Golden Island

Closed. Not a great loss other than it was the closest Chinese buffet to my house.

Went here for lunch for the first and last time today. The best thing I can say about this place is the staff is nice, but the food isn’t. I tried several items, the only thing I can’t complain about is the egg drop soup. Other than that, l coulda, shoulda, went to BK or Popeyes.

Does anyone know why Golden Island on Shepherd went out of business?

As far as «you get what you pay for,» this fits. We’ve been back a few times, but this is the ONLY Chinese buffet place for miles around. Although it has a lot of seating, it is empty-​ish, at least on weekday evenings. It seems clean enough. I really wish that they had more vegetable dishes. Mostly they have fried or heavily sauced meats. I wish another Asian buffet would come to the Heights to give this more healthy competition

My first review and not a good one. I’ve been coming here for about a year, nothing great the usual chinese buffet food. We usually come here because its quiet and not as packed as other Chinese buffets in town. Problem I always have is with the owner/​manager whatever he is, very rude last time I was there I asked for a childseat for my daughter he seemed bother that I asked. Also when we go pay not a word from him, no how was everything, not even a thank you. The waitress is usually nice, but not on this day well atleast not to us. Before our drinks would not go halfway without being refilled, plates would be cleared as soon as we’d put them aside. I saw her come and go attending others and had to call her to come refill our drinks this was only one refill. But as I saw the look on her face as she served us I told my husband lets go, we still tipped because we have better things to do than get locked in a Chinese buffet with horrible staff. Now don’t think we stuffed our face we only got up twice but ate the same food. Everything seemed to be at the wrong temp. and like it had been there a long time without being replaced. So over all bad experience and definitely my last time there. Good riddance Golden Island!

This has to be the worst buffet I’ve ever been to but I’m not making it a reflection on Texan cuisine. I’ll let the sushi places ruin that for me.
Everything tasted old. The sushi should not have been allowed out for the public, one bite into the «salmon» and I could feel my mouth recoil and try to induce myself to vomit. Everything that was fried was not only bad for you it was bad TO you. As in it didn’t look appetizing and wasn’t worth chewing for how much better Popeyes would be than that. Their Korean BBQ ribs were kind of funky. The soups were weak and watered down. The chow mein was extra greasy.
The positive:
They are very attentive, they have big large screen tv’s and I got to watch Men in Black while I pretended this food was not going to make me sick later.

It’s really difficult to find a good chinese food place inside the loop for some mystifying reason. I grew up in Katy which has a great food scene and perhaps I was spoiled by all the good food out there, but the buffet here at Golden Island is… blah. Tasteless, bland, bottom of the sysco catalogue.
The place is nice on the inside, and is absolutely huge. The buffet arrangement is a bit unpractical when it comes to placement. If i want sushi, I have to walk all the way around this huge buffet. There’s a lot of options, but not really any good ones. I’ve been here about 5 times or so, but only because I have yet to find another chinese buffet within reasonable distance. I may just start driving all the way to Lam Bo.

Very mediocre at best. Food was bland and not all that fresh. Egg Foo Young, and its gravy, was cold.
I doubt that I will eat here again.

We have a branch office near Golden Island so I stop by there sometimes when in that area. The food is typical chinese buffet fare, but there are a few stand out dishes. The crab puffs there are the best that I have ever had. Egg rolls are pretty good as well. I really enjoy their honey chicken dish too. Very large selection of food and also have some american and mexican options as well. Price is right at only $ 7.50 for lunch. Cannot beat the total of value and variety of food available at this place. I will be going back next time I am in the area again.

The «A-​OK» is exactly how I feel about this place.
Bill was $ 21 for two people, so I’m assuming it’s about $ 9 a person (I didn’t pay). Not too bad for the selection. They have everything from the basic essentials to pan fried dumplings, soft serve ice cream, sushi, and even some Mexican and American dishes like tacos and meatloaf. My friend even got some shrimp and craw-​fish. The crab puffs are some of the best I’ve ever had.
Service was good. My glass of water never ran below ½ full. The size of this place is ridiculously huge so no need to worry about being cramped when making a beeline for the buffet. They also have two party/​banquet rooms in the back. The restrooms may need a re-​model soon.

Recent remodel… Good selection of food for the price.

I have this thing about Chinese food. It’s not that I don’t like it, I just think it all tastes exactly the same… regardless of restaurant. For instance (and bring on the trolls because I get flak for saying this all the time) I think ordering Sweet and Sour Chicken at P.F. Chang’s pretty much tastes the same as any Chinese restaurant attached to your local gas station. So I guess that begs the question, why do I rate Golden Island with 4 stars?
The answer is because their buffet is absolutely ridiculous. The food is edible (which is about all I can say for every Chinese restaurant), and they even have sushi and various western and Mexican dishes on the buffet. During crawfish season (and sometimes not during crawfish season) you can get mud-​bugs on the buffet if you want. In addition, the PRICE IS RIGHT! I don’t recall exactly how much the buffet is, but I think it’s in the $ 8 range. It’s totally worth it when you see the Mecca of a buffet that they have.
And here’s my little caveat and words of caution for all you foodies out there that are going to slander my good name for giving this place a favorable review: This place is a buffet. You get buffet quality food. It’s not the freshest. But that’s not why we go to a buffet, is it? We go for the selection, not having to deal with the waiter, not feeling guilty for tipping $ 2 for a meal, free soft serve ice-​cream, and all-​you-​can-​eat crab poofs and fried buns.
If you just need a quick buffet fix, I highly recommend Golden Island Buffet. It will fill that void in your stomach with all the luke-​warm fried food you can possibly handle.

Reliable, good, decent priced, chinese food with delivery service. Our favorite dishes are hot & sour soup, vegetable lo-​mein and beef broccoli. Their broccoli is fresh and not over-​cooked.