China Buffet

This is a nice buffet with a wide selection of Chinese food and freshly made sushi. It’s set back from the road, behind Chuck E Cheese. They have tasty selections of most common dishes. It’s fun to sample everything. There are also some selections for those who might not desire Chinese food. The desserts are appealing too, if you have room left.

the best chinese buffet in Durham

I love the food for the price. Most VFM place in Durham. They had 40+ varieties and there was sushi and ice cream too which I missed when I went for lunch the first time. Go here if you want to eat a lot of food. It’s usually empty and not many go here because of the location. None of my friends knew about this place even though they lived here in Durham for years.

Came here on a Friday for lunch with 4 other coworkers.
I always love the sushi rolls here so for my first plate, I immediately went for that, some teriyaki and scallion chicken for protein and some Bok Choy for my veggies (trying to eat healthy here!). The sushi rolls was amazing as always. The rice is always cooked perfectly. The chicken are extremely flavorful. And the Bok Choy is healthy, that’s all I can say for Bok Choy. ;)
My coworkers and I are doing this buffet challenge so onto the next plate!
2^nd plate consists of pot stickers, a sauteed mussel, some jalapeño chicken, a spring roll, some fried squid, and green beans for veggies (again, trying to be healthy). The pot stickers is one of my favorite items in the place. It’s got that nice semi crunchy exterior with a warm filling on the inside. Jalapeño Chicken is another one of my favorites. It’s seasoned perfectly with a nice kick from the jalapeño. The onions gives it that nice sweet flavor.
Then it was time to hit the noodle bar! My coworkers love the Curry noodle soup but I prefer the spicy beef noodle soup. It reminded me of something similar I had in China. However, this time, the soup really didn’t live up to my expectations. The sliced beef is the key ingredient in this and it tasted weird, like it was frozen for too long. It just gave off this odd taste in my mouth.
Moving on to desert, I love how they have watermelon as one of the fruit choices. Love me some watermelon in the summer! I’m also addicted to those almond cookies. They’re just so good!
I would definitely give this place a solid 4 stars if it was not for the beef that tasted funny.

No complaints. $ 8 and change for lunch on Sunday is a pretty good deal. The sushi was great, the hibachi was good but could use more options. The buffet had a good assortment. None of the food made us feel sick to our stomach or anything. We were actually impressed with how the food didn’t make us tired or too full. The waitress was always going by our table picking up a dish or refilling our drinks. Excellent environment, except for a couple at the next table thinking that China only has one language for the entire country and were telling the waitress that they were speaking to her in Chinese. «Morons, if she’s even from China, I think she knows her own countries national language. How about ask her if she speaks Mandarin or maybe Cantonese?»
The people at this restaurant work hard and supply good meals. Leave the stereotypes and bigotry at home, the same place where you leave your common decency.

Interesting and not in a good can be used to describe the food here. We went here on Sunday because we were too lazy to cook, could not really decide what we wanted and figured on a mile long buffet we would find something that we could eat and still enjoy. It was tough, but we did get enough together to fill full after about an hour. It took us that long because half the food had to go back as being not «tolerable to our stomachs». I am used to cheap cuts used in steaks, but steak that tastes like fish is something that even if half starving I cannot get down without gagging. Similar, eating things cold such as friend dumplings is not something that I am willing to force myself to eat. It is sad that a restaurant that has a sign to its customers not to waste food, then presents food on a buffet that is so subpar that only if I wanted to risk stomach illnesses would I consider eating it. I hate wasting food like most people in my family who either lived through WWII in Europe or heard enough stories about how people would eat bark to survive, but at least the bark endproduct was safe for consumption. Here, some of the food struck me as not being safe to the degree that I would voluntarily eat it.
To the interesting part — shrimp in surrounded by cake and other dessert options — yes, that counts to me as interesting. Staff that handles beef and seafood with the same set of tongues — again, interesting and also solves the mystery of the fish-​tasting steak.
Will you get enough food to fill your stomach — yes. Will the price be okay for what you get — probably. Will you want to go here if you can decide on another restaurant — probably not. I like to call China Buffet — restaurant of the last resort. You should really consider whether cracking open the tin of Chef Boyardee is not the better option.

I love this place. There are so many options from Sushi, to buffet to Hibachi!!! The wait staff is right on top of things. Owners are very nice. Don’t forget to rub Budda’s Belly for Good Luck!

Overall okay but has a lot of variety, hibachi, soups, sushi, and whatever other Chinese buffet would have. The variety is worth trying it.

This was mediocre at best. It didn’t help that we started our meals with my drink having someone’s old fortune in the bottom of mine. Yuck but these things happen.
I was excited by the dumpling assortment. Pork inside was good but they were all falling apart. Gyoza were good. Sticky rice dumpling wrapped in a leaf was just flavorless with mystery meat.
Hubby and daughter tried the hibachi. They need more sauces and sauces didn’t have much intensity of flavor.
I tried the spicy beef soup. It needed to be strained as it was mealy and the beef was odd but the soup had an interesting flavor and I kept getting pickle bites. Hmm They had eight soups which was nice.
Overall, can’t imagine trying this again. Haven’t found a good buffet I like yet. Help me, Obi-​Wan, you’re my only hope. Lol

I have been here a few time. But today we went here around 3:30, 3:45 after pick my kids up from school. So that’s mean we were here at lunch time. So when around 4:20 they start to switch over to dinner menu. They brought my check out already. And the lady work in the front, not sure she is the manager or not but very rude, came over to my table and said: do u know that dinner food, right? Ok how the hell do I know if it’s dinner food. And she took my check and change to dinner fee. It is not that much at all (like few dollars diffence). But I feel like this is so RIDICULOUS that she was so RUDE about that. Very bad customer service. I hope the owner or manager might want to know that.

Everything was ok, just ok. Could have been the night (Wed. And the snowstorm was on its way). The food seemed like it wasn’t as fresh as if it might have been if it was busier, more turn-​over. The buffet was very Amer-​Asian (kinda like Tex-​Mex for Chinese restaurants). My friend mentioned that «Golden Corral has a more Asian quality than this place» hahaha. I would go back but it is just «ok».

If you are really hungry and want to eat a lot but don’t want to reach deep into your pocket, then this is the right place for you!
The value to price of the food is why I’m giving this restaurant 4 stars. $ 7.59 (before tax and tip) for all you can eat lunch during weekdays is just amazing!
Now, let’s talk about the food. My favorite one is the noodle station, especially its shrimp noodle soup, put an extra chili inside, bum! Hot and spicy!
Second one is the hibachi station (with the hibachi sauce), the taste is good for a buffet.
The soft ice cream is also worth to try. Don’t forget the muscles with a kind of cheese sauce, soft shell crab, and the egg drop soup. Then end your journey with the fruits bar.
I don’t recommend the sushi here, but hey… for the food that I ate here, I believe it costs way more than $ 7.59.
The service is also really good, the host is friendly and the waiters are attentive.
I can’t help comment that some of my friends refuse to go here because they are worry about the freshness and the cleanliness of the food/​restaurant. Well, I can say that even they don’t serve the freshest food, they still meet my standard (you’re not here to eat raw oysters aren’t you?) and I never had a problem with my stomach after my visit here.

Meh. Many of the items have the same laden-​with-​soy-​sauce taste. The vegetables and seafood aren’t particularly fresh. The sushi is passable.
You should only really come here if (1) you live extremely close — ie. Pinnacle Ridge apartments across the street, and (2) if you’ve been fasting for a week and want to regain 7000 calories.

All you can eat for only $ 10 is an okay price for starving students craving to have a decent meal after a long day at campus.
Enjoyed the sushi, dim sum, chicken, crab and they also made a small on the spot birthday cake to surprise my friend on her birthday dinner we had there!
The waitress was helpful picking up empty plates a re-​filling our drinks.
Would definitely go back again some day.

Chinese buffet is a decent choice for Chinese. There is a small issue with freshness. Some things are fresher than most. There’s good variety of sushi and it is authentic. Lots of spicy chickens, hot rices and potatoes for some reason.
There are three hot food buffets, and one dessert cold buffet. There is an ice cream machine as well. Good service and good environment.

Let me start by saying it was slow when we got here so that may have had something to do with the disappointment that was this visit. This will be a short review compared to my normal and this is because I hope that this disappointment was something that just happened. The food was ok but not exceptional, but I did not try everything. I believe the sushi would have been great.
The place is clean but, I’m a bit skittish of this place now, we will see what its like the next time I go.

Wonderful sushi, including fried ones (yum!). They also have a hibachi and made-​to-​order soup section, and one certain days they have my favorite soup (congee with thousand-​year duck egg). The rest of the buffet is your typical Chinese buffet fare. Overall, a solid place to stuff yourself– also has good buffet sushi compared some other places.

The name China Buffet restaurant in Durham would make you think it’s a car wash or something, but it’s actually a China Buffet! (Wow, I was totally fooled there). So anyway, I am being silly, but they weren’t too creative in their name. The restaurant and the area it is in are pretty dated looking as other reviewers have suggested (When it comes to buffets though it’s more about the food and not the décor).
In terms of selection I think China Buffet delivers. Plenty of the typical items to choose from and some more obscure items as well (fried sushi anyone?) The taste of the items I tried recently for lunch was just decent, but nothing knocked my socks off. The egg roll was bland, the fried shrimp small and the egg drop soup had a weird thickness to it. The price point wasn’t bad for an AYCE lunch buffet (just over $ 10). I was full at the end, just not fully satisfied.
I may come back to China Buffet if I can remember to save one of those coupons that they send often in the mail. I definitely won’t be a regular though.

I’ve definitely eaten at better Asian buffets before, so to be honest, i was somewhat disappointed. This place can’t compare to Mizuki or Blue Fin in Seattle. Sushi doesn’t look fresh. Another OK buffet place.

«Buffet Chinese, with sushi, *NOW with hibachi and fancy soups!*»
Yes, it’s not gourmet food by any means, but for the price, this place rocks! As people have noted already, they have standard Chinese buffet fare (wonton soup, hot & sour soup, sesame chicken, chicken w/​mushrooms, black pepper chicken, various beef dishes, salmon, octopus, a few vegetarian options, salad, sesame balls, other desserts). The selection is quite large– they call it the «mile-​long» buffet. Quality is fine– a step above Golden Corral but probably still not mid-​tier. They have decent sushi– no, it won’t compare to a fancy sushi restaurant, but some simple standards along with ginger and wasabi.
NEW: they’ve opened a wing around the corner from the sushi section. One part has fancy soups (picture uploaded) — I had the roast duck, noodles, and vegetables. Other options included curry noodle & shrimp noodle. The soups are prepared ON DEMAND and as you like it in terms of content and spices! You place your order, sit down with your buffet food, and come back in a few minutes for the soup. The other part is hibachi, where you pick your meat and vegetables, request a sauce, and they cook it– just like at Bali Hai on Ninth Street. The options are more limited than Bali Hai, but let’s remember– this is all INCLUDED in the buffet price– no extra charge! You can eat all you want and not have to balance your food into a tower from your bowl to avoid increases in price.
Plus, any locals who get the «Clipper» magazine or other mailers can find coupons for this place. Standard price is not bad, and the with-​coupon price makes this a wonderful value. It’s especially great for people with kids, big-​eaters, and anyone who wants to sample lots of dishes rather than stick to one single option.