Monday, May 7, 2012

King's Buffet review


photo taken December 2010


I haven't been to King's Buffet (St. Thomas ON) in almost a year since they got a new manager.  One reason is that Hal isn't home much so I don't go out to eat as often.  The second reason is because I did order in a couple of times and noticed the food wasn't nearly as good quality as it used to be.  One time the pan-fried noodles didn't even have soy sauce -- it was bland, white and dry.  I added soy sauce and it was okay.  The next time I ordered the lemon chicken was petrified.  That time I made them send out a new order free.  The third reason is that a year ago Christmas we all bought the new customer card.  We didn't get 12 months use of the card even though we paid full price.  A friend and I were going to go in for lunch in October but when they wouldn't let us use our customer card we left.  King's Buffet has been my husband's favourite restaurant since it opened here.  Even he refused to go anymore.

Okay so now you've heard everything that I know of that has been wrong at King's Buffet for the last year.

Let me tell you what I noticed when Hal and I went for supper there last week.  I'd been thinking about going ever since I saw the new management sign go up and we finally had a chance to go.  The hostess was friendly.  And then we saw the new manager.  It was the original manager.  We began to feel more confident about our decision.  We were offered two tables and chose the window table.  Our server came over quickly and took our drink orders.  I noticed that none of the servers we knew so well were there.  All the servers were new.  Did the originals quit during the past year?

We waited a little while for our drinks and then decided to go pick our first course.  The food looked good and tasted good.  We had finished eating our salads (okay Hal goes right for the hot food but I like the salad bar and sushi) and still didn't have our drinks or even a glass of water.  I called the hostess over and asked for our drinks.  A short time later our drinks finally arrived.  What never left was our empty plates which remained stacked on the table until after we left.  I only left a small tip.

At the door the manager chatted with us for a minute or two and then slipped us a complimentary lunch card to make up for the slow service.

So here's my final review -- the food quality and variety has improved since last year.  The servers need some training.  We will go back.

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