China Buffet - Tasty Chinese in Mentor on the Lake

It seems like the strip malls on Andrews Road in Mentor on the Lake are the place to be for good food at rock bottom prices; I recently reviewed El Patron (link is here), there is a Little Caesar's offering large pizzas with one topping for under $4 and then there is China Buffet.  Despite about the most generic name possible, I came away with a very good experience.

I noticed China Buffet since they were advertising $4.49 lunch and when I mentioned it to my friend Mindy who lives out that way she actually recommended China Buffet as a place she likes.  Located at 5985 Andrews
Road (map is here), behind a Wendy's, the exterior is nothing special and seems a bit run down; however this is quickly dispelled once you are inside.  Decorated in Chinese Buffet style, with a large mural of waterfalls on one walls and dividers topped with wood scrollwork and painted glass, the room feels brand new and spotlessly clean.  A look at the buffet is even more encouraging, with all items well stocked and looking fresh and well prepared.



After being seated I headed over and was pleasantly surprised to see a nice variety of what looks to be well prepared sushi; including items with roe, seaweed salad and a futomaki with raw fish.  Certainly not what you get at a Sushi restaurant, but better then most Chinese Buffets.  Sampling the items I found them to be flavorful and well prepared, with crisp flavors and a nice hand in seasoning.  About the only complaint I had was that the raw fish was a bit stronger then I would have preferred.


I move on to the hot buffet and am even more impressed, the items I tried were well prepared and for the most part were more flavorful then I have become accustomed at Chinese Buffets.  A couple of spicy items I tried had a nice heat to them, which is unusual at buffets.  Even better was the Seafood Combination, which had shrimp, bay scallops, crab sticks and squid in a creamy white sauce.  The seafood was nicely cooked, with the squid and scallops tender, a very unusual occurrence in my experience with buffets.  The white sauce actually had a pleasant mild soy flavor to go with silk texture and added to the dish.  The items I tried, generally tasted good to very good, with flavor profiles I would expect if I ordered them off of a menu rather then getting them at a buffet.  The vegetable fried rice and the lo mien were OK, but noting special. The buffet offered a nice variety, although not as big as some I have seen. 


Even the deserts I tried were flavorful and seemed to be a better grade then I have become used to at Chinese buffets.  


Despite having a generic name, this China Buffet offers very good food in a clean setting at a very good price; I wish more buffets were like this, offering food with flavor and keeping it fresh as possible.  While not offering anything unique, I prefer having everything well prepared and would recommend you give China Buffet a try if you are nearby.

Chinese Buffet Price Wars in Mentor, Ohio

If you are out in Mentor near the intersection of Mentor Avenue and Heisley Road and need a lot of food at a cheap price you might want to take advantage of the prices being offered at two nearby Chinese Buffets that seem to be in a price war (map of the area is here).  I have tried both and while neither is outstanding, they do offer pretty good food and right now the prices are low.

First up is Great Taste Buffet at 9440 Mentor Avenue, just East of the intersection.  Great Taste is the larger buffet with more variety and a slighly nicer decor.  Prices are currently $4.99 for Lunch and $7.99 for dinner.  The front section of the restaurant has several buffet stations set up and the overall food quality is better than most of the Chinese buffets I have tried recently.  Most of the food is well cooked and pretty well seasoned.  The highlight for me was the homemade dessert custard pies.  Decor is pretty standard for this type of place, a bit flashy and starting to get dated, but you don't come for the ambiance.

Phoenix Buffet is at 9354 Mentor Avenue just West of the intersection in a storefront set back from the street.  Phoenix is much smaller and has less of a variety, but is offering the buffet for $3.99 Lunch and $4.99 Dinner.  The buffet is a single long line in the middle of the space, but they manage to squeeze in a good variety of good food.  The highlight here for me was the small fried shrimp with a spicy coating, nicely fried and with a nice zip they were a real treat.  The food is actually pretty flavorful, it might be that having to produce a smaller variety of items allows them to do a better job.  The decor here feels a bit old and very generic, but it is hard to beat the food you get at this price.

My recommendation would be in favor of Phoenix, but that is more for the price then anything else.  The food quality is about the same, flavor slightly favors Phoenix, but variety and decor favor Great Taste.  Either way this is a good way to fill up without spending much money.