Good Buffet

Typically buffets are nothing to write home to mother about but this place really does a great job of producing a higher-quality buffet food then one whatever expect. The hot and sour soup is nothing short of excellent and the wait staff makes the experience and much better

It's the biggest Chinese buffet I've ever been to. I went there twice with my husband. The variety of food was very good, they tasted good too. I liked their home-made chili paste, sauted green beans, and dumplings (I soaked them in a bit of clear chicken soup to soften the wrap). The best dessert was the coffee cake. I think the sweet ice tea was the best so far compared to the ones I had in many different places. They have an interesting souvenir shop. There are so many koi fish in their ponds and they also sell fish food if you'd like to feed the fish. Btw no fortune cookies because some irresponsible people fed the cookies to the fish before which caused lots of fish died.

I use to come here a lot when I worked in the area, so we decided to give it a try. They had a large selection of choices and at first I was really excited. Every item except for the soup was ice cold. Not lukewarm but cold. I HATE food that is cold when it is supposed to be hot. My husband who can tolerate at least lukewarm, mentioned that we would come back if they would put microwaves on the table for warming.

It’s been many years since we’ve eaten at China Bear buffet. I had forgotten how huge this place is. They’ve got a koi pond at the entrance. You see tons of koi fish in the water on either side of the bridge that brings you to the entrance doors. Kids love looking at the overflowing amount of koi fish here. Walking in, you notice a very large foyer filled with tables. On these tables are bonsai trees, and I think some bamboo trees also, that are for sale. I wasn’t paying too mich. attention. To the left, there is a gift shop. I’ve never been to a buffet that also had a gift shop attached. We were part of a big party, so we just walked right on in and went to the big private room in the back. The buffet lines were very long when we were there. They’ve got a big variety of food to choose from. I actually only stuck with one side of the buffet because the line was so long. My favorites were the house special fried rice, beef with broccoli, vegetable egg rolls, wonton soup and the fried corn nuggets. They had salads, soups, fruits, fries, chicken nuggets, quesadillas, sushi and a lot of other items on the side I didn’t bother going through. The dessert portion of their buffet is set apart from the other foods. They have slices of cake, cookies, sweet bread, pastries, jello, rice crispy treats and a self-serve ice cream machine. My son loved that! It wasn’t bad. I’m not big on Chinese buffets because I worry about MSG. I did notice that I did not have a headache after eating here, so that was good. The food was filling and I didn’t feel hungry again an hour later so that was another good sign. The bathrooms here are somewhat clean. It doesn’t really look that great but it’s not bad either. I’d say it’s average for a busy restaurant. The Dyson hand dryers, I felt were in an awkward area but it looks like they were added after everything was already built; probably years later. There are paper towel dispensers but they don’t work. There’s a sign on them telling guests to use the hand dryers. One issue I could complain about is that when we ordered our drinks, we never got them. I get that it was busy but shouldn’t everyone get a drink at least to wash the food down with? My husband ended up going to their little alcove where the drinks are and picking up our drinks there himself. Other than that, it was a somewhat good visit. Would I make a long drive out to eat here? No. Would I come (without any trepidation) if invited to an event or gathering here? Yes. So there you have it. It’s not the greatest, but it will do when you’re hungry, in the area and want many different choices.

China Bear is my go to place for Chinese Buffet. The food is good and there is a great selection. The wait staff is hit or miss as far as friend lines.