Ling's Buffet — Restaurant in Lakeland

Just TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE! From what used to be a reasonably priced, good food restaurant has been letting their buffet price gradually creep up to what it is now. Oh, and don't dare expect to find any crab legs (after 4 when they start serving) without first standing around waiting...and waiting...and well you get the point. For the extreme price on should not have to feel like they are begging!!! The "prime rib" defies knowing WHAT it's a prime rib of!!! It's certainly NOT prime!!! In fairness, the rest of the food is normal good tasting Asian type food and some "regular" food. I ASSUME that they use MSG or they would advertise that they don't so beware if you react to such an additive. UPDATE - JULY 01, 2018 --- I recently found out, by telephoning the restaurant, that THEY NO LONGER HAVE CRAB LEGS AT ANY MEAL!!! Personally I no longer care to visit the place as there is another Asian buffet on the North Side, up Rt. 98 about 1 mile North past I-4 in the Big Lots shopping center on the right that is closer to me, has just as tasty food, and a bit less expensive. UPDATE - MARCH 26, 2024 Hell will have to freeze over before I go back. I figured that enough time has passed since my last visit so I figured I'd try again. I'm sorry to say that I was again disappointed! A pile of something that was supposed to be Fried Rice proved to be nothing but a cold, poorly flavored offering, the Noodles were flavorless and greasy, and the rest of the fare was "just the same stuff". Other Asian restaurants, that I've visited, alternate some dishes, giving better variety, but this place is just the same but AGAIN the prices went up from my last visit. As I said, it WILL be awhile before, or if. I'll be back. UPDATE - OCTOBER 23, 2024 My Granddaughter wanted to " celebrate her first time Voting so she wanted to go there. It was about 1PM. ALREADY the fare was picked over, with smatterings of was used to be full pans!! The Trout was cooked with the full skeleton, with bones aplenty! The Salmon was actually hard to portion servings from! The fried foods were kept full, probably because it doesn't take much to cook vs the other offerings that usually take time to properly prepare. The cold boiled shrimp was virtually non-existent. The salad bar and the Sushi were well stocked but I'm there for protein food, not cheap fillers. Well, the Golden Corral has more to offer than this overpriced place...

My family and I eat at Lings an average of 20 to 30 times a year. We've liked it. In the past it has been fresh and the ownership has been friendly (the lady who always wears summer dresses). After the pandemic there was a noticeable decrease in the quality of the lunch menu, so we now spend more and eat at dinner time or on Sundays. 2 weeks ago I developed a bad case of Diarrhea after eating their sushi. It was so bad that I had to spit out some of the pieces of sushi and the ones that still tasted edible made me sick for a couple of days. I'm a forgiving person, so when my kids asked me to take them to eat at Ling's today, I said "sure". Maybe they were having an off day two weeks ago. I was truly wrong. We ate Saturday dinner time, each person paid an average of $20.00. My wife's shrimp tasted old and she could not eat them. My daughter loves the wonton soup but she could not eat it because it was overly salted and it looked like it had been on the hot plate a long time. My other daughter could not eat the bourbon chicken because it was tough and old as well. I tried the sushi and I had to spit it out again with how horrible it tasted and the crawfish tasted rotten. When we complain to the owner (lady in the dress) she acted like she could care less, she agreed that the soup and the crawfish had been left on the hot plates for 3 hours but fiercely defended the bourbon chicken and straight called me a liar for telling her the sushi tasted horrible. I tried to tell her the tongs used to grab the sushi were filthy and clearly not hygienic but she refused to hear it. By then there was no reason trying to tell her that the hibachi BBQ guy keeps cross contaminating the veggies with the raw chicken (whatever veggies fall on the chicken, he picks them with the chicken tongs and puts them back on the particular veggie container).The owner's response, after arguing with me and calling me a liar was to say "what do you want me to do?" And she left. Immediately after arriving home my daughter who had the bourbon chicken and I had a bad case of diarrhea. I spend $75.00 for my family and I to get the runs. I am never going back to this place and will do everything in my power to get the health department involved in this situation. Once can be called a coincidence, twice is an issue that needs resolving by any...

We came here with several residents from the Assisted Living Facility where I live. Ling's offers a wide variety of Chinese and American food on their buffet. They offer Egg Drop & Wonton soups as well as New England Clam Chowder. White & fried rice as well as lo mein and rice noodles for accompaniment with your main meat entree. We found many types of chicken such as with cashews, mixed vegetables, bourbon, teriyaki, sweet and sour and sesame. There were also many pork dishes but since I don't eat pork, I don't know the names. They don't offer much in the way of beef dishes which I, personally, found disappointing. I saw beef pepper steak and beef with mixed vegetables. I would have loved some beef and broccoli and beef fried rice. Two of my favorites. They also offer seafood variety dishes however, again, I don't eat them so I can't list the types. They have one large long bar of different types of sushi. Also two areas of cold foods like salad, fresh fruit, pudding, jello and nearly everyone's favorite thing peel and eat shrimp. Our residents loved it! I noticed for American food there were things like cheese pizza, chicken nuggets, fried chicken, crawfish and steak fries as well as a fresh ham to slice. Finally there is ice cream and desserts to finish off your meal. We arrived just after they opened at around 11:45. Food was wonderfully fresh and hot. We have previously been to Ling's at later times and find it to be fairly fresh and hot also. We have always found Ling's to be clean and the staff to be attentive. However, refills on drinks usually have to be requested as well as "to go" cups. Just as a note, although you have to request all drinks, hot tea is included with the buffet but not iced tea. Two of us had each a pot of hot tea and were not charged although we brought it to their attention. Our friends had iced tea and were charged. I think you will be very satisfied eating at Ling's, especially if you really enjoy Chinese food. For those in your party, particularly young people, who may not be quite as fond of Chinese food, I think you will find there is ample American food to satisfy them. As you can see from the smiles on the faces in this photo, we enjoyed...