China buffet & grill — Restaurant in Hendersonville

Hey. Since moving to Hendersonville five years ago, I’ve been going to China Buffet and Grill every few months. Two years ago I wrote a review, but I deleted it and wanted to give an update. There are plenty of reviews out there, and every person can be a critic on the internet, so I doubt mine will stand out much. My review will be a long one, but please take a moment to read if you care about food, service, or are interested in learning about cultures.

The food at China Buffet can be great, especially in the mornings when it is fresh. In other times of the day it is not good, and is hard to recommend due to the inconsistency. The cooks never get enough credit, and no one ever speaks of them. They are always working hard to check on the food and put out more. The chow mein is especially good, and the potatoes are to die for (that is probably why everyone wants to eat them.)

For one person, $11-12 would be a generous price to pay here if the prices were consistent. But… the prices are not always consistent, and I often feel they are trying to upsell me in a way. For example, when you enter the lobby they have a board with prices listed at different times in the day, $11.99 in the afternoon for lunch and so on. But at times, I’d visit during the afternoon and would be charged $13-14 which does not match the advertised price on the board. Adding to this, for the same size plate you would receive for takeout before, they recently started charging $2 extra for the same plate, while offering a smaller plate option. If you don’t mind spending a few bucks extra, go for it - but please keep this in mind. I feel this could be due to inflation, or higher costs to maintain restaurant, but I would like to know for sure.

The atmosphere can be slightly noisy, but comfortable. It is well decorated but certainly not like the China Star Restaraunt in Madison that I was familiar with as a small child. Perhaps it is unfair of me to compare though. China Star Restaurant was always so peaceful, and the rooms were big. Every room was decorated to fully immerse you in the setting, as if you were in the heart of China itself eating food while keeping you interested in the culture. From the moment you walked in, the entrance was decorated with ornaments, dragons and other mythical creatures. As a kid I found it so beautiful, it made me more interested in learning the culture. Sadly, they went out of business. If I could give the owner a hug I would.

For years, I tried other Chinese restaurants in Tennessee, from Hibachi, to Panda Express, to China Wok, Panda Cafe, and even China One, but none of them were quite like the China Star Restaurant I remember as a kid. They all struggled with consistency, and delivering that same feeling. No one could replicate the quality of China Star until China Buffet.

When people come to a restaraunt, people expect great food as they should - but it seems no one else is interested in the culture or has any respect for it. I think part of this is because most Chinese restaurants do not fully commit to teaching people about it, and we are often careless people. This restaraunt does convince you that it is a chinese restaurant, but it feels like something is missing I can no longer find again.

As for service, China Buffet is okay. The waitress is quick and responsive, and the guy at the front desk is cool. But at times, some of the people don’t respond to words like “thank you” and appear to ignore me. Instead of seeing this as rude, which I did, I try to think of it as my lack of understanding or a difference in language. I understand that in other cultures, people do not share or express kindness in the same small ways that we do in America. So I try to keep an open mind. I don’t know. I think that is the right way of seeing it.

Taking this all into account, is China Buffet worth it? Yes and sometimes no. Food can be great but inconsistent. The atmosphere can be noisy in afternoons, but it does okay to show the theme. The service is good.

I took several hours to write this. Hope it...

I cannot grasp who wrote positive reviews for this. Must be paid or friends of establishment. First bad sign was when we could skate around the buffet tables due to grease on floor. Second bad sign was the bathrooms could be smelled before you arrived. This may have been in part due to men's bathroom being propped open by waste can due to handle being gone..... The deal breaker for me was both the hot n sour (even after adding rice and shrimp from the bar) and egg drop had no taste and broth was most likely only water. The hot n sour looked very pale compare to every Chinese place I have eaten at but still gave it a try. Wished I had just went home hungry. The beef and broccoli was like chewing shoe leather. We arrived at 645 pm so thus should of been mid dinner rush.....lack of customers should of been the only red flag we needed. The worst part was we paid $13 per adult to leave gorged on pudding and oranges. The oranges were good. They did have decent ice cream but this was one of the most disappointing buffets I have ever experienced and our bar for Chinese buffets is not high to begin with. Save yourself the grief and goto china cottage and order off the menu. You will be in same price range but will look forward to...

service was terrible they keep watching us standing right beside our table the entire time & added our tabs together didn’t ask if it was separate or anything brung us extra drinks that we didn’t ask for nor touched , when we went up to pay our bills they over charged us for the 4 extra drinks they brung us that we never touched & a extra person it was a total of 14 people 3 got water 3 of the those people were children 3 & under which buffet was FREE & added drinks so 3 drinks for the kids Three & under ! 3 more kids 5 & up which was 3 more drinks so that’s a total of 6 right there & 5 adults w drinks so a total of 11 drinks so did we get charged for the water ?? One of those adults that got water never touched a plate didn’t eat anything & the waiter told her she wasn’t goin to charge her , we were targeted bc we are BLACK ! i dont not recommend this place AT ALL ! WE ALL PAID FOR THE DRINKS WE HAD PLUS BUFFET WE HAVE OUR RECEIPTS TO PROVE IT !!...