Mandarin Garden — Restaurant in Abbotsford

GREAT food if you go at the right TIME! First time I went here, I had low-ish expectations based on the reviews, but I was SUPER impressed! SO many dishes, most of which I loved. It was mostly Western-style Chinese but I'm used to that in the Fraser Valley; I was impressed there were some actual Chinese dishes plus things like black fungus (which I LOVE) in the Buddha's vegetables. Second time I went, the food was nowhere near as good, but I attribute this to timing... as with ANY buffet, it's all about getting there when the food is coming out hot and fresh, especially with vegetables! ... when those foods sit in a warmer they can't NOT start to overcook. First time there, spring rolls were a bit on the greasy side, but not bad; second time they were WAY oilier, which happens when the oil they're cooked in isn't hot enough. So my advice is... go at the BEGINNING of lunch or dinner (and a busy day is better, as there's quicker turnover of dishes) not the end... this is true of any buffet, not just this restaurant!

Staff were OK but I had to ask FOUR TIMES for more napkins... which are SMALL already, so please, owners, can you either get bigger/better napkins (the softer kind, if you're going to use paper) and/or just have a napkin dispenser on the table? (when I say I asked four times, I mean, I had to ask once then REMIND the waitress, over the course of at least an hour, that she STILL hadn't brought them!)

As for value for money: Go there when you're hungry, AND when the food is freshly cooked & delicious, and you'll definitely eat your money's worth! The time I went late-lunch and the food wasn't great, I ate very little; I'm glad that was not my first experience or TBH I'd never have gone back. Give it a try on...

BEWARE OF OWNER!!!! This lady is feisty!!! As on most Sundays my husband and I went there for lunch, it's fast, reasonably priced and tasty. As the main dining room was pretty crowded and I'm somewhat claustrophobic I asked if we could sit in the side room which only had on table filled with people and 8 big empty tables. The waiter asked the owner and came back and said sure and pointed us to a table in the middle. I said I'd like to sit in the corner and sat down. The owner came like a tornado and started saying If there's groups coming we'll have to move you....I said maybe we could wait for a table to clear by the window but she talked over me and didn't listen at all. When my husband was paying she asked if all was OK, I said the food was great but the way she'd talked to me wasn't polite. She said it was the only way to talk to someone like me who's difficult to deal with?????????????? I had never even talked to this lady before and always had a pleasant and fun time with the waiters. She said your husband is lovely but you are not, and she accused me of having said I wasn't gonna move if she needed the table for a group which never happened. Then she said we were welcome to dine somewhere else as I was difficult to deal with and as we headed for the door she repeated....You can go somewhere else to dine. I've never in my life been treated like this 🤔 And this after my husband had already gotten sick a couple times after eating there....well we'll be better of and healthier going somewhere else. But a question for the owner....Who pays your bills????? It's us the diners.....Think about it the next time your horses are trying to get...

I have been to many chinese buffets in BC but none of them compare to ones I've been to in the states. However this place does have pretty good points.

Fried wonton wrappers and shrimp chips - what a plus to have

Hot and sour soup - done well. The right flavor and the right ingredients.

Chicken drums - big drums but very tasteless in the middle. Needs to be marinated

Sweet and sour pork - bad. Soggy soupy mess.

Dry pork ribs - on the drier/crunchier side but the taste is ok

Deep fried pork chop - super dry

Garlic spicy tofu - really good flavor and i wish they threw this 'sauce' onto their ribs and pork chops

Spring roll - gigantic but not bad

Dimsum bean curd wrap. Hit or miss. Some baskets had salty sauce. Some had just the right salt.

Dimsum stick rice - very tiny. Not much to say about it.

Honey sausage - not bad even though its store bought. Have had worse

Thick shanghai noodles - really needs some more veggies or something. Super plain

Did not try wontons but husband said they were better than other buffets.

Button mushrooms - delicious garlicy sauce.

The only warning from me is the ice cream. They have 6 flavors unlabelled with a scoop that is just in still water with a tiny bit of water running through. I knew it was a bad idea but I ate it anyways. Within 5 min I had to vomit. Afer vomitting the blue and pink ice cream, I was fine. No food was vomitted lol.

Plenty of parking and lots of servers with...