Putting the "Nasty" in the Dynasty Buffet

When we first visited the new Dynasty Buffet a few months ago we thought it was pretty good, so we decided to return there for their Saturday lunch buffet. We were all hungry having just visited the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company factory tour and only having one tasty sample chocolate to whet our appetite. We showed up at Dynasty at about 12:30pm and the place seemed a lot emptier than it was before. They actually seated us at exactly the same table and we then began our attack on the buffet tables.

Once again the food selection was very similar as it was the first time, but after we picked up our first plate full, we realized something. The sushi was not too bad, and the "American" food like the potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, baked seafood and such were okay, but what seemed the worst was... the Chinese food! Now since this is supposedly a Chinese restaurant you would hope the Chinese food would be the most appealing, but when we were looking forward to the store bought ice cream more than the Chinese staples you knew something was amiss! The beef with broccoli and the lo mein, two very staple dishes, seemed off, and the steamed foods like the red bean buns and the shiu mai tasted like they had been sitting there for a long time (the bottom of the buns were stiff!) We also noticed they put too much cheese in many of the "American" dishes which seemed odd since cheese is not used in most Asian dishes.

On a side note, when we first came in February, the place seemed newly remodeled and "fresh", yet in just over two months we noticed the maintenance and upkeep is already starting to deteriorate. My wife noticed there were no paper towels in the ladies room, and the hand drier was located behind the door which is a bad location for it. Little things like that matter, and it is important to keep the place clean and maintained once the newness wears off.

My favorite part was probably the sushi until I realized I had inadvertently picked up a strawberry ice cream cup when I had intended to pick up a chocolate one. Since it was a buffet, I went back and grabbed a chocolate one too and decided to eat them both together which was actually pretty good. So that was my meal highlight -- the combined choco-strawberry ice cream treat! Even myself, the well known buffet hound, have had enough of Dynasty for now, and I will probably never eat at another Chinese buffet again, well, at least until my department co-workers at the university decide to next visit Joy Luck!