Bamboo Garden II — Restaurant in Archdale

I thought the place clean and the food available was actually very good. I'm happy to go back.

Just off a major highway so easy to get to as well. Keep watch on the hours as they vary during the week.

For $11 dinner buffet (w water), 30% of the choices, about 6-8 items, were fried foods: fried chicken, fried mushrooms, onion rings, and so on - adding in "general tso" chicken as a fried food. And fried foods just don't stay succulent before drying in the heat lamps and steam pans, right? I tried a couple from the buffet and yes, dry. Clear plastic covers may help keep the moisture in.

The remaining was a minimal variety of good and fresh tasting choices. All in the expected and typical Western-palate of beef & broccoli, long beans and shrimp, fried or steamed rice, chow mein noodles, pepper chicken, shrimp and veg medly and the like. For the price, still affordable for what you can get.

Nothing stood out as a new authentic style choice that I might only find here or that I'm familiar with as more mainland China style.

I'll add, the chicken used for the stir fried items was tender and thick. It could be served on its own and be enjoyable to eat ( Not as some buffets with thin chewy chicken.) So another point for Bamboo Garden II !

Still, on the down side, the choices were limited to only about 10 items that were not fried or a dessert item. And some dishes were heavy on the glazes and hoisin sauces. So if you can find your faves in the "entrees" available, or if you even go for the fried items, then this is a good place to enjoy if you're nearby and hungry.

It has that "it's been here awhile" atmosphere and standard Chinese buffet (in America) ambience we've all seen since the 60s. Old decor, old booths and tables, and so on. Quaint enough. Not a problem. We know that style. And I noticed (as well as many other reviews) they did their best to keep a clean and inviting restaurant. Kudos. It shows. Well done.

So, with few choices, no 🍣 and no special "authentic" dishes (try 干炒牛河 or similar - a good quick dish for a western palate) it still stays comparable or better, to a larger metro buffet, for having a great chef and good quality tasting food along with friendly staff -- as long as they don't raise...

We were passing through Archdale a little bit later than planned, and we were hungry. Crazy long day! Of the many choices around us, Chinese food sounded the best. This turned out to be a buffet.. which, honestly, could go either way, regardless of the time of day, right? Well this one went right! The food smelled amazing (not the least bit 'tired' at 8:45pm), and while we were going down the line, the owner even asked if we'd like certain near-empty dishes replenished. (She brought out new small pans of lo mein and sesame chicken - 🤌 - and maybe a couple of others?) Beyond that, both our server and the owner were very engaging, helpful, and kind. For the food.. the biggest surprise was the fried fish (whitefish). It was some of the "fluffiest" and tender fish I think I've ever eaten! Two other really tasty dishes were the shrimp and green beans and the butter shrimp, (and I'm super picky about shrimp). I went back for seconds on the butter shrimp and the fried fish.🤭 We are not in Archdale often, but when we find ourselves there again, I know where...

Not good. This was our third time here. Was good, really good those first two times. This time it was later. 745. They closed at 9. We were 1 of 2 tables. The bar was about 2/3 stocked. They brought out 1 pan of sweet and sour chicken. The fried rice was dry. I and my daughter got crab ragoons on our first plate. Only 6 in the pan. They were extra crunchy, and some were hard. Never brought out more. Soups were dried out and burnt to the pan. At 830 when server came by to check on us. We told her about dried out food and empty pans. She said they will not make more that late. We had been here almost 40 minutes. Nothing was brought out but one pan. Server did not seem or sound very interested in our concerns, too busy talking with 2 other people. Talking about people they knew or what this one and that one was doing. Even after we said something, she went back to talking...