East Manor

Yes… East Manor was caught trying to bribe the health inspector.
.
This restaurant was an odd lot… seemingly quite fancy, but perpetually unfinished.

It took a series of health violations but it seems the most beastly Chinese buffet in Queens is closed for good. Mansion-​like from the outside and incredibly spacious on the inside, East Manor was an epic venue for group friendly dining and gorge friendly patrons. With only mediocre Chinese buffets left to choose from, the demise of East Manor is indeed a sad day for the Chino loving gluttons.
People who dined here either loved or hated it, and with good reason. The good? The variety was a hair better than East Buffet in Flushing (
), but impeccable in it’s own right. Korean BBQ, hot pot, dim sum, sushi, and peking duck, and a wonderful collection of seafood, it seems they’ve covered a good spectrum of east Asian cuisine. The bad? Not a lot of it was quality per se, many times the sushi was dry and the BBQ meats were tough to chew. The Peking Duck was always solid, but for $ 25 (or more) a head, there should be higher standard for the food, even if it is an all you can eat buffet.
And then there was the service — they weren’t the nicest people in the world and they will forever be remembered for ignoring me during my repeated visits here while I asked for countless water and tea refills. Then again, this is a buffet where most of the time, you just serve yourself. Silly me.
Here’s hoping the new kid in the mansion will bring some life into this part of Elmhurst again. Albion Ave has long been too quiet so it’d be great to see more activity thriving in these parts. While I have a feeling the building is the future home of a club (perhaps the Queens version of Capitale (
?), I’d like to see another restaurant, and maybe, just maybe a Chinese buffet done right.

As of August 21^st 2011, this place is still closed. We checked Unilocal before we went today and the announcement said they are now open after a long renovation. Nope! Got there at 11:30 and there was no sign from the restaurant at all apologizing to their patrons that they were closed. There was a yellow chain with padlock and upon closer inspection, 2 metal bands locking the doors and a vacate order on the far upper left hand corner of the entrance dated Jan 2011.
Friend had moon yuet parties here and we always felt the food was good. The place was a little grubby and then there was the Peking Duck Nazi lady. Anyway– just wanted warn people to call before they make the trek out there.

I was hoping this would be a good place as most of the patrons were Asian. I’m wondering if living in new york has dulled their taste buds or if this is really the best Asian food the area has to offer.
Unfortunately, this definitely falls in the category of, «Really… *REALLY*!!!»
Bring lots of cash because they were not accepting plastic of any kind. There is a bank across the street if you find yourself short.
For $ 30/​person (dinner), quality should be *MUCH* higher. The sushi was dangerously close to foul, even the cooked stuff.
If you love oily and fried food, it is probably 4 stars, but for my money I wouldn’t return unless they paid me. Then I’d stick mostly to the desserts, less oily veggies, and the conversation.
The first plate of fried veggies and meats was OK, but the second just didn’t sit well. The Peking duck was oily with limp skin. The chef carves it in front of you and he does do a good job of removing the layer of fat under the skin, but the only edible part was the actual duck meat. Underwhelming at best.
In general, a lot of the food was dried out from sitting under a heat lamp. The seafood was a bit old and the lobster claws were beyond salty. The veggies were limp and the fish was sad. The chicken was fried, it couldn’t be THAT bad. It is unfortunate that good animals died for such a poor representation of what they could have been.
The staff was adequate. Didn’t really talk or interact… just cleared the table as plates piled up and refilled tea as the pot was emptied. Not friendly but not unfriendly either. The atmosphere was casual and generally pleasant with ESPN playing on a couple of TVs. Room enough for a banquet (if you have friends that just want mass quantities of food and don’t care about quality).
Can’t wait to get back to California to wash the bad taste out with fresh authentic food.

Came here again for someone’s wedding… have to say, this place really is very average. The food that we had at the banquet was just so-​so. There was only a steamed shrimp dish that I really liked, and nothing else worth noting.
Also, the banquet room looked pretty old, the chair that I sat on was making all kinds of noises, they used cheap looking chopsticks and chipped plates, and on top of all, the rectangular shaped room (although huge in size) did not help with the set up; people in the back could not even see what’s going on in the other end of the room.
As for service, we felt so rushed! I didn’t even get to enjoy my food before the waiter started «allocating» food to each person at the table. And, we had to ask numerous times for tea refills. Sigh.
Overall, besides the discounts that they advertise for wedding banquets, I don’t believe this is an ideal place for wedding receptions.

This is the worst buffet I have ever tried in my entire life. Using my buffet tactic of trying a little bit of everything first, I managed to acquire two full plates of food. The sushi was not fresh and was extremely dry. Is it me or did they split the imitation crab stick in half for their cali rolls? The seafood was also not fresh; The crabs were mushy, the shrimps clung to their shells, and the fish smells fishy. There wasn’t a single item on my plate that I would get twice. Everything was either overly salted or sugary.
Buffet lunch was $ 30/​person for LUNCH on Sunday. If you have a car, I would suggest visiting Mizumi instead.

Went here for my friends sisters graduation party. The place is HUGE! A palace, with lots of marble, a big waterfall, and… A swordfish (huh?). The buffet is Huge, but told weren’t ready and we were doing Dimsum, I was told… Ok then.
It wasn’t crazy busy, aside from our party, and they were doing some kind of construction in the next banquet room. There were A LOT of noise, and dust coming out. granted there was a curtain but still… WTF? can’t you do that when there aren’t any customers? My buddy naturally complained, but the manager won’t budge. Looking around there were more space at the corner, near the entrance/​bar, but the answer was «No, reserved». Ok then.
We get the first of ONLY Dimsum cart/​lady with dried up sad looking shumai, undercooked, chewy Raptor claw (Oh that’s supposed to be stewed Chickenfeet??), and a ripped up crystal shrimp dumpling. That was mealy and tangy… Wait, is this rancid? My buddy’s Father waves over the one of many managers they got and explain to him of the insipid selection. Without even saying anything or looking at anybody in particular. Sorta like a 1000yard stare, the man just… walked off, never to be seen again. Alrighty then…
We wait for other selection to come… Wait. Wait… Wait. Nothing. We wave at the manager’s) again. They won’t come. We wave at anybody that looks like they work there… Nothing. Finally, a busboy stops by… Yeah, a BUSBOY, gives more meaningful service than the waiters or the Managers. What is wrong with this place?! We kindly ask him if there are more Dimsum coming, ANYTHING… Obviously he didn’t know, but he said he’ll check. He was NEVER seen again. Is there a pattern here, or what?
20minutes pass, everyone is PISSED! We decided to goto that empty table we were eying before. We began sitting down… and oh, look who decides to show up? Our 1^st manager, saying ‘Nonononono.’ We sat anyways, with my buddy in near fist fight with this guy. «No Dimsum here. Buffet only». Fine! We didn’t get any food over there anyways. So, we began sampling everything they had. Sushi, kitchen items, Peking Duck buns, teppan items. All relatively good quality. We eventually stuffed our faces with the Dessert section and congratulated the Graduate. Now, we we’re in better moods than before.
When the time came for the bill we learned that we were charged for moving, and $ 10 for a pot of tea… I’m sorry. Was that Gold leaf tea we were drinking? We simply all decide that we are NOT paying that moving charge or whatever the hell that is. We brought the bill up to the register, because you know, we ask someone about it, and they’ll disappear into thin air. Why are we being charged an extra $ 30? Because we, changed sections… Oh, so you don’t feed us, don’t give us service,… Instead of walking out, we STILL commit to spend money at your establishment, and yet you punish us? How does that make any sense? Why is construction being done where food is being served? Is that even legal or sanitary… After going back and forth with the managers, they finally took it off, but mumbled «20% tip added for table of 6or more!». Last act of defiance? Oh whatever.
A shame that such a beautiful place with ok food be so mismanaged. Will I go back? Not even with a gun to my head.
This place blows

The King of Buffets.
(Apparently under new management, with more vegetarian-​friendly buffet options, including tofu dishes sans shrimp)
Went here with yet another large party for a Sunday midday feast. At $ 14.99 per person, there could be no wrong.
This buffet is mostly Chinese, but has some sprinklings of other East Asian countries. For example, sushi lovers will have plenty of options here.
My favorite part is that I can combine the glory of Dim Sum with the splendor of «classic» dishes and multiply both by the magnificence of all you can eat. That’s right. AYCE dim sum, peking duck, sushi, general tso’s chicken, peking pork chop, korean bbq ribs UNDER ONE ROOF.
Heck, you can even do hot pot.
Anyways, I love this place. Dinner + hot pot might be a little pricey, but for lunch, this place reigns… assuming you don’t mind the trek.
Ambience: GRAND (^_​^) +1
Service: TERRIBLE (^_​^) +100 000
Taste: DELICIOUS (^_​-​) +1
Options: IMMENSE (O_​O) +1
Bang for the buck (lunch): GREAT (^_​^) +1
Been here many times and hope to return many more.

Behemoth Chinese buffet with the widest selection around. Options are endless, including sushi, salad bar, fried selections, Chinese staple dishes, American favorites, and dessert table. Most of the dishes are good to excellent, but can’t top smaller spots in Flushing. Atmosphere is fancy for a buffet, and they have a waterfall in the dining room. This would be ideal for parties.
Highly recommend: walnut shrimp, sauteed string beans, shrimp dumplings in cellophane wrapper, sesame seed red bean balls, chow fun noodles, mushrooms and baby bok choy in black bean sauce, lychee gelatin, and green tea petit fours.
For an extra price you can add a hot pot to your table. Prices have increased a lot in the last year; Saturday dinner buffet is $ 35.99 pp, which is sadly shrinking the gap between a great value to something just standard. The weekend dinner buffet promises lobster and a raw bar. BEWARE. They do not put out the expensive stuff out until much later, so if you go for dinner at 6 PM., you won’t get your money’s worth. In addition, the servers are not responsive to non-​Asian patrons to offer these items. It’s very discerning.
I’ve gone to East several times in the winter months, and agree with the reviewer who said that they don’t put on any heat. My husband was freezing and drank several cups of Jasmin tea to warm up.
Bring your appetite and wear something lose and comfortable. You may not eat for the next 2 days!

I was here with my bf on a Sunday afternoon, we had the buffet here. Although they have wide variety of selection, however the food here wasn’t that impressive compared to Flushing restaurants. The waiters weren’t that friendly but they do take your dirty plates right away.

In the past we’ve had buffet dinners and a la carte dinners here. The dinner has a mind-​boggling array of selections from sushi and Chinese dishes. My favorite is the Beijing duck in the steamed buns. Can’t have too many or you’ll be stuffed.
Be warned that they no longer have dim sum for lunch, only buffet.

I really wanted to try this place but this scared the heck out of me!!!
the damn place was shut down at one point!!!

«High class asian buffet» has a large selection of food compared to any other asian buffet I’ve seen. This selection includes peking duck and lobster. The restaurant’s cleanliness, however, is questionable. One of the workers at a station had food tongs to give people food… we saw him use the same tongs to also take tip from a customer… hmmm

On father’s day, it was $ 36/​adult, $ 20/​kid. Tack on the mandatory 15% gratuity, and you get to pay a whole lot for of take-​out quality Chinese food. Granted you can’t get big honkin chunks of lobster, crab, and shrimp at your local Happy Wok, it would only be a good deal for those of you that, according to Chinese parents, «can scrape» — you can scrape clean to the bottom of many plates of seafood. At this branch, there’s no seating time limit, so it’s a scraper’s heaven.
The sushi offerings are plenty, too bad the freshness leaves much to be desired. It looks like it sat out until it lost its sheen.
Fried foods everywhere.
The peking duck I would recommend.
I didn’t feel the need to try ⁸⁄₁₀ of the dessert offerings; I’d recommend the chilled herbal jelly soup, the chilled peach/​melon tapioca soups.
This is nasty but every time I walk a buffet aisle, there is a man charging at me with a large empty [yet sauce-​splattered] rolling dumpster; we play the «I go left, you go right, oh wait no, you go left, I go…» game until finally I learn to stand still so that my hot and sour soup can make it to my table and not the floor.
I’d rather go all out at a regular Chinese restaurant, but I guess the excitement of a buffet can make almost anyone come here.

Father’s Day is coming up and that means Chinese Buffet with my father-​in-​law!
His favorite is Sunday lunch buffet at East Manor in Elmhurst. For $ 13 a person he can eat anything and everything his heart desires.
The price increased by $ 1 but for all that food, the increase is very reasonable. We always get there early by 11:30AM to get good seats that are close to the food bar; it minimizes the energy spent walking between plates when we grow larger and larger.
Today the Sushi section is OK; the stuff tasted a little old and dry.
The salad and dessert bar was well stocked and pleasing to the eye and pallet. The dim sum section had a nice variety and every is civil but it will get very crowded very soon.
The Peking Duck lady was nice; but it is early (she is like the Soup Nazi sometimes; keep quiet and don’t ask a lot of questions, just take it and go). I have seen her get mad a customer who want this piece but not that piece then changes their mind again.
Good food in large qualities and everyone is happy and stuffed; can’t ask for more when it comes to family.
My only big complaint– their tea is tasteless.

East Manor inhabits such a large building off of Queens Blvd that it’s amazing how it blends into the neighborhood of warehouses and train tracks. So many people I know that frequent buffets don’t even know about it. That has since changed.
The interior is a bit dated, I remember when they first opened and my whole family was blown away by the sheer scale of East Manor. You have valet parking on the side, a huge waterfall in the dining area, and a second floor seating area for the traditional dimsum crowd on the weekends.
Waitstaff is terse but efficient — you’ll find that the lead waiters (usually wearing blazers) can speak better English and offer some suggestions.
You know how everyone lines up for the crab legs at asian buffets but the first guy in line grabs like 5 plates and stacks them with all of the crab legs and all you get are the scraps?
You won’t run into that problem at East because here, people line up for the peking duck. And mind you, it’s not *terrific* peking duck but it’s definitely worth your time while you’re there.
Also, there’s such a fast turn-​around of food that you can safely try the sushi, sashimi, and other seafood dishes.
Now, I just want to make one more quick note. While you’re there, look around you. See that? Asian people! That’s right, East is one of the few Chinese buffets that Chinese people actually frequent. There’s a good reason for that: the dishes aren’t created solely to cater to western fancy. No, you’ll find plenty of authentic dishes such as Chicken feet of the dimsum variety or even some lotus root soup. If you’re feeling open-​minded, try it. Billions of people before you already have.

All-​you-​can-​eat hotpot! $ 16.99. You go up to the hot pot section of the buffet bar and pick out the meats, veggies, seafood, sauces and other tidbits. There were (when I was there): fishies, mussels, clams, scallops, oysters, mushrooms, veggies (assorted), random chicken bits and other meat bits, various internal organs, sea creatures, fish balls, cuttlefish, tofu, squiddies, etc.
You have to make sure you specify you only want the hot pot and not the buffet, otherwise you are in for a nasty surprise.
This place is huge. Like, really really really huge.
The service is a little slow… never got our tea refilled and our hot pot pot was only refilled 1x. The broth was «meh» and plain, but it may be because I can’t eat spice very well and they interpreted that as I only eat bland. Though I’m curious as to other people’s experiences with the broth.
All-​in-​all, I think I would go back. Don’t hold me to that though.

Note! This review is for their Seafood Hot Pot Special! (Must Try!!!)
This place serves Hot Pot buffet style for only $ 16.99!!!
(7days a week!)
Most of you only know about this place for their buffet!
Chinese people know this place for their Dim Sum & Banquets (Wedding, Birthdays, Full Moon, etc.)
For you Hot Pot Lovers! I’m going to fill you in on a hidden gem if you are willing to travel!
Grand Sichuan has nothing on this place, I was in the mood for hot pot last night so I headed to Grand Sichuan in Chinatown for some hot pot but only to opt out for their sichuan dishes instead that also left me dissapointed and unsatisfied!!!
So what is a foodie to do when he is craving hot pot in this FRIGID weather? Go to East Manor right by your house, if you are in Queens!
Sorry for those of you in Manhattan or elsewhere you will have to trek it or find a friend with a car quick! As I have mentioned, most people only come here for the buffet but they actually serve a very awesome hot pot buffet for $ 16.99. When I say awesome for this price they offer a full spread of everything imaginable, from dungness crabs, lobster claws, a variety of meats, veggies, and of course everything you would expect for a traditional hot pot. They even have a huge selection of ingredients for you to create your own favorite sauce for dipping!
A picture speaks a thousand words so go check out the pics!
Do’s!
*Come Hungry
*Be ready to try everything (there is variety)
*Expect a mandatory gratuity
Don’t!!!
Expect friendly service (Think Buffet!)
Cleanliness (Think Buffet!)
Bottom line this place is no worse than any other buffet and I would have given them four stars but I can’t because of the service and cleanliness. But their food is very fresh so do expect a great meal!
Come with the right mindset and you will not be dissapointed! =P

Of the 3 East Buffets in the area (Kissena, Main St, and Elmhurst), the buffet here is pretty good. The place is huge, there is a private lot, and the structure of this place looks appealing.
Food — The buffet here is a million times better than the one on Main St. If you read my review on the Main St. one, you will laugh! That place is a joke! This buffet has a decent range of Chinese food. Everything from sushi, shrimps, steaks, fruits, to ice cream.
Service — Not bad. Million times better than Main St.
Ambiance — This place is clean and feels clean. The space is large and it is well lit inside. When they seat you, I suggest asking them to seat you away from the area they put away the dirty dishes. The area with dirty dishes, drinks, cups, plates, etc, yeah that place can be noisy as hell from the waiters so stay away.
Verdict — Try it but come here only once or twice a year! You’ll get sick of this place easily if you come here too often.

Maybe 50% of what they serve is good, with the other 50% being basura.
The raw oysters have been both delicious and fresh every time I’ve been here.
The guy who shucks them is friendly and quick, and I usually get my money’s worth at this one station alone.
The peking duck is some of the best I’ve ever had. It’s fatty and crispy and decadent.
The sashimi can be a hit or miss, but again, has always been fresh when I’ve gone.
Pan fried flounder and dungeness crab are also not to be missed. And their egg custard is actually a surprisingly good crème brûlée.
BUT, there are some atrocities going on here as well.
They do terrible, unforgivable things to lobsters.
They overcook them until they are mushy, stringy, soggy and disgusting. It breaks my heart every time I witness it.
Service is non-​existent.
Seriously, other than the hard working oyster shucker, service here sucks the big one. Every time I arrive, I think to myself «Would it kill anybody in this place to smile?!»
And it isn’t cheap! But, if you know what to avoid and what to stock your plate with, you can easily leave having gotten your money’s worth.