Update 2018-May-13: There was briefly a sign up indicating closed for renovations, but these pretences of reopening have been removed. All of the Imperial Buffets are now closed (Ajax and Mississauga as well) leaving only the distantly related Brampton Spoonful, and imperialbuffet.com now sells... custom bobbleheads? The vultures don't take long to circle. Pretty conclusive that it is never coming back, I would say.
Imperial Buffet has
3 locations in Ajax, Scarborough and Toronto. It actually began as a
“Mandarin" restaurant in Quebec 20 years ago, but since 2000, it
expanded its All You Can Eat (AYCE) in Canada and the States.
This location is at 24 Lebovic Avenue (W. of Warden Ave.@Eglinton Ave. E.) and the only one of the three I’ve been to.
Soup
for starters? Didn’t find any savory flavours here. A bit of salt
should do the trick, but is an unhealthy addition. Unfortunately,
without time and spice, some of the water based soups like wonton are
understated and well, watery. However, the seafood soup and lobster
bisque are both excellent.
Salads
are required in a healthy diet for fibre/roughage/bulk right? I would
just as soon pass by a salad bar any day since I dislike most salads.
But the Imperial buffet has just enough variety to interest even the
pickiest of eaters! Although I will say: the coleslaw taste too much
like... apples?
Main
course at dinner has the most delicious slabs of prime rib you will
ever put in your mouth! Cut by a chef at the carvery station, along with
beef gravy, chicken-kabobs, lamb, corn, mash potatoes and Yorkshire
pudding.
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The
food trays have pizza, different veggie dishes, mushrooms, green beans,
bok choy, chop suey, bean curds, variety of chicken and beef dishes,
crab legs (not my thing), mussels, shrimp, fries, rice, noodles and
breads. They even have a sushi bar! You can get salmon here, and also
cucumber, California and crab meat rice sushi. Don’t forget it's not
their main theme at the Imperial to serve sushi, so the fact that it’s
included is a cool addition.
What
I love most about Imperial is their desserts! Few have as much
variety... cakes, cream cheeses, pies, a crepe steward ready to make hot
crepes for you, ice cream and sorbets of all varieties too. Sadly, I
miss bread pudding which is my all-time favorite dessert!
Now
this was all the good, and you can see with a coupon one adult eats for
19.99 and another is 85% off, so there isn’t a better deal in town for
AYCE clearly..
Now for the not so good, and I will keep this on the short list, because this place deserves more praise than angst.
Their
chicken balls are questionable. I am not sure exactly what is inside,
but if you’ve ever bought a frozen box of chicken at a budget grocery
store, and found mechanically separated chicken pieces than you know
what I mean… not impressive. Just move on to the next tray .. or go
back to the prime rib carvery station, that’s what I did! Most of the
other chicken dishes such as Cajun, sweet and sour and curry are not bad
at all.
There
you have it, a great environment with nice artwork (including J.R.R.
Tolkien's and others' quotes), friendly, hard-working staff and quick
service.
Note: Don't be so quick to leave after you finish your meal here or you might miss an opportunity to dine 2 for 1 at the price of 1 buffet. Located on the long bar on your way out, you'll see an I-PAD, where you can enter your email address. Once a month you'll receive lunch and dinner coupons that are REAL deals.
Note: Don't be so quick to leave after you finish your meal here or you might miss an opportunity to dine 2 for 1 at the price of 1 buffet. Located on the long bar on your way out, you'll see an I-PAD, where you can enter your email address. Once a month you'll receive lunch and dinner coupons that are REAL deals.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
