Driftwood Great Chinese Buffet — Restaurant in Nanaimo

Last night we went out to supper at the Driftwood Nanaimo with my daughter and her friend. We were met at the door by a nice young man who showed us to our table and asked us what we'd like to drink.

So far so good. Then a nice lady brought our drinks and water and left. So all set up we headed to the buffet to get our food. And, that's where it fell apart and became a crapshoot.

Some of the food was good and some wasn't. Alot of it was extremely greasy and lacked any discernable flavour other than "spicey". But the you had other food on the same line that was good bordering on excellent.

What really bothered me though was that the Chow Mein was cold. A fact which makes me wonder if their steam table was working properly because everything around it was warmed up to at least tepid.

Then the bill came and it was 30 dollars per person which for the poor quality of some of the food was somewhat pricey.

Pro's Only 6 people in there when we went in at 1730 and there were 8 people dining when we left which meant no over crowding like a certain other Chinese restaurant in town.

The food that was good was good.

The service was good and the lady serving our table kept checking on how we were doing and if the food was alright, which was nice given the last time we were in there a year ago the 3 young girls working never left the front counter.

Con's

A serious lack of consistency in the quality of food and the food that was bad was bad.

Overpriced for what you get.

When we got home I was ruminating about how great the place was when it first opened and how good the quality of the food was back then.

But then I remembered that this is essentially a "Chain Restaurant" and that perhaps my expectations were to high especially in light of other chain restaurants I've eaten at in town.

So until they start to get some consistency in their food I'm going to give the place a pass and find somewhere with better quality at...

Very standard Chinese buffet experience.

Chinese buffets haven't felt the same since the early 2000s, but this place almost makes the mark!

The buffet has a standard size selection of various norms from the Chinese buffet industry.

Nothing in particular stuck out to me. There was a robot, which I was told would deliver food, but I didn't see it in action once, which was unfortunate.

Some of the breaded meats selections they had, had clearly not been touched for a while. Where it would normally be crispy and a good chew, it was soft and almost had the texture of a meaty banana. It still tastes good, though!

The octopus was actually very good, I was quite surprised, if you like Calamari, try it, it was crispy and chewy and delicious! Almost all of my veggies were more soft than crunchy, also a disappointment, but again, tasted good!

The deserts were standard, some jello options, nanaimo bars, carrot cake bars, and ice cream. Nothing stuck out as being too good. Very standard in all aspects.

The decorations are lackluster, and the seating arrangements reminded me of a mall cafeteria. There were a few places along the midwall that seemed better, but there were 2 large parties of people eating, I assume reservations.

I also noticed a few cob webs. They were not dirty by any means, but the place definitely needs somebody to show it a little more love.

Staff were friendly and confusing. The gentlemen that showed us to our seating didn't look like he worked there. When he approached us, I thought it was a stranger saying hello, almost ignored him if it wasn't for my more attentive better half.

Overall, it was a good experience, but don't expect "the best" Chinese food here. I believe it was around $35 a head for the buffet, which was a little on the pricey side for how much we ate, but, if you have a large appetite, it will be absolutely...

As a Chinese person who has eaten A LOT of exceptional Chinese food at many various buffets, this place was rather disappointing (especially for the amount they charge). We paid $120 ($30/adult) for a family of four all over 12 years old just to find that this buffet had even less selection than Hong Kong House Restaurant, which only charges $25/adult (12+). Not only do they have a very limited selection of food, but the dishes themselves aren’t worth the money. My dad told me to take a picture of the watermelon because it wasn’t ripe yet so I could post it on my review, but honestly, that wasn’t even the worst part. He complained almost the entire time and said that he felt “scammed”. He even considered getting KFC afterwards because he was unsatisfied with the buffet. The worst part was that I had to LISTEN to all his complaining. Maybe if you haven’t had much Chinese food in the past, you would enjoy it. However, for my family, it really was subpar and tasted like your everyday Chinese fast-food. There’s no ice-cream, most dishes are deep-fried, very few dessert options, the only seafood they have is breaded oyster, and no salads or sushi. My dad said “TELL EVERYONE TO GO TO HONG KONG HOUSE RESTAURANT INSTEAD” and that he wouldn’t give this buffet any stars because of how expensive it was, but the dining experience wasn’t all bad, here I am giving it one star. The only positive parts of this buffet was the kind and helpful staff and their very clean/modernized washrooms. Bur next time, I would suggest that they spend a little less money on their bathrooms and more on...