The Battle of Florida Chinese Buffets - Which One Will Win?

We love Chinese Buffets. While traveling on the west coast of Florida we went to three. I will share them with you and tell you what is good and bad about the food and restaurant

Our first one was the Oriental Super Buffet located at 2456 Gulf to Bay Boulevard in Clearwater, Florida. They can be reached at 727-725-2083. This buffet was recommended by one of the staff people at the campground in which we were staying.

We were seated at a booth with vinyl seats. There were tables in the restaurant as well. The restaurant was clean and carpeted and thankfully not one large room. In fact there were several rooms. Our server was very nice.

The experience wasn't as good as the buffet below but it was very good. For $11.99 a person we got a lot of good food. Some that I liked the best were the hot and cold crab legs, the crab Rangoon, the chicken wings and veggie rolls. For dessert they had a desert table and ice cream. My husband's favorite in addition to what I liked were the stuffed oysters. Other food included sushi, roast beef, shrimp. Lo mein, and fresh fruits. The oysters are on the buffet on weekends only.

Lunch buffet is served Monday through Friday from 11:00a.m. to 3:00p.m. and costs $6.99. Dinner buffet during the week is only $5.25 and $10.99 Monday through Thursday 4:00p.m. to 9:30p.m. On weekends the dinner buffet is Friday and Saturday from 4:00 to 10:30 and 4:00 to 9:30 on Sundays.

Children under two are free. Oriental Super Buffet offers a regular menu if for some reason you don't want the buffet.

There are two problems I had with this buffet. One was that we could only take 7 crab legs. We could have had more but we'd have to pay for them. I'd prefer to just pay more. The second problem was the sign that said they have a right to charge us more if we didn't finish the food on our plates!

I would definitely go back.

My husband found that the Vari Asian Crazy Buffet had a free dinner on your birthday so off we went because it was my birthday. This was a beautiful restaurant with happy hour Monday through Friday from 5:00p.m. to 7:00p.m. Crazy Buffet has several locations. We went to the 2702 N.Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. Their phone number is 813-998-9228.

Crazy Buffet is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 to 2:30, brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 12:00p.m. to 4:00p.m. and dinner from 5:00 to 9:00.

Children under 40 inches are free. On weekends which is when we went the buffet is the most expensive coming in at $19.99 for adults. With one free it was a bargain. .

This perhaps was the best Chinese buffet I have had. The restaurant is very pretty with cascading water as we entered the lobby. There was a large semi-circle bar with stools, several rooms, and two huge round buffet sections and a dessert table with ...ready... a chocolate fountain with fruit, marshmallow, graham crackers and strawberries.

The crab legs were delicious though unlike the first buffet we were not given crackers for our crab legs. The honey chicken was excellent. The service was just mediocre. Our waiter filled our glasses but they don't take dishes off as needed. They wait and then come with a big tub and take them all. In addition in one of the buffet areas I asked where the butter was. It was right behind her but she didn't give it to me.

Other foods include duck (My husband loved it.), 45 kinds of sushi, shrimp, oysters and mussels, tempura, and soup. They have what none of the other two have and that is a wok. We picked out the veggies and meat or no meat and they cooked it in front of us. They also had according to my husband the best sushi of the others. This is a real find. You can go for lunch during the week for $9.99 but check if you want some of the high priced items because they are probably not on the lunch buffet.

The Great China Super Buffet is located at 909 West Vine Street in Kissimmee. Call them at 407-870-5500. The buffet was $10.75. Lunch is $6.25. Children under 3 eat free. Their hours are Monday through Saturday 11:30a.m. to 3:30p.m. and dinner starts at 4:00p.m. to 10:00p.m. during the week and until 10:30p.m. Sunday the buffet is open 11:00a.m. to 9:30p.m.

The food was average - certainly nowhere near as good but not as good as Crazy Buffet but it was $10.75. We were a little leery when we saw the outside but inside was pretty restaurant with glass tables and green décor.

It did not though that the restaurant was a little run down inside but not terribly. We sat at a booth and I remember the floors could have been cleaner. Also I noted that the wallpaper could have been re- done. Having said that this was my least favorite buffet of the three.

I ended up eating a lot of crab legs here because I don't eat meat and there were a lot of meat dishes like steak and ribs. My husband liked the salmon, duck, and oysters. Some people might love seafood delight but I don't like mystery fish so I passed that up. They had the egg roll mixed with the veggie rolls but I could tell the difference and the veggie rolls were good. I had the egg drop soup which was good as well. I thought the dessert bar to be lacking and their ice flavors to be boring. If I were really close and couldn't spend twice as much I would eat here again.

Without a doubt Crazy Buffet even though it costs more is the best buffet of the three and probably in that area.