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Mandarin Buffet
Categories: Restaurants Chinese Restaurants Japanese Chinese, Japanese [Edit]
55 Rolling Oaks RdThousand Oaks, CA 91360
(805) 777-8820
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 9 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 9:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
22 reviews for Mandarin Buffet
22 reviews in English
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Review from Judy C.
Columbus, OH
1/1/2012 1 Check-in Here
Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I didn't think this place was that bad. Obviously, you can't expect much from a Chinese buffet where quantity is valued over quality so I lowered my expectations and had an enjoyable lunchtime experience. (Most) of the food was relatively fresh and comparable to what you'd get from Panda Express. Everything tasted decent (aside from the sushi - AVOID) but I mainly filled my plate up with coconut shrimp, green beans, and Chinese donuts. To be honest though, Chinese donuts are my achilles heel so any place that supplies me with an endless amount of those is ok in my book. ;)
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Review from Jeff M.
Winnetka, CA
11/27/2011
This Mandarin buffet also features Pizza, which I dared not.
To try and scrub my palate I figured a dish of 'Ice Cream' would do the trick. The vanilla was actually gray in color.
There is a trashy Chinese Buffet back home that would be the butt of jokes. Eating at Mandarin Buffet actually made me miss that place. -
Review from Sarah W.
WOODLAND HLS, CA
12/23/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Coconut shrimp, whole steamed fish, freshly stir fried bok choy, sushi & sashimi...unending varieties of semi- authentic Chinese/ fushion dishes in Thousand Oaks?! Where were you In my dire high school years! I'm thrilled to have discovered this buffet. I have brought multiple people with me on numerous occasions and all echo the same sentiment.
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Review from Taj T.
Newbury Park, CA
12/13/2011
I LOVE chinese buffets. I know many people do not, but I always have. Unfortunately, this one was THE WORST Chinese buffet at which I've ever eaten. All the food was nasty, service was poor, the location was kind of sketchy. It was such a disappointment.
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Review from Rockit O.
Thousand Oaks, CA
6/12/2011
Disgusting, inedible, gross.
I am sorry but I've had my eye on this place for a while, not for sushi, but for some interesting Chinese food.
I can't believe how bad it is. Too bad. -
Review from Diann B.
Ventura, CA
7/16/2011 3 Check-ins Here
The Coconut Shrimp gets 5 Stars.
The Mandarin Chicken gets 4 Stars.
The many choices, including 4-5 sushi choices, earns this place 5 Stars.
I liked the corn on the cob and the fresh fruit.
For under $10 you can eat and leave full. Really full. I believe lunch is $8.95. Add a drink and you are just over $10.
So..Why the 3 Stars?
Most of the food was just OK.
The meat items, not mentioned above, were overcooked.
I didn't care for the sushi. I tried 2 varieties.
I will return. I will most likely just eat Coconut Shrimp and Mandarin Chicken.
Paula, my BFF, loves this place. Anywhere Paula is .... is a fun place to be for me. -
Review from Andrew Y.
Thousand Oaks, CA
1/4/2011 2 photos
The food here is pretty adequate. Honestly, I would attribute the less-than-stellar cuisine to a combination of things. Sure, whoever is in charge of cooking the food could learn a few things about keeping meat tender instead of chewy and tough, but I just don't think there's enough customer turnover in a city like Thousand Oaks to keep the fresh food coming. When the establishment has taken to seating it's customers primarily on one side of the restaurant you realize there just aren't enough people to eat the food so it just sits under the heat lamps and goes to rubber.
I hope more people will consider this place more often because it actually isn't bad. Most of the meat is chewy at best but still tastes good when you're hungry. A lot of their entrees taste pretty similar to Panda Express on a good day. On my most recent visit I was surprised most by the honey walnut shrimp (except there aren't any walnuts, so I guess honey shrimp?) which were huge, and well-battered. There was a good amount of honey in the mayonnaise used in the sauce so that was spot-on in my book. Their hot and sour soup had good spiciness but the sourness fell a little flat.
The sushi bar is lacking severely. It feels like whoever prepares the sushi is improvising when it comes to slicing and many of the rolls are quite salty.
Everything else is standard buffet-fare really, and they've also got karaoke available for special occasions I guess. I think for an ayce place you could do much much worse. -
Review from Simon L.
7/16/2008
Chinese Buffets - I am really through with them...well, maybe not this one entirely.
I hate buffets that over-promise and under-deliver - meaning that they charge you a high price and tout fresh foods and you end up eating the same $5 takeout order you could have had next door at the regular fast food restaurant except now you've paid $20 and eaten slightly more, making you fatter than you already were...
I must say that China Buffet isn't so terrible. They have sushi but it's terrible and should be avoided. I would not factor this into their cost of admission even though it is clearly their most "expensive" item. Instead, if you focus on their cooked foods, you realize that it's really not so bad.
You get all the standard items like sweet and sour chicken, mushrooms, chicken wings, etc. There's also a few more authentic things: red bean baos and this cold chicken dish that I found towards the end of my meal, which probably was my favorite. They also have decent salt and pepper pork chops as long as you get them fresh.
It's not terrible and at $8 for lunch, you could do much worse. -
Review from Simon L.
San Luis Obispo, CA
3/27/2011
I was on my way down to LA last Friday night, and my buddy and I decided to try this place out. The food was fresh and the servers were very friendly. I read some negative comments below and I definitely did not experience what they experienced. I definitely will come back when I drive down to LA again.
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Review from Katrina S.
Moorpark, CA
5/8/2011
This place was awesome. Great food and plenty of it. Its an asian buffet complete with sushi which I thought was pretty good. The food is kept fresh and the staff is very attentive and always smiling. I really like the experience of eating there. Its def one of the better asian buffets that I have been to.
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Review from Bradley P.
Camarillo, CA
1/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place would so get a ***** rating if I was stoned out of my mind! But I don't smoke, so this place gets a two. The food is adequate. Nothing special, but quantity makes up for quality. We were impressed by the ethnic crowd inside of the ethnic restaurant .... that spoke well. I have typed this before the digestion process... so I may come back and knock off a star.
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Review from Juan Carlos D.
Sherman Oaks, CA
2/25/2011
This buffet wasn't as bad as I've heard.. I had 10 plates! Plus they have karaoke! ^-^
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Review from Wayne H.
North Hills, CA
1/18/2011
Yeah it filled me up for the 8 bucks I paid. No it was not Gourmet Chinese Food. No rush to go back but I would go back again ... eventually.
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Review from Laurie S.
Newbury Park, CA
11/14/2010
My family and I just moved here from San Diego county and could not wait to try out the the asian cuisine in the area. This place so far is my favorite. The food is amazing, which really surpised us all being that it is a buffet. You can tell they use fresh ingredients and their selection is awesome!
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Review from clara c.
Thousand Oaks, CA
1/4/2010 1 photo
after several years of not going here (in which time the name changed to mandarin buffet), the boyfriend and i tried again last night.
it wasn't amazing but i rarely expect that from a buffet. it was pretty good though, especially when you take into consideration that the last time i went i swore i wouldn't waste my money there again. "so why did you go?" you ask...we had coupon, it was down the street and strangely, it seemed like a good idea.
i'm glad we went again. we won't be frequent visitors but i would go back. heck, all the crab legs you could possibly want for $11.95? not too shabby. they aren't the biggest, plumpest crab legs you'll find but there's a good amount of meat and the fact that you have to work for it a bit gives you a chance to digest between plates.
i'll try to remember everything i got and make a brief comment on each:
plate 1
*crab legs - not huge but there was decent amount of meat
*crawfish in a sorta spicy sauce - sauce was good but these were a pain in the a** to eat and tasted sorta swampy
*salmon nigiri - small slices of salmon but surprisingly fresh tasting
*shrimp nigiri - standard buffet shrimp, no flavor really
*california roll - standard buffet cal roll, good avocado though
*spicy tuna - fresh fish, unusual sauce. it had the typical flavor but then a hint of sweetness and maybe ginger?
*salmon roll with a slightly spicy sauce inside - decent, fish tasted fresh
*broccoli chicken -broccoli was cooked perfectly, sauce flavor was good
*popcorn shrimp in a sweet sauce (almost tasted pineapple-y) - what can you say, it was fried & had sauce...it was good. a little too soft from sitting in sauce though.
*sautéed mushrooms - tiny, flavorful, well cooked button mushrooms
plate 2
*more crab legs - same as plate 1. after these i was way over crab legs
*bbq beef ribs - these were those little ribs in that bright red bbq sauce. i probably wouldn't eat them again
*warm crab salad in a crab shell - seemed like real crab; too rich & mayo-y for me though
*ground pork bao - their bao gets too dried out and the dough becomes tough. pork had a similar flavor to what is in wontons
*sesame ball with red bean paste - pretty tasty, could almost be a dessert
*sticky rice & bean dumplings (wrapped in banana leaf) - my co-worker from china makes a much better one. these had been sitting in the steamer too long, yet despite being in the steamer the banana leave were dried out and it was almost impossible to get the dumpling out of the wrapper
plate 3 (at this point i was entering taste overload so my perception may have been skewed)
*peach shaped bao with red bean paste - their bao gets too dried out and the dough becomes tough. parchment paper stuck to the bottom and i couldn't get it off
*more salmon nigiri - same as plate 1
*chow mein noodles - i've had better from panda; these weren't bad they were just "whatever"
*cold edemame - well cooked & salted
*sauteed green beans - a little too oily for me but they had a hint of heat which was nice
*orange chicken - too many fatty chicken bits
*fried rice - fresh & tasty
*whole shrimp - mushy texture & not completely deveined so i didn't eat it
plate 4 (hey, i was going to get my moneys worth!)
*watermelon - fine
*cantaloupe - a bit flavorless
*honeydew - same as the cantaloupe
*banana with bright red (strawberry??) sauce - would have been fine without the weird sauce
*chocolate pudding - totally yummy old school chocolate pudding; rich, thick & creamy...was great with bites of banana
*almond cookie - fantastic! i lurrrv almond cookies
nibbles from the boyfriend throughout the meal:
*steamed mussel with mayo sauce - coated in way too much mayo. i didn't even realize it was mayo or i wouldn't have let my boyfriend talk me into eating it
*short ribs - way to gristly & fatty for me
*hot & sour soup - traditional hot & sour soup in taste and consistancy
all in all it was fine and i think i def. got my $8.96 (we had a buy 1, get one 1/2 off coupon) worth! -
Review from Kaaren D.
Newbury Park, CA
2/10/2009
Got dragged to the Mandarin Buffet by a friend. As a vegetarian, there were a few things I could eat, but maybe not $12 worth. Doubt I would go there again, unless with friends. But, there was a lot of variety, including crab legs, and if that is your thing, probably ok.
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Review from Gabe V.
Huntington Park, CA
3/22/2011
My boyfriend and I ate here on our way to Santa Barbara because there was nothing else around. The food was adequate at best. Considering the cost of the food versus the quality, I would not recommend this place. We should have waited - we had terrible gas all weekend. Unless you have access to febreeze, do not eat here!
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Review from Justin T.
Ventura, CA
6/1/2010
Cheap, disgusting, Chinese food. Enough said.
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Review from Michelle O.
Los Angeles, CA
9/4/2006
This is a good place to go if you want chinese food buffet style. I like the fact that you can get whatever you want and don't have to worry about other people and what they may like. You can get calamari, soup, dessert etc. It's doesn't have the best food, but again it's good if you like buffets. I would go for lunch and not dinner, b/c for dinner it's a lil pricey if you aren't the type of person who eats a lot of food in the first place. Then you might as well go to a regular Chinese restaurant. Nothing I can really recommend here to eat that I thought was great.
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Review from Topo T.
Ventura, CA
9/14/2009
Now called Mandarin Buffet, this place seems pretty good when you walk in and see the low prices and large selection! Of course you should not expect the greatest food at one of these buffets, but this food was really quite awful. The better food was just plain mediocre at best. In general, the meats were very tough and rubbery, and some basic food like the egg rolls and miso soup had a very weird and barely palatable taste. The workers really couldn't care less about the customers, and the bathrooms reaked of urin and other filth. There are plenty of other affordable restaurants out there where your money would be better spent. Cheap food shouldn't be this Bad!
Will we go back? Not even if it was Free! -
Review from Sean B.
Albuquerque, NM
10/18/2009
Though I'm not usually a fan of Buffets, this one hit the spot. I recommend taking family and friends, particularly those that are around the age of 11 and eat as if they gave bottomless pits.
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Review from Lauren B.
Los Angeles, CA
1/23/2010
The food is heavily fried and not very fresh. Their sushi tastes very fishy and almost rotten. Also, they don't offer lunch on the weekend, which is not posted by the lunch times. I was quite surprised when the bill came. A big rip off, even at lunch prices. I've been forced to come here about three times, as if the first weren't bad enough. It's tough to articulate how much I dislike this place.
