Chen’s Buffet

It was OK. The buffet was anaemic and had little variety. It was mostly dried out rice and little meat…

Decent food for buffet! The food was delicious, especially the chicken fried rice. The place is not as good as chen’s oriental cuisine but I would recommend.

lmao fuk that $ 20 for a lunch buffet??? u must be trippin chen. food tastes like ass. god damn just tear this shack down for a Mandarin or something. closest fkn mandarin is in kitchener SMH.

Stopped for lunch on Friday. Sign says BBQ Sushi and Thai buffet. They had a few sushi but the BBQ is only for dinner and they «usually» had Pad Thai on the buffet but did not this day.
Typical selection of Canadian style Chinese food. Mostly deep fried and tasteless. The curry chicken was actually slimy.
Then I tried the chicken wings… they were RAW. Bloody inside. When I showed it to the manager he had no idea what to do. I told him to get them off the buffet before someone gets sick. He finally did that.
That was enough and we decided to leave. The manager offered us an additional 20% off but after discussing it he said no charge.
The buffet was supposed to be $ 12.95 and it was definitely was not worth that even without the raw chicken.

All very much Canadian style Chinese food. Edible, but bland and much of it lacking any flavour. Alot of it could be termed ‘insipidly sweet’. The spicy green beans, have no hint at all of spiciness. The Sesame Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Peking Spare Ribs, all are just slightly sweet and bland. Salad Bar was a huge disappointment. On a Sunday lunchtime for the prices charged, I expect SHRIMP, and CRAB SALAD! at the very least. There are no shrimp, no crab, and the salad offerings are pretty pathetic. The coleslaw is basically dry shredded cabbage sitting in a bowl of vinegar. The hot and sour soup is just ‘okay’. Best things? The chicken teryaki from the grill station, and the Kalbi beef ribs. The roast beef was rare as requested but drowned in gravy that I did NOT ask for. Our water glasses were not refilled until I finally called the attention of a waiter and requested the refills. Chicken wings are with barbecue sauce only. The so called Pad Thai — tasteless and looked like it had orange food color added to it. There was not a thing I would go back for second helpings of. I could go on, but there’s no point in it. Desserts? Try the fresh fruit. Small selection, the best of which might be the nanaimo bars and the tiny cheesecake squares. All in all, this was edible, it was filling, but it was not anything we will ever want to repeat. Pricewise — for the money they are charging this is a rip off when you can go to King’s in Kitchener and have three times the selection and better taste. They need to upgrade their buffet offerings or lower their prices. $ 18.99 per person for lunch, 15.19 for seniors. Dinner is 26.99 !!! Yes! 26.99 and 21.99 for seniors. For a couple of dollars more you can enjoy the Mandarin!

good service. Little high priced for what you get.
No seafood, unlike the other buffets. (There was over cooked dried out salmon.)
I have had much better for less $.

Until now, KW had only two Chinese buffet restaurants. Inevitably, Chen’s Buffet will draw comparisons to those two. No need to mention them by name — if you’re a native of KW you probably know them without even searching Unilocal.
Fortunately, Chen’s Buffet compares favourably! Located in the Bridgeport plaza at the corner of Bridgeport and Weber, Chen’s occupies a former Rogers video store. That means it has been completely renovated from top to bottom, and they’ve done a great job! The atmosphere is clean and modern, with tall ceilings and lots of natural light. Decorative lights and features add visual appeal. The buffet is central to the building, with tables and booths around the outside. The music was at a comfortable level, though it wasn’t to my taste (top 40, ugh. Do people listen to this on purpose?)
When we visited as a family of five (two adults, three kids aged 7, 5, 2) on a Saturday at 1pm, the restaurant wasn’t busy at all. It’s likely because it’s so new; at the time they were still celebrating their grand opening. We were greeted by multiple eager employees who showed our hungry party to a table. After taking our drink orders (just sodas, we didn’t order any alcohol), we were encouraged to visit the buffet.
I have to say, for a restaurant half the size of the «other two,» the selection was really good. There are around 40 different main course items to choose from, along with four soups and a salad bar (mmm, with fresh mango!) The choices are about what you’d expect from a Chinese buffet: chicken balls, pepper beef, mixed veggies, various noodles and rice, spring rolls, three different types of ribs, lemon chicken. You get the idea. Standout items were the Kung Pao Beef, which I really liked, the spring rolls, which several of us liked, and the shrimp which my son especially liked (and he’d never dated shrimp before!). My son even tried the grilled calamari. My daughter liked the BBQ wings. My wife and I thought the sushi rolls were pretty tasty as well.
One nice thing about Chen’s is that they have a grill where you can order an item from a menu to be freshly prepared, which is then brought to your table. I ordered a plate of Korean BBQ short ribs, which had a wonderful flavour but could have been a bit more tender.
Throughout our experience we weren’t simply waited on by the staff, we were positively doted upon. Drinks were refilled immediately, used plates cleared away almost as soon as they were pushed aside. Our kids received multiple compliments and high-​fives. They were so eager to please, I imagine I could have asked them to assemble plates of food for me and they would have done it. I’m not used to that much attention, especially at a buffet restaurant. Again, perhaps it is because they’re new, or that they weren’t very busy at the time.
Now for the dessert! As usual for a buffet, there is a cooler full of different types of ice cream (five or six, I think) with toppings. There is also a table full of pies, squares and cookies (my wife and I liked the lemon meringue and blueberry pies). And of course my kids’ favourite; a chocolate fountain with marshmallows and fruit.
The prices were on par with the other two buffet restaurants in town, and our two-​year-​old ate free.
Overall we had a very pleasant experience. Certainly it’s great not having to drive as far, but it was nice to dine in a smaller restaurant. Those other two places are *always* so busy. Everyone at Chen’s was friendly. The next time we go out for buffet, it will be to Chen’s. My daughter has already declared that she wants to go here for her birthday. I think that would be just fine.