Panda Garden Buffet
5136 Plaza Lane
Montclair, CA 91763
909-398-1838
Though the picture above is at night, I've only been to Panda Garden for lunch. The lunch crowd was pretty steady, we arrived at 12:45pm and there was about 30 people the entire time we were there. So that means a good turnover of food.
Lunch is $6.89. The first picture has fried rice, beef and broccoli, and General Tsao chicken. The fried rice was pretty basic, with very little peas, onions and scrambled eggs. It was good and is wasn't greasy as many fried rice combos tend to be. The beef and broccoli I had seemed to have been on the steam table a little too long. The broccoli was a mushy and the beef was tough and overcooked. Maybe a bad batch so I went again and they did put out a fresh batch. The beef was tender and the broccoli was crispy. The gravy was a little salty but overall I'm glad I gave the broccoli another chance. General Tsao chicken is basically orange chicken. Panda Garden's version the orange flavor doesn't overpower the dish. It was only a hint of orange flavor. But the actual chicken was just covered with batter. I would say the pieces were 20% chicken and 80% batter. At a buffet, it doesn't matter too much as you can get as much or as little as you want. But I would like to see less batter and more chicken.
The second picture is a lobster roll, fried scallops, hunan chicken, and smoked chicken. The lobster roll was pretty bad. First it had been sitting on the steam table for a long time. So because of that, there was no crunch and the inside was imitation crab and fish paste that lacked flavor. I didn't bother trying the lobster roll again. The fried scallops were pretty damn good. A nice crisy outside and a hot, tender scallops inside. The Hunan chicken is basically broccoli chicken. It was pretty good with large pieces of chicken cooked just right and crisp broccoli. The smoked chicken had a ton of black pepper which really flavored and overpowered the chicken. The chicken was tender though and I thought the dish was good overall.
The third plate had BBQ chicken, buttered corn, string beans, and shrimp. The BBQ chicken was basked with a light hint of BBQ sauce. The chicken was tender and good. The string beans was very crisp and the sauce/gravy they used, I'm guessing a little soy sauce, some garlic and maybe some pork, was great. The butter corn was so sweet and tender. The corn wasn't mushy at all. It was almost like eating corn on the cob. A great dish. But the shrimp was lacking in flavor. I don't mind the head of the shrimp on there. But the shrimp was overcooked and I just didn't like it.
Overall Panda Garden is a good buffet. But they do lack variety. Sure there are plenty of chicken dishes but only a couple beef and seafood dishes. The food is good though and if you like their dishes and hate seafood or do not eat meat, you'll be very happy at Panda Garden.
Panda Garden Buffet
5136 Plaza Lane
Montclair, CA 91763
909-398-1838
Though the picture above is at night, I've only been to Panda Garden for lunch. The lunch crowd was pretty steady, we arrived at 12:45pm and there was about 30 people the entire time we were there. So that means a good turnover of food.
Lunch is $6.89. The first picture has fried rice, beef and broccoli, and General Tsao chicken. The fried rice was pretty basic, with very little peas, onions and scrambled eggs. It was good and is wasn't greasy as many fried rice combos tend to be. The beef and broccoli I had seemed to have been on the steam table a little too long. The broccoli was a mushy and the beef was tough and overcooked. Maybe a bad batch so I went again and they did put out a fresh batch. The beef was tender and the broccoli was crispy. The gravy was a little salty but overall I'm glad I gave the broccoli another chance. General Tsao chicken is basically orange chicken. Panda Garden's version the orange flavor doesn't overpower the dish. It was only a hint of orange flavor. But the actual chicken was just covered with batter. I would say the pieces were 20% chicken and 80% batter. At a buffet, it doesn't matter too much as you can get as much or as little as you want. But I would like to see less batter and more chicken.
The second picture is a lobster roll, fried scallops, hunan chicken, and smoked chicken. The lobster roll was pretty bad. First it had been sitting on the steam table for a long time. So because of that, there was no crunch and the inside was imitation crab and fish paste that lacked flavor. I didn't bother trying the lobster roll again. The fried scallops were pretty damn good. A nice crisy outside and a hot, tender scallops inside. The Hunan chicken is basically broccoli chicken. It was pretty good with large pieces of chicken cooked just right and crisp broccoli. The smoked chicken had a ton of black pepper which really flavored and overpowered the chicken. The chicken was tender though and I thought the dish was good overall.
The third plate had BBQ chicken, buttered corn, string beans, and shrimp. The BBQ chicken was basked with a light hint of BBQ sauce. The chicken was tender and good. The string beans was very crisp and the sauce/gravy they used, I'm guessing a little soy sauce, some garlic and maybe some pork, was great. The butter corn was so sweet and tender. The corn wasn't mushy at all. It was almost like eating corn on the cob. A great dish. But the shrimp was lacking in flavor. I don't mind the head of the shrimp on there. But the shrimp was overcooked and I just didn't like it.
Overall Panda Garden is a good buffet. But they do lack variety. Sure there are plenty of chicken dishes but only a couple beef and seafood dishes. The food is good though and if you like their dishes and hate seafood or do not eat meat, you'll be very happy at Panda Garden.
