Tin Loong — Restaurant in Blue Ridge

A completely wretched experience. The building looks inviting from the outside. The staff is welcoming at the entrance. I was offered a booth or a table. The lunch buffet price is reasonable for my budget ($10.99) but a trip to view the food had me a bit confused. I was met with a tiny section of food In stainless steel pans but there were 50 feet of empty zones on the buffet line. There was a very basic salad bar that had sliced carrots floating in water, same with the baby corn. Good ole artificial bacon bits and onion CHUNKS ( cut like someone had quartered a medium sized white onion) There were two soups, the egg drop was ok with the fried crisps added in. The hot and sour mushroom soup left a lot to be desired with regard to taste. The highlight of the offerings was the fried egg rolls. Yep, fried egg rolls ! I had 3 to make up for the lack in the remainder of the offerings. Do read on! The few hot entrees were bland, basic mush passing as Asian food. Each dish seemed to offer the same quartered chunky onion, some carrot for color and some green bell pepper, most likely for color because there was no flavor in ANY of the dishes. Not a water chestnut or bamboo shoot in sight. . I think I counted maybe 6 different entree dishes being offered on a buffet line that was 4/5ths empty. I’m not saying they were empty and food was not refilled, they were just empty area. The meat in all of the dishes was also flavorless and indistinguishable from any other dish. The fried battered chicken was ok but rather tough. The did have a red syrupy sauce next to it but it did nothing but sweeten the chewy morsel. That alone was disappointing but the fried chicken pieces were so overcooked the crust had a deep dark brown color with a shell hard enough to break teeth. I cannot believe some of the other positive reviews in this thread. People who think that this is really good Asian/Chinese food have my deepest sympathy. I saw no sushi nor hibachi anywhere. A very disappointing dining...

Updated Review (March 2025) – After 8 Years

What a disappointing decline.

We used to love this place and came often, but after our recent visit, we won’t be back. The hibachi is now wildly overpriced—you're paying premium steakhouse prices for bland, poorly prepared food. We ordered two hibachi dinners with basic add-ons and still ended up with a bill that felt like robbery.

The service was passable, but nothing worth mentioning. Our chef didn’t seem engaged, and the “show” was lackluster at best. Portions were noticeably smaller than they used to be, and the quality just isn’t there anymore. The atmosphere is okay—still has that typical hibachi vibe—but it doesn’t make up for the rest.

I honestly can’t understand how they justify these prices, especially with the decline in food and service quality. No wonder the place was nearly empty on a Saturday night. It really feels like they’re trying to squeeze every last penny out of anyone who walks in.

Sad to say it, but this was our final visit. It’s frustrating to see a place we once loved turn into something so forgettable.

2017 I don't understand some of the negative reviews for Tin Loong. We love this place! The Hibatchi is awesome, but it is a bit pricy. They do offer discount nights, but you can't share plates, which makes it pointless for a family of 6 where 3 kids can't finish one plate together. The buffet side is awesome as well and seems to be more...

As far as a "lunch buffet", it wasn't much of one. They only had 2 bars. One of which was a "salad bar" The food was mediocre at best. Just about all of it was bland, tasteless, and just weird. I'm not sure if their other food options we're better but that buffet wasn't great at all. We paid $70.62 for 6 of us to eat on one bar of food that wasn't great. They tried charging us $81, until I looked over the ticket. They tried charging our 2 year old as a 3 year old, and our 4 year old as a 6 year old. The mistake would have been understandable with our 2 year old, but not our 4 year old. She doesn't look 6 lol The waiter didn't have a problem taking it back and getting it changed for us. He was the best part of our whole dining experience. I will add, $70-$75 is normal for us to go to a buffet, but usually there are a lot more options and the food is good. We all usually get our fill, but each of us we're lucky to enjoy 1 food of plate. We were automatically charged gratuity for our party of 6. Others I've been to are 8 or more. Thank the Gods we had cash or we would had been charged a 3.5% service fee for paying with our debit card on top of the automatic gratuity and taxes. It was our first time eating and it will be our last. It was truthfully a waste of money and time. Would've gave it a zero if I could have. The one star was...