New Oriental Buffet — Restaurant in Lethbridge

Went for dinner last night, far less impressive than it was a year ago.

There was a reasonable variety for Lethbridge, unfortunately that wasn't saying much. At $30 a person especially after a non-alcoholic drink, I admit I was somewhat deflated.

That place was extremely clean, but it was also dead, only a few tables the whole night and I think I know why.

My first plate sat for over 20 minutes before it was cleared, considering there was never more than four tables, that's a long time to sit with a dirty plates.

The barbecue pork was excellent, Rivals Vancouver Chinatown. However the spring rolls were inedible with grease, and lukewarm. It was a shame, they would of been nice quality had they been served well.

I was there an exceedingly long time with a friend. Not really for the food but the conversation. It was over an hour before we were asked how it was. When I commented "ok" with an intentional lack of enthusiasm, it was ignored. I was asked again but it was clearly just going through the motions, no real interest in the reply.

The place is well decorated, a lot to look at. Art, pictures, nice ambience, I probably shouldn't but I also appreciate the TVs.

However, my real concern was how hot the food was. I remember a year ago, the food was absolutely piping hot. I had been extremely impressed with how hot everything was and fresh. Clearly none of the dishes have been sitting, everything was fresh but our food was lukewarm after just minutes after plating. It was a shame because being honest everything tasted reasonably good.

The price of the buffet had also gone up substantially. It went from being a good deal to being expensive for very mediocre service and lukewarm food.

I also noticed my friend was served cans of pop for over $2 a piece, when the same drink was available by fountain with refills.

I asked for a manager and I was told that they were on vacation. I wasn't asked why I wanted to see speak to one.

I spent more time stirring the hot dishes than the staff did to avoid the dishes I liked drying out.

Summary: Tasty, Lukewarm food, significant price increase, lackadaisical service in a pretty restaurant.

I was planning on attending again, possibly twice in the next month or so with another friend and then a family member but I've...

We got Chinese on Easter Sunday for the family. We picked up and 15 mins later got a call that we had taken our order and someone else’s (after being told both bags were ours) they demanded we bring it back immediately. We had already gotten to the other side of the city and the round trip would be 30 mins. We told them they legally cannot serve the food we took so we would be driving over for them to throw it out, which they sounded shocked about and needed to confirm with someone else. The lady on the phone stammered. We had hungry kids and didn’t want to disrupt our family dinner any longer so we said we would drive it back at our convenience after our meal. During our meal we were called 8x telling us to hurry up and bring it back. We brought it back an hour later and they did not throw it out while we were there, they brought it into the food prep area. I’m convinced they still served it. Why else would they hound us to bring it back so quickly considering they had already remade the order for someone else?! We did not open the bag but it’s still covid and still illegal. We could’ve put anything in that bag.

EDIT: after receiving their response.

Considering your hostess threatened to charge the food that was wrongfully taken unless we drove across town during Easter dinner to give it back I’m sure you have our credit card info. I’m not giving up any more time out of a day to drive to this establishment for a refund. If you wanted to, you would have done it there. Or at least said thank you or apologized at the restaurant. Seems like your hostess needs some retraining, the restaurant was not busy. It was Easter...

I really wanted to like it. Was not successful. Sorry guys. We were duped by the ratings which are low but higher then most others. My biggest discomfort is the entrance. The SMELL and the filthy koi pond. I just don't understand. Maybe owner is in hard times because of pandemic, really hate to critique negatively but I was offended actually by the general unkempt appearance and grungyness of this establishment. Will not be returning sorry to say. 1 waitress for the whole place ? She was the hostess seating people also AND settling the bill. Very sweet, I feel for her. Hope she's getting paid WELL. Food.........I'm not going to even get into it. Just glad I couldn't see in the kitchen. If you are short on money and don't take issue with quality service, this is the place for you. Stack your plate and stuff yourself. Please Mr.Owner, clean up your act and quit settling for less than mediocre. You have the bones for a really beautiful place. Sad to see you've either given up or you don't care. Blessings for the future. PLEASE TAKE THE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM SERIOUSLY. YOUR RESPONSES TO NEGATIVE REVIEWS ARE IRRESPONSIBLE AND TELL YOUR CLIENTELE YOU...