Review of Great Wall Buffet – Pickering

Clean Mom does NOT like buffets… but the rest of us do so, with coupon in hand (for a free adult buffet dinner), we ventured to the Great Wall Buffet in Pickering.

Here’s what we discovered PLUS some interesting facts about Chinese food that you may not have known!

Details: Great Wall Buffet ,1099 Kingston Road, Pickering ON (just West of Liverpool), 905-839-8833, www.greatwallbuffet.ca.

Ambience:  This restaurant location has been through so many hands… I still remember when it used to be The Olive Garden (mmm…garlic bread…).  The Great Wall Buffet appears to match the prototypical Chinese buffet.  We were seated in a booth but unfortunately had some rowdy young kids and teens sitting in two booths next to us… not that fun.  The most interesting difference I noticed between Great Wall and Mandarin (where we usually go) was that the servers were NOT smiling… at Manadrin, they always are!

Entrance

One of the buffet tables

Kids Stuff:  Not expected or necessary given the buffet nature of the restaurant.  Washroom was a bit small but serviceable.  Overall state of the restaurant was clean.

Kids Food:  Here’s where the restaurant fell down.  The rice was dry which was unusual. (How do you mess up rice? By leaving it out in the heat lamp too long!)  Book Boy and Ballet Girl didn’t even like the Jello!  Not a good sign for a family dinner destination.

Coolest Thing About Restaurant:  2 for 1 coupon sourced from the junk mailers you get in your mailbox.  Saved a bit of dough.

Worst Thing About Restaurant:  You get what you pay for; poor quality food and grumpy wait staff.  And kids 6 years old and older are $8.99… ouch!

Tips to Consider: If you must go, just make sure you bring a coupon.

Three Things You Might Not Know About Chinese Food:

1) Why is MSG (monosodium glutamate) used in some Chinese recipies?  “Umami”, popularly referred to as savoriness, has been proposed as one of the basic tastes sensed by the human tongue (along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter).  Eating food seasoned with MSG stimulates the tongue’s “umami” receptors, enhancing the “savory” flavor of food.  Some people experience dizziness and headaches when eating MSG, although the US FDA considers MSG as a generally safe ingredient.

2) In most dishes in Chinese cuisine, food is prepared in bite-sized pieces, ready for direct picking up and eating. In traditional Chinese cultures, chopsticks are used at the table.  Traditional Chinese cuisine is also based on opposites, whereby hot balances cold, pickled balances fresh and spicy balances mild. (from Wikipedia)

3) If you need to learn how to use chopsticks, here is the best video tutorial we could find.  For your kids, here’s what you need to buy!  Very cool!

Dinosticks!

Overall Experience:  I wish I could say better things about this restaurant … but I can’t.  Total price for our family (tax and tip included) was $40, even with the coupon!  Unfortunately, we will not be returning.

Rating: 2.0 stars out of 5

Other Posts That Might Interest You:

1. Review of Pickering Markets – Pickering
2. Review of Massey’s Restaurant – Pickering
3. Review of Milos Greek Restaurant – Pickering