asian buffets

[kasia]

generally suck. like todai. but every once in a while, you'll come across one that is pretty good.

if you're in the bay, i'd recommend moonstar (http://www.moonstarbuffet.com/) in daly city - right next to koi palace. for about $30/person, you get a wide array of chinese dishes, seafood, and FRESH sushi/sashimi, packed by sushi chefs who actually know what they are doing. there's also authentic lo-foh (long-boiled) soup, like chicken ginseng, real westlake minced beef soup (not the egg drop crap), and red bean soup for dessert. there's a chocolate fountain, an ice-cream bar with chinese flavors like black sesame, lychee, red bean, and taro, and a decent selection of various cakes and pies. by far the best asian buffet i've been to.

any other recommendations?

p.s. i forgot to add that they have a noodle stand where you can get bbq pork and other meat items with ho-fun, udon, soba, or lai-fun.

[SunWuKong]

i don't know about the West Coast, but most of the Chinese buffets on the East Coast are opened by Fujianese people that hire Fujianese illegals to work there.

[kasia]

i don't know about the West Coast, but most of the Chinese buffets on the East Coast are opened by Fujianese people that hire Fujianese illegals to work there.

are they any good?

[yoMAMA]

i don't know about the West Coast, but most of the Chinese buffets on the East Coast are opened by Fujianese people that hire Fujianese illegals to work there.

most of the chinese buffets here in the midwest as well.

they all tast the same!

it's uncanny.

[SunWuKong]

are they any good?

some of their dishes can be. but of course they're all Americanised Chinese food. if you put enough sugar and MSG in it, a lot of things will taste good. these Chinese buffets are basically giant feeding troughs where people can fill their belly of Americanised Chinese food for a really cheap price.

[yoMAMA]

some of their dishes can be. but of course they're all Americanised Chinese food. if you put enough sugar and MSG in it, a lot of things will taste good. these Chinese buffets are basically giant feeding troughs where people can fill their belly of Americanised Chinese food for a really cheap price.

exactly.

it's the cafe for america's working class of all colors.

[AngryABCGirl]

anyone whose goes to collage at UC Davis, me and my friends use to go out and massacre King's Buffet in Vacaville, it's not bad and as some good stir-fried bok choy and sushi and seafood.

[eos]

most of the chinese buffets here in the midwest as well.

they all tast the same!

it's uncanny.

the ones in chicago are opened by fukienese who use the buffets to launder money from other illegal businesses. i mean, they ALL have all-you-eat snow crab legs and pricey seafood, for god's sake. how can they afford all of that with the income they "report" on their taxes?

[pikachupacabra]

moonstar is run by one of my friend's parents. The new location is nice and clean and has interesting dishes. Took some non chinese friends there, they weren't so fond of it.

[CBC guy]

Man don't remind me of those places. For whatever reason when we went to Prince George (a town in Northern BC, Canada) we went to a Chinese buffet and.... UGHHH..... I couldn't stand the oily stir-fried this and deep-fried that. Ai-ya!

[yoMAMA]

Man don't remind me of those places. For whatever reason when we went to Prince George (a town in Northern BC, Canada) we went to a Chinese buffet and.... UGHHH..... I couldn't stand the oily stir-fried this and deep-fried that. Ai-ya!

i hear ya my canadian brother.

i avoid chinese buffets at all cost.

:biggrin:

[SunWuKong]

i don't mind them actually. but i rarely go to any kinds of buffets nowadays because the girlfriend hates buffets of all kinds.

[CBC guy]

i don't mind them actually. but i rarely go to any kinds of buffets nowadays because the girlfriend hates buffets of all kinds.

I don't mind good quality buffets, (almost an oxymoron, but there ARE good ones out there) but most of them are slop for the overfed North American masses to stuff themselves silly.

When I was a kid (like from 5-10 years old or so) our family would go to a buffet, I would eat way more than I should and end up with bad diarrhea the next day. :frown: Happened more than once too. :mad:

[eos]

the buffet at the bellagio is fuckin awesome. just sayin'.

[yoMAMA]

i don't mind them actually. but i rarely go to any kinds of buffets nowadays because the girlfriend hates buffets of all kinds.

next time you guys visit the twin cities, we gotta go to the holyland buffet in northeast minneapolis.

it's middle eastern food and it's the BOMB!

:cool:

[BigLew]

generally suck. like todai.
lol I remember the todai in San Diego, all the sushi chefs were mexican.

[Adaon]

^-- The Todai's in Daly City isn't much better. I had to get Udon and Ramen from Ramon.

Nowadays, I'd rather pay more to eat something better than what I would get at a buffet, or just buy something awesome to make at home and spend time with my friends. Quality over Quanitity nowadays.

[eos]

i think todai is ridiculously expensive. and it's not exactly high-quality taste or dishes either. at least not here in chicago, i dunno about ya'll.

i'd rather eat snow crab legs and oysters at money-laundering fukienese buffets.

[Flutterby]

I went to a Thai buffet a couple of weeks ago. The food and service was very good!

[CBC guy]

I've been to a decent Indian buffet where the Naan was really fresh, the chicken tender and the curry really nice and creamy.

But the combination "Chinese-Japanese" buffets here are awful. They can get neither the Chinese nor the Japanese food right and its just stir-fried slop with "sushi"... Let's not mention the so-called "sushi" at those places... God

[SunWuKong]

oh i love Indian buffets.

[Faithless]

oh i love Indian buffets.
I guess they're okay, but there's only so much curry I can stand!

[Napoleon Chynamite]

I've never been to Todai. But everyone around here seems to go on and on about how great it is. Not just white people either...Asians too.

[Adaon]

I've never been to Todai. But everyone around here seems to go on and on about how great it is. Not just white people either...Asians too.

You're not missing out on anything, Hubie.

Just the fact that you are persistent in your avoidance of the Bay Area. Or maybe it's just me. :rolleyes:

[raacluse]

i don't know about the West Coast, but most of the Chinese buffets on the East Coast are opened by Fujianese people that hire Fujianese illegals to work there.

I suspected as much, although I haven't traveled enough to confirm it first hand.

I did notice that a buffet I went to in Pennsylvania (near Harrisburg) a couple years back was very similar to one in Aberdeen, Maryland. Even down to the furniture.

As for the taste, the food ranged from okay to forgettable. The string beans weren't cooked long enough.

Also went to one in Raleigh, NC a couple years ago. I think it was so-so.
Same for one at the White marsh mall in MD. I'd rate it slightly better, because for lunch they also had some so-so dim sum.

My better Chinese/Asian buffet experiences have been in Torrance, CA. (3 different places).

[Adaon]

There's apparently a "Super Buffet" style place (I have no idea what that means) in San Jose. I'm hoping Sherman pops his head in and drops his two cents in on that.

I went to Moonstar the other night (on Sunday).

The banging on the taiko drum for someone's birthday, directly behind someone's head will definitely make them reconsider going back to such a restaurant.

The food was still mediocre.

Service got worse, believe it or not. How hard is it to bus dishes after people self serve themselves at the buffet?

Eh.

I'd rather stick to the hot pot/korean bbq combo places and have fun making dinner on my own and such and get less variety than come out of a restaurant with more of a headache going out than going in.

[applehead]

oh god. i can't do the buffets or chinese food anymore.
i think my stomach has gotten really sensitive as i've
aged. it just goes straight through my system.

[CBC guy]

I've never been to Todai. But everyone around here seems to go on and on about how great it is. Not just white people either...Asians too.



I had it once with my cousins in LA. Its not great, you're not really missing anything LOL :wink: Freak the salmon was just AWFUL I don't know why

[power puff girl]

most of the chinese buffets here in the midwest as well.

they all tast the same!

it's uncanny.

90% new restaurants fail as it is. the last thing these chinese buffets would want to do is to increase that risk by putting out something american eaters would resist anyway. i blame american eaters, not the workers, for how crappy, and souless asian food in america is. they demand a certain taste, and its not surprising that these buffets respond the way they do.

[eos]

a chinese buffet going out of business is like saying monkeys will fly out my ass. that is, IMPOSSIBLE.

i couldn't care less about fat, obese americans' tastes because they don't have any. i'm just glad chinese/asians are making money off of them.

[yoMAMA]

a chinese buffet going out of business is like saying monkeys will fly out my ass. that is, IMPOSSIBLE.

i couldn't care less about fat, obese americans' tastes because they don't have any. i'm just glad chinese/asians are making money off of them.

yeah but the food at those "americanese" restraunts are so GROSS.

i get sick everytime i eat at those places...so now i avoid them like the plague (and there's only like 2 to 3 decent chinese restaurants in minneapolis).

[eos]

yes gross to US, because we actually have taste. it's not rocket science.

[SunWuKong]

you guys need to be less uptight about these restaurants. it's just food. and i like some General Tso's chicken every now and then.

[CBC guy]

I can't believe this thread is still ongoing. This thread always makes my day. :wink:

Decent Chinese restaurants in Vancouver are a dime a dozen. :biggrin:

[eos]

uptight? whatever.

like i said, i don't care what they put in their pie holes as long as the money keeps coming.

[Tao]

man, general tso's......ugh must not be tempted to go off diet....

[pikachupacabra]

like i said, i don't care what they put in their pie holes as long as the money keeps coming.




:biggrin:


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