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    Hunan Chef

    3.4 (173 reviews)
    ModerateChinese, Buffets
    Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated 3 weeks ago

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    HUNAN CHEF ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Teriyaki Chicken, Egg Roll, Orange Chicken, Lo Mein Noodles, Kung Pao Chicken,  General Tso's Chicken
    Kallie P.

    The food was amazing!! I loved the Kung Pao Chicken, Pepper Steak, and the egg rolls the most but almost everything was good. The grilled chicken sticks were very dry but I liked the flavor, same thing with the General Tso's chicken. My boyfriend tried the chicken wings and every type of shrimp they had and he enjoyed it all. They were quick to seat us with maybe a 5 minute wait around lunch time on a Sunday so it wasn't bad. They brought refills very fast and brought the check at an appropriate time. It's a cute place nothing fancy but good enough seating and they're quick to clean up and get more people seated. The price was really good in my opinion and I will be back soon!

    Receipt for hair in my food

    If you enjoy having anyone else's hair in your food, stop by Hunan Chef. After barely starting to eat my first plate of food, I noticed a hair in my pepper steak. I didn't want to make a big deal about it so I went up to "joe" At the register and mentioned that I had barely begun to eat when I found a hair in my food. I asked if we could leave since the two of us had just sat down with a plate and only had a few bites but the dude became defensive and claimed that it wasn't a hair. Another guy in a "chefs" hat pulls up and tries to rationalize the presence of the hair by saying that it was "too straight" to be in the food. They wouldn't have been loosing any money to just let us both walk out without paying since they toss out copious amounts of slop every night. After mentioning that it was utterly disgusting to have another persons hair in your food, they still made me pay for one person out of the two of us. I reiterated to "joe" with the glasses that he's making me pay for one meal even though we both stopped eating immediately after finding the hair. The owners can keep this nasty buffet, there are plenty out there with higher quality food. P.S. "joe" looked stunned and confused as to what to do when I told him about the incident. He said he was looking for a manager (implying he isn't one), but when I asked him to speak to one he said he was a manager. What a joke.

    HsiaoCheng W.

    So it's the start of Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. To all my brethren out there, 中秋快乐! So yeah I was feeling lazy and everyone kinda had different thoughts on what they wanted. So what better option than a buffet I thought using those critical thinking skills. Well, first let me say that I haven't been to a buffet in ages. I used to get my moneys worth in my youth and then some. I actually some of the chefs feared me as I could really sock it away. But these days I'm but a shell of my former self. And the prices have really gone up making these run-of-the-mill buffers not as much of a bargain as they used to be. There's no real specialty items on the buffet line here. So if you come think quantity over quality if you're looking for a deal. I called in advance to get an idea of the price. It's $15 for most everyone. Kids are by height. They wouldn't say how high a kid needs to be to get charged an adult. And I think it's because there's just an arbitrary number on the wall when you get there. It's pretty low. My kid easily towered it and she's not even a pre-teen yet. I think there's two tiers with the smaller (shorter) kids being $5.95 and the taller ones $7.95. Probably the taller one is 4 foot and the lower one maybe 3 foot. Just a guess. When we got there it was crowded. But not a single Asian customer. And in fact, none came in the whole time we were there. Yeah, kind of a red flag to me. Because if it's good, the first thing us Asians do is tell our Asian friends. So let's start with the sushi. Damn, it was looking so old. You know how the seaweed gets all mushy and all? Well the sushi here had gone beyond that stage. And just tidbits on each plate making it look like leftovers. The food area is tight. Like no space. I was always hitting elbows with folks when getting food. If there's a building code for that I'm sure they didn't meet it. The food is very very very average. No one dish stood out to me as being wow. Again, if you can pack it away go for quantity. Cuz quality ain't there. Everything seemed to kinda have a sweet tinge on it. My kid only has a small plate of 5 items before moving to dessert. I did only slightly better. For desert, the choices were slim. They didn't refill anything while we were there so like the sushi it just looked like a bunch of leftover crumbs. They have an ice cream machine. It came out looking icy but was actually soft. The cones were fresh too. And the fortune cookies were not stale. Service was good. And wait staff attentive. All Chinese folks. One old lady and one young man. Felt kinda sorry for them having to work on a Chinese holiday like this. Immigrant life can suck being far away from home (they has accents so I'm assuming they are immigrants). Nice folks. Tried really hard to please. Sorry for any typos or ramblings. I'm too tired to proof this post. Even though I didn't eat much I'm in a food coma. Old age sucks. Cheng'e viewing of the moon will have to wait until next year. Good night.

    Sweet ribs, General Tso's Chicken, Green Beans and Groud Beef.
    Cesar R.

    Been coming here for over 20 years and it's the best Buffett in the city. Great selection and everything is kept fresh and hot. Obviously best to go during g peak hours.

    All of these items were cold and the fist was a bit hard.
    Tia S.

    One of few halfway decent chinese buffets in the Houston area. The selection is average. This buffet doesn't have much seafood (no crawfish, crab) or hibachi but a moderate selection of chicken and beef entrees. They do have sushi, but I generally avoid sushi at chinese buffets. I only give 3 stars for this visit because all the items in the first plate I made were cold. Also, the water had a very awful after taste. I could only drink it when I had a mouth full of food so I couldn't taste it. I recommend the fried rice and orange chicken. Pretty tasty! The dining room is large but not that comfortable for a long visit; no booth seating and not many outlets. Customer service is better than most - frequent visits to the table and my server brought me chopsticks even though they were available at the buffet.

    Lauri B.

    Lots of buffet items to chose from and service is good. Buffets are a little iffy for me, but this one was pretty good. I'm not a germaphobe, but there's something about other people touching the same utensils I touch. Good news, they keep things very clean. The orange chicken was good, love the mushrooms and the eggdrop soup was really good. Restaurant is clean.

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    3 months ago

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    30 days ago

    I had General Tso; Orange Chicken; egg rolls & fried rice. The staff & patrons were friendly and helpful. I would go back again

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    7 months ago

    Wonderful food presentation always keep everything rotated in fresh easy to get in and out of friendly staff

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    7 months ago

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    5 months ago

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    Wenxin L.

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    11 months ago

    Good food! Great service Very clean and fresh. Been a while since I'd been here and it was so much better than i remembered

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    3 years ago

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    5 months ago

    Great food and service beautiful inside the restaurant and the prices are not bad and the food is always fresh and very tasty

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    2 years ago

    Best buffet in the spring Branch area. Food turns over fast and so food is usually very fresh

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    5 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Went there for lunch on a weekend one day and food was good and price was respectable. I do recommend this restaurant buffet.

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    11 months ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    The best Chinese buffet in Houston! Food is fresh and delicious! Restaurant is very clean!

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    I always have a really good experience going to Hunan Chef. The food is really good and the staff friendly.

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    2 years ago

    I love the food here, especially the moo goo gai pan, the sauce with the rice is so good, reason why I keep going back

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    3 years ago

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    Kim Son

    Kim Son

    3.6
    (1.1k reviews)
    7.3 mi
    $$$

    The best largest Vietnamese buffet I've had over and over again. Everytime I come back they always…read morehave new added item. Every possible dish you can think of and all their portions are small. Not huge portion so you get full. Every noodle soup you can think of in small portion bowls. Super delicious and a must try for all their soup. They have vietnamese street food with grilled oysters. They have everything from chicken feet, to blue crabs, roasted duck, roasted pork belly, prime rib, sushi, banh xeo, banh knot, banh cuon, and some much more. Basically, all your traditional vietnamese dishes and some. They all have you traditional hot deserts, cold desert, sweet sticky rice, mango coconut sticky rice, panda waffles, coconut jelly, honeycomb sweet bread and many more. They even have a sugarcane, milk tea, and passion fruit tea station. They continuously refill the food and the food is always hot. They remove empty plates very fast and refill your drinks continuously. Super friendly staff and so many of them. Very large space and fast paced environment. Can get super crowded with lines for every serving station. Large parking lot with plenty of parking.

    Disappointed in what was offered for a Saturday especially for $33 a person. I've been going to Kim…read moreSon since I was a teen, and it seems to have gone downhill since Covid. If you want an assortment of everything Vietnam has to offer, then this is a great place to have that experience. But if you want the best of the best, visit and use Yelp to find the particular dishes you want. Typically Saturdays in the past were more expensive because of what they offered with seafood but there want much to choose from outside of mussels. There were shrimp dishes but in the past crawfish, crab, etc. were offered. The new-ish addition of the street food, Che station, and new desserts was nice but not for the price in my opinion. Not a bad experience but moderate compared to previous experiences to the old Kim Son experiences. I would return to let friends taste everything that Vietnam has to offer but not return if they had in mind what dishes they want to experience.

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    Inside
    Inside
    Thit Nuong
    Thit Nuong
    Yogurt (bomb!)

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    Yogurt (bomb!)
    Umi Sushi & Seafood Buffet

    Umi Sushi & Seafood Buffet

    3.4
    (409 reviews)
    6.4 mi
    $$$

    My parents like this buffet, so my dad wanted to have lunch on his birthday here…read more + Pretty decent selection of food in terms of sushi and Chinese cuisine. There's dimsum, some American food, Chinese classics like kung pao, sauerkraut fish, crawfish, pineapple fried rice, and just too many to count. + Several soups to choose from, including the hot & sour soup, which was really good! + Several juices and desserts to choose from. Juices were slightly on the sweet side, and at least the rose was mixed with jasmine tea. + Sushi looked okay, good if you're okay with 'buffet' sushi. + Really good weekday lunch pricing, only $23.99 for adults! - Sauerkraut fish and the black bean spare ribs looked good but were kinda disappointing. Fish didn't have enough flavor, and the spare ribs weren't steamed long enough to be tender and 'fall apart'. - The sign mentioned milk tea, but they didn't have any. I guess they didn't update it. All in all, probably one of the best Chinese buffets in Houston! Worth trying if you're in the area.

    Good service and clean. Food was okay; tasted and presented well…read more Restaurant was so cold that the servers were all wearing jackets and coats. So cold that it limited us from enjoying the meal I will not be going back because of the high levels of MSG in the food. It took 2 days to cleans it out of my system. If you can tolerate MSG, then it could be of good value.

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    Nice space
    Nice space
    Umi Sushi & Seafood Buffet
    Umi Sushi & Seafood Buffet

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    Iyara Thai Cuisine

    Iyara Thai Cuisine

    4.4
    (212 reviews)
    8.2 mi
    $$
    Grab-and-go
    Happy hour specials

    Quick and professional service. Polite host/waiter. Food was delicious with good portion to fill…read moreyou up.

    1. Service - the hostess and wait staff were outstanding and attentive. They filled your drinks as…read moresoon as it hit midway, and they took your plates away as soon as it was empty. When you come in, wait to be seated, order and pay at the table. 2. Price - approximately $15 a plate. 3. Ambiance - Classy restaurant. I love the white linen on the tables. Soft music, white and red walls with Thai decor. Natural lighting during the day with warm interior lighting. It appears that there has been a makeover to the restaurant. I like the new look more. It seems more upscale in appearance. Dress code here is business casual. 4. Food - I've had their YELLOW CURRY WITH CHICKEN AND WHITE RICE. Curry is a bit sweet to my liking, but overall, it was a good meal. Will have to try other dishes next time. Food presentation is nicely plated. Not messy or sloppy. 5. Cleanliness - dining area is clean. The waitstaff keeps this place in tip top shape. The only complaint I have, although not exactly about cleanliness, I would suggest that management take a look at the lock in the men's restroom. Although it was locked, someone was able to enter still. SUMMARY This is a petite Thai cafe. Everything about this place was enjoyable. I would definitely come back to try again and will highly recommend this place.

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    Iyara Thai Cuisine
    Iyara Thai Cuisine
    Iyara Thai Cuisine

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    Royal Buffet

    Royal Buffet

    3.3
    (29 reviews)
    6.5 mi
    $$

    The difference between Royal Buffet (君臨閣) and other Chinese buffets around this part of town comes…read moredown to size and variety. The plus side (#1) is the abundant parking, practically guaranteed seating, and options that skew on the more authentic side of things. The downside is knowing the limitations that come with affordably priced buffets and quality of food. The official entrance is from the parking lot between Vinh Hoa (#2) and the massage. Plenty of folks will also enter from the back, which is through the Dynasty Plaza mall and takes a bit longer. It then becomes a question of stairs (parking lot) versus an escalator (mall). At $18-24 (lunch to holiday pricing), the prices aren't too steep for AYCE food. Kids 3 and under eat free but are otherwise subject to $13-14 per person. Non-water drinks are $2.39 a person, so definitely get as many refills as possible. The place is as massive on the inside as it looks on the outside. Window side seating offers an elevated view of Chinatown, but don't focus too much on the excessive finger prints along the windows. The seating is so abundant that almost any size group should have zero problem finding space. There is also a large private room that is ideal for special functions, equipped with TVs and a sound system. Food wise, it's a hodgepodge of all food types. Here's a breakdown in the stations: Mongolian Grill / Noodle Soup: This is a combo station where one can customize their stir fry. I had decent results with lo mein, an egg, some vegetables with beef slices. The person cooking drizzled sesame oil, soy sauce seasoning, and water and each time it took around 3-5 minutes. The noodle soups are a bit more standard but the options here are the noodle options are wonton noodle, beef noodle, seafood noodle, and beef pho. I wouldn't recommend ordering the latter. Fruits & Salads / Cold Dishes / Seafood: A standard selection of cold fruit salads, which is unsurprisingly the least exciting part of the buffet. I'm impressed with the variety of the sushi on the seafood end, but the presentation and fish quality is extremely mediocre. It won't deter most folks, since most people perceive value by loading up on the rolls. When in doubt, shoot for the sashimi. Entrees: With the exception of the eyesore dim sum and standard fried food selection, there is a solid selection of hot food. The weekend offerings is probably the best they'll have, but some standouts here included the thin ribeye slices, a solid mapo tofu with a kick, well seasoned clams, fish slices, pork spare ribs, a very solid steamed fish, and several varieties of fried noodle. Folks might enjoy the Chinese-American selection, which should have all the classics (sesame chicken, beef with broccoli, marinated chicken wings, etc.) and then some. Serviced as a decent job of clearing tables, offering water refills, cleaning the food counters, and replenishing empty trays. I appreciate some small touches, such as their multicolored plates for different selections, bathrooms, and well marked labels. Buffet lovers who are in it for the thrill of copious portions will likely enjoy what's available here. __________ (#1) Aside from one's waistline. (#2) https://www.yelp.com/biz/vinh-hoa-houston

    I'm reviewing from the POV of an allium-free vegetarian. The owner of the now closed Pine Forest…read moreworks here and they have an entire two rows (?) of vegetarian food that he is in charge of. It's pretty decent and takes up almost 50% of what they offer, so not bad if you follow a vegetarian diet. Do note that you pay the same price regardless of what you eat. Likely not food allergy friendly; we fed my kid with the food allergies before we came. This place is fairly new and is on the second floor of Dynasty Plaza. A decent amount of parking but it can fill up fast during the busy hours as there are a lot of restaurants there. We initially scouted out the place a week before and it was almost empty, but we did go during the slow hours. This time, I met up with my omnivorous friend at noon and there were a good amount of tables that were occupied. It is a huge space so if it were smaller, it would seem busier, but most people spread out. It's about $18 per person for the weekdays and about $24 per person on the weekends. Kids are around $11 each. This price does not include the beverage station/drinks but you do get complimentary water. There's a sign saying you can't stay for longer than 2 hours. You pay first and then seat yourself... almost. Someone came with us with our waters and asked us where we wanted to sit and placed our drinks on the table. We chose a more isolated place. They don't have actual napkin dispensers. Every table has soy sauce, sriracha, and a bag of napkins. No caddy. Very casual. They offer a lot of different foods. You can order stir fry/noodles that they make just for you, there's an international section consisting of fried chicken, fries, even a few soups, a sushi section, fruit and salads, the 2 vegetarian sections I mentioned earlier, and a dessert section. I honestly just focused on the vegetarian and dessert sections. The food was good as expected. Less greenery than one would think when you think of vegetarian food but there is some. I thought it was pretty good except for the fact that I could only eat one full plate, but I managed to sample almost everything in that one plate. They've got things you might recognize from Pine Forest but also items that are new, so that is nice. They have an interesting shaved ice section, but the ice is sitting there... but the ice bed it's on isn't cold enough to keep it from melting. I like the idea, but the execution could be much better. They have small diced fruit, beans, and grass jelly as well as random liquids you can add on (syrup)? I think that they could definitely provide bowls of fresh shaved ice (the guy manning that counter looked pretty bored) and offer more toppings where the platter of shaved ice is. The dessert section is a bunch of cakes, but they do offer individual cups of Blue Bunny ice cream (vanilla, strawberry, chocolate). My kid loved the mango one the most. She ate 3. I thought the mocha (?) one I tried was on the dry side. My friend got a chocolate one and she agreed. Overall, pretty decent if you go for the vegetarian items. The price of $18 isn't terrible, especially if you eat more than me. However, I'm not sure if it's worth it to pay $24 on the weekends. My kids don't eat a lot; my daughter only ate a few bites of the rice noodles and 3 mango cakes. There's a reason why we don't bring them to buffets. BUT if you've got a big eater for a child, then go right ahead. I definitely think drinks should be included. It's a BUFFET. As for the meat items, my friend said they were okay. The seafood could be more fresh. They should label better though. Some sections have labels but they're mostly wrong. The restrooms are sound the side and we're pretty clean. I like how they have a lower sink for kids/wheelchairs. They definitely have some things to improve on and iron out overall. The Pine Forest owner did say that they might get rid of the vegetarian section. Once that happens, I guess this place won't be an option for us. Not sure if that will mean they'll focus on more meat items, but perhaps they should perfect/improve on what they already have if the reviews I've heard on those are mediocre instead of doing too much.

    Photos
    Royal Buffet
    Royal Buffet
    Royal Buffet

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    Sweet Pot K-kitchen

    Sweet Pot K-kitchen

    4.4
    (311 reviews)
    14.4 mi
    $$

    I came here the day after Thanksgiving and wanted to give it a try with my family. The place was…read morecompletely empty and only one server was working. I get it - it's right after the holidays so staffing could be short. The server we had wasn't exactly enthusiastic, just did the bare minimum. Dishes piled up and we weren't asked about refills. You'd figure because there was only 1 group that the service would be attentive, but nope! The food that we ordered from the kitchen were all super fresh and delicious. My favorites were the bulgogi gimbap, eggroll (tiny rolled egg omelette), and chicken wings! They come out super hot - loved them all. The hot buffet bar was not filled at all, some were even just empty. I found it disappointing that we didn't get to try a lot of their items. The hot buffet bar was really scarce, I mean, just fried dumplings and fries but they were refilled really slow and some never had refills. The boba bar was empty and never filled. The DIY ramen station was closed off. I tipped only because I felt like I had to, but the service was abysmal. I would come back but maybe for lunch instead of dinner. Hopefully service improves.

    I'm so glad that I finally got to try sweet pot! It's so great to try a bunch of foods that you…read morenormally wouldn't order at non ayce places. I think for the experience the price was well worth it! I recommend you upgrade and do the 28.45 dinner portion as you have full access to the menu. My favorite dishes were the fried pork belly- so crispy and yummy And the rose broth pot was so savory and sweet- would love to get this again. Service was fantastic! The owner and Nathan were amazing! Inside is really cute and and great for bigger groups.

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    Sweet Pot K-kitchen
    Sweet Pot K-kitchen
    Sweet Pot K-kitchen

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    Hunan Chef - chinese - Updated July 2026

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