$5 Buffet!!!... This is not a joke. Crystal Buffet opened in November and is offering Buy One Get One Free buffet from Monday to Wednesday for both lunch and dinner. Lunch is $9.99 and dinner is $16.99. Which means for lunch, 2 people the bill comes to... you guessed it! $11.29 including tax! So if that isn't enough to get you to go, I must admit the food wasn't terrible. Crystal Buffet like Mandarin, Dragon Pearl/Legend, King's Buffet, and the list goes on and on, all serve the same Chinese-Canadian food. Fried rice/ noodles, fried chicken, sushi (sans raw fish), california rolls, dim sum were all on par with any other buffet I've ever been to. And anyone who believes buffets are about food quality is really missing the point. Buffet is about quantity. So although I'm not a buffet connoisseur, the food was well... food! and the selection wasn't bad either. Every station was constantly being refilled and stocked. And for that price, it was well worth the trip. I actually paid more because we had 3 people in our group which meant we paid $20+tax. So the lesson here is to always go with an even number of people. // 22 Metropolitan Rd, Scarborough
fallsview... On Saturday night, Roger, Kevin and I decided to drive to Niagara Falls to gamble, party and just have a good time. This night lasted until Monday morning and along the way we also hit up the Fallsview Grand Buffet Breakfast. We hadn't slept or eaten anything all night long, which made the buffet seem that much better. The buffet opened at 8 am and we got there at 8:01 am and there was already a small lineup of a senior citizens.
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We paid for the buffet first ($12/ person) and once we saw the food we started beasting and loaded up all our plates full of omelettes, small mountains of bacon, waffles, french toast and fresh fruit. Foodwise, there were certain items that were really good like the omelettes, bacon and waffles (they had mini belgian waffles, but the syrup tasted a little weird so stay away from that). The french toast wasn't that good either as there was definitely not enough batter. During this breakfast I also tried eggs benedict for the first time, which I thought was really good, although I'll have to try it at other places as well. The breakfast buffet also had a huge chunk of ham that one of their chefs would cut up for you and they even had congee, which was a nice asian touch (but all the other fatty breakfast foods were too good for me to even touch the congee). Overall the breakfast buffet at Fallsview Casino has decent selection and is a pretty good deal at $12 if you enjoy breakfast foods as much as I do. Another great thing about the buffet is that you can grab a seat with an amazing view of Niagara Falls.
The buffet is open for breafkast from 8 am-11 am and for lunch/dinner ($20) from 11 am- 11 pm. It is located at the back of the with a big sign that can't be missed.Fallsview Casino Resort6380 Fallsview Blvd.Niagara Falls, ONL2G 7X5
canada day... On July 1 (Canada Day), 2 friends and I trekked out to the Mandarin at Eglington and Birchmount, hoping to get some free Mandarin Buffet. This being the first time any of us had tried to get in on this promotion, we went at about 12 pm since it opens at 12:30 pm. When we got there, we couldn't believe how crazy it was as the lineup had to be 400 + deep and the lineup wrapped around and around the building, so we decided to just skip out on this packed event. We could barely drive through the parking lot as it was so packed! From what I heard, people had been lining up since around 8 or 9 am. I guess for some people, there really isn't much to do on Canada Day other than lineup for free Mandarin Buffet.
On July 1, 2009, Mandarin Buffet locations are celebrating Canada Day by offering their all you can eat buffet for FREE to all Canadian Citizens (12:30 pm-8:30 pm). They have 21 locations. This is an awesome free event, as mandarin will usually cost $12-$24 regular price depending on lunch or dinner. Here is some more info that I got from their site:
We ask for your co-operation in respecting the following:
- Buffet meals (including soft drinks, tea, and coffee) are free for all Canadians* with one of the following proofs of citizenship: Canadian birth certificate, Canadian passport, Canadian citizenship card
- No reservations will be taken – guests will be seated on a first come first serve basis
- Our first seating is at 12:00pm and our last seating is at 8:30pm
- All guests in your party must be present in the line. If a member of your party needs a break, please inform the people behind you o
- Dress code is in effect
- This offer does not apply to: other beverages, take-out or delivery meals
- Tips are not included and are appreciated by the staff
- À-la-carte will not be served on July 1, but we will continue serving take-out & delivery at regular prices
WRITTEN and EATEN by Felica Yu
We ditched Eggspectations for brunch to come try out this new place at Dundas and Yonge, right next to the AMC theatre that had just opened a month ago. It’s a buffet restaurant that turns into a lounge with “really great drinks”, as recommended by one of the super friendly waiters there.
The lunch is $12.95, while dinner is $22.95. For lunch, I think it was a really decent deal. The interior décor was spacious, chic and very clean with lots of seating. The buffet bar consists of 5 counters that had a variety of food items:
Sashimi and Makis: Salmon and snapper sashimi were pretty fresh, so I enjoyed quite a few pieces of that. Maki’s weren’t that extraordinary looking, with the typical California, unagi, vegetarian rolls. The had a smoked salmon vegetable roll (see picture) that was quite interesting if you flavour it up with wasabi and soy sauce. I really enjoyed the Calamari salad, which consisted of spicy, well-flavoured slices of squid with mixed vegetables.
Salad bar: There were quite a few selections, from the plain mixed greens and romaine lettuce leaves with 3 or 4 dressings for your to mix up, to more exciting selections such as the mango salad – a zesty blend of sourness, sweetness and spiciness that is fit to take on most mango salads you get in thai restaurants. They also deviled eggs, mixed fruit salads that were also very good.
Dim Sum and the Big Meats: Shrimp dumplings, sticky rice pork, siu mai were all present. They were better than the freezers ones you microwave at home…but the Kalbi (Korean bbq beef ribs) were just as good as the ones you get from Korean restaurants, and the bbq pork ribs were well flavoured, and fall-off-the-bone tender.
Chinese Stir-Fry: There were a lot of Mandarin-like dishes, the typical vegetable stir fries, lots of tempura (I think they might’ve tempura-ed Maki too..not sure), mussel in black bean sauce, chicken curry Chinese style, shanghai noodles, fried rice, the usual deliciousness that you find in Asian buffets.
The Sweet stuff: Fruits were very fresh, the pineapples and strawberries were sweet and juicy. They had a good selection of around 8 types of ice cream and frozen yogurt, but only 1 cake and some macroons for dessert. As with most Asian buffets, the dessert’s pretty weak so don’t get too excited about that.
Felicia Yu (aka Fei, Wenfei, Fi) is the newest Guest Star/ Guest Writer for Good Food Toronto. She is another student who loves food-eating it, taking pictures of it, living it! She's from UT, lives downtown and eats out in the area all the time.
thai/viet... I was working quite close to the Rex Saigon Thai Viet Buffet restaurant in Scarborough and decided to go there for lunch. As a buffet type place, it was suitable for the large group that we had. The decor was alright, but more like a cafeteria like setting. The food though, comes in a wide variety, ranging from Pad Thai to Vietnamese Pho Noodles. It is a self serve style buffet where you go up and get your own food. They also serve curry dishes such as curry lamb, beef and chicken. As you can see from the pictures, they also have a small sushi section (mostly california rolls though). Other foods that I remember off the top of my head are mango salads, deep fried bananas and even Chinese style food like different types of fried rice/noodles and wonton soup. If you like Vietnamese spring rolls, they offer different types (ex. the normal deep fried ones and the clear skin ones with shrimp inside). One unique item that is offered at this place is unlimited Pho (vietnamese beef noodle soup)... how much of this can you possibly eat though?! haha. I would say the food quality is average, but value for quantity factor is gooooood.
Quick Notes: I came here for lunch and the price per person came out to be about $12 (tax and tip included), which is great value for the quantity and selection of food that you can get. For dinner, they have an early bird dinner special (monday- friday, 5-6:30 pm) for $12.95 (before tax/tip) and I think the dinner price goes up to ~$17.99. If you like Thai or Viet style food, but quantity and value are a factor, then this is definitiely a sweet place to check out as you can get unlimited food for about the same price as a plate of Pad Thai at other restaurants. Rex Saigon is located just North East of Sheppard/Brimley (4466 Sheppard Avenue East, Unit 101).
$5 Buffet!!!... This is not a joke. Crystal Buffet opened in November and is offering Buy One Get One Free buffet from Monday to Wednesday for both lunch and dinner. Lunch is $9.99 and dinner is $16.99. Which means for lunch, 2 people the bill comes to... you guessed it! $11.29 including tax! So if that isn't enough to get you to go, I must admit the food wasn't terrible. Crystal Buffet like Mandarin, Dragon Pearl/Legend, King's Buffet, and the list goes on and on, all serve the same Chinese-Canadian food. Fried rice/ noodles, fried chicken, sushi (sans raw fish), california rolls, dim sum were all on par with any other buffet I've ever been to. And anyone who believes buffets are about food quality is really missing the point. Buffet is about quantity. So although I'm not a buffet connoisseur, the food was well... food! and the selection wasn't bad either. Every station was constantly being refilled and stocked. And for that price, it was well worth the trip. I actually paid more because we had 3 people in our group which meant we paid $20+tax. So the lesson here is to always go with an even number of people. // 22 Metropolitan Rd, Scarborough
