NE Bakeshop & Buffet

Can’t get enough of their Kare-​Kare. Its the closest thing to my moms. And I love the fact that its a lot closer to me than DJ Bibinkahan or however you spell it. I’ve recommended this place to all of my friends and so far, no complaints. I think they go there more than I do. lol.

Service was good. The lady who helped me pick out my food was nice enough, though I am sure she was new. She forgot to put the milk in the «thai milk tea». Luckily the owner caught her mistake and put the milk in for her.
Food:
I’m filipino, so I am a little critical of the food, which wasn’t very good IMO.
Menudo — didn’t know there is hot dog in it… or pieces of fat. Just not something I wanted to taste. Now I have to dig through the menudo and remove the undesirable pieces. Very heavy though so it is filling
Pancit — more oily than my mom makes (sigh). This lunch definitely makes me miss her home cooking.
Rice — can’t go wrong with white rice, so this gets me to the three stars.
Thai Milk tea with boba — This was my fault. You can’t ask filipino people to make good boba tea! As an avid boba tea drinker, this SUCKS!!! I should have gotten the halo-​halo. So sad; (.
Sorry, I have had better. For those looking for decent filipino food, here are a couple recommendations that are better than this…
In the cerritos area — goldilocks, pinoy pinay, jeepney grill
…but nothing is better than mama’s house!

Went there last week thursday and what happened was really bad. Ok we had the 4 items for 5 dollars which is not bad. The bad part was when i ordered their bibingka. Oh my! It was already spoiled like literally smells bad and hard like a rock. When I told the chinese lady. She took the food and the entire tray at the pastry station. Then offer me the nilupak instead. But after i took a bite she went to me and said oh can you add another 2 dollars bec this is more expensive than bibingka! Oh my gosh! If it was american restaurant or other restaurant they will apologize and give it to me for free!
I was really disappointed coz I gave them good business for catering my daughters 1^st bday last year! I spent 3000dollars on them!!! I guess Im not a valuable customer. I was suppose to get them again for 2^nd bday but after what happened, no more! Wont even eat there again! The manager i used to talk to before isnt there anymore and I dont like that chinese lady I think the owner. Well trying hard to be chinese. Oh well!

It’s good if you want a buffet, so you can try a little bit of everything, but the menu does change daily so you’ll never know what you’ll get. The best food that I’ve tried here is the Bicol Express, a little bit spicy and after a few visits I haven’t seen it since then! The buffet comes with halo-​halo which is okay and you have to pay for the drink separately.
The pastries are okay and atmosphere is loud, plenty of other restaurants near by and only when I see the bicol express again, they I’ll be back for more!

Heard about NE Buffet from other friends, so I decided to check this place out. When I tried to pay with my credit card, the waitress said it must be over $ 10.00, so I purchased a drink. After sitting down, she came by and noticed I was drinking a bottle of apple juice instead of a soda and said I must pay another $.53…talk about hard times for a business! Since its a buffet, you would think they would come by and take your dishes away, but they don’t, I had to do it myself. Food was good… service was lousy!

Good job Né Buffet! I look back on my old review when you raised your prices up to $ 7.99 and you have me feeling bad for lowering you to one star. I’ve been back since then and I must say I am impressed. The folks here have worked hard to improve their buffet and offer good food to their patrons and I give them much kudos for that.
I’ve been back to Né a couple times since my last review and have been pleasantly surprised with several things.
They have a great deal for ½ off the food after 7:30 pm Mondays thru Saturdays and after 6:3.0 pm on Sundays (The only thing is I am a bit confused is if this half off includes the buffet. I was here with a party on a Friday after 7:30pm and they said the ½ off was for take out only. I then came back on a Sunday with my mom after 6:30pm and they asked if we wanted the buffet because it was half off. Please clarify Né whether if this half off is for takeout only or for the buffet.
Foodwise, they have some good offerings I’ve tried. Like Antho L. said in his review– there is a sign up front that says «No Trans Fat Zone» This is awesome!
I like the chicken sisig. It is a great dish but normally this is made with pork. I like that they make it with chicken instead. It is so much healtheir this way.
I also like their fresh lumpia. Great tasting and very fulfilling.
Another healthy offering I like is their salad with their house dressing. It is actually one of my favorite items at the buffet.
I’ve also tried a non-​buffet item last time — the egg pie. It is a small pie for a $ 1. It was ok. I like their food offerings better. I am curious to try their other baked goods though. I saw they have chocolate empanadas and sweets from House of Silvanas like lemon bars & mango bars.
Né has a sign at their restaurant that says «A few extra cents is worth the quality… at Né quality is your gain.» I truly believe this restaurant is working hard to stay true to this statement. I’m giving Né one more star :).

I came back here again for a second time because I think the food is pretty decent. I also like the fact that they are trying to serve healthier dishes as I noticed a sign as you walk in that says «No Trans Fat Zone» AND they even serve chicken sisig instead of pork!
It’s an all you can eat buffet and they do serve a variety of dishes. I especially like the kare kare (beef, vegetables in a peanut sauce). Since it’s one of my all time favorite Filipino dishes, I’m glad they’ve had it both times that I’ve dined here. The other dish, as I mentioned, is the chicken sisig which is stir fried chicken bits with onion with vinegar flavoring. The authentic version of this dish is made with pork and since I try not to eat pork, I’m glad they serve a healthier version.
They do a good job in keeping the various dishes filled. They even serve fresh coconut juice right out of the coconuts. Included in the AYCE offering are various desserts like halo halo (iced dessert with fruit) and ginataan which translated means «done with coconut milk» and is made of a warm, sweet, thick gruel made with coconut milk, sweet corn and glutinous rice. Jackfruit is usually added but there wasn’t any in NE’s version of this dessert dish.
They do need to figure out a better way to keep tabs on when diners have drinks with their meals because the way it works here is you just grab your choice of drink from a refrigerated unit against the wall. They will then ask you at the counter if you had a drink with your meal.
The cashier asked me if I had a drink and I replied that I didn’t. She then gave me an expression as if she wasn’t sure if she believed me or not.: (
I do hope they stay in business because for what you get, the $ 7.99 price seems pretty inexpensive and I’ve seen other AYCE places go out of business (i.e., Meghan’s Grill). That being said, NE’s is a great place to satisfy your Filipino food cravings!

Wow! Okay… like that new Dr. Dre and Eminem song «I Need A Doctor», NE needed one, but you know what? I actually gave him another chance the same way I did with National’s Sports Bar & Grill and you can thank Antho L. and Ryan P. for inviting me. So I went there not expecting to eat, but I said F’ it… and I must say that they improved! There was no repetitive Wowowee music, our tables were constantly cleared with friendly customer service, and the food today wasn’t bad…
My Gawwwd, Tyyronne… this was the first time that I ever tasted chicken sisig… yes… CHICKEN SISIG:
I also loved how they made friend chicken and some chicken curry which was pretty damn tasty:
Mr. Né… again. congratulations! THAT’s what I’m talking about, parre! You took me and other people’s criticisms and you improved on it, so HIGH F’N PIBBBBE (five)!!! Please make more longanisa, tocino and chicken sisig… ohh…and curry! You have officially been bumped up to 3 stars instead of 1 and seriously… I’m soooo ffffffrrrrouddd (proud) of you!
Like a good horny porn star neighbor, I’m down to come again!
Mr. Né, you’ve definitely stepped your game up without the need of Marcus from PSP!

After visiting a friend at Harbor UCLA Hospital, two of my friends and I had lunch at NE Bake Shop & Buffet. The restaurant is located in a fairly new strip mall and the inside reminds me of a Red Ribbon. The daily buffet price for lunch and dinner is $ 7.99. Although the restaurant was small, it was clean, had an open kitchen, and the servers were very friendly. The lunch buffet entrees consisted of the following:
(1) Salad — Didn’t make it to my plate; so, I can’t comment.
(2) Sotanghon Pancit (Mung Bean Thread Noodle) — The orange color threw me off a lil, but the taste of the pancit was very delish! 3 Stars
(3) Kare Kare — Chunks of beef with bone (no oxtail), tripe, eggplant, and string beans stewed in a peanut butter sauce and served with bagoong (purple shrimp paste). The chef kept replenishing this dish so I knew it was GOOD! Very savory and tasty! 3.5 Stars
(4) Chicken Adobo — Well seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar, and pepper. Yummy… 3 Stars
(5) Kalderetang Spare Ribs — Pork ribs marinated in garlic, ginger, soy sauce, tomato sauce, and pepper. I only had a lil taste but it was good. 3 Stars

(6) Chayote Guisado (Sautéed Chayote) — Fresh, well cooked and tasty! 3 Stars
(7) Pork Sinigang — My sabaw completed my lunch and was a nice touch. 3 Stars
(8) Pritong Bangus Fish — A fried fish that didn’t make it to my plate because I was concentrated on the kare kare. Next time!
(9) Desserts — Halo Halo, Jello, Bulacan Burnt Rice. I was so full from the main entrees that I didn’t have room for dessert. My two friends tried all of them and enjoyed all.
I enjoyed my lunch at NE and I thought the $ 7.99 price was great. During lunch, the manager stopped by our table to find out if we were enjoying our meal. He told us the dinner menu includes lumpia and lechon kawali. It’s nice to know they change the buffet menu entrees.
My lunch buffet was varied, fresh, tasty, and served in a clean environment. NE Bake Shop & Buffet earns a solid 3 Stars.

Came here and was very disappointed. I usually do not eat filipino food except if its cooked at home since I believe this is the best way to have filipino food. I came here to try this place out that I have passed so many times. We had the buffet option which didnt have as many options as I would have hoped. But the price it was decent. I had only one plate considering that I was hoping they would have lumpia but they didnt. I had the sisig which was okay and I had gotten the last batch. When I looked again it was refilled. One of my complaints is that the place had flies flying in and out of the restaurant since they left the door open. I was also disappointed to see that there had been ants on the soda fountain. I will not be coming back here again.

Ok, I’m no Pinay, but the cook mistook me for one and spoke to me in Tagalog today. Does that give me any credibility to give my opinion on Filipino food? I don’t know. But whatever, I like what I like.
First Impressions — From what I saw, the buffet was for sure smaller than your «typical» conception of a buffet. They have about 6 or 7 dishes, that change every day. The tables were clean and the staff was nice. There was Wowowee playing on the TV.
I ordered a two item combo (ginataang gulay and pork adobo) with some steamed rice, with a little bit of cucumber salad on the side.
The ginataang had butternut squash and green beans in it, so maybe it was more like a ginataang kalabasa. But it was good. The veggies were well cooked and the sauce was really creamy well balanced. The pork adobo was soft and super fatty. Personally, I love my pork fatty, so it made me happy. The adobo sauce had a LOT of oil in it from all that fattiness, but if you close your eyes, mix it in with the steamed rice and put it in your mouth… it tastes good, and that’s all that matters. (It’s probably not that healthy, but you probably didn’t come into a filipino fast food restaurant to be healthy now, did you?)
I think looking at some of their other offerings, you probably have to be a little judicious about the food that you decide to eat (like for example, some of the entrees did look a little dried out). However it’s encouraging that they have relatively small portions out at a time, which hopefully means the food doesn’t sit out in a warmer all day (hopefully).
I work across the street, so I’d come back if the mood strikes. Maybe I’ll get some of their baked goods and try the teeny tiny halo halo next time.

Coming from a Filipina, this place is ummm not as good as my family members give it the hype they think it deserves.
I had the Pancit Palabok and it was okay, it just needed a hint of acid from some Calimansi (Filipino version of a lemon). I tried their Sisig (broiled pork belly with onions and cilantro) and I felt it did lack some Ooomph (I wasn’t sure if it needed more zing or some heat). And what hurt me the most was that their Kare Kare (peanut butter stew) was not all that great — they didn’t really cook the veggies quite well and I had a bitter taste to it. That’s not suppose to happen! The meat was tender and the sauce was decent but I think the veggies killed the sauce’s power. Sorry my auntie’s cook better food than here! I didn’t get the macaroni salad because it looked like it was sitting there for quite a while, and while I was sitting eating my meal, they finally put the bowl on a bed of ice to keep it cool since it was sitting next to the heat lamps. Sorry that didn’t fly with me.
Not everything there is bad, I do give them credit for their melon drink. (melon shavings in melon juice) and their prepackaged individual brownies. I think those are the only stuff WORTH ACTUALLY purchasing.
So the place is built next to a Starbucks, Pizza Hut and Rite Aid. There are a lot of customers around the area but not so much for this place. They have two flat screens with of course the Filipino channel. But the atmosphere of the place is well made, I give them that. The place was kept clean and the workers are very friendly and helpful, and Glen C, when I came here the place was stocked with LOTS of napkins this time around (looks like they improved on that).
I probably wouldn’t come back to eat here unless I’m craving a melon drink (by the way if you get it to go you’d get a smaller amount than drinking it at the restaurant = dislike!) or wanting some BROWNIES.

I tried NE Bake Shop and Buffet for the first time. I came in the evening thinking that it was a real buffet. Not just some wannabe buffet with only 7 types of food to pick. Well, when I looked inside, that is exactly what I saw. The place did NOT satisfy me.
First of all, they give paellia a BAD name. It was too sticky and weird. That place made eating out of a dog bowl sound good! The canton was dry and icky. The adobo chicken has too much sauce, I was like EWWW in my head.
There was a sign that says «No left overs» but how could I not have food leftover if the food was so bad! I was very dissapointed. You now ALSO give Philipino food a bad name! Thanks alot!

When they first opened, this place was pretty good for a $ 6 buffet. But I just visited this place a few days ago and boy was I disappointed. The boyfriend official HATES Filipino food!
PROS:
–Snack size halo-​halo
CONS:
–They jacked up the price. From $ 6 to $ 8 a person… ummm, pa. paa… paaa PASSSSS!!!
–We ate there anyway because we were really hungry. I’m a big eater but I couldn’t even eat a full palm size of food from there. Everything was too dry or too vinegary! The chicken… what chicken?! It was all broken bones in sauce! The only thing that was edible was noodles. GRR!!!
–I pay for a buffet and they fill me up on nothing but carbs and sauce for the carbs. I don’t think so.
–Service… I don’t even want to mention the service, it sucks! We couldn’t even get our table clears and the tables and seats were sticky!
–The food at the buffet took forever to fill up so it would sit there until the sauce looked almost empty for them to refill the buffet.
–People came in to scope out the place and actually WALKED OUT!!! That’s what we should have done.
Oh well… now we know to never go to Filipino buffets. That’s a 2 striker for this buffet and the one in Santa Clarita! I don’t even want to do the 3 strike rule.

Just say no.
I agree with whatever Glen C said. I had the same experience.
And if I may add, they do not refill the dishes fast enough.
Went here on a Sunday and sure enough, it was busy and customers were busy hoarding food, not that there’s really anything to hoard because they have such limited choices.
I’d rather go to Nanay Gloria’s in Artesia.

Ok, I visited this place again last Sunday. Again I did not go during the lunch rush, as such I was able to find seating for my family quite easily and was able to go to and from the buffet without much inconvenience.
I can only imagine that the tray situation could be quite horrific if the buffet line extended well outside the place… But come on people, be reasonable… Nothing prevents you from coming back to the buffet! Sure you wasted an extra minute, but dont forget you only paid 6.99 to begin with… Name me a Filipino restaurant where you can get six to eight entries and go back as many times as you like for 6.99 and have the same quality of food?
Ok, to the food…
The day I went, the food that I enjoyed the most are the following:
Kalderetang Kambing (Goat)
Baked Tahong (Mussels)
Fried Tilapia
Cucumber Salad
There were more entries, but the above were the only ones I ate.
Kalderetang Kambing — O EM GEEEEEEE, the meat was so tender and was perfectly gamey (not too much, just right!) This stuff is good! I love it!
Baked Tahong — This stuff is dangerous! I had two platefuls. I think the mussels had cheese and sour cream on top, but whatever it was it was amazing, I was eating it like potato chips!
Fried Tilapia — So they coated it with some flour mixture, making it flavorful. The fish was perfectly fried, somewhat crunchy on the outside and moist in the inside. To kick it up a notch they had this sawsawan (dipping sauce) that had some vinegar, hint of bagoong, onions and tomatoes. Damn that thing was off the hook!
Lastly, still loved the cucumber salad, its a great palate cleanser, it was bathing in vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar dressing. I asked the chef how much sugar he puts, but he goes «secret». Damn!
I also tried the brownies again, I am glad to report that their brownies have improved quite a bit. Its so much more moister than the first one I tried and more chocolaty this time. You can tell they are now using better ingredients.
For the rest of you crabs here in Unilocal I am giving it a five rating for this tray challenged restaurant… Food is great, even if its tray challenged…

The food was pretty ok for the price. I came here early around 10.45am with my mother-​in-​law because she was hungry. the place was empty so we got to chose our own seats and the buffet was still stocked with food. one thing i would say is that you have to pay for a drink and they dont have free refills, but then again i dont see how they can stop you from getting a refill when they are busy.
The food that i can remember… pinapaitan, chicken adobo, ground beef, fried fish with tomato sauce, pancit, caldereta, cucumber salad, chayote and lechon kawali. i stuck to the lechon kawali and chayote, that was pretty good, of course it was fatty but thats what gives it flavor. what i did NOT like was the pancit and ground beef, it was plain with no real flavor.
They also had a free halo halo with the buffet, which was not bad, it is a small glass, but for me the flavor was ok… it was coconut jam, with beans and coconut pieces. dont come here thinking that you will get a full halo halo dish because you wont, but you will get something a little sweet to finish your meal.
I would definitely come back here for a quick meal, prices are cheap and i can find at least one dish that i would go back for.

Cheap cheap cheap buffet…$ 5.99
I was not impressed with the buffet. I guess this place changes the menu daily. With my luck I went there on the day the food was not good.
Lunch buffets: steam rice, lomie, adobo, fish dish, shanghai, some kind of veggie (didn’t look appetizing) and few other dishes. I sampled almost each one of them. Most of them are salty. I ate a little bit and didn’t even finish half of it.
Overall this place is not bad for cheap lunch. It was just uncomfortable when you ate lunch and the girl/​cashier with fake eyelashes kept staring at you. You stared back with «what are you looking at?» look and she didn’t care. I guess It’s a different story if I was a guy because tarantula eyes girl only flirted with guys.
2 stars!
NE Bake Shop & Buffet and its tarantula eyes cashier? Not so yummylicious

$ 5.99 Buffet with free Halo Halo!!! ***MURA and Good!***
One of the Better Filipino Fast Food/​Buffet places I have been to.
My two visits, combined with my buddies and their visits, have found the menu to change frequently from day to day. Makes me want to come back to see what else they have… This place has at least the following (not all at once/​different days)”
~Various Buffet Items
Malabon, Filipino Spaghetti (sugary), Lomie, chicken and pork adobo, Pakbet, some really good ground beef dish with an egg on top, and lumpia. They also had a dish that resembled sisig. I didn’t really care for it. If it was sisig, I would suggest sticking to Magic Wok in Cerritos for it.
They do have some bakery items, but not much. I did purchase some brownies and they were ok.
Soup bowls are too small. They need larger bowls.
~Customer Service and Ambiance
The restaurant itself is open and bright. Very clean. The staff are very nice and accommodating. The staff was constantly cleaning while I was there. Everyone was smiley and happy.
So for 5.99, the food was pretty good. I have to say it’s AOK. The free halo halo helps too.
Isang kasunduan iyon– Baratilyo and Tasty!

Great Filipino food,
Excellent service and you can’t beat $ 5.99 all you can eat :-)
I took advantage with the free Halo Halo that taste great.
NE is located right next to UCLA MEDICAL so looks like this will be the place to eat everyday for lunch.
NOTE: $ 5.99 was for 2009 it is now $ 7.99
Still great food — Try ordering there party trays