Imperial Buffet

Agree with other reviewers who’ve said this place has gone downhill. Prices are high and not worth what you get. Food and desserts are below par. Honestly it’s just not the same as it used to be. I’d say spend the same money at Mandarin and it’ll be way better.

For a Chinese buffet it is okay. The prices are a bit cheaper then the Manderin but still pricy. We like it as our kids are not adventurous eaters and they can be satisfied while we are able to get what we want. The atmosphere is not fancy and feels like a upscale cafeteria. Also the layout is odd… I found myself walking in circles trying to find the room where we were sitting.

This place has seriously gone down hill since they opened. It used to be cheap and delicious. Now they suck. The prices are the same as the Mandarin except the food and service is awful. Cold and dried out food. The waiters make up excuses as to why you can’t use coupons. I emailed the management the last time I went to complain about how bad our experience was I never received a follow up email. I will never go back here again.

It’s an OK Chinese buffet as it goes. The food areas are well stocked and accessible with fairly comfortable seating. There is a hot meat bar custom carved, a fair assortment of seafood (seasonal), and the staff are nice to deal with and attentive.
We’ve been several times because it’s close and because the birthday person eats for free. (ID required).
Desserts are a good selection of fruits, cakes and other baked goods as well of 4 or 5 flavours of ice cream and a chocolate fountain.
The buffet meal rums about 22 bucks a head tax in without alcohol.

I find that the quality of food and selections have fallen off. Used to be good, lot of the food served are over cooked and rushed. Deep fried Crab Legs is dry, Grilled Squid and ribs are quite rubbery, fruits was not even ripe enough to eat. I also found a hair on my Sushi. I thought maybe it was my hair at first but when I pulled it, it was partially wrapped in the Sushi itself. Got grossed out! Eeeeeeeewwwwwwkkk!!!
I wonder they even have such thing as quality control on food they serve.

I’m not picky when it comes to food and I don’t usually complain about it but after my experience today at the Imperial I felt compelled to come on here let everyone know how awful this place is…
I’ve been to this buffet a couple of times in the past and had left there feeling like it was good enough to be one of the buffet options in the area… today was my birthday and my wife and I decided to go there for lunch, I don’t know what happened to this place but the quality and taste of the food was horrific. Today.
First off there wasn’t much of a selection and what was there looked and tasted old… Noodles were rubber … The Rice were hard and burned… Meats were tasteless and hard to chew… I tried a series of the dishes hoping to find something id enjoy… each dish worse then the next… at some point I realized it’s best I don’t need anything because I was worried about getting sick from the food. so yes on my birthday I left a buffet hungry! After what I just witnessed I can’t imagine this place staying open much longer.
Please please please take my advice if you want to go to a buffet drive the extra 20 minutes into Oshawa and go to anyone of the 4 buffets they have there…

Good buffet dinner on weekend: crab legs, scallops, shrimps, and good selection of sushi

Came here with a group of 10 over the Valentine’s Day weekend and was skeptic due to the reviews I was reading on route but glad we stuck through as my heart fell for cupid’s invite in falling in love with this place. Great staff, super accommodating and I can’t say that enough. We were seated after about 20 minutes, which was surprising as the entrance was full and we had no reservations.
My requests of putting two tables together had 3 members of their staff orchestrating amidst a sea of hungry patrons, take note: some were not so impressed with our entourage bombarding in with a crew of staff speaking in their native tongue debating which table to give us.
Oh dear, most diners who glared angrily seemed dateless, impatient and extra hungry because again… dateless and here for the love of stuffing your face until having a date in the first place would’ve hindered all possibilities of indulging, so coming here ‘dateless’ was beginning to bring meaning to ‘single and loving it’. Cheers to my dateless yet happy foodies!!!
On the other hand, hubby and I took our nephews and nieces including our baby girl for a hearty treat to an AYCE to avoid catering to one’s craving and instead this place fed our hungry warriors happily with an incredible selection of sushi, meat and lots of meat including ribs, steak and seafood cravings?! Shrimp galore (fried and fresh), oysters and clams, crab legs! YAS! DESSERT wasn’t even ready for this troupe.
Staff was quick to clear our tables, more napkins here, another order of drinks there and every request answered with a smile despite the busy night we chose.
It’s quite rare that a buffet makes good sushi, so I was blown away when hubby had me try their green dragon rolls and that was that! I made a beeline for the rolls myself and then 2 dozen of the oysters (fairly fresh, they only give 2 at a time so plenty of trips made) and racked on some chocolate covered strawberries and perfectly satisfied.
Atmosphere is great, located in a fairly new modern plaza. The cold weather and tight parking didn’t damper anyone’s mood which thank God made way to a very nice evening with the family.

Was visiting friends in the area and wanted to grab dinner before heading home. This was quite the trek for us in the first place. I heard bad reviews but decided to try it anyhow. What a big mistake. The food (IMHO), was terrible. Really poor quality and very greasy. Not a fan of Chinese buffets in general, but this was truly the worst we’ve had.

Overpriced, limited selection and mediocre service even below your standard buffet expectations. This place does not warrant the drive there even if it was just to use the BOGO coupons they frequently spam my mailbox with. I am somewhat of a fan of their other location in Mississauga but this is like the polar opposite. Notably absent on weekdays are the AYCE crab legs. I would avoid this place like the plague. CASH ONLY when using coupons.

After my visit today I am finally willing to write a review for this location. Before now I would have rated it 3 stars which in my opinion isn’t worth reviewing as no one wants to read about an average restaurant.
Recently they have added more to their grilled food offering. Now in addition to the Angus roast beef and pork loin you can have sausage, pork pieces, beef ribs, zucchini, sweet potatoe and pineapple. I might have missed something but look at the picture to see this smörgåsbord!
Personally I avoid breaded and overly processed foods but like everyone else that’s a personal choice so I can’t comment on most of their other dishes. However I see people going back for seconds of most things. With this in mind for dessert I recommend the crème brule.
I love both their hot and cold crab legs. But take this tip and only choose the brightly coloured ones. The darker legs and claws taste OK, but the meat does not come out willingly.
Sign up to their newsletter and you will almost always have a bogo coupon which combined with these new additions to the menu make it an affordable dinner for two.
To reach five stars I would have to point to the wait staff. While most are attentive to clearing plates and refilling water, they should raise the bar and watch for other guest needs like extra napkins, crab cracker tools or a quick wipe of a table between plates if the table needs it.
Finally it might appear to be a trivial detail but the new salt and pepper shakers on the tables reassures me that they are always looking to improve.
Otherwise it’s always a pleasant experience.

The Imperial Buffet is located north of Highway 2 and Harwood, behind the big huge plaza that sprawls the length of Highway 2 between Harwood and Salem. It can be hard to find so keep an eye out for the turn into the plaza.
We came here on a Thursday evening and it was PACKED! We had about a 15 minute wait before we were seated at our table and then we were able to dig right into the buffet. In my opinion, Imperial is just a poor substitute for Mandarin, if we’re being honest. It’s slightly cheaper and they offer coupons (everyone but us had a coupon) but they don’t have nearly the same selection and the food just isn’t as good.
That being said, we enjoyed a few plates of the hot buffet, which includes prime rib, lots of seafood including hot and cold shrimp, crab legs (I don’t have them but they’re very popular), all of the standard chinese fare, like chicken balls, chicken fried rice, sweet and sour pork, etc, and some american fare, like french fries, onion rings and pizza. I rarely get salad or soup at buffets but they had quite a selection here. The main thing to come to Imperial for is the dessert area. This area is the main sort of focus when you walk into the buffet room, they have all kinds of pies and squares, a fresh waffle station with toppings, an ice cream bar and a fruit bar. Good selection and everything was decent.
The service here is what’s to be expected from a buffet. Our «server» came by once to get a drink order and then one of the busgirls was at our table more often than anyone else. I certainly hope she ended up getting a portion of the tip we left.
Overall, the Imperial is a decent meal, if you have a coupon its probably a better reason to go but if you’re in AJax, you may as well just drive the extra 10 minutes to Pickering and go to the Mandarin where you’ll get more choice and better food and probably better service too.

This is a buffet so you can’t expect top notch food, after all people go there for the quantity. I personally don’t like buffets but it was my friends birthday so we went. A plus for anyone on their birthday, its free (when you have a friend with you)!
But for me I found it way to expensive especially for the lunch hours. My server was always smiling so naturally I liked my server. Everything was clean, excluding my glass of water which wasn’t too clean. Overall it was an average experience, but I don’t plan on going back.

Negative stars.
Revolting, cheap, ugh.
I felt like the food was sitting out all day, after seeing the dessert table I was excited for that, but I was so wrong. They tasted SO stale.
Do not go here. You’ll regret it!

Restaurant has a lot of dishes. Food quality was not bad. Service was extremely poor. They do not honor their own coupons. So watch out!

BAD… OVERPRICED. POOR QUALITY… Indigestion…UGH!
Hadn’t gone in a couple years but OMG it has gone downhill. spend $ 5 more and go to Mandarin if you want to hit a chinese buffet.
Everyone in our Party of nine was feeling ill later and vowed NEVER to go back.

Other people’s recommendation motivated me to drive all the way to Ajax for Imperial Buffet. I must say it was worth it. The menu collection is good if not extraordinary. A good mix of Asian and Western dishes are available. I specially liked the steak. Yes, they do offer steak, and it is average quality in my opinion. The buffet setting is nice. There are plenty of space available for small group gathering of 7 – 8 people.