China Garden — Restaurant in Moberly

Short version: food (what there was of it) was great, the service was bad.

Man at front desk reeked of cigarettes and seemed angry. I got the impression he wasn't glad my wife and I came in on Saturday night. We got taken to a table, ordered our drinks and that was the last time I talked to an employee until I paid the bill. Drinks showed up while we were at the buffet. Bill showed up while we were getting dessert. We didn't really need anything, but it was weird to not have a waitress ask if we needed anything at any point. I've gone to a lot of Asian buffets across the country and normally someone will come by at least once to check on the guests. The guy that rang up our bill didn't ask if we enjoyed it, he didn't even say hello or goodnight. I think he might have said "next" when the previous customer finished paying. He just came across as rude.

Our biggest gripe was the buffet itself. The food was really good. I tried several items and all of them were at least good and most were excellent. My problem was that we arrived more than two hours before closing time and quite a few serving trays in the buffet were already empty. I can understand not wanting to waste food if it's late, but not a couple of hours before closing. We left at 9 o'clock and I'd estimate at least 25% of the serving trays were empty. The hours on the door said they closed at 10:30pm on Saturdays so still 90 minutes left.

The sushi had a single plate sitting there the entire time, with maybe 8 or 9 pieces. If you only have one kind why bother serving it at all.

If you're paying full price for a buffet, it should be a full buffet. Not 75% of a buffet. If they aren't giving full service they shouldn't be charging full price. $39 for two meals bordered on theft. We would have walked out immediately if we knew they were already closing down their kitchen that early. You can find good food almost anywhere, good service is what brings...

I'm updating my previous review....a lot can change over time, right? We ordered off the menu this time, for carry out. 3 people, 3 different meals. One of the three was correct....and I kept screenshots of the menu. Szechuan beef...ordered minus green peppers and carrots (allergies), received Hunan beef....a completely different flavor profile which contains broccoli and onions. We don't live in town so I called and they argued with me rather than admit a mistake, even after I told them I had the menu in front of me, they argued. The moo goo gai pan contained none of the cabbage, baby corn or snow peas. We also received a large container of the "donuts", which we didn't order. I don't think we're going to try again, there are other options for us.

More than disappointing, China Garden has been our family favorite for years. Three buffets to go, all different tastes and items. The "lo mein" was mushy, very little taste... the Mongolian chicken tasted like fish and not pleasant at all.... General Tsaos was tasteless and dry and an unidentified mass was found in the mushroom chicken that was truly disgusting looking. Needless to say, all three meals ($40) went to the trash and I think we're done...

3/30/21 We purchased takeout consisting of cashew shrimp, egg drop soup and BBQ ribs. It started badly when we got the food out and found the soup lid had not been secured and the soup leaked on the rest of our food and made a mess in the bag. What was left of the soup was good. The cashew shrimp was the worst food I have ever purchased. The shrimp were not cleaned and were full of shrimp poop. We passed on eating the shrimp which should have been the star of the show. The sauce tasted like 4 to 5 tablespoons of sugar had been added. The celery had been briefly blanched and was under cooked in our opinion. It really was pretty much inedible. We tried mixing some of the cashew shrimp with the egg drop soup later and it was still sickeningly sweet. Down the garbage disposal. The ribs were OK and almost worth the $6.00 price. Not that much meat on them. I thought about going back to complain, but I can just as easily not go there in the future.

We have been here before and had gotten pretty good food in the past. New cook? Indifferent cook?...