for a near 40% price increase, I believe turkey (which was dry) was the only thing they added to their holiday menu. So as a buffet, this is actually a 4-star since Mandarin is pretty high in those terms - especially if you come here during the weekday. But for $18/person on any other day than X-Mas, I rather order up a storm at an actual Chinese restaurant and leave equally stuffed. However, Mandarin is pretty good for what it is. read more

The staff here are excellent. Always return to your table to clear plates away and re-fill water. Super clean and tidy facilities and the buffet tables were maintained well. I didn't feel pressured to leave and I wasn't given a dirty look for eating plates upon plates of delicious spring roll sushi, bread, mashed potatoes, lemon meringue pie, noodles etc etc etc. This was actually my first time at the Mandarin so I have nothing to compare it to but I would definitely want to return to this one as it wasn't too busy. read more

I'm stuffed. Like most buffets, quantity trumps quality but I find the food above average here. Good snow crab and they have lobster every now and then. Enjoyed the salad bar, 4 kinds of soup, steamed veggies, pepper steak, shrimp and many other items. No traditional Chinese food here, more North American style. Kudos to this place, some of the best service I ever experienced. The staff are incredibly friendly and the place is spotless. Ordered takeout here once and it was fast, hot and a great overall experience. Also cool are the large fish tanks separating dinning areas in the restaurant. read more

Best Chinese buffet & box grove location is one of my favourites. Clean, great staff and service! Went for the Alaskan crab & it was fresh, delicious & they kept on refilling all night. I've been at this location many many times & they have the best hosts, waiters and waitresses!! read more

The Mandarin in Box Grove is one of my favourite restaurants in Ontario! This is such a quiet location. Love, love, love their huge selection of food - my friends and I try to go as often as we can! read more

A bit better than average run of the mill Chinese food buffet. Go on and stuff your face. The seafood is alright I guess. The sushi is subpar just don't go just for the sushi. The service is better then average. read more

Great place to celebrate your Birthday, food quality is good, you can always expect that the quality of the food is never going to change as they always stay the same which is good. Plenty of food options, from the salad bar to the hot food, to my favourite the desert! read more

It was a long wait time, but that was expected on a holiday afternoon. Some of my favourite choices are: torpedo shrimp, the BBQ ribs and the bread pudding. None of the other dishes really fancy my taste buds. I have a hard time enjoying buffets but Mandarin does a good job at make their dishes flavourful. The staff are also accommodating and friendly. read more

The Mandarin-Markham East Buffet,Is one of my favourite buffets to go to now.It might have been my first time but we plan on going again,The food wasnt to authentic for the chinese foods but it was quite good.The prices are quite cheap but my other favourite frankies tomato is much cheaper.But if you are looking for a place with Asia styled foods I suggest Mandarin.The food items i suggest you eat Are the Sushi,Mashed potatos and other salty items.But for my taste aka savoury people,DO NOT EAT THE SALADS OR DESERTS (Only ice creams and frozen yogurt). read more

I have never been any better buffet place than this one. This place is just amazing. The best service ever. Very clean. Even the washroom is spotless! Food is so fresh and delicious. I totally recommend it for any family events. read more

Been coming to this location since it opened....the best Mandarin in the GTA! Always courteous staff, plentiful of fresh food, very clean and lots of parking available. Really enjoyed Canada Day's complimentary meal to CDN citizens. What a great way to give back and pay it forward to the community. My family likes to celebrate all our special occasions here. read more

Ever since my family's first visit, this has been my favourite restaurant. The staff are VERY friendly. Every holiday there will be holiday specials, for example, on Mid-autumn festival, you get pumpkin pie ice cream and on Thanksgiving you get stuffed turkey, so holidays are a good time to go. Birthdays are also worth going to because you get a special dessert and your picture taken. Its food is great and you get your food, they don't serve it to you, and I like get-food restaurants. Overall the best so far. read more

Great family restaurant, we always come here to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and milestones. It's a great value for the food options you get. I feel like a kid each time I'm there as I indulge in cotton candy and chocolate dipped marshmallows on a stick! read more

I love this location and i am a huge fan of AYCE places, so I am a regular here. We usually arrive when lunch starts or dinner starts. It's the best time to be there because everything is being brought out while we are there. This ensures fresh & warm food. They have a lot of options and i love that they have a great selection for kids. Service is always great and servers always make you feel welcome and they really stay on top of clearing the tables, topping up water & drink refills. read more

Trust me, I did not expect Mandarin serving authentic Chinese food at the very beginning. For a $24.99 dinner buffet, it is slightly cheaper than the Dragon Legend, however the food that here was way way worse than Dragon Legend. This is the first time I come to Mandarin buffet, I read the review from yelp. People were saying sushi selection was ok. That's why I though maybe I should give it a try. Keep it simple, there was absolutely no fish in their sushi selection, don't even think about sashimi. I saw something red in the sushi roll, thinking oh maybe it's tuna roll. Wrong! It's a piece of watermelon wrapped with rice and they called it a fruit roll. Other funny rolls include lemon chicken roll, black rice sushi... they all look very dry to me. Well, I will pass. Table full of chicken balls, spring rolls, fries and other deep fried food. Thanks Mandarin buffet for giving me a so unauthentic Asian food experience. I will pay a couple dollars more next time to go somewhere else. read more

The place was nice and clean. Price was high for a buffet. About $27 . There is a large variety. Most of the food is fried. The fruits were fresh and dweet. Service was very good. . Desserts were good . Chow me in and fried rice were both blan. Disappointed read more

Fantastic food choices, great amount of space, A+ service!

I had a little run in with this location but they made it up to me. They acknowledged my issue and handled it very well.

I have been to a few mandarins and this one is definitely on the lower end. Most of the best dishes that other mandarins have like New York steak are mysteriously absent at this location. Overall, mediocre at best and hugely overpriced for what it is. read more

Favorite buffet spot of all time! I love the ambience.They have artificial flowers and trees inside the restaurant.It looks so cool. They have huge fish tanks and it's perfect to keep the kids busy after meal.Food is AWESOME!!!!! They have so much variety of meats,veggie,seafood and desserts.I always take my out of town guests to this buffet. They all rave about it and wish they had a Mandarin in US. read more

Just got back from a fairly mediocre experience. I have never quite liked the food that the Mandarin franchise serves. Everything is either sweet and sour, or deep fried with sweet and sour, or some variant, thereof. After reading some good reviews about this location, I thought it might be different, so gave it a go. Nope, food was just as bad. Roast beef tough as shoe leather; shrimp overcooked; canned salmon tastes better than their; sushi is ridiculous (peanut butter??; strawberry avacado???); chicken was all deep fried in some form or another, in some sour sauce or sweet and sour sauce; pork was the same as chicken; wonton soup just salted water; etc. Desserts are poor. Supermarket quality, if even that. I understand that this is not supposed to be Chinese food, but Asian influenced food. But then it is just bad, even based on that view. The quality is just not there. At $27 a head, all in, I would have enjoyed myself more at any of the Indian or Hakka Indian takeout in the area. Higher quality food at a fraction of the cost. The only redeeming note was that the service was very attentive and kind. Else, it would have been a very upsetting experience. My advice: stay clear of this place, unless you are only in it for the service. But who eats out only to experience service if the food is no good? read more

I organized a Lions service club dinner meeting for 69 people on September 5, 2013 at the Mandarin Boxgrove in Markham, Ontario. The planning and arrangements required for the dinner meeting were easy to make with the various restaurant managers, who were very cooperative and helpfull. The service and food during the dinner was excellent . I received a "gold star" rating from our Club President for arranging for our dinner meeting at the Mandarin! I look forward to going back again sometime soon, for another Lions Club dinner meeting. Markham Lions Club Program Committee Chairman. read more

I was truly impressed by Mandarin Box Grove. I've been to a few over the years but this location has been the best by far. The servers were friendly AND helpful. Our son is allergic to most of what they serve but when we mentioned this, the manager came over to discuss this with us and made up something special just for my 5 year old son and it was reasonably priced! In addition, I was surprised by the cleanliness of the washroom. We'll definitely be back! read more

This location is "The Best". I have allergies and they are always accomadating to me. Melissa Cai and Jerry are great! The food is great and everything is always clean. read more

Service is good. Food is nice! Food tasted better on other times as it wasn't busy today. Ambiance was nice and restaurant was clean. Turkey pot pie on NY day which was tasty. Will be back as it's a good all you can eat restaurant with a variation of dessert and ice cream. read more

This is based upon a buffet lunch experience. My husband laughed at me when I told him that I've never tried Mandarin. He couldn't believe it. So I decided to give it a try today. The experience was what I expected. Great service at this location. The cooked food was mediocre. The dishes were too salty. Nothing really authentic. The only item I thought was pretty unique and yummy was their vegetable fried bun. As for the sushi area, their nigiri presentation looked pretty bad. The salmon slices weren't evenly cut. However, I do wanna mention than compared to a lot of other buffets, they do have quite a lot of different vegetarian sushi options. My favorite was the sweet potatoe avocado sushi. The dessert tables had a lot of selection. I was looking forward to the cotton candy they advertised on the website but apparently they don't have it yet for lunch which was disappointing. They have a large selection of ice cream flavours which I think kids will enjoy. Overall, would I go back again? Probably not. Do I regret going? Not really. read more

this place is very slow. They don't refill or make any thing fresh later in the night. If you go after 7 pm you will endup eating the left over . We went last week for a birthday Dinner and very Dissapointed with the quality . read more