Golden Harbor Buffet — Restaurant in Fresno

Golden Harbor Buffet was one of my most off putting dining experiences yet. I have a list of concerns so this is going to be somewhat long. I am not usually the type to write reviews, only typically tell my close friends and family, but this experience was so off putting I felt compelled to write a review. Firstly, the thing I noticed right away was that NOTHING was labeled. And what was labeled, was labeled incorrectly. If it wasn’t a very obvious food like pizza or fries, you weren’t 100% sure what you were putting on your plate. The second thing I noticed, not nearly enough serving ware. Hardly any tongs out, meaning people are constantly creating cross contact situations among foods that shouldn’t even touch each other. This observation lead me to my third, and that is refrigeration. I have worked in food service and food prep for many years and these coolers felt very high temp for proper food handling. However, it’s not like I pulled out a thermometer so I can’t claim they were definitely over temp, but certainly very concerning considering my experience with food handling. Fourth, the food options. I don’t know how you can mess up a salad bar, but even that was disappointing. Large wedges of hardly cut iceberg lettuce, gross gloopy ranch, and large awfully cut chunks of cucumber. Also, pepperoni. No bacon bits, or tomatoes, or sesame seeds, or ham, or carrots, and on and on. Just bizarre choices all around. Their mashed potatoes were dense, the gravy looked so disgusting and chunky and stagnant too. Fifth, the lack of service. Almost no staff presence after being seated, probably so you don’t ask for a bunch of drink refills. I don’t need to be asked how I’m doing every five minutes but at least look around to see if people need help or refills. About half of the restaurant was empty, so it’s surprising that nobody was available to help. As I looked around, I saw others looking for staff, waving an arm around, and sitting with empty cups pushed to the edge of the table hoping staff would see them. Sixth and finally, also the most serious, the cleanliness, as I was finishing up my salad, I noticed a small round bug crawling across my table. Absolutely disgusted, I capture it with my napkin to capture a photo/video which I’ll be attaching to this review. Directly after that, I looked around the rest of my plates, and sure enough, I found a small curly hair clinging onto the edge of my ice cream bowl. I was so disgusted and upset, we up and left before I even bothered to take a photo of the hair. This entire experience was foul and off putting. I will never come here again. If you want an Asian buffet, go somewhere else unless you’re okay with eating in unhealthy conditions. This places needs to be checked out by health and food safety...

This is the Golden Corral of Chinese food! They have everything! Seriously, EVERYTHING! Make sure to walk through completely and see it all before you start getting food because there will always be something else you want that you didn't see if you dont. Seafood, (BIG! crab legs,in ample supply) and the typical Chinese fare, (Mongolian beef, general Tso's, all the good chicken dishes) but also STEAK! Strips of serve yourself New York steak. It's not Texas roadhouse, don't get me wrong, but it is still good steak, and you can have all you want. The desserts? Just wow... forget about soft serve, they have REAL ice cream! Just grab a bowl out of the freezer, and don't forget to put some chocolate out of the chocolate fountain with a spoon. They have marshmallows to dip in the chocolate fountain, but I dipped fresh sliced pineapple and strawberries from the salad bar, and I also made chocolate dipped jalapeños 🙂 I mixed a lot of dishes together for a cullinary masterpiece, some jalapeños from the jalapeño chicken, some mushrooms from the mushroom chicken, with the orange chicken, over steamed broccoli from the broccoli beef, with grilled onions from the Mongolian beef, over rice, lo mein noodles, and string beans... Then Sriracha and soy sauce over the top. It was so good! Anyone who can't create their own fantastic frankenmeal that is amazing and suits just them just lacks imagination. The kids love the cotton candy machine and the chocolate fountain. It was $27.50 plus $1.50 for the drink, which is expensive on my budget (plus im just cheap), but it was so good it was well worth it, and if I could I would eat there all the time and never get bored of the food. Go there hungry with a lot of time to be able to try everything, this is a buffet to make a day of, you will really be satisfied. I took TONS of pictures, because they have TONS of food choices. These are not even pictures of everything, there is a lot more. You will see when you go. The service was great, even though they didn't have enough workers to service the huge crowd. She was really running keeping drinks filled, some might complain about that, but perhaps only those who dont know how hard that job can be. I look forward to my next trip to Fresno so I can go here again, it's more expensive than the Sizzler Salad Bar, (Also amazing) but I will split my time between them both now...

I was recommended this buffet by a coworker and to my genuine surprise this might be the best Asian Buffet in Fresno. The only buffet I can really compare it to is A-Star and Golden Harbor blows that place out of the water. A vast majority of options ranging from Fried Seafood to Crab Legs to Sushi to hand crafted Desserts in front of your eyes. Depending on the day of the week you go, it can run you about $20-$30 per person but I promise you, you can and will more than likely eat your moneys worth and then some. I myself had 5 plates worth of food and would've gotten more but I didn't want my girlfriend to just sit there and get bored watching me eat so I limited myself. Drinks are a steal as well $1.50 for any soft drink with free refills is a huge plus. Service was okay, I felt like the servers were a bit annoyed (Working at a buffet I can understand why) but I bet they get good pay so I don't see any excuse onto why they don't give atleast a 7/10 of customer service. My experience with service was about a 5/10. Atmosphere was good. Plenty of room for big or small parties, kid and elderly friendly. Whether you're on a date or want to take family out this is a great place to go if you want somewhere to get your moneys worth. My girlfriend and I paid $65 and I alone had atleast $150 worth of food and drink. Fried Shrimp, Squid, Octopus, Sushi Rolls Cooked and Raw, Crab Legs, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Oysters, Mussels, Seafood Boil, the works. The only thing I didn't get to try was the desserts so I will make it my personal missiom to go again asap just...