Ocean Buffet

Just don’t do it.
I know the $ 6 promise of oysters and other exotic asian foods sounds enticing, but please just spend a little bit more for a decent meal. (China King Buffet) The oysters had an off taste to them and my dad grimaced at the bad quality. Vegetables were clearly the overlooked middle child and mistreated. The sushi was filled with imitation crab or cream cheese and everything else was just… subpar.
To top it all off, the owners’ kids were in a private room next to us and starting shrieking when they saw what I presumed to be a bug in the room… yeah, I was done eating at that point.

Pretty good food. Lots of choices to chose from. Food is fresh & place is very clean. The outside doesn’t look all that great, but don’t judge a book by its cover. Place is packed! They have the same stuff you’d find in any other Chinese Buffett plus some. Wide variety of fruits, desserts, sushi, and even American food. Restrooms were cleaner than many I’ve seen in big food chains.

This place was just sad… Cold food, small selection, and kind of dirty. The grass wasn’t even cut! What does that say about your business? I will not be returning.

I just noticed all the bad reviews??? I have to say, at 2:00 in the afternoon I was pleasantly surprised to find all the dishes FULL and FRESH. the place was SPOTLESS. truly. very very clean. The food was typical «BUFFET» food. but not bad. Nothing stands out… friendly staff. Perhaps from last year to this year they have made some changes… give it a try…

Many items on the buffet were old and cold. Hardly anything was fresh. Take some items off the buffet focus on what you do well.

I went out on a limb today for lunch and visited this buffet despite the poor reviews. That was a mistake I hope you will not make.
Started off with appetizers:
Hot & Sour Soup had no spice, very bland taste
Fried Dumplings were clearly frozen
Egg Rolls also frozen and bland
Entrees:
Fried Rice — hard to get wrong, it was fine
Beef with Broccoli — not bad, but nothing special, hard to mess up
General Tso’s Chicken — no spice whatsoever, disappointing
«Crab Bake» — not sure what this was, ate two bites, left the rest
Chile Chicken — same bland non-​flavor as other dishes
Sushi — akin to what you get at a grocery store
I lost my appetite rather quickly so I didn’t try much else and just left. The non-​Asian dishes like pizza and such at first struck me as strange, but I can see the benefit for a family with kid who don’t like Chinese .
Overall:
They advertise over 150 items on their buffet, but really they should pull that back to around 20 and work on making those dishes excellent rather than spreading a variety of bland offerings. Don’t fear spicing it up.
Sub-​par Chinese and I probably won’t return.

I visited Ocean Buffet with my family on July 3^rd. From the very beginning, our experience was a nightmare. The building’s air conditioning was not working. I bet it was an easy 85 °F in the dinning area. At 5pm, there was no fresh food out. The sushi rolls were so old that they had dried out to the consistency of leather. Other food items, such as mussels and shrimp, were soggy and floating in bins of water instead of ice. I’m no expert but I bet there were some major health code violations. The rest of the food consisted of regular Chinese buffet items but nothing was particularly fresh. When we asked our waitress when fresh food would be put out on the buffet, she got really defensive and said everything out was fresh.
To add insult to injury, the men’s bathroom was completely out of paper towels and toilet paper. I feel sorry for any dudes who needed to go #2.
If you are curious about Ocean Buffet, I recommend that your resist at all costs. This place is not worth the $ 10.

My wife and I decided to give this a try on a whim, since we hadn’t noticed it before and, normally, enjoy a good Chinese buffet.
We will not be back. To begin with, the noodles tasted like dishwashing detergent and were barely warm. I tried sesame chicken, general tso’s chicken, honey chicken, beef broccoli, etc and they were just average. The jumbo shrimp was virtually tasteless. My wife tried several other things, including some sushi and it was all just blah.
This was the worst chinese buffet I have ever tried. Heck, even their ice cream was mediocre and I usually like any kind of ice cream. Don’t waste your money.

Everything’s okay.
Typical Chinese buffet.

Words and phrases have imagined meanings e.g. «some assembly required» = no sleep for days while searching for missing bolt number «8b», «I think you two would make a great couple.(He/She) has a great personality…”= your best friend hates you and/​or is seeking revenge, «You might feel some slight discomfort”= this is going to hurt (alot). You get the idea. Well, for months we have all seen the sign while driving down Texas Ave, «Seafood Buffet opening soon». That phrase conjures up images of Mahi-​Mahi, swordfish, tuna steaks grilled to perfection and more, all on an all-​you-​can-​eat buffet, even the actual name Ocean Buffet lends itself to that image. So today I walked in preparing myself for a seafood laden treat…
… it’s another Asian buffet.
Now I have to admit I was a bit disappointed, my first thought was «do we really need another one?», yet I wasn’t going to hold that against them (at least they didn’t open it between two other Asian buffets). They have most of the fare you see at the other Asian buffets in town (Gen Tso’s chicken, sweet & sour chicken, beef w/​broccoli etc). None of it was bad. The best item on the buffet (in my opinion), were the stuffed mushrooms. The stuffing was simple, delicious and complemented the mushrooms without being overbearing. They did have a couple of items I had not seen on others (i.e.fried bananas, butter shrimp). The service was fast and friendly. They do have a menu as well that sports more dishes than what is available on the buffet, and I do hope they rotate some of that around on the buffet (I’m a nut for Curry Chicken).
I only perceived a few problems (not necessarily in order of importance):
1. Some of the buffet trays were not warm, so some of the dishes were cold. This I’m sure is a minor oversight and will be corrected,(accidents can and will happen). It can and will affect peoples perception of the quality of the food served.
2. There is no signature dish they can call «their own» — yet. When one talks of Asian buffets in B/​CS, you will be compared to all of them (rightly or wrongly so), so what sets you apart from the rest? Right now Ocean’s is merely duplicating the majority of the competition, not that it is a bad thing unto itself, it’s just that it needs more. It may not even be a dish they offer on the buffet, it could be a dish only offered by menu at night or a specific night — it’s just missing something. You know it when you are there, but you can’t put your finger on it.
3. Location, location, location. I find it hard for anyone in College Station to justify a trip to Ocean’s, given the competition. While one can speculate whether or not there is any weight given to curses, Ocean’s present location has had more name changes than the cast of Law and Order. I do wish them luck there.