The food was hit or miss. The bao and dumplings were pretty good. The fried rice and teriyaki steak were popular. The chicken on a stick was disgusting I spat it out. The steamed veggies were fine. The soup is not very good. I ordered hot tea which was weak. read more

Star Ocean Buffet - Bao dumplings hot sour soup fried rice chicken on a stick teriyaki chicken steamed veggies roast duck - Buffets Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

As far as Chinese buffets go this is a great one food was pretty fresh which is sometimes hard at a buffet I got a buffet to go my plate weighed over 2 lbs and it was only $17.00 so I was really happy with that and the place was really clean the Mongolian bbq cook helped me properly seasoned my food which was really helpful read more

Food poisoning The food was good but Got sick for 3 days after. Could say it's the seafood .

If you're looking for some American Chinese to satisfy your cravings then this is the place to be. Star Ocean Buffet has a very similar setup - in fact the interior is exactly the same as Super Moon - to other buffets up in the Cities (could it be related?). You go in, pay, enjoy the abundance of yummy goodness, and make your way to the exit. Buffet is fairly extensive and covers just about everything from traditional dim sum, American Chinese favorites like beef & broccoli and general tsos, to even Hibachi. It has just about everything to fit the palate of most people. Food was quite fresh and I think that goes with having a decent flow of customers resulting in a high turnover time of fresh food. Not the biggest fan of buffets and usually go 1-2 a year. This one would be where I would go though if some quick, cheap, and variety of food was needed. read more

Star Ocean Buffet - a plate of chinese food - Buffets Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

One of the worst Chinese buffets I've experienced. I don't know if it's just the day I went (but quality should be consistent) because I just don't understand the 5-star reviews. To each their own I guess. I recently moved to Rochester from a primarily Asian city with an abundance of Chinese foods (and other Asian cuisines available) and was excited to find Chinese buffet near me. My expectations for buffets anywhere are always minimal, but I still enjoy them regardless, so I went in expecting just average. I was pleasantly surprised by how cheap the lunch price was, only to find out the quality of food reflected the price. At Star Ocean Buffet, most foods tasted like it was just reheated from being frozen or have been sitting there for a few days and just reheated. The buns and shumai were dried out, the dumplings were breaking apart, and the char siu and other meats were so chewy. I never come to any buffets expecting 5-star quality food, but this has to be one of the worst buffets I've experienced. The restaurant itself was huge, but there were not many people there, and I can definitely see why. Unfortunately, I will not be coming back here and I do not recommend this restaurant. My only pro about this restaurant was the one waiter that came to clear my dishes pretty quickly and checked-in on me throughout the meal. I appreciated his kindness and effort. read more

If your looking for calories and just that things the place. Again lower end mass produced food. Not bad not great but if you're going for the sushi or grill it's really not worth it. Sushi in grocery stores is better and the grill uses very low end meats etc. but for the money you will be full and experience a variety of foods. read more

The food variety is good but it's not always as hot or fresh as I like my food to be. The servers are already good about making sure you have a drink and taking plates as needed. The restaurant used to be an Old Country Buffet so it's similar to that but they updated it some. The coy pond is a nice touch but it frequently smells not so good. It's comfortable but not too comfortable after eating all the food. My favorite part is the grill area. I always know I get hot fresh food from there. They could use more good quality deserts but it's the basic Chinese restaurant food. The prices are high for what you get. They need to either up their menu options or lower their prices. read more

The food options tasted incredibly delicious but I got food poisoning. It's a good price but not worth the food poisoning.

We are visiting this quiet and beautiful town, found the Asian seafood buffet. It is similar as other Chinese seafood buffet round the country, but with better quality and cheaper as well. I have tried Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Houston. This is the best. Only thing is that I did not see salmon sushi today read more

Star Ocean Buffet - a plate of lobster, pasta, and other foods - Buffets Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

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We enjoyed a wondeful lunch with our friends. food was hot, fresh and delicious. With over 8 tables of items to choose from, it was challenging to try a little bit of everything. The hot and spicy soup was among my favorites, just enough "kick" to get my giddy up going. And the scallops are always a must have item on my list, as is the fresh fruits of pineapple and melons. Our server was very attentive to our needs and kept our table cleaned and drinks refilled. All in all, it was a great lunch experience and highly recommended if you have not been there. read more

This place is hit or miss. We normally come on a weekend when it's busy. We went today for a late lunch and all our food was just room temp...from the rice to each chicken dish we got. Then when we went to try the dessert, we got the strawberry cheesecake cup and that was warm! Won't be going back. We didn't even finish our food so hoping we don't get sick from the food not being hot read more

The wait staff was very prompt & courteous. However, I wasn't a fan of when a rag was left on my table, and I noticed it on my table when I returned back from the buffet. The worker did apologize. There were huge piles of beans on two tables right next to the buffet. The workers were prepping them, while tending to other customers in the restaurant. I didn't find this to be the most sanitary measure. There was a huge piece of cardboard under the urinals in the men's bathroom. Strange. Is that for easy clean up or to absorb urine that is misfired? The flan/custard dessert was awful. It was burnt smelling & tasting. Overall, the main foods were decent. Especially for being 8:00 on a Friday night. The fried donuts were awful. I could tell they were sitting in the warmer for awhile. read more

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Zero stars. Wtf people, how are you giving this place the ratings you are???? BAD buffet, cold, not fresh, sticky tables, it is the same bad buffet we all know. read more

Good food nice good service Good ambulance Nice people and Pizza recommended American read more

Star Ocean Buffet - the shadow of a person on a table - Buffets Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

Beautiful restaurant with an abundance of options to choose from! Waiter kept our beverages full and took our empty plates!

Rather disappointing visit to a once good buffet restaurant. Lots of empty selections, poor fulfillment, and missing expected items. No sushi nigiri during the week, just cheap mostly veggie rolls with fake crab. Disappointing. Rest of selections were just ok. Service was weak; if I didn't speak Spanish I would have had awful service. Nice staff, but, poorly managed. Ambiance was not maintained as it once was. Floors were messy and tables not turned over quickly. I made many unfulfilled trips to the buffet because so many items were empty for very long times. This was once a goto when visiting Rochester. Probably my last visit, now. read more

Great buffet. I love the peking duck they have there and the beef with garlic and onions.

This is a buffet, not fine dining. It is a very good Chinese buffet 5/5 but cannot compare this rating with other restaurant types. Very broad selection, fresh ingredients, good flavor for most dishes. Small but adequate Mongolian grill. Limited but fresh sushi. Only complaint is that some food was cold right off the buffet. read more

Star Ocean Buffet - Menu as of March 2021 - Buffets Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

Quiet, relaxing atmosphere with a calming ambiance. The background music was lovely. Delicious food, and lots of different options in this Asian buffet. They even have a waterfall and koi pond in the front! The staff were friendly and helpful with any needs we had. I would certainly return, should I pass by this area again. read more

Very solid buffet. Great choices and good food. Not sure how you could complain about this place.

Update: bomb food. The cashier told us to seat our selves... but got our drinks quick. 4/5 for all of it. Food was great, fried fish took very long to come out. read more

Very good buffet. Large selection. Friendly service. Lots of seating. Several shrimp selections.

The food is simply delicious I will keep going there the staff are great too and the service

Every time my daughter and I go, we just LOVE it. I absolutely love the sea food section and the steak! Service is normal for a buffet, they get items out quickly, and the ambiance is buffet style aswell. The waterfall with fish is a cool exiting point. read more

The 1st buffet since covid, they provided gloves , and hand sanitizer. The food was very fresh some of the best chicken wings I've ever had and scallops still in the shell. They didn't refill the crab legs enough and they where really small. I did the Mongolian wok and they over cooked the beef. The server was really good and made sure my drinks where always filled. There crawfish where fresh and always kept filled. The deserts weren't that good and didn't have root beer. read more

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This place is exactly what you would expect for an all you can eat buffet. Their name is a little deceiving as they offer a lot of different food choices besides for Asian. One of the things that I really like about this place is their sushi selection. They really do have a lot of options to choose from and all of it is technically unlimited -- sometimes I'll just fill up on their sushi because its a phenomenal deal. The lunch price comes out to around $10 and that includes a drink. Also, they prefer if you can leave cash on the table for your server. All in all, its a good place to go to if you're on a budget and want to please a lot of people at once. Everyone should be able to find what they want. read more

My husband and i really used to love this place, but the past few times we've been there the waiters completely ignored us. We didn't get our drinks for 10 minutes at lunchtime (there were probably 4 tables filled) and once we finished our drinks, we tried waving them over only to be completely ignored. Two of the waiters in our section made eye contact with me and pointed at us, but still no service. I'm very sad to be writing this review because this was one of our regular date night spots. read more

Good food the dishes are clean. I like. Short little men give u drinks. Service is good.

I have seen my fair share of underwhelming Asian buffets but I have to admit, Star Ocean is mighty impressive! Walking in you think you stumbled into a much refined establishment. Cleanliness is obviously important, and star Ocean gets mad props for making sure the food serving tables are constantly wiped and plates at your table are never left to pile. Food wise, hot platters of stir fried wok dishes line up with your typical fried offerings, a decent salad bar pairs well with the benefit of a Mongolian grill station. All foods are constantly rotated with no dish left to sweat or dry out. For $9.99 per adult for lunch, this place is a steal of a deal (though lacking a bit in seafood offerings). Way to go, Star! read more

Excellent selection and friendly staff. A shining star in the town of Rochester, a can't miss! The Taro buns have me at a loss for words, the sushi chef and I made eye contact, and where most would break away, he shamelessly stared on whilst I filled my plate a third time. Please eat here, an experience I wouldn't trade for ANYTHING. read more

Star Ocean Buffet - Buffets Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

Great buffet with an abundance of variety and a large salad bar. We have been here a handful of times and have had great food & service every visit. All of the food has been hot and fresh. Seafood options include squid (calimari rings) which have been perfectly cooked & seasoned each time, a few shrimp dishes (including coconut shrimp with the white cream sauce), stuffed clams, salmon and more! The cheese roll (basically cream cheese baked in puff pastry) is absolutely delicious and savory yet sweet enough to have with dinner or as dessert. The steam buns are interesting but the bbq ones are almost always empty when we go. Lots of great dish flavors to delight everyone. A few "American" options are also there for the fussy kiddos including chicken nuggets, french fries, mashed potatoes & gravy as well as macaroni & cheese. We have never tried the salad bar as we prefer to indulge on the meat options however the dessert bar includes lots of fresh fruit options such as pineapple, papaya, citrus fruits, grapes & more! "Ice cream" is also available (seems like an ice milk product) which we weren't huge fans of. The only thing I would really even critique as a negative comment would be that the egg foo young gravy is not as good as many other places offer. (It is right next to the egg foo young & mashed potatoes so it is more of a mashed potato gravy that we were not very impressed with.) Solid 5/5 stars from us! read more

I am giving this place a really bad review. I was here with my best friend and the service was awful. The food was cold and tasted like it was old. This place is also expensive and I would not recommend it for families or anyone who is looking a good buffet. read more

3.5 stars for the food 5 stars for service and cleanliness (for a buffet) There is surprisingly a lot of variety. You have siu mai (Chinese pork dumplings) to Mongolian stir-fry to sushi to mac and cheese. The food is good/decent and satisfies my buffet hankering in Rochester moreso than some other places. Being a buffet, the food is nothing to write home about, but it's good enough that I would definitely come back! I do wish the food was a bit warmer. The location, in a strip mall, is large and spacious. When I went, many people were in line for lunch, so the food turnover is fast (a good thing). There are servers who are pretty attentive to getting your drinks, which was nice. read more

Service was great, food was 4/5 stars, price was 3/5, it was spendy considering the true lack of options, the fish pond was really cool my daughter loved it, accommodated to a party well, I'm not big on Chinese or seafood lol I'm one that likes a little of both in a place like that and only thing American was fries lol out of all things its fries Haha but food was good. read more

they said they were open on Thanksgiving and we drove all the way there and they're not open

I am very impressed second time here fresh food on the buffet crab legs flounder all kinds of seafood and traditional Asian food five stars all the time read more

Star Ocean Buffet - Buffets Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

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I don't really understand the complaints. It's a Chinese buffet, not fine dining. Just be happy that it's clean and that you even get some semblance of customer service being it's a Chinese restaurant. I'm giving them five stars because it's the only place in town, outside my own kitchen, with decent (emphasis on decent) Chinese food that's not overpriced fusion. I was pleasantly surprised by the roasted duck, gai lan, and steamed flounder (I think these are only served during dinner hours)... food for the Asian soul. The food is consistent, employees are nice, bathrooms are clean, and bonus points for being kid-friendly. read more

$17 per person for Saturday Dinner. The food was alright. It wasn't great but it wasn't terrible. The food was cold. I enjoyed the chicken & broccoli, dim sum, sugar donuts, mac & cheese, and soft serve ice cream. The fried rice was hard. There's a lot of seating and a small koi fish pond. read more

Food was good with a great selection. The place was super clean. The restrooms were super clean and the staff was fast and friendly. The only thing that I am not a fan of is the seating. You may end up next to people you don't even know. It's like a school cafe and they sit you next to anyone. We were lucky and were sat at a table with a family we had lots of fun with but if you are are on romantic date. This may not be the place for some alone time conversation. read more

As far as Chinese buffets go, this place is pretty great. There are loads of healthier options and something for everyone. They have sushi, a Mongolian grill, and a wide variety of American, and Asian-Amreican options. Not too many things are very authentic Asian dishes, but I was surprised to see a few things with ube. The place is clean, the service is okay. The bathrooms have always been spotless. The coy pond is a nice touch too! This is a buffet, so I'm rating it in comparison to other buffets. read more