I have mixed feelings about this place. If you are one of those unfortunate souls who has nothing…read morebetter to do but read all of my reviews, you know by now that poor interior lighting in restaurants is a pet peeve of mine. Waking into a dimly lit restaurant immediately colors my view of the place. I arrived around 7:30 and the sun was still out, yet it was rather dark inside this place. It took me a few minutes to figure out what the causes were. First, there were vertical blinds on the front windows that were partially closed (even though that side of the building was facing away from the sun). Second, the light bulbs in the light fixtures were recessed way too far up into their fixtures. The fixtures were designed for flood lamp style bulbs, but had old CFL bulbs designed for a lamp like you might have on an end table in your home. Switching to LED flood lamp type bulbs would greatly enhance the lighting, and the cost wouldn't be very much.
The ceiling tiles had large water stains on them. I'm guessing this facility is leased and the owner is not maintaining the roof as they should be. I don't want to fault the restaurant proprietors for this, since it is likely out of their control.
In spite of the poor lighting, the water damaged ceiling, and some torn spots in the wallpaper, the decorations hanging on the wall were very clean and free of dust.
The buffet islands seemed nice enough, though there were some rope lights around the perimeter that were not functional. I found that a little odd. The dish labels were handwritten and while legible, did not always reflect what food was in the dish below it.
On to the food. I tried the sesame chicken, and it was dry and chewy. The cream cheese rangoons were also dry. The white rice tasted good and fairly fresh, and the hot and sour soup was just the right mix of hot and sour. I tried some cookies and cream ice cream for dessert, and it was quite good. The glass of water I drank was wet and didn't smell or taste bad. I noticed that most of the buffet dishes seemed to be low on food. I suspect that this place sees a rush of business around 5:00 and that the food I had was the leftovers from that dinner rush.
Overall, it wasn't terrible. As a person who travels a ton for work, I have encountered worse. But I do feel that the price was on the high side for the quality of the food. Dry, chewy chicken is a pretty negative thing to experience at a Chinese buffet.
As a side note, Yelp recommends adding a comment about service. I'm not sure what to put for that. This is a buffet which is self service, even the drinks. The plates, glass, and silverware were all clean and plentiful, so I guess that counts as good service. The buffet islands didn't have spilled food all over them, which would indicate that the staff cleans them regularly. One of the employees was mopping the floor while I ate, which shows that they keep the floors clean. So, I would say for a self service buffet, the service was quite acceptable.
