China City — Restaurant in Seminole

I recently moved to Seminole and I was super excited to try the local Asian buffets, and China City was the first we drove by on our way through town.

It has been nearly 2 months since I dined here, and I will never forget the experience.

We entered the building, the decor was tacky and terrible. We spoke with the elderly Asian lady at the front desk, she said, "How many?", we said, "Two." To which she replied with a pointed finger and a very succinct, "Over there."

We seated ourselves, and were waited on by the same elderly lady for our drinks and were told to, "Go eat."

After standing up and walking over to the bar, we noticed there was only one medium-sized island of food, to which we walked around and surveyed for the freshest or most appealing foods. I decided on the Beef and Peppers, Coconut Shrimp, General Tso's Chicken, and a side of fried rice.

Upon arriving back to our booth, the first thing I noticed was the smell. The Beef and Peppers was foul, but I decided to have a bite before judging it too harshly. This was a mistake. It tasted as if the onions in the Beef and Peppers had been sitting unrefrigerated for at least 2-3 days and had gone rancid. I never spit food, but this was one of the few times I found it to be necessary.

Okay, one bad dish might not be so bad, so let's go to the Coconut Shrimp. The taste of this one was perfectly acceptable, but the texture was similar to that of rubber tire chips you might find in a schoolyard or playground. Not terrible, but edible.

Next up, was the General Tso's Chicken. The taste of this one was also perfectly acceptable, and it was spicy without being overly spicy. As you may have guessed by now, it was another texture issue. Most of the chicken was soggy and gross, while other pieces were very hard and crunchy, almost as if the chicken was left under the lights or heater or in the sauce for much too long. This was another "meh" dish that could have been good if it hadn't been sitting out for an extended period of time.

The fried rice was the last dish on my plate, and by this point, I was expecting it to the best food I had gotten at China City. This assumption was also a mistake. Fried rice is a super simple dish that is hard to get wrong, but somehow they did. It was literally just that: rice fried in oil and nothing more. No mixed veggies, no soy sauce, and no flavor. Of course, fried rice is a side so I tried it with the other dishes I had picked up, yes, even the Beef and Peppers, but it was lacking in every quality you would expect of fried rice. Extremely greasy, half of it overcooked and mushy, while the other half stale and slightly hard.

Lastly, the price. It was $28 for two people to dine-in for lunch. I still jokingly (though, also seriously) tell the other diner I was with that it was the worst $28 I had ever spent in my life.

I may go back to give this place another chance, even though it made me extremely sick the day after. Maybe they were having an off-day, but that isn't an excuse when you have a business MAKING FOOD.

As it is, I cannot recommend China City to anyone in Seminole, or who will be passing through the area.

Seminole Maple Garden is a much better buffet with friendly staff, tasty food, and they will always make you something fresh if it even LOOKS off in any way. If you're looking for a decent Asian buffet, go here.

Thank you...

Do not ever let your husband talk you into this restaurant.

We walked in, it was outdated, pink dining linens, like an old cafeteria, with an easily 350lb man in overalls chowing down.

I was immediately concerned. She told us we could sit anywhere. My husband sat us in the most acceptable but trashed booth with torn seats.

We sat; she took our drink orders and told us we could go eat.

WELL.

Let’s talk about the the fact it looked like; they had just emptied containers of cookies and peanuts into most of the containers; the rest of the food was old; had been sitting there all day. Dry, looking like it would make you sick. I gave my husband the glare of disapproval. I decided not to eat. While my husband and our friend sheepishly ate what little they could enjoy They paid 26$ for SH*T on a plate.

The only saving grace WAS the nice waitress. We were there for not even 15 minutes and never will be back.

Save yourselves the Trouble. Don’t attempt to eat here at Walmart...

My daughter and I stopped in to eat, we haven't been here In a long while, This time the food was not good, they refused to put fresh food out, until the old was gone, this was on a Friday, The Noodles were so soggy, the beef and peppers tasted bad, the egg rolls were hard, and we both got sick the next day, with Stomach issues, and still sick today, Sunday. neither one of us ate $12 , worth of food, the kids ate the fried potatoes, they were actually fresh, So whatever my daughter and I ate was bad because we both are Sick. Years ago this was our favorite place to Eat in Seminole, but I myself won't go back. Our waitress was awesome, very attentive, And friendly. There was another gentleman that pushed his plate of shrimp away from him and said it tasted bad, Hopefully no one...