Essex Grand Buffet
“I particularly enjoyed the egg drop soup, crab dishes,chicken broccoli, coconut shrimp and the like.”
“The one really great thing about this place is the smaller batches it puts out.”
“The service is excellent and they have a wide variety of sushi and other foods.”
Essex Grand Buffet
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
7 reviews
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This place isn't much to look at; there are nicer looking, cleaner places out there. But $8 for lunch is a great deal. The selection might be on the smaller side, but the food is good, replaced frequently, and the sushi is fresh. The soup was also better than I expected and my waitress was very attentive- always refilled my glass and removed finished plates right away.
Chinese buffet, $8, what's not to like. 3 stars is pretty accurate but I'm giving in 4 because of this. The one really great thing about this place is the smaller batches it puts out. Food doesn't drown in goop all day like most Chinese buffets, fresh food is constantly brought out and in small portions. I don't touch the fried food section, only eating from the Chinese food area and the sushi so that's what my rating is based off of.
The Chinese food is really the star, especially the chicken dishes, the General Tso's and the pepper, they're very well made. Soups (hot and sour, egg drop) are decent, and the dim sum is very salty as are the dumplings. Sushi could be better if the rice wasn't so dry. They get creative with the cream cheese roll and a mango roll. Regulars seem to be into the seafood and the desserts, but I haven't tried those. If you like Chinese chicken dishes, I highly recommend this place.
It is what you think it is. A buffet. So don't expect anything mind-blowing. However, compared with other buffets its well above average. It's moderately priced. At first I was a bit shocked to see such little food out and then was very pleasantly surprised when I saw why. This is how they keep it very fresh. With every little bit eaten, they would replenish it immediately with a fresh portion. Outstanding idea!! No matter what it was, it was always fresh. I wish more buffets would copy this idea. It definitely made for a much better dinner.
This place was okay. Nothing spectacular, but not bad either. For the price (I paid $11.99) because it was dinner time) it is a steal. The sushi was adequate. Not super delicious or good but not bad either. I've had better at other buffets but they were also at least five dollars more expensive so I guess that is the trade off. The hibachi bar didn't really have anyone to staff it which was kind of uninviting. The rest of the dinner items were just like everything else. Not great but not horrible either. I would maybe go back because the price is pretty good and the food was decent. Service was not too welcoming but it is a buffet so I can't really complain there either.
Essex Grand Buffet is definitely one of the cheapest buffets I've ever eaten at; the receipt was already calculated, but if I estimated it correctly, lunch per person is a little less than $7. I wanted to eat somewhere else, but not bad for a rush birthday lunch yesterday.
However, Alice W. pretty much stated it: You get what you pay for. I'm not necessarily saying the food wasn't good (read on…), but in terms of food selection, the items are limited. In total, there were seven areas with food: The two middle buffet tables, the the four against the wall, and the seventh being the sushi section near the entrance. Each area had just a few items to pick from.
In terms of food quality, "I've experienced better" certainly applies. Most of the meat dishes are either chicken or seafood; only a handful of items were pork or beef. Most of the food looked and tasted alright, but there was one dish in the middle isle that did not look edible at all; it was slices of either beef or pork that was soaked in what appeared to be a really dark gravy or oyster sauce. For the most part, I ended up sticking with the sauteed vegetables (green beans and collard greens) and sushi. As far as sushi is concerned, there are only eight kinds; actually, there's seven–the "eight" is sauteed spicy squid; the tobiko gunkanmaki (the "red one") was the better option. There is nigiri available, but I did not see a single person get any; there were just three old-looking pieces randomly distributed between two plates.
While the service was great, I don't see myself coming back here. The selection is way too limited and the items themselves weren't appetizing.
The food at her is ok. They have things from mac and cheese to your normal chinese favorites. They make most things in smaller batches so its fresh and i do like the General Tso's chicken, crab rangue and there a bunch of there other items too. The soups always seems a little strange, granted soups at chinese resturants always vary to a degree so i guess its to be expected.
They also have sushi here which is also just ok. Theres nothing special about it but its not bad. A lot of it is made with imitation crab but its included in the buffet price so you cant complain about it.
They have a plethera of deserst to choose from if you leave room for something extra. They have little cakes, fruit and icecream.
Word of warning, stay away from the superman icecream! its just not good. There icecream flavors are hit and miss. Cotten candy is awesome, green tea is meh. Also get there before 12:30, when i got with a few friends who work in the area we get there at 12 and its pretty empty, at 1230 people start rolling in. Best thing is lunch is 8 bucks!
On my visit this past Monday with my dad and sister, we all agreed the food has been much much better. The hot food was never steaming hot, but it was at least pretty warm. This time it was cold. The sushi wasn't very fresh, the sushi salad used to be dressed, and now it tastes like the leaves weren't even properly washed!
Waitresses are quick to take drink orders and take away your empty plates when you are finished.
Otherwise, it's a relatively inexpensive meal option which you can take out and they weigh by pound, but the quality has woefully declined over time.