Twin Cities Restaurant Blog

Atlantic Buffet ~ Woodbury, MN

Cuisine: Chinese, Mongolian
Restaurant Features: Catering, Lunch Buffet, Dinner Buffet, On-Site Parking. Take-Out
Locations: Woodbury, MN
Address: 8340 City Centre Dr (Woodbury City Centre) Woodbury, MN 55125 (651)730-8668

Hours: Lunch Mon-Sat 11am-3pm     Dinner Mon-Thur 4p-9:30p                 Fri-Sun 4p-10p    Sunday & Holiday Brunch 11:30a-3p
Links: Google Map  Atlantic Buffet Website

Atmosphere:  The Atlantic Buffet is located within a large strip mall called Woodbury City Centre.  When you first walk inside the reception/lobby area, the Atlantic Buffet in Woodbury has a cute little mini-pond set up with Koi swimming around inside, and live plants arranged around it.  The main dining room is arranged into at least two dining areas on half of the large space, the other half of the restaurant has all the Buffet Islands set up.  The dining areas  contain both tables and booths and have a contemporary feel.

Here is a glimpse of the Buffets Islands (I think there were 6-8 of them).

 

In the way back of the Buffet Islands there is an additional area set up for the Mongolian Stir-Fry.  You can choose your own ingredients and then you have the chef ccok it for you on the Mongolian BBQ.

Menu: The items on the buffet change frequently, but there are over 100 items, including a decent selection of Chinese foods, Sushi, American foods, Seafood, and build-your-own Mongolian Stir-Fry.  There is also a dessert and fruits table, and salad bar.

There is also a full Chinese Take-Out menu available.
Price guide: 

• Lunch Buffet  Kids 3-6 $4.25 Kids 7-11 $5.50 Adults $8.25
• Dinner Buffet  Kids 3-6 $5.75  Kids 7-11 $7.25  Adults $12.50

What I ordered: There were many food items at Atlantic Buffet and I was determined to try a little of this and a little of that.  Here is my Chinese/Sushi plate.  The cheesy mushrooms were very good, as were the steamed dumplings and cream cheese wontons.  The few bites I tried of the chicken & Broccoli stir-fry were okay, but I did not care for the other meat entree I tried (not sure what it was but the meat was stringy and chewy).  The sushi was decent although there wasn't a large variety to choose from, mostly California Rolls or Salmon/Avocado Rolls.

 

I made my own Mongolian stir-fry which was my most favorite dish at the Atlantic Buffet.  I chose the ingredients I wanted at the Mongolian BBQ station (Beef, Broccoli, Pineapple, Onions and Noodles) and figured out my own combination of sauces (there was no guide to help!) which included cooking wine, teriyaki, garlic, chile peppers, and sesame seeds.  I have found that the more sauce you put on, the better it tastes because the noodles and vegetables soak it right up.

 

I tried just a few items on my Seafood Plate, including tiny mussels (pretty good, not too chewy or rubbery) that were cooked in a fish sauce.  The salmon was okay and I also tried a bite of Halibut.

 

For the sake of this review I also made a Dessert Plate.  Nothing too exciting here but the rice krispie bar and almond cookies were good.  They also have soft-serve ice cream.

Service: We were greeted upon entering and were shown to a table right away.  Drinks were fast and continuous throughout our visit, as was the clearing of plates.
Overall Impression: Wide variety and selection of foods for the price.  The Mongolian BBQ and Seafood Buffet offered the best choices, but I thought the quality of the the Chinese food was just mediocre.

Great Moon Buffet ~ Maplewood & West St Paul, MN

Cuisine: Chinese
Restaurant Features: Lunch Buffet, Dinner Buffet, On-Site Parking

Locations: Maplewood & West St Paul, MN
Addresses & Maps:

Maplewood- 2950 White Bear Ave Maplewood, MN 55109 (651) 704-9801

West St Paul- 1200 South Robert St.  West St. Paul, MN 55118 (651) 554-0558

Hours: Sun-Thur 11am-9pm  Fri-Sat 11am-10pm

Atmosphere:  Both the Maplewood and West St Paul locations are located within strip malls.  Each restaurant has a large, open space for the dining areas.  Silk Kimonos adorn the walls and here and there you will see silk plants as well.  Rectangular-shaped wooden tables are placed close together throughout the space, easy to accommodate larger groups.

There are four large buffet islands, with additional tables for dessert and also a separate stir-fry section at the West St Paul location.  Each buffet island has about 10-12 food items.

The West St Paul location also has a custom stir-fry area.  Similar to Khan's, choose your frozen sliced meats, Vegetables and sauces and the chef will cook it up in front of you on the Mongolian BBQ.

Menu: Appetizers include Egg Rolls, Cream Cheese Wonton, Cheesey Potatoes, Sweet Biscuits, Sesame Cakes, Pork Sausages, Egg Foo Young, Roast Duck, BBQ Ribs, and Steamed Dumplings.

Soups include Hot & Sour and Wonton.  There is also Lo Mein, Fried Rice, White Rice, Rice Noodle and String Beans.

Chicken dishes include Black Pepper Chicken, Roast Chicken, Sesame Chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Chicken with Broccoli, Chicken Chow Suey, General Tao's Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Chicken Wings, Chicken Sticks, and Chicken with Cashew.

Pork dishes include Mopo ToFu, Hunan Pork, Butter Potato, Double Cooked Pork, Hunan Triple Delight, Pork with Mushrooms, and Boneless Ribs.

Beef dishes include Beef with Broccoli, Mongolian Beef, Beef with Mushrooms, Peppered Beef, and Beef Ribs.

Seafood (most items served at dinner only) items include Mussels, Fried Codfish, Salmon, Popcorn Shrimp, Butterfly Shrimp, Salted Shrimp, Coconut Shrimp, Shrimp with Lobster Sauce.

Desserts include Soft-Serve Ice Cream, Cake, Fresh Fruit

Price guide: Lunch Buffet $8-9  Dinner Buffet $11-12
What I Ate: My visit was at lunch time with a group of colleagues, but I still wanted to try a selection of foods.  I had Cream Cheese Wontons, Boneless BBQ Ribs, Steamed Dumpling, General Tao's Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Fried Rice, and a Rice Noodle dish with veggies.  The cream cheese wontons were the biggest I have ever had! They were stuffed full of a cream-cheese mixture that was slightly sweet.  The steamed dumplings were very good, with a flavorful pork/onion mixture.  The meats that I tried were okay, but I would not say these use high quality meat.  The Sweet and Sour as well as the General Tao's Chicken was kind of fatty and gristly and the batter was soggy. 

I wasn't quite satisfied with what I actually ate from my first plate, so I opted to wait in line for my own custom stir-fry.  I chose beef, broccoli, pineapple, onions, pepper and mushrooms with noodles and several scoops of all the different cooking sauces.  There is only one cook making stir-fry and he only cooks one dish at a time, so I had to wait at least 10 minutes for my plate.  I was only able to get a few good bites in before it was time to head back to work, but I was very happy with my stir-fry dish.

Service:  At Great Moon you must pay for your meal before you enter the dining room but from that point forward, there are many servers available to take drink orders, clear plates, etc.
Overall Impression:  Huge buffet with many options, but I would say food is just slightly better than mediocre in taste and quality.  Make-it-yourself Stir-Fry option at West St Paul is a big bonus.

King's City Chinese~ White Bear Lake, MN

Cuisine: Chinese,

Restaurant Features: Lunch Buffet, Dinner Buffet, On-Site Parking
Location: White Bear Lake, MN
Address: 3959 Linden Street  White Bear lake, MN 55110 (651) 426-4565

Hours: M-F 11am-8pm  Lunch Buffet 11am-2pm Dinner Buffet 4-8pm
Links: Google Map

Atmosphere: King's City is located on a frontage road that runs along Hwy 61 and has been open since 1982.  The restaurant itself is in a stand-alone building, with one big open space for the dining room.  There isn't anything fancy about the decor, just several square wooden tables arranged throughout the dining room, making it easy to pull them together for larger parties.

The buffet is one of the more popular features of King's City for the dine-in crowd (available 11am-2pm and 4-8pm)

Menu: Appetizers at King's City include Egg Rolls, Fried Wontons, Chicken Wings, Paper-Wrapped Chicken, Barbeque Pork, Fried Shrimp, and Cream Cheese Wontons.

Soups include Wonton, Egg Drop, Chicken Rice and Chicken with Chinese Greens.

Egg Foo Young options are the Vegetable, Pork, Chicken or Shrimp.

Chow Mein options include Regular, Meatless, Subgum, Mushroom, Chicken, Chicken Subgum, Chicken Mushroom, and King's City Special Chow Mein.  Lomein, Chop Suey and Fried Rice options include Vegetable, Pork, Chicken, Shrimp, Beef and Special.

Beef Entrees include Beef with Snow Peapods, Beef Tomato and Green Pepper, Beef and Green Pepper, Beef with Broccoli, Curried Beef, Kung Pao Beef, Mongolian Beef, Beef with Red Sauce and Beef with Cashew.

Chicken Entrees include Sweet and Sour, Chicken with Snow Peapods, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Pineapple Chicken, Chicken Almond Ding, Curried Chicken, Chicken with Broccoli, Twice Cooked Chicken, Chicken with Red Sauce, Kung Pao Chicken, Mongolian Chicken and Chicken with Cashew.

Pork Entrees include Sweet and Sour, Pork with Snow Peapods, Pork with Broccoli, Curried Pork, Twice Cooked Pork, Mongolian Pork, and Pork with Red Sauce.

Shrimp Entrees include Sweet and Sour, Almond Ding, Shrimp with Snow Peapods, Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, Shrimp with Broccoli, Curried Shrimp, Kung Pao Shrimp, Twice Cooked, Mongolian, Shrimp with Cashew, and Shrimp with Red Sauce.

There are also a number of Combination Dinners for either one or two people.

Buffet Includes Regular Chow Mein, Fried Wontons, Egg Rolls, Chicken Wings, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Chicken Lomein, and two Entrees (Changes Daily). *An order of 10 Cream Cheese Wontons can be purchased with Buffet for an additional $2.95*

Price guide: 'Lunch Buffet $6.95 Kids Under 12 $5.25  Dinner Buffet $9.75  ($1 off for Seniors 55+)

Appetizers $4-7  Soups $3-4  Egg Foo Young $5-6 Chow Mein $4-18  Lomein/Chop Suey $7-9  Beef Entrees $8  Chicken/Pork Entrees $7-8  Shrimp Entrees $9 

What I ordered: I had the dinner buffet, as I always do when I eat-in at King's City.  I had Chow Mein, Twice Cooked Pork, Chicken Lomein, Sweet and Sour Chicken, an Eggroll and Fried Wontons.  The chow mein is very basic, celery with a small amount of ground pork (the best chow mein at King's City is the Chicken Subgum which is not offered on the buffet).  The Chicken Lomein was very good, tons of vegetables mixed in with tender pieces of white-meat chicken, and thin.  The Twice Cooked Pork has a nice zing to it, and also has a nice mix of Asian veggies.  The Sweet and Sour Chicken was also good, with bite-sized pieces of chicken breaded and deep fried to a crispy golden brown.  The batter is slightly thick on the chicken, and sweet and sour sauce is served on the side to maintain crispiness of chicken.  The Fried Wontons are very crispy, filled with a mixture of ground pork and spices (green onion?).

Service:  King's City prides itself on excellent service.  The servers are all very attentive so used plates are taken away immediately and drinks refilled with a quickness.  The owner, Sam, is a very friendly guy and is very personable with his customers (many of whom are long-term).
Overall Impression: Fast and friendly; very good Chinese food.  The buffet is somewhat limited, but the quality of food is above average and reasonably priced.  Can't go wrong to order off menu.  Awesome customer service.

Khan's Mongolian Barbeque- Richfield, Roseville, Coon Rapids, MN

Cuisine: Asian, Mongolian, On-Site Parking
Restaurant Features: Bar, Lunch Buffet, Dinner Buffet, On-Site Parking

Locations: Coon Rapids,  Richfield, Roseville
Addresses and Maps:

Coon Rapids- 2085 Northdale Blvd NW Coon Rapids, MN 55433 (763) 767-3018
Richfield- 500 E 78th St Richfield, MN 55423 (612) 861-7991

Roseville- 2720 Snelling Ave N. Roseville, MN 55113 (651) 631-3398

Atmosphere:  There are several small dining areas situated around the restaurant, made a little more private with the creative use of live plants.  The dining areas all surround the centrally-located meat and vegetable buffets.  All seating is limited to tables, but there is at least one dining space that allows for tables to be pushed together for larger parties.

 

Within the restaurant there is a small bar area to accommodate patrons who may have to wait for a table on a busy night, or for those who would like to try one of the specialty tropical drinks or wines.

Menu:  The concept of Khan's is one that allows diners to customize their own stir-fry dishes.  Patrons choose from a buffet containing a variety of sliced frozen meats (beef, chicken, pork, lamb, shrimp and imitation crab).  You take a bowl, fill it with the meats and noodles of your choosing, and then move down to the vegetable line where you can choose from a large selection of fresh vegetables to be used in your custom stir-fry.

 

After filling your bowl with your preferred meats and vegetables, you then add sauces to flavor your stir-fry, such as Garlic Sauce, Cooking Wine, House Sauce, Dragon Sauce, Teriyaki, Curry, Lobster Sauce.  There is a sign over the sauce bar that suggests which sauces and flavorings you should choose, depending on how spicy you would like it.  After you have your bowl filled with meats, noodle, vegetables and sauces, you take it to the Barbeque Area, where  your stir-fry is cooked right in front of you.

Price guide: $15 All-You-Can-Eat Buffet or $10 for a single plate
What I ordered:  Everyone receives an appetizer as part of the cost of the buffet.  There is Hot and Sour Soup, a Fried Wonton, and a tender BBQ Marinated Chicken Wing.

 

My first plate consisted of beef, thin noodles, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, onion, carrot, and pineapple.  I love spicy and flavorful food, so I used a ton of the garlic sauce, fresh cilantro, several scoops of the dragon Sauce, cooking wine, house sauce and teriyaki.  It was delicious!! I have been to Khan's several times and have finally figured out the amount and combination of sauces that I like the best.  One thing i have noticed is that it seems safe to go a little overboard with the sauces, because a lot of the moisture is cooked out and the noodles also absorb a lot of sauce.  Despite how much spicy Dragon Sauce I added, it wasn't as hot as I like it.  The best part is that if you don't care for your stir-fry, you can always go back to the Buffet line and start over with a new combination!

 

Sticky Buns are also served with dinner, a dough-like pastry filled with a buttery cinnamon/sugar sauce.  I did not try this because I was already too full from the other good stuff!

Service:  Our server was very friendly and prompt, kept drinks refilled and removed dirty plates in a very timely fashion.  It can get extremely busy on weekend evenings, so it is a good idea to call-ahead for a reservation, especially if you plan to have a party larger than four.
Overall Impression: If you enjoy stir-fry, Khan's is your place! The endless trips to the buffet for only $15 is a great deal.

Fogo de Chão- Minneapolis, MN

Cuisine: Brazilian Steakhouse, Steaks, Chops, Ribs, Etc
Restaurant Features: Bar, All-You Can Eat, Lunch Buffet, Dinner Buffet

Location: Downtown Minneapolis
Address: 645 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55403  612-338-1344
Links: Fogo de Chao website  Google Map

Atmosphere: One look at the authentically-dressed Gaochos serving the fabulous meats and you might think you are truly in Brazil! Fogo de Chao has a very large, open dining room with several tables surrounding a fabulous salad bar in the middle.  The lighting is dim and romantic perfect for a low-key dinner or a special occasion with a group of friends. There is also  a  bar/lounge area with additional bar-height tables .   

Menu: The concept of Fogo de Chao is one sure to satisfy any carnivore: both the lunch and dinner menus feature  15 different  cuts of fire-roasted meats (beef, chicken, pork, lamb).  Each person gets a token that is red on one side, green on the other.  When you are ready for the Gaochos to serve you meat, turn your card to green.  As they walk by with the skewers of meat, they will ask you if you want to try this, or that. Turn it to red when you'd like a break.  There are also unlimited trips to an amazing buffet serving fresh vegetables and fancy salads.  A variety of Brazilian side dishes are also served continuously throughout the meal.
Price guide: $45 per person, drinks excluded.
What I tried: The complimentary rolls that Fogo serves are unlike any I have tried anywhere else; they have a light texture, but with the cheese infused into the dough.  Served warm, these treats are heavenly and small enough to eat several!

Fogo has the most amazing salad bar!!! I especially loved the whole marinated artichoke hearts.

I tried just about everything (except lamb).  The evening I visited also happened to be in honor of my birthday.  Fogo was happy to give me a special complimentary dessert (I chose the 5 layer chocolate mousse cake)

Service: Amazing.  Can't ask for better!
Overall Impression: Not only is Fogo de Chao a carnivore's dream, they also have the best salad bar... Be prepared to be stuffed out of your mind.  Service was wonderful.  A very good value for all that you get.  Perfect place to celebrate a special occasion or to dine out-of-town guests.  I can't wait to go back.

Ichiban (All you can eat sushi) ~ Minneapolis, MN

Cuisine: Japanese with two options: 1. All -you-can-eat sushi/tempura 2.Teppanyaki (To be reviewed at another time!)

Restaurant Features: Bar, Dinner Buffet

Location: Minneapolis

Address: 1333 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55403  (612) 339.0540

Links: Google Map  Ichiban Website

Atmosphere:

The sushi bar sits toward the back of the large restaurant and seats approximately 20 people around an "island" in which the sushi chefs prepare sushi in the middle. Little boats carry individual plates of a variety of different sushi and sashimi. The boats float at a quick pace directly in front of you as you eat...see something you like or want to try? Its yours for the taking!

If for some reason you need to wait to be seated at the sushi bar, there is a beautiful coctail lounge situated within the restaurant, with intimate seating.  Another cool thing about Ichiban is that all the waitresses wear traditional Japanese Kimonos.

Menu: The sushi chef has full control of what is being prepared and tends to prepare sushi in batches, but will usually take custom requests. Items you are likely to encounter: Vegetable : edamame Sushi:California roll, Caterpillar roll, eel, salmon eggs, flying fish egg (regular or spiced with wasabi), spicy tuna roll, tamago (sweet egg), tempura roll Sashimi: Shrimp, tuna, salmon, makerel, yellow tail, red snapper, surf clam, squid, scallop, octopus Here is the full sushi guide. Included in the price is also your choice of all-you-can-eat tempura: shrimp, chicken or vegetable.

A small dish of either green tea ice cream or mango serbert are also included.

Price Guide: All-you-can eat before 6pm: $27 After 6pm: $31

What I tried: Just about everything! My personal favorites include the spicy tuna roll, Ichiban roll, tuna sashimi, and spicy crab in a wonton-wrap.  The quality of the fish was better than I expected for all-you-can-eat, seemed fresh and not too fishy.  I also tried an order of the shrimp tempura, and although it had good flavor and the shrimp were a decent size, I was somewhat disappointed that it was soggy instead of crisp.

Service: There is usually only one server taking care of beverages at the sushi bar, so it sometimes takes a little while for drink orders to be filled.