Ocean Buffet

I live in Lake City, and I have been looking for this type of Chinese restaurant. They have a classy vibe with a discount undertone. It’s a little on the pricy side for dinner, but with the HUGH selection… they have to pay for all that fare somehow. There is SO much to choose from, and they even have hibachi, of course. There really isn’t a word in my vocabulary to describe this type of Chinese restaurant; for me, if you’ve seen one of these you’ve seen them all; however, this was EXACTLY what I was looking for.

I came here a few months ago around 2pm and was highly disappointed. However my wife wanted to try it. This time was much better. We came at 11am so the food was much fresher (especially the sushi). They have a very large selection, the restaurant is clean and the staff friendly and prompt.

The food was decent. Actually not bad for a buffet
Lots of items and good stuff.
I could have done without the 300 pound man playing with himself under the table next to me however.

Ocean buffet is a pretty descent buffet. Most people go thereto eat all you can eat B grade sushi; however their other stuff is pretty descent. I like the egg drop soup, chicken and broccoli, and mushrooms. The desserts is your typical buffet selection

OK so we have been coming here for about two years or so and at the start it was great. Food was ALWAYS hot and fresh and staff was ALWAYS on point, but it started slipping and fast. Food is now cold and stale and the staff sucks. Most of the signs telling you what the food is are mixed up and forget the sushi bar there are no signs anywhere telling you what is what. The ONLY good thing is the hot bar where you pick the food and the guy cooks it in front of you. We even have to avoid the ice cream and desert bars. When the jello smells of bleach you know something is wrong.

Update: since visiting all the Asian buffets in Gainesville, I’ve dubbed Ocean as the best one in Gainesville from the categories of freshness, cleanness, assortment wise, and atmospheric environment. The location is also ideal as it is surrounded with other local shops and business to visit before and or after consuming at Ocean.
Just like any other chinese buffet you would go to. Myself and another went got there around 8:00 pm and they pretty much slowed down in refilling the food items to a crawl, especially the oysters. When I got there were only 2 shells left on the ice tray and it looked like someone took the oysters and left the shells. The waitresses began cleaning shop around 8:30 pm well at least you know they’re pretty clean. At about 45 mins into my meal the waitress automatically came over with my check… overall it was an ok experience minus the screaming kid that needed a spanking.

Figuring I would beat the crowd and hit an early dinner at 5 PM, I came upon Ocean Buffet which was kind of tucked away next to Jason’s deli. As expected there was only a couple people seated eating. So I browsed the buffet and checked out at all the food. Everything looked fresh and delicious.
I pretty much took a small sample of everything on the buffet, to include a couple flavors of sushi. Everything was fresh and tasted delicious, I was not disappointed.
I really liked the fact that they also honor the military with a Military Discount.
You can’t beat an all you can eat buffet for under $ 12.
I will most likely be coming back to this buffet

This is a GOOD buffet food is fresh and hot, they have little to none American food on the buffet like most do. Sushi was very good and I love it when they put the spicy mayo so you can take as much as you want, I personally like to mix it with my wasabi that’s what we call the crazy sauce. They do have a great ham on the buffet everyone at the table commented on it, shrimp was cooked perfectly, the fried rice was just ok needed to be seasoned more.
Sweet and sour chicken and pork, fried fish was amazing, the Hibachi station is well stocked with fresh sea food, chicken, pork and beef with really fresh vegetables and sauces.
The place is very clean and well kept, restrooms could use some work, the waitress were very nice and would take your plate soon as you were done sometime to soon ;-0. Great prices for the food and service that you receive. 10% off us old folks which is nice.
I would recommend stopping by and trying it out!

Staff was friendly and the food was always hot but do not expect an amazing culinary experience. I normally try to shy away from buffets and I would not consider this a high end or gourmet buffet by any means.

Wow, the lunch special is pretty good. For the price of a midtown sandwich in New York, you can have all you can eat foods of all kinds. In addition, there are coupons online that you can check out for seniors and if you get the buffet + drink.
The variety is pretty good. You can choose from sushi, asian food (sweet and sour chicken, fried fish, broccoli and tofu, etc), american food (roast beef (but you have to cut it yourself), spinach pie, french fries, etc), and a noodle stir-​fry station. I also appreciate how the tea is free.
I would have given it 4 stars for the value, but the waitress presumptuously charged us for three adults, even though it was clear that we had two seniors in our party. Also, the green tea ice cream is a bit artificial tasting.

I visited here with a party of 12 (all family) for dinner. For $ 12, it’s not a bad price for a Chinese buffet. They have what you could expect at standard Chinese buffets which is fine. They do have sushi and hibachi available which was really nice. For the sushi, you should try and get it while it’s freshly made rather than the last few pieces because you do not know how long it’s been there. However, the ones I did get to try were quite flavor full and they did have my favorite, eel!
I didn’t get to try the hibachi but the ingredients were various and you can choose from different sauces that they cook it in.
I’m not sure if it is dinner only, but they had boiled crab legs for $ 5 more, so you can all-​you-​can-​eat crab legs for $ 17! I found the rest of the food good and I definitely full and satisfied. I particularly enjoyed the coconut shrimp and my cousin absolutely loved their jalapeño clams. They also have cooked and raw oysters! I wanted some raw but they were always taken by someone else!
The desserts were o.k. They had green tea ice cream which made me excited, but the flavor was so minuscule that I didn’t even finish a scoop out of sheer disappointment. The fresh fruits were good, but I avoided the ones that looked like they were canned. Best dessert in my opinion were the Chinese doughnuts! (I just call them Asian doughnuts because pretty much every Asian country has doughnuts like this. I’m Asian so I’m not being racist lol). Anyways! It’s fried dough with a sugar topping! I’d suggest putting your favorite ice cream flavor on top of it and go to town with that baby!
The atmosphere doesn’t really matter much in my opinion. It’s clean and they have a friendly staff who are willing to help customers. Nothing special but they’re clean which is the main thing I can ask from a restaurant.
Overall, for $ 12 dinner buffet, it’s not bad. Have I had better for even cheaper? Yes. But, there’s not too much choices in Gainesville for Chinese buffets. I’ll come again when I have a large party in the mood for a buffet, but not really come again on my own. However, you will leave full or you didn’t eat enough!
Happy feastings!

Okay so I went back and the place is a lot cleaner and sanitation was very high on their list of priorities. They had a nice assortment of a Mongolian Grill and various other products.
I guess I’m not a buffet kind of person is really not a lot of variety while looks like a lot of different options there sushi rolls were just rice and some California rolls. They had a lot of Americanized food a overcooked steak that you had to slice yourself.
It’s just okay but I’ve been too much better but face but for 1199 for dinner it’s not a bad deal but not one that I would come back for anytime soon. They did have raw on the half shell which I was really surprised to see. I think between the oysters steamed clams in the steam mussels and the swimming crabs I did a pretty good job.

Definitely coming to Ocean Buffet instead of Szechuan Palace. Food is really good! Service is equally good.

Ocean isn’t anything groundbreaking in terms of Asian buffets, but I have not had a bad experience here after several visits. Even on holidays like Easter, the wait isn’t too long and the food is fresh and keeps on coming out when it’s in high demand. The massive amount of food options is both impressive and very tasty – not to mention a darn good price. My one qualm is how the ice cream is handled – the scoopers are stuck in a water reservoir with a flowing faucet and don’t really get washed off. It’s pretty gross. They ought to get soft serve instead if they’re gonna do ice cream. Otherwise, everything is pretty good and I have not noticed food being cold or sitting out for too long, but I’ve always gone on busy days during lunch time.

Place was one of the most disgusting places I’ve ever eaten. The food is low quality and the place seems really dirty. There is some sort of fountain in the front on the inside and it to looked dirty. The place just grosses me and my family out to the point of just leaving.

Their coupons say «not valid on holidays» then whenever you try to use it they mention that it’s a holiday, and provide some obscure, not celebrated day of some kind as an excuse to not honor their coupons, which are only for 10% off anyway. That’s horrific customer service.

This is an excellent buffet with a friendly wait staff. Very clean, everything tasted great. Food was hot when it should have been and there was plenty of food out unlike some buffets.
The vegetables and this baked fish were among the best items I tried aside from their delicious spring rolls. This place is a much better value than good fortune buffet, that’s for sure.

If you’re looking for an affordable chinese buffet to go with a larger group then this is the place to go to. Lunch times are only $ 7.50 a person and kids under 2 eat free. They have a sushi section which is actually decent (this coming from someone who eats a good deal of sushi). Their selection of more normal cuisine could use a few more options, but nonetheless is good. There is a hibachi section as well which makes things a little more unique. The atmosphere is not very authentic and feels much more American than asian. While the food itself is pretty standard, the price definitely makes it worth the while and the place is always packed!

$ 7.50 for all you can eat chinese food? Hard to beat. Lots of choices, like the tofu which is usually missing at other places, helpful to a vegetarian like me.
Sushi is limited, Habachi is popular, there’s dessert and soups, as well as entrees.
All seemed fresh and hot.
Lots of seating, very popular. They handle crowds well. They should make a bar area, many patrons come alone for lunch.
Décor is not as cluttered as expected, large dining area. A sweet surprise… they played recorded piano music in background, it was a collection of old hymns.
TIP: Count in time for parking, small lot for too many needs. Jason Deli is next door and this entire older, 2 story, strip mall can use a face lift.

This buffet replaced Century Buffet which was very good.
Ocean Buffet is the best yet I’ve seen in Gainesville.
Sushi fresh and made to order, boiled shrimp, etc. The buffet is absolutely huge !
I would recommend given them a try.