Buffet China
870 Arrow Hwy.
Covina, CA 91724
626-331-0699
Buffet China is one of many Chinese buffet restaurants that are out there. I find Buffet China to be good but nothing overwhelming or outstanding. They best thing about them is the price, $9.30 for an adult. But with the price the selection of food is limited.
While the picture was taken late at night, I went to Buffet China at 6:30pm and there was a steady but certainly not packed crowd. This can and does have an impact on the food turnover. There were some items that spent too much time on the steam table.
The first picture has BBQ chicken, Chinese BBQ pork, and fried scallops, and fried crab claw. The BBQ chicken was on the dry side and had a hint of sweet BBQ sauce. There were some white meat chicken which is surprising since most places will only have dark meat, but with the chicken being dry, I didn't have more than one serving. The Chinese BBQ pork had been on the steam table for too long. They were dry, hard, and tough to chew on. I ate two pieces and left the rest. I went back for some more later and they were still hard and tough. The lack of turnover really hurts Buffet China. The fried scallops were kinda of chewy but had a nice crunch. The fried crab claw also had a nice crunch but the fish ball was flavorless.
The second picture of food includes, beef and broccoli, pepper check, and what they called a seafood combination. The beef and broccoli spent too much time on the steam table. The broccoli was mushy and the beef was tough. I did go back the second time and the broccoli was crispy and tender but the beef was still on the tough side. The gravy added some nice flavor but it would have been better if the beef and broccoli was better. The seafood combo had lots and lots of shrimp and some imitation crab and some squid. The shrimp was nice and tender and the gravy/sauce added a nice flavor. But for something called seafood combination there wasn't much combining of different seafoods.
The third picture of food has fried rice, orange chicken, and spicy chicken. The fried rice had onions, peas and carrots but it was mostly rice. It was passable but nothing great. The orange chicken and spicy chicken were terrible. They were fried pieces of chicken that were so dry and had been sitting on the steam table for way too long. I wasn't willing to give either one of them a second chance.
The fourth picture has chow mein and BBQ beef rib. The chow mein was very greasy and had some onions, cabbage and garlic. It was pretty flavorless except for the grease. The beef rib was nice and sweet, almost too sweet, and was pretty tender.
The last picture had watermelon, strawberries, and honey dew melon. The watermelon was very good, served chilled with no seeds and very sweet. The strawberries were hit and miss. Some were sweet but others were bitter. The honey dew was pretty flavorless.
Buffet China is OK. Nothing great or outstanding and they lack the selection of many other Chinese buffets. No Mongolian BBQ, very limited seafood items, low turnover rate and some food which was just plain bad. I would not go back to Buffet China, even though the price is good, I would pay a couple bucks more for better selection and better food.
