China House Restaurant

My wife, daughter and I were in Grayson and decided to stop for dinner and thought that a Chinese buffet would fit everyone’s appetites. Having noticed the sign for this establishment, we pulled in and so began our culinary adventure. We were greeted with an unconvincing «welcome» before being asked to pay for our meal before sitting or looking at the dishes being offered. I paid at the counter and included a tip since I imagined we would be seated and offered a drink. No such luck. We found a table by the window with ease since we were among only a handful of other patrons, and then ventured toward the «buffet». A quick scan of the dishes revealed most were a congealed mess of aging varieties of both Chinese and American fare. As we were all very hungry, we filled plates with food that we collectively hoped would be better than initial appearance. Picking were slim, to borrow from the colloquial parlance. Chicken dishes had the texture of boiled rubber dipped in fat, egg rolls-​while passable-​where not to be adorned by duck sauce since it was not readily available, anything resembling steak could have been raccoon for all we know, and the sushi looked to crafted from garbage scraps and the delicate hands of Sloth form the movie «Goonies». We served ourselves drinks from the fountain (the highlight of the meal for me was a well-​carbonated Coke). Other notable menu items included potato chips (yes, potato chips in Chinese buffet), mashed potatoes (seriously), gravy and biscuits. As I finished choking down the last few bites of my hard rice and what was labeled as «Butter Chicken» (a new one to me) i found a 6 inch hair swimming in the tepid gelatinous mess and decided it my last straw and I called it quits. My wife, having observed my disgust yet having far more gastronomic fortitude than myself, ventured back for another plate leaving most of what was on of her first unconsumed. She chose stuffed mushrooms which she reported had the consistency and flavor of 3-​day old horse turds and mash potatoes that she believed came straight from powder in a box. My daughter barely touched the «crab meat» and declared the wontons as were stale as her grandfather’s jokes. For nearly 40 dollars (including tip for absolutely no service at all!) the three of us left hungry and anticipating an evening developing a rotating schedule to use our two bathrooms at home and wondering if we had enough Pepto for all of us. Seriously, I joined Unilocal for the sole purpose of warning others that this is the worst dining experience I have ever had and even went so far as to warn other customers on their way in to «just turn away» while in the parking lot. I’m not sure about kentucky’s restaurant health standards, but if this establishment still exists by the time I finish this review there needs to be a serious overhaul. However, as a person who tries to look at the bright side of things I learned two lessons. 1) Never pay for food before seeing it at a buffet. 2) sometimes the only thing you can trust to not make you sick is the vacuum-​sealed fortune cookies (although it would have been nice if every fortune had said «you will spend night vacating brains out into porcelain bowl»).

Typical Chinese buffet. Came in at 7:30pm for the supper. Parked my truck at the lives across the street and ventured over. The Gen Tso’s chicken was good, mostly though things looked and tasted kind of old. They put a cover over the crab Rangoon so it was luke warm and soggy, I asked them to make a little more & after 15 minutes they brought out something that resembled what I asked for but tasted more like lunch leftover-​deep fried, chilled and then microwaved to shut the fat guy up about the soggy ones displayed on the buffet. They did finally bring out some other fresh food from the back but then they buried under the old crap they’d already tried to pass off as fresh. When you make a dish and leave it on the buffet so long the chicken starts to «brown» then bring out fresh cooked stuff that’s bright white, you shouldn’t make your patrons dig their way to eat chicken that probably won’t make them sick. With the exception of it being convenient this place is worth the skip! I’ve never regretted NOT getting Taco Bell before now. But the drink came with the meal & the WHOLE place is self serve so you’re not confused about what to tip someone who only fills your drink and takes your dirty plates. Honestly though, if I’m ever back through here, I may give em a second chance but I only if I’m really craving American Chinese food.

OK, I’m just grateful there’s a Chinese restaurant in Grayson. 4,000 people in Grayson, so there’s no «Chinatown». That said, I eat here 3 – 4 times a month. China House’s food is better than any place else I’ve found in town. Their main seafood dish is made with some kind of imitation crab, but it’s well seasoned and I always choose it.
There’s broccoli beef that’s reasonably well prepared, but I wish it were a little spicier. No fried won ton, no broiled fish, no mussels. They do always have pizza, mashed potatoes and fried chicken (someone in every group doesn’t like Chinese food I recon).
The buffet is less than $ 8 during the week, so I think it’s a good value.

Nothing too note worthy. Your standard ‘chinese buffet’ fare. I hate buffets because you are just eating what someone else didn’t want. They do provide comical relief watching morbidly obese people incessantly hobbling to and fro.
I eat there often.
I even gave them a CD of Appalachian music played with Chinese instruments because I like to hear a quasi representation of the ethnicity of my dining experience through their ‘muzak’ setup. Not some lame local radio.
I thought the cd would be ideal.
Perhaps something was lost in translation. I’ve noticed the workers English is often so poor that if you order anything but ‘buFAY?’ or ‘PETsi’ it throws a ‘monkey wrench’ into their machine.
Who am I to say? I bet they do more business than any restaurant in Grayson due to their location and ‘all-​u-​can-​eat’ appeal.