Asian Buffet (Chinese)

Asian Buffet has been one of our staple go-to's for literally decades, but it had a slump when it reopened just after the pandemic and there were some quality issues. I therefore wanted to start fresh with a rewrite and retest of everything I could now that they are back to normal operation; I didn’t like one of our favourites, especially a nice family-run place, having a now-undeservedly low rating.

Asian Buffet continues to be located at 161 Rexdale Blvd. at Kipling, transit-accessible on both the Kipling and Islington bus routes (the latter goes along Rexdale on its way to Woodbine Casino.) We went for weekday lunch. The interior is now brighter than before because the flooring was redone with modern material rather than the old dark carpet which was doubtless hard to clean. Mishy also liked the new and improved chairs. $3 AYCD pop is available, including Coke Zero.

Mishy enjoyed the lemon chicken which she always said was done best here... she indicated that she actually saw it being made once and they were putting lemon zest in it, and it certainly seems to have more lemon flavour than other places’ which are just sickly sweet. I also enjoyed and I usually am not a big fan. She also said that the garlic beef was excellent. Fries were very good even though they are large... to Mishy they were the “best ever” but she says that a lot. Egg foo young was delicious, fresh and well-seasoned.

Chicken skewers were delicious and moist not dried out. Grilled fish was quite good and relatively fresh. Egg drop soup with mushroom was good although it could have used a little pepper. Wonton soup was fresh and delicious. Egg drop soup with corn was mislabelled as vegetable soup, but was excellent due to the proper amount of white pepper and other seasoning. Hot and sour soup is another one that this place gets right as it has just enough heat and sour to be tangy and delicious.

Mishy loved the general Tao chicken, and I had some as well and it was excellent. Chicken wings were moist and delicious and not overdone seem to be fresh. Sweet and sour chicken balls and sweet and sour shrimp were fresh and not too oily. Breaded fish was good although I'm not a big fan of the tartar sauce which seems to be mostly relish but I guess that's what the usual is. Honey garlic wings were quite good although they were also mislabelled as Buffalo wings.

We both loved the garlic beef as it was well-seasoned and the beef was very well cooked. Spring roll and egg roll were both good, the spring roll is a little dry but not enough to matter. Szechuan chow mein was good and fresh, although it could have been a little more smoky but I guess that's a personal taste thing. Curry chicken has always been a signature dish here and was good although not as good as I remember so I think they changed the formulation. Sausages were not off, but were not fresh either as can be seen from the photo where the skin is peeling back... looks unappetizing. Sweet and sour spare ribs were delicious, and I initially mistook them for General Tao chicken. Garlic shrimp was good and had understated mild seasoning.

For dessert, Mishy said all of the ice creams are excellent except strawberry which was boring, but I didn't mind it. Tiny cake log slice was delicious banana. Tiny cookies were good. We both liked the chocolate ice cream and commented on it. Mango ice cream was fantastic. Butterscotch ripple ice cream was very good. All ice creams were fresh without any freezer burn. Tiny chocolate cake square was very good. As well as service is very good; we could barely put a plate down before it was picked up. The best part: it was only $15.99 for weekday lunch... Asian has gone back to its superb-value pricing. There’s a 10% service fee but it’s less than I would pay for a tip anyway so that is good as it’s covered. There were a couple of shortcomings but the value adjustment certainly compensates! It’s nice to see Asian Buffet back where it belongs.

Rating: 9.5 / 10

Original review below (one of our earliest):

Update 2021-Aug-26: I have to drop Asian Buffet's rating to a 5. After over a dozen years of eating here, after the lockdown reopening the quality was abysmal with stale offerings, the salad bar stunk of sewage, and the price has gone up to $20.99 for weekday dinner. The fact we were surprisingly not ill afterwards is the only thing keeping it from being lower. I will of course re-review later and hope that things have improved to their former freshness.

The Asian Buffet located on 161 Rexdale Blvd/Kipling has been a popular 'all you can eat' of mine for over 6 years now.  The food is always fresh, and the prices are reasonable.  The lunch is $7.99 and the dinner is $ 11.99 on weekdays; The lunch is $9.50 and the dinner $13.99 on weekends. For an 'All you can Eat' menu, this is very good!

Inside - "Asian Buffet"

Fish tank -in the front-Goldfish (carp) kids will love

They have chicken balls, with lots of white meat inside, lemon chicken, general Tao's chicken, ribs, chicken and beef skewers, rice, noodles, tempura, an excellent salad bar, yummy desserts and tasty ice cream with lots of different flavours to choose from.  Their hot and sour soup and won ton is loaded with noodles, and fresh dinner rolls.  The staff is friendly, and although they are usually busy, they will greet you and seat you right away.  One of the nice touches has always been a warm rolled up white cotton cloth to wipe your face and hands with that comes with the bill at the end of the meal.  

There is a neat fish tank out front, that the kids will love.  I've seen the little goldfish grow up to become strapping young carp!

Overall rating: 5/10 (see note above)