CLOSED - Wu's Garden Buffet (Chinese)

Update 2019-Dec-2 - Wu's Garden is closed, as confirmed by Yelp, Google Maps and their phone number being NIS.

Wu's Garden Buffet is located at 3650 Victoria Park Avenue in North York, just north of McNicoll Ave. I didn't see a person go in or out when I was outside after arriving, but there was a good crowd inside, all Chinese people loudly and happily chatting. Loudish pop music was playing. Wu's Garden appears to have changed decor and layout slightly from the last time we went there which was a few years ago. We never got a chance to write it up then. AYCD pop is available which is excellent and only $1.50. Be advised that some of the wait staff hardly speak any English. Incidentally, Wu's Garden was known as "Golden Light" before 2018, and this former name is still found on their tableware.

Beware that the soups mostly were either mislabeled or not labeled at all. Seafood tofu soup was good, about the same as Imperial Buffet's was, where it was one of my favorites. Chicken soup had large chunks of chicken but not much flavor in the broth; probably just needed a little salt but there was none at the tables. Congee was good. Hot and sour soup was quite good, better than some at far more expensive places; it was not burnt at all though it was late in the lunch period.

General Tao chicken was not bad but needed some more zest, it was breaded with a very light amount of sauce. Breaded fish also did not have much flavor and no sauce (ie tartar) was nearby. Spring rolls were good, as was beef noodle stir-fry. Pork dumplings (which again had no nearby sauce) were alright. Roast chicken was good, but a bit dry. Moo goo gai pan was excellent in a good sauce, black pepper beef similarly good in a nearly same if not same sauce. Breaded shrimp was good, but again, no sauce was available nearby... seafood sauce is basically a requirement. Chicken wings were good and not dried out at all, again with the lateness of the hour it could have been otherwise. Shanghai noodles were good.

Buddha's Delight was good, but ironically not for Buddhists, as it had chicken in it. Wu's Garden has a sushi bar with all maki rolls also with soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi and edamame. The "low-sodium" green-lid soy sauce was some of the saltiest I've ever had. Cucumber, California, sunshine and other rolls were good; unfortunately there were no labels so I have to guess what they were called.

For dessert green tea, mango, chocolate and vanilla ice creams were fresh and good. Mocha and lemon cakes were also good. The weekday lunch price was quite amazing at only $13.99 and a phenomenal $10.99 on Tuesdays. To be sure there were some items I didn't even try as in their steam trays they did not look very appetizing (er… especially the chicken feet); it was at the end of the lunch hour and I think they had been left out too long (I stayed beyond the end of lunch and the steam trays remained, and the entire food and dining area had not a single person left in it.) By contrast, at the Mongolian Grill for example, the minute that lunch hour ends the kitchen staff parades out, takes all the food from the steam trays and puts it in the refrigerator to keep it as fresh  as possible for the dinner hour. However, nothing I had at Wu's was bad, some of it was quite good, and the price is phenomenally good at least these days (the AYCD pop glasses are quite large and I still managed to down three of them… or was it four?) Wu's was quite a good value.

Rating: 7-7.5/10