Chinese Buffet Restaurant

great healthy ops, i get loads of watermelon, salad, and the mini steamed clams are the best., super lo cal desserts like jello. only con: sushi comes dressed in sauces which i dont like, not enough seaweed salad but other than that, its yum

The food, In a word– disgusting. The staff– rude. If it were this or a gas station it’d be a toss up.

Good Chinese food, prompt attention from wait staff. Buffet contains quite a variety. However, as with most buffets, it’s best to eat there when it’s lunch time or dinner time and not at odd hours in between, other wise you get stuck with food that was left over. Having said that, they are usually good at replenishing their food in a timely manner.
One big drawback… my wife and I go there often… she likes the hard ice cream, which is in a freezer. No matter what day we go or at what time, the ice cream containers are always almost empty, and the flavors are not the most popular.

i’m not a snob when it comes to chinese food. and seeing as how i’m american, i don’t mind the americanized version of chinese food. breaded and fried chicken in a sweet/​spicy sauce? hell yeah! this place has a lot of that to offer. well actually, that’s about 80% of what they have to offer. this place is kind of funny like that, tons of chicken dishes, a couple beef dishes, and not much pork. i think there was some sushi there but i don’t pay attention to that.
i liked the coconut chicken, the honey chicken, and then there was another one i liked but i can’t remember what it was. the emporers chicken, general tsos, and sesame chicken were all pretty medicore, i didn’t even get those the 2^nd time i went. the sweet and sour chicken was average. they have a BBQ chicken as well but i don’t know why they call it that because it’s not smoked and there’s no bbq sauce on it. i liked the chicken dumplings too, and the meatballs in garlic sauce were ok, as were the pork eggrolls. the wings were different both times i went, the first time they were big and breaded and the 2^nd time they were small and breaded. also this is the first time i went to a chinese buffet and didn’t see any pizza, which is fine by me because chinese buffet pizza usually sucks. the desserts are kinda funny, they have cheese puffs and cool ranch doritos out, but they also have the standard cakes, cookies, jello, and pudding. they also have hard ice cream and soft serve. i went with the soft serve in a cone and i thought it was pretty good.
both times i went the service was pretty good, they were polite and quick to refill my water and take away empty plates. i didn’t notice anything unsanitary like some of the other reviewers, and so for just over $ 10 for a dinner buffet, this place is worth going to if you’re looking to stuff your face

An Americanized version of Chinese cuisine, it’s comfort food. In that respect it does the trick. Good for families with children and those who don’t have exotic tastes. I was disappointed by the little things: wasabi from a squirt bottle, have to request chopsticks and lack of spicy food options.

I don’t even have words to explain how amazing this place is. I have been eating here since I was 4 years old, and I literally believe that this place is the cure for everything. The food is amazing and I consider the staff family. I have tried every Chinese place in Ithaca and nothing compares to the variety and quality of food the Chinese buffet has to offer. I absolutely love this place.

After hiking Watkins Glen on vacation we were hungry– buffet hungry. So we searched high and low for a buffet while we drove back and this seemed like the only option.
Well, maybe we should have been more patient and eaten at any other restaurant that serves Asian food. It was like the other reviews say: ordinary at best. The service was freindly. The place was about as clean as most strip mall buffets. They had sushi, American and Chinese food. It was all just run of the mill saucy, salty buffet food. The honey chicken and the seafood delight were the best. Some parts were mismatched. For instance they had lettuce, cucumber and five bottles of ranch dressing but no other salad toppings. It was ok but the saving grace was that it was only $ 20 for both of us to eat.
We agreed that buffets are just too hit or miss on vacation. This one just was a miss.

Despite being a Chinese buffet, only about half the food is actually Chinese. The counter has lots of American stuff (potato wedges, mac and cheese, etc.), sushi, and the typical unauthentic Chinese stuff which is catered to Americans. My friend said he once saw pepperoni pizza served in one of the trays?
Food is mediocre at best, but the buffet is ridiculously cheap. I gave them a generous tip (the service was pretty good to our group) and it was still just $ 8.50.

To start out, most of the food is typical food-​service grade Chinese buffet stuff. You’ve had this sesame chicken and lo mein before, many times over. Everything is served at a disgusting luke-​warm temperature which I can barely fathom even being possible considering how fast they seem to rotate through dishes on the buffet line. That means nothing is being cooked fresh, and that it’s all sitting lukewarm in the kitchen for god knows how long before they bring it out. None of it is really… awful… but it’s just barely warm and therefore unappetizing. The sushi is so low-​grade it’s not even funny or worth calling sushi.
There are some head-​scratching oddities here. A metal tray of Doritos? Bottles of hand-​labeled mystery substances named things like «hand-​made sauce». I mean, really? Are you going to pick up a bottle of that and actually put it on your plate? I did sample the «wasabi sauce» and the «hot mustard sauce» since, lacking even a courtesy bottle of sriracha, might have lent some flavor (and heat) to the food. But these were not, in color, taste, or texture, anything resembling wasabi or hot mustard.
I don’t know what I put in my mouth, and that is something you should never be saying after going to a restaurant.
Cleanliness is a serious issue here as well. Some lady with a wet hacking cough was carrying buffet trays into the kitchen, which means at some point she was surely carrying them out, full of food. Getting a plate or bowl is kind of a Choose Your Own Adventure. 1 out of 5 is what I would consider even passing cleanliness, the rest have food still on them and don’t look like they even got washed with water, let alone detergent. And, woe be to the person who gets a look at the bottom of the tray where the «clean» dishes are stacked. I think I saw food remains from 1979 down there.
Just don’t go here, unless you can mindlessly stuff food in your mouth and ignore all the red flags around you, and someone else is paying.

It was probably one of the worst buffets I’ve ever been to. The food was cold and lacked flavor .The service was terrible they did not even bring drinks or straws for 15 minutes. All in all not worth the trip!

This place is great for the price. This review is only for their lunch menu:
If you like chicken, this place is pretty good in that most of its meat dishes are chicken– coconut chicken, sesame chicken, emperor chicken, bbq chicken, honey chicken, sweet and sour chicken, braised chicken…
Otherwise, the other meat is mainly pork. Not that much variety of meat.
For me, being a chicken fan, it was great. However, my friend did not like it.
The sushi here however is pretty low end. If you want sushi, this is probably not the place you should come; even though it is a buffet, believe me, it isn’t worth it.
As for american fare, they have like a pie of small pizza (looked like the one you get frozen), potato wedges, and mash potatoes (that’s all i remember). If it’s for american food, this place probably isn’t a good choice.
Soup. they had wonton soup, hot and spicy soup, and egg drop. I only get the egg drop and add green onions in it. Its sweet and tastes like sweet chicken soup.
If you want dessert… this is one of the worst place to get some. Either canned fruits, fresh fruits about to go bad, jello, or dry cake. Maybe the soft serve ice cream is good, but I can’t judge, because I did not try it.
There’s also fried rice, lo mein, and rice noodles. I only get the rice noodles when I come. It’s pretty good.
As for vegetable selections, aside from spring rolls, there’s some stir fried broccoli and zucchini with pork, stir fried broccoli with zucchini, mushrooms, fried tofu, and baby corn (vegetarian option, i suppose), and some crunchy sauteed string beans.
I came here twice (two Saturdays) and the food options are pretty much the same, Compared to the first time, the second time had a few more sushi roll options and a chicken option.
In addition, their takeout menu (which also advertises it’s buffet) it says that they «use 100% vegetable oil» so that we don’t have to «worry about counting calories when eating chinese food». They definitely have no clue what they are talking about. Their stuff are pretty oily. and if you are looking to eat healthy, this is probably not the place.
The thing I don’t like most about this place is the service. Aside from seating you and asking you want you want to drink, there is basically no service. Well. I guess that is expected of a buffet place… They do come pick up your plates once in a while. First time I went, they took my fork! (so I could not eat anymore. but I was about done, so i didn’t complain). In addition, what i DO NOT LIKE is that they give you the receipt when you are still eating! Both times I went, they did this. I did not even stay there long. Also, they also take about you to their co-​workers not only behind your back but also in front of you. I am Chinese but i do not speak their language (mandarin) but I can understand it, so it was disturbing to listen to the things they had to say first about the person before me and after me! RUDE!
So all in all, if you don’t mind having bad service, cheap food which is not sushi, desserts or anything not Chinese, and a chicken fan, this is a great place to go. Otherwise, choose something else…

The food here is very average, but there’s a lot of food, so you get a lot of bang for your buck. Their dessert section is a bit lackluster, they have a softserve machine, select Hershey’s ice cream flavors, stale cookies, and cut fruit. Everything served here is Chinese-​American food, not authentic Chinese. The servers here are really nice.

It’s been hit or miss a this place. I’ve had some really good food here, and some not so good. It’s a buffet!!!

Why even bother five stars… Terrible service, sad looking food on the buffet trays… They could have done much better.

The name of this restaurant is actually Main Moon, and it is hands down the best Chinese food experience in Ithaca.
Alright, I may be exaggerating a bit, but the folks at Main Moon came to know me very well. The buffet is cheap — two can eat for $ 20 flat including hot tea, and it offers a variety of soups, appetizers, entrees, and desserts. I love their sweet and sour chicken — a staple in all Chinese restaurants, but their style stands out among the rest.
The servers don’t speak the best English, but they are all kind and welcoming, and very attentive. If anything is ever low on the buffet, just let your server know and they’ll have it freshly filled in a matter of minutes.