King Buffet Bandera

Reviews

• ★★★☆☆ Visited Apr 26, 2023

  Food Was Bland, Service Was Poor. Visited 3 Times With Similar Flavor

  This was my 3rd visit to King Buffet, and while it seems to have one of the largest selection of items, the quality and flavor of the food isnt overly great.
  
  This is probably my last time visiting, as I had hoped in the past I had just been there on a bad day. One visit I was forced to leave for an emergency. So this was kind-of a second try. They boast over 200 items, but they must be counting salad bar and Mongolian BBQ ingredients. Because its closer to 25 entrees, 8 desserts, 5 kinds of sushi, 4 kinds of soup, and a few salad options. I noticed the majority of the buffet was chicken.
  
  I tried a bunch of items this time, in hopes of finding something decent.
  **Basil Chicken,** no strong flavor, kinda bland, a little basil flavor but that was all.
  **Orange Chicken**, not really much orange flavor, tasted more like sesame chicken, batter was mushy, and the meat was dark meat and had a gamey flavor to it.
  **Steamed Clams**, I ate 2, they were super fishy tasting, had little to no flavor from seasoning or broth, the raw fishy taste was overpowering.
  **Spring Rolls**, crispy skin, but mushy insides, tasted like they were frozen rolls.
  **Beef and Broccoli,** probably the best item I tried, had decent flavor, but was just OK.
  **Sesame Chicken**, same as the Orange Chicken, soggy, dark meat, gamey.
  **Vanilla Ice Cream**, was the carton mix stuff that tastes like iced milk, has that crunchy slushy texture to it.
  
  There was a sign about not dipping cones in the chocolate fountain, it will clog the machine. There was no chocolate fountain on the counter. I assume someone clogged it..
  
  **Mongolian BBQ **- I made a small plate in hopes maybe this would be decent, but it was bland as well. 2 sauces to choose from, both were not very flavorful. **
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  **Sushi Selection** - I saw them make 4 different rolls while I was there, 1 just had crab salad inside, another had avocado, bell pepper, and cream cheese, not sure there was anything else in it, and then there was the classic crab & cream cheese. Nothing overly fancy, I tried them all, and the philli crab roll was probably the best of the bunch.
  
  I steered clear of the **baked seafood**, the meat had a gray color, which is not normal for crab or lobster. So I'm not sure what was going on, it didnt look appetizing.
  
  Service was decent, but I could have had amazing service and it wouldnt have made up for the buffet quality. Everything I tried here was sub par, I didnt find a single item that even slightly impressed me, the sushi selection was minimal, and nothing to bring me back. Some of the food looked really good, but disappointed.
  
  Lunch is $13, the dinner is $16, which is a bit less than some of the others, but theres only 1 or 2 buffets Id rank lower.
  
  The steak, fried crab & fried shrimp are dinner buffet only, and I saw them policing the tables to catch people who came in at the end of lunch, and then tried to get dinner items. They caught 2 tables, scolded the customers, and pointed them out to the cashier.. not sure what the result was, but it was entertaining to watch.

  — Paul