Top of China Buffet — Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene

Yet another victim of the Covid-19 pandemic. Or is it? I haven't been there for a while so I thought I would go for lunch just shortly before the switch to the dinner service. When you enter, there is a clearly defined entrance and exit ropes off to keep them separate. OK, that's fine. Nowhere did I see any emphasis on masks, just maintaining social distancing. The counter where you pay is now essentially a plastic wrapped cage and you pay before you eat. Once you pay you are given a styrofoam plate, a single napkin, and a plastic fork and spoon. Your drink is brought to your table in a disposable cup. No refills were offered, but you are supposed to be able to get them as that is what they advertise.

Only four tables were utilized - two hot and two cold. There is Mongolian grill at this time. Plastic gloves are placed on the edges of the tables, but I didn't see any signs to tell one to use them. In fact, I didn't even see them initially. Disposable plates and bowls are used in place of regular dishes. The food quality does not appear to have suffered as result, but service most definitely has. The tables do not have any condiments- no salt, pepper, or soy sauce. The only thing on the table is a little sign "requesting " your cooperation by bussing your own table and disposing of your "dishes" and "cutlery" in the trash can in the corner.

Cleanliness does not seem to be a great priority at the tables. I noticed a gentleman sitting at the table in front and me. He left, the table was not cleaned. Another gentleman came in, ate, and left. Again, the table was not cleaned. I did see employees did wearing masks with the exception of the manager.

The ladies room was dimly lit upon entering and there was virtually no soap for handwashing. Maybe they aren't paying attention to that area as I did not see a single female employee, but then again, I only saw a very few individuals who basically had no interaction with the customers. No one stopped to see if there was a problem. Once the drink was brought, you were essentially ignored.

For the first time I saw a sign informing diners that the cream cheese wontons contained fake crab. This sign, however, was placed on the opposite side of where the wontons were located. Not the best location.

No fortune cookies, which may or may not be a great loss, depending on your preference. Regardless, you are paying full price for the same quality of food, but a lesser variety and a markedly lower level of service. I understand one must adapt during these times, but this just ridiculous. You just can't cut a potsticker on a styrofoam plate with a plastic fork. I personally refused to leave a tip. I won't leave one for this level of "service." Disposable dishes, bussing your own table, no condiments, no one to see if you need anything, fewer choices, and no refills as advertised, but the same prices as usual. This is minimal service and is only a step above fast food takeout. Iin fact, I've had better service at McDonald's, and that's not saying much. I don't tip there and I won't for this.

It seems even the fish in the tank have defected, and honestly, I can't say I blame them. Better to...

So I had a hard time with this one since we've been going here for years, it's the only chinese buffet in the area and it's a locally owned small business. That being said, this is a straight forward review from someone that has had years of experience eating here. I took our kids on Sat for lunch so this will be regarding the lunch menu since the dinner menu is usually different.

Atmosphere: Clean, friendly, and what you'd expect from a buffet restaurant. Tables were always clean and tidy, floors were clean, buffet tables were clean.

Service: Fast, friendly, orderly and tidy. Plates were quickly picked up and drinks were refilled as needed.

Food. Now remember, this is a buffet. This is not a Chinese restaurant where you sit down and order a family style meal. It is NOT the same quality. It's sort of cafeteria type food. Not necessarily bad, but not the best.

We love sushi and the sushi was pretty decent. Lots of choices, good sauce choices and the rice wasn't grainy like a lot of grocery store/buffet sushi. Fried sushi wasn't good. Like it sat too long in the tray and hardened up. Salad bar is pretty good. Fresh, lots of choices. Pinapple an orange jello were terrible. Chinese was decent but seemed to have lost some quality from what we remember from last few times. Pineapple chicken, sweet sour chicken and General Tsos were really good. Bummed to not see any sesame chicken. Egg drop soup was good as usual. Chow main was so-so and the fried rice seemed old. Not great. We didn't really have any of the non Chinese offerings but I also didn't see any that I felt I had to try. Plenty of desert bars to choose from and ice cream cups.

All in all, kids loved it, I wasn't super impressed. We will be back, but it's more of a once a year or less type of place. Also, buffet pricing needs to be updated so you're not surprised...

Today, Saturday, April 10th, 2021 I had gotten off from work early and decided to take my wife to Couer d'Alene for some shopping and lunch. I really like Chinese but she can't have a lot of things that have sugar in them. So I looked at Top of China's website to see if there was anything that might be possible for her to eat. I found out they had a choice of American food and a Mongolian BBQ . I thought to myself and said to my wife "let's go to Top of China buffet for lunch". She said ok. When we arrived we were greeted and paid for our All you can eat buffet meal. Now I understand that we are concerned about this virus being spread so I get the fact of paying before we ate. What was much more UPSETTING was the fact that there was only SALAD for the AMERICAN choice and NO MONGOLIAN BBQ as choices for my wife. Also, we had NO SERVICE other than when we first paid and we finally got our waters well after sitting at our table for more than 5 minutes and the one the someone dropped off extra napkins. THAT WAS THE EXTENT OF THE SERVICE PROVIDED!!!😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠 There was nothing on signage that said that the MONGOLIAN BBQ was only at a certain time of day, and same with the American food. When we came a few years ago there was like Pizza Slices and some other American foods. I don't plan on EVER coming back to this establishment and hope many others will not come to this SO CALLED...