Zen Buffet - restaurant review

We had occasion to be at the Long Beach Town Center last Saturday right around lunchtime and before seeing a movie at the AMC Theatres there, so we looked around at the various restaurants to see where we would be having lunch. The husband saw the sign for Zen Buffet and thought it might be ok, so we decided to check it out. Now, I'll say off the bat that I'm not generally a fan of Chinese buffets. I find the food to be bland at best, over-sauced and over-condimented at worst. They also tend to have what I find to be boring and generic offerings. The appeal for most people seems to be that Chinese buffets tend to be inexpensive, often costing less than $10 per person. For me, the lower cost isn't appeal enough for low-quality food, and low-quality bland and boring food at that, so I'd rather pay a little more to get dishes that I actually like, well made to boot. With my bias set forth, we decided to go into the restaurant and have a look - for me, being able to see the dishes for myself tends to give me a better indication of whether or not it's something I'd like. When we went in, I asked if we could look around the food stations, and the hostess graciously said yes. As I looked around to the various stations, I noticed that everything was very clean and well-kept, and there was a fairly large selection of items available, both in quantity and variety. Both the husband and I decided it was worth trying, so we went back to the hostess, who seated us in a booth.

Here's a list of the various items that were available on this Saturday afternoon. The restaurant charges a particular price for lunch Monday through Friday, a higher price for dinner Monday through Thursday, and a slightly higher price for dinner Friday as well as all day Saturday and Sunday.

hot and sour soup
seafood soup (almost like egg drop soup but with seafood)
Boston clam chowder
miso soup
sui mai (pork dumplings)
clams in black bean sauce
baked oysters
whole fried shrimp (with head on)
braised green beans
beef short ribs
salt and pepper squid
edamame
sashimi - salmon and yellowtail
sushi - spicy tuna roll, philadelphia roll, gobo and seaweed roll, ikura
hand rolls - $0.99 extra each
bbq ribs
sweet and sour fish
teriyaki beef
baked salmon
cheese mussels
crab filling
baked mix seafood
steamed crab legs
roast beef (self-service carving)
walnut chicken
broccoli chicken
steamed asparagus
spicy octopus (cold)
cold peel-and-eat shrimp
spicy beef tripe (cold)
white rice
fried rice
cheese wontons
roast lamb (self-service carving)
vegetarian egg rolls
baby back ribs
chicken skewers
french fries
popcorn shrimp
sweet and sour chicken (sauce on the side)
orange chicken
salad fixings
lo mein
cold salads
sesame balls
fruit - cantaloupe, honey dew, watermelon, red grapes, oranges, bananas in red sauce, two kinds of jello
almond cookies
frozen yogurt
other cookies
cake roll (coffee flavored)
fortune cookies come with check

Generally speaking, I found the restaurant to be a good value. The wide variety of entrees makes the buffet appealing for just about any kind of appetite and preference, and the look and taste of the food was that of a more upscale buffet.

The hot and sour soup was actually pretty decent, tastier than you might normally expect at such a high-volume restaurant. I would have preferred it a bit more vinegary and spicy, but I generally feel that way about hot and sour soup anyway. I don't usually order clams in black bean sauce because I find the black bean sauce to be too overpoweringly salty, but most of the sauce was on the bottom of the serving dish, so I managed to fish out a few clams that were just sitting on top, and I enjoyed those. I tried a baked oyster, but it was just ok as it was mostly room temperature. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was hot. I also tried the whole fried shrimp, but I tend to be very snobbish when it comes to shrimp. I could tell that the shrimp was previously frozen and thawed, so I didn't enjoy that too much.

The beef short ribs were very tasty with very nice seasoning. The braised green beans were quite good, and the salt and pepper squid was very tasty as well, though not as crisp as you'd find in a regular restaurant, but that's to be expected since they sit in a serving dish rather than being served freshly made. The sashimi and sushi weren't nearly as good as you'd expect from a good sushi restaurant (the husband, who very quickly turned into a sushi snob once he started eating it, had a bite of one piece of sashimi and then refused any more), but it was actually pretty decent for a buffet place, so I had a couple of pieces. The steamed asparagus was cooked a bit more than I generally like them, so I didn't have as many as I might normally have. I did, however, really enjoy the cold spicy octopus and the cold spicy beef tripe.

I would have tried the mussels, but I don't like cheese or mayonnaise on them. I looked at the crab legs, which seem to be a major reason why people like Chinese buffets, but they didn't look too meaty, and I didn't want to hassle with trying to pry little bits of meat out of the shells, so I skipped them. The various ribs and chicken skewers and orange chicken all looked really good, but I was too full to even try them.

For dessert, I had some of the fruit (but not the bananas because I like my bananas just plain, not in various sauces), an almond cookie, a couple of sesame balls and a slice of the mocha-flavored cake roll, which was delicious.

The only caution I'd have is that I don't know how well the buffet would work for vegetarians. There weren't too many dishes that were completely meatless. There would be the asparagus and green beans and white rice. The fried rice is usually meatless, though I didn't particularly note the fried rice there - sometimes, fried rice does contain egg, which might be an issue for some vegetarians. There were vegetarian egg rolls and miso soup. The gobo and seaweed roll would be meatless, and then there were the edamame and the various salad fixin's. I'm just not sure that would be enough to make a satisfying meal or to justify the price for someone who's a vegetarian. I was a little surprised that there weren't more vegetables-only dishes, and I was rather surprised that they didn't have baby bok choy at all.


There were signs on the food stations asking people not to waste food - that is, take as much food as you're going to eat, but don't take a ton of food and then just leave it on your plate to throw away. Some buffet restaurants actually charge extra if you leave too much food to be thrown away. I personally solve that problem by taking just a bit of something if I'm not sure about it. If I don't like it, no big deal. If I do, I can always go back for more.

There were also signs stating that kids under 10 must be accompanied by an adult at the food stations. I think that's a good idea as kids under that age are probably more likely to make a mess, take more than they really want, or just not be able to navigate well amongst the food stations.

One other thing to note - please don't pick food out of the serving dishes by hand. As I was helping myself to something out of one of the stations, I noticed a woman walk by the station on her way out. I'd noticed her earlier because of her fairly-pink-colored hair - well, what she had of hair as she was an older lady. As she walked by the food station, she reached in and snatched a piece of popcorn shrimp and tossed it into her mouth and continued on her way out of the restaurant. It didn't look like she touched any of the other pieces, but still, ewww, lady, if you want more food, feel free, but not like that.

The only things not included in the price of the buffet were the hand rolls and any beverages other than regular water.

It's a fairly large restaurant with lots of seating space, and the entrees, sushi, salads and dessert items were in different serving stations so even if it's busy, it wouldn't be as crowded as if all the food was bunched together. The seating area had both tables and booths, and the dining area was nicely air conditioned and generally had a nice environment. The service was generally good, with our used plates promptly taken away and our water glasses refilled. All of that, combined with the decent quality of the food, I'd recommend the restaurant.


Here are the prices for adults and children:

lunch Monday through Friday 11am-3:30pm
adults - $8.69; kids 2-10 $0.79 x year

dinner Monday through Thursday
adults - $12.69; kids 2-10 $0.99 x year

dinner Friday
adults - $13.99; kids 2-10 $1.19 x year

Saturday
adults - $13.99; kids 2-10 $1.19 x year

Sunday
adults - $13.99; kids 2-10 $1.19 x year




Zen Buffet
(in Long Beach Town Center)
7503 Carson Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90808
(562) 496-3888
(562) 496-3688