City Buffet — Restaurant in Casselberry

So today I revisited City Buffet and boy do I have a review for you!

Food:

Green Beans Crisp, seasoned well, and cooked perfectly!

Seafood and Crab mix Seasoned well and cooked perfectly!

General Tsao Chicken As we all know, this particular dish changes from location to location, but I have to say I was impressed, the chicken was cooked fully, it was a light breading with a gentle tangy sauce that was great on the stomach and tasted absolutely wonderful. Kudos to the cooks for this dish, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've been underwhelmed eating this, it's great here!

Crab Rangoon Crisp and Tangy, a real treat!

Crab Seasoned well and cooked perfectly!

Bourbon Chicken Tender, cooked perfectly, seasoned perfectly!

Hot and Sour Soup Not too hot, not too sour, just right! and full of the things we all enjoy!

Baked fish The baked fish filets were seasoned well however upon biting into a filet, the meat itself was slighly dried out, I know it's nit picking, but it wouldn't be fair if I didn't at least mention these things. I did however find the seasoning pleasant, and I attribute the drying out of the fish to be an exact result of the heat lamps, I almost wonder if basting the filets with some butter periodically while they are on the buffet line might not be a good idea to retain the moistness of the filet.

Mushrooms Again, this is nit picking, but I feel like the mushroom sauce could have been stronger with more flavor, I mean obviously we don't want to take away from the earthy flavor of the mushroom too much as that would defeat the purpose of serving mushrooms to begin with, but it could use a little help or more seasoning. The mushrooms however were cooked perfect and were a treat to eat!

Service:

First off, my waitress was an absolute pleasure, she smiled, was attentive to my needs, and very very perceptive. She was a real gem to have coming to my table and works smarter not harder, I love that aspect, she knew I was going to go through water pretty quickly, and brought two glasses saving her time and sparing me the guilt of having her run back and forth to my table with water, and I really appreciated it. It was also extremely pleasing to have her look me in the eye and hold even a small dialogue with me, we're all people, and there's nothing wrong with some light chatter. :)

Atmosphere:

I have to say, I love that they stripped out the televisions that used to be mounted along the walls, the last owners had these things on and usually on a news station, so all you ever saw was negative things when you watched it, it was somewhat depressing. Those televisions being gone couldn't be a better thing to do, instead people either have to use their phones or engage in real conversation, I think it's wonderful they are gone and am happier for it! The new paint in the dining area was also a nice touch, there's a fantastic mural on one of the walls, and I like the colors selected, it feels fresh and new. Cleanliness in the buffet was amazing, everything was clean from the tables, floors and buffet area, it's a well maintained place!

it's hand's down one of, if not THE best Chinese buffet in the area at this point. Lunch prices were reasonable, the service was amazing, and food was top notch, I'd recommend anyone looking for an affordable meal with some good buffet staples, to take a ride down there and check it out...

My family and I decided to dine at this buffet because my grandmother has in the past and enjoyed her experience. We entered the establishment and were greeted by 2 hostess. We were asked how many in the party. I asked her to allow me a moment while I tallied the number of guests. She said anyone under 2 is considered a child. We had 10 adults or persons over the age of 2 and 3 2 year olds. I made the mistake in telling her that we had 11 adults and 3 children (a plus for them). I guess under the impression that we were lying the first hostess with brown hair called me a liar to her friend in Chinese (which I do speak and understand very well). They referred to us as "The Black People" several times. Trying not to ruin our experience we were escorted to our table by a manager where she asked our children their ages versus asking us. We allowed them to answer. This is where she found out that I added an extra person and she was embarrassed as I told her not all African-Americans or people for that matter need to find a con to dine. She walked away and allowed our waitress to do her job which wasn't a good one. Looking around the facility there was more tape on the chairs than regular decor. The establishment was old and had a funny smell. We retreated to the buffet where the selection was large and did smell good but everything was rubbery, hard and the taste was either bland or as if items had been sitting out for hours. When our bill came we were charged $28.80 for 16 drinks. 10.70 for our 4 and 5 yr old, 7.50 for our 7 year old. We also had two 14 yr old's with us that were charged the adult price. The tab rang that 10 guests totaled $128.50 because each adults' buffet would be $12.85. We ended up paying $176 plus an extra $7 for a take home plate four my disabled uncle who was unable to join us. When we were leaving we were followed to ensure that we paid. The waitress had a sudden burst of energy and became very nice although our table had dirty dishes that were not cleared promptly for many minutes. With the service not being to par as well as the rude comments made toward myself and family we did not leave a tip which we normally do of 20% or sometimes higher based on the service - we also will not allow...

I used to visit this place regularly, back when it was called New Peking Buffet. They closed for a little while, remodeled and opened again under the new name. The remodel was nice, modern and clean.

Unfortunately the name and interior wasn’t all that was different. It seems like several recipes changed, some done away with entirely, and none of those were good changes.

Curry shrimp is gone. Hibachi Chicken is gone. Mongolian Beef is gone. There are no more shumai or other steamed dumplings. Crab Rangoon became Cheese Wonton. Bourbon Chicken became, what I can only call Aunt Jemima’s chicken due to the overwhelming flavor of artificially flavored pancake syrup. I wouldn’t mind as much if these weren’t their best offerings to begin with.

Some items remained the same, but somehow seem to be cooked worse. The chow mein and mei fun lack most flavor, except what I’d call “old sponge”, which makes me question their kitchen cleanliness. Broccoli and chicken in brown sauce is pretty much flavorless.

They added in Hibachi and Sushi. Both were, frankly, a miss - hibachi doesn’t have enough options to put a decent dish together. Their sushi offerings are just too plain, though I appreciate the use of soy paper. The one positive thing I like is their addition of an individually packaged ice cream case - it seems far cleaner and more appetizing than their old ice cream offerings, which often had a lot of mixing and one ice cream scoop sitting in a bath of milky water.

I want to like this place. Their staff are very polite and professional. But their changes were not good. You won’t find a dish good enough to return for. The best thing you can find there now, somewhat ironically, is the ribs at dinner. But people don’t go to Chinese food buffets for American BBQ ribs, especially at their dinner prices approaching...