Fu River Buffet

I had my parents, brother and sister-​in-​law over for dinner recently and we ordered from Fu River.
We had the Dinner for 6A. It was $ 52.95 and we got 6 Egg Rolls, Breaded Shrimp, Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls, Cantonese Chow Mein, Honey Garlic Spare Ribs, General Tso’s Chicken, Double Chicken Fried Rice, BBQ Pork, and Fortune Cookies. If you pick up and pay cash you get an extra 10% off, which is what I did, so including taxes it was less than $ 54 for a lot of food!
First off, this is «Canadian Chinese Food» very reminiscent of Manchu Wok and Tiki Ming (although much better than Manchu Wok). So don’t be expecting authentic Chinese food here. It’s very Westernized. That being said, as long as you know this and it’s what you want, the food here is pretty good, especially for the price.
The Egg Rolls are filled with lots of meat. You know how some places fill their Egg Rolls with mostly cabbage? Not at Fu River, the Egg Rolls are mostly ground meat with just a bit of cabbage. I really liked them. They do have a strong «Five-​Spices» flavour to them though, which I know is not everyone’s cup of tea. The Egg Rolls are regular closed-​ended Egg Rolls, not the open-​ended type. The Egg Rolls came with a large tub of plum sauce.
The Breaded Shrimp were excellent. They are coated with panko bread crumbs and then deep fried. Many places call them «Torpedo Shrimp.» I was afraid they would be battered and would be mostly batter, but the panko breading is light and the shrimp were delicious. I forgot to count how many we got, but it was at least 12, probably more.
The Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls were filled with white meat and the breading was not too thick. There was a good meat to breading ratio. It came with a large tub of sweet and sour sauce.
Honey Garlic Spare Ribs. These were the loser of the bunch. They were drenched in a gooey sauce that was too rich in corn starch. I like my Honey Garlic Spare Ribs dry and sticky. These were wet and gooey. The ribs themselves were also tough. I would not recommend this dish.
The BBQ Pork was also a loser. The pork was fatty and covered in sauce. I like my BBQ pork slices dry and lean. I wouldn’t order this dish again either.
The Cantonese Chow Mein was good. Lots of medium-​sized shrimp, large pieces of chicken breast, and some BBQ pork slices. There were also lots of vegetables, though mostly broccoli, carrots and baby corn. It also had mushrooms. The noodles were soft and the sauce was flavourful.
I love General Tso’s (aka General Tao’s) Chicken. The one here is not the best, but not too bad. The breading was not too heavy. I found that the sauce lacked that tangy flavour that I love with General Tao’s Chicken. It’s more savoury and less sweet. It came on a bed of broccoli.
Double Chicken Fried Rice (I don’t know why it’s called Double Chicken Fried Rice. Maybe because it’s a double portion or maybe they put twice the amount of chicken it in that they normally would). The rice was abundant with chicken pieces. It also had peas, green beans, carrots and corn in it. It was pretty good, albeit salty.
All portions were large and we had leftovers. The takeout containers are plastic and reusable. They are the kind of containers that I love saving and reusing for potlucks or when you make food for someone and don’t want to worry about getting your containers back. The Breaded Shrimp and Chicken Balls came in a cardboard box.
The price can’t be beat, especially if you pick up and pay cash. The restaurant is on Carling Ave near Lincoln Fields. There’s free parking in the parking lot attached to the restaurant.
I want to try the eat in buffet next time.

We went here on Friday night and the place was dead, maybe 5 families at most. We walked in and stood at the entrance waiting to be seated for a good 5 mins, we then realized why it took so long, there was only one man working the entire floor. There was only one section open in the whole place, the rest of the restaurant had the lights off. The food was mediocre at best and was certainly not fresh. It isn’t terrible, but I wouldn’t eat here again. They should also consider cleaning the carpets and walls or a general update of the place as it is quite dirty looking.

This was a terrible experience from start to finish. Unfortunately not much positive to say here. Not expensive but still an incredible waste of money nevertheless. Can’t believe that some reviewers here have given this a high rating, making me question their integrity and/​or taste. We should have turned away based on the lack of any maintenance or curb appeal. And we really should have walked out when we first entered the building and noticed how dirty the floors were. Our confidence wasn’t any better when we got taken to a table and noticed fingerprints and splatter marks on all the glass fixtures and walls. While the décor was otherwise pleasant and tasteful, cleanliness is not a priority here. We were slightly encouraged by the appearances of the relatively well presented food at the buffet tables, however this quickly digressed as we begin to eat the most bland Chinese food I can ever remember putting in my mouth. As per another reviewer (who still gave a strangely positive review), the plum sauce for the spring rolls was putrid. As a big eater I actually went back for three plates worth of food hoping I might discover something enjoyable and of relatively decent quality. Of all the dishes the only two I found palatable were the spicy calamari and spicy beef. Even the desserts were disappointing. On top of this all the service was very poor. We barely saw our waiter. They gave us only one skinny napkin each. And forgot to bring water as we requested. One of the more appalling restaurant experiences I’ve had and you would definitely need to pay me to ever consider returning to this restaurant — do NOT go!

Having now tried every AYCE buffet in the city, I have to give the top honors to Fu River for overall taste, value and variety. This was my third visit there for lunch since new ownership took over before last Christmas and Weekday Lunch is still $ 9.99 and seniors receive a 15% discount. The quality of ingredients are better than other buffets in town and there are far more interesting items than your average fare as well. There’s fish prepared three ways, Szechuan chicken skewers, mango chicken, etc. My only criticism is the buffet stations were not kept hot enough and some of the food was lukewarm in temperature. Still, if you’re out in the west end, this is a good spot to indulge your craving for Chinese food.

Have driven by this restaurant so many times and wondered how the food rated. Today went with a friend for a $ 9.95 lunch. We were very pleasantly surprised! Having both lived in Vancouver, with access to fantastic Chinese food, we found Ottawa to have few choices.
The restaurant was nicely decorated, a lot larger than expected. We were seated right away and our drink orders taken. The food area was impressive. Great layout and lots of dishes. Many good for my vegetarian friend, though she does eat seafood. The food looked fresh, was well lit and labelled.
Had our meal and it was delicious! We went back for our favorites a number of times. The wonton soup had good wontons. The shrimp dishes were cooked perfectly. The tofu dishes had a lot of flavour. The mixed vegetables; broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, etc was cooked so they still had some crunch and the sauce was tasty. The chow mein was made with noodles, which is the norm in Vancouver. The pot stickers/​gyozas were delicious. They also had a huge selection of seafood dishes, unusual for a buffet.
Highly recommend this buffet. The cost is very reasonable and the quality is high. We are definitely coming back. Finally have found a great Chinese food restaurant in Ottawa!

After getting a few menus in our mail box over the last few weeks we decided to order from this place, Fu River, which has just opened up on Carling. It took over the Mosaic Buffet which definitely wasn’t the first Asain restaurant in this location. I think I’ve been in during a previous ownership…
Anyway! We ordered from here in hopes to find a new local Chinese place! It was pick up only, only for orders over 20 $ before tax. which I find funny, especially because every family dinner is over 20 $ except for one…
I got Dinner for 2B, they said it would be ready in 15 – 20 minutes. The boyfriend was on his way over so he picked it up on his way, and there was a 10% off discount if you paid in cash!
The meal came with 2 spring rolls, which I didn’t like, and bf ate too fast to notice, but it could have been the sauce I put on that didn’t smell right. Fried Chicken Wings, which were great! Very surprising! General Tso Chicken, very good! Beef with Broccoli, also quite tasty! Chicken fried rice, with huge chunks of chicken! and Fortune cookies, which were of course, great!
All of that, for 28 $ with tax! I will definitely be ordering from here again! Maybe we’ll even eat in.