Hibiscus — Restaurant in Holyoke

I've lived Hibiscus for years. When I first moved to Holyoke, I tried all the local places before I landed on this as my favorite. Their daily specials are packed full and have a lot of bang for buck. Most excitingly though is that they're piloting a buffet! The prices were really good. You pay for a take out box that you can fill to the top, which is an interesting concept. I think it was $9 for lunch, $12 for dinner? I was at first bummed about being limited but you can fit a ton - I got dinner and still had enough for leftovers.

There was a lot of seafood and really well cooked meats (the chicken wings were so juicy and had that kind of Korean fried chicken coating). They had classics too - rice, crab ragoons, lo mien. They had small batches out which tbh I think is great so they can replace and refill more often to keep it fresh. You can eat there or make your box to go. My partner and I loved it and thought it was a really good deal! You can't even get raw ingredients that cheap! I hope it gains enough traction that it can stay.

For those who haven't gone, there's a small parking lot with free off street parking. I've always been able to find a spot with ease.

They take cash and card, but note that they don't...

I ordered take-out. I ordered the Steak Bento box. Perhaps a Chinese/Japanese restaurant is not the ideal place to eat steak, but nevertheless I was disappointed. I ordered the steak to be medium rare and I'm pretty sure I would describe it as medium well. It was dry, and bits of it were charred. The spring roll was fair. The shrimp dumplings were spongy, (and tiny) and had only a slight shrimp flavor, they were pleasant. The sushi was adequate yet did not come with any wasabi, in fact, the entire meal did not come with any sauces except for dressing for the small salad. If sauces were available, I was not directed to them. The Miso soup I tried, and as one of my friends describes it, it was like sipping on a lukewarm cup of seawater.

Overall thoughts: If I were to purchase another bento box, I would order the chicken due to it being the cheapest. In general, I think I will stay away from the Japanese side...

Definitely better Chinese restaurants in the area.

I did try calling the restaurant as requested on 6/24 at 6:50pm, the person I spoke with asked me to call back in 30 min. he did not offer to take down my name or number and put it on me to call back. I do give the owner credit for reaching and offering to make it right, I wish you luck with your business but we will not be returning.

The General Tso’s Chicken was dry and tasted like you boxed up leftovers from your buffet, same with the Orange Chicken and the Boneless Spare ribs were completely inedible, they were sour and the...