We were in the mood for some Chinese food a couple of weeks ago and decided that we should go for a buffet. Instead of going to our usual Chinese buffet place in Clifton, we decided to try some place new. Who knows, we might find one even better than the one in Clifton. So, I went online to read up reviews about some of the buffet places near our apartment. There were quite a few, but one particular place kind of stood out. According to the reviews, it's really good and affordable. Sounds good to me!
So, we headed out to Bloomfield (just one neighborhood away from us) to check out Family Buffet King. When we initially saw it's address, we were pretty worried about parking. It's on Bloomfield Avenue and since that's the main street of Bloomfield, parking can be a problem sometimes. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find a parking lot (with free parking!) situated just next to it. Yay! When we walked in, we noticed that it was almost full but there wasn't a single Chinese in that Chinese buffet (not counting the owner and servers :P). To me, that's a big oh oh! An authentic Chinese buffet would be filled with Chinese families on a Saturday night.
The servers as well as the owners were really friendly though. They really made we feel very welcomed. While walking in, I noticed that the grill section was out of order. That kinda sucks, cos we were really looking forward to some grilled steaks. I don't know if it was just for that night or if it has been out since forever. Ahhh well, maybe the rest of the food would make up for it. I made the appetizer section my first stop in the buffet line. I was rather disappointed. The selection wasn't really that great. A few different salads, some mussels and rather tiny shrimp. There are a few small trays of sushi rolls, nothing really impressive at all. There were also three different types of soups to choose from and I tried the Hot & Sour soup. A little too starchy but not too bad I guess. Kevin wanted to try the Wonton soup but he soon realized that there were no wontons left in it! So, he didn't take any :(
Disappointing appetizers...what about the main dishes? Well, if you are looking for authentic Chinese food, then you are in the wrong place. However, they have a rather good selection of American Chinese food as well as some American food. You can pretty much find the entire menu of a typical Chinese take out restaurant there. Not too bad if you like American Chinese food. Of course, I was hoping for more authentic stuff, so I wasn't really impressed.
Time for dessert! Now, here is the funny thing. The layout of the dessert section was really weird. The desserts are not grouped together in a special section. You have to walk the entire buffet line to pick out your desserts from various sections. Also, we couldn't find any ice cream in that buffet. That's rather surprising, since ice cream is pretty much a staple in Chinese buffets. The dessert choices were not really huge but I did enjoy the apple strudel though. I guess that was the highlight of my whole evening.
Our total bill came to $26.94. Not too bad at all. Their weekend dinner buffet is $11.59 per person and their regular lunch buffet is even cheaper. I believe it's only $8 or so. That's really affordable for a buffet. However, the food selection was rather disappointing for me. So, if you are looking for a cheap American Chinese style buffet to go to, then this is the place for you. However, if you want to go for a buffet that serves more authentic and higher quality Asian food, then I would give this place a miss.
So, we headed out to Bloomfield (just one neighborhood away from us) to check out Family Buffet King. When we initially saw it's address, we were pretty worried about parking. It's on Bloomfield Avenue and since that's the main street of Bloomfield, parking can be a problem sometimes. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find a parking lot (with free parking!) situated just next to it. Yay! When we walked in, we noticed that it was almost full but there wasn't a single Chinese in that Chinese buffet (not counting the owner and servers :P). To me, that's a big oh oh! An authentic Chinese buffet would be filled with Chinese families on a Saturday night.
The servers as well as the owners were really friendly though. They really made we feel very welcomed. While walking in, I noticed that the grill section was out of order. That kinda sucks, cos we were really looking forward to some grilled steaks. I don't know if it was just for that night or if it has been out since forever. Ahhh well, maybe the rest of the food would make up for it. I made the appetizer section my first stop in the buffet line. I was rather disappointed. The selection wasn't really that great. A few different salads, some mussels and rather tiny shrimp. There are a few small trays of sushi rolls, nothing really impressive at all. There were also three different types of soups to choose from and I tried the Hot & Sour soup. A little too starchy but not too bad I guess. Kevin wanted to try the Wonton soup but he soon realized that there were no wontons left in it! So, he didn't take any :(
Disappointing appetizers...what about the main dishes? Well, if you are looking for authentic Chinese food, then you are in the wrong place. However, they have a rather good selection of American Chinese food as well as some American food. You can pretty much find the entire menu of a typical Chinese take out restaurant there. Not too bad if you like American Chinese food. Of course, I was hoping for more authentic stuff, so I wasn't really impressed.
Time for dessert! Now, here is the funny thing. The layout of the dessert section was really weird. The desserts are not grouped together in a special section. You have to walk the entire buffet line to pick out your desserts from various sections. Also, we couldn't find any ice cream in that buffet. That's rather surprising, since ice cream is pretty much a staple in Chinese buffets. The dessert choices were not really huge but I did enjoy the apple strudel though. I guess that was the highlight of my whole evening.
Our total bill came to $26.94. Not too bad at all. Their weekend dinner buffet is $11.59 per person and their regular lunch buffet is even cheaper. I believe it's only $8 or so. That's really affordable for a buffet. However, the food selection was rather disappointing for me. So, if you are looking for a cheap American Chinese style buffet to go to, then this is the place for you. However, if you want to go for a buffet that serves more authentic and higher quality Asian food, then I would give this place a miss.Family Buffet King - Bloomfield, NJ
619 Bloomfield Avenue,
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Tel: (973)743 2666/6268
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