The Luxe Buffet

The Luxe Buffet
701 N Milliken Ave Unit D
Ontario, CA 91764
909-948-6886

Luxe Buffet is a huge buffet.  One side of the restaurant is the buffet!  Most be about 30ft.  They have lots of seafood items, including sushi, snow crab legs, lobster claws, cooked shrimp and fish dishes, squid, and clams.  There were also dumplings, fried rice and chow mein, beef, chicken, and a Mongolian BBQ

Weeknight dinner buffet, $23.95.

Crab and shrimp nigri sushi, shrimp cocktail, and fried shrimp.  Both sushi was good.  Some sushi restaurants could take lessons from Luxe about how to make good sushi.  The fried shrimp was too salty!  A frozen piece of butterflied shrimp with too much batter.  Either they put too much salt before being frozen, or after being fried.

Shrimp and asparagus, shrimp and cauliflower, fried squid and green beans.  Both shrimp dishes were very salty.  The shrimp were cooked well, but they just put too much salt.  The fried squid was horrible!  Very tough as if on the steam table too long or overcooked.  The only good item on this plate was the green beans-cooked perfectly with some garlic with added good flavor but not overpowering. 

Mongolian BBQ-with shrimp noodles, mushrooms, broccoli, and onions.  While waiting for this to be cooked, I noticed they put either butter or margarine. This made it very salty along with too much soy sauce.  Everything was well cooked but too salty.

Snow crabs.  Overall good, but some legs were just too salty.  Other legs were good, with good flavor.

Lobster claws.  This was dry and very salty.  There was some type of gravy but it didn't coat the loster claws.  All the claws were dry, tough and very salty.

Caramel and chocolate ice cream- I would really like to know where they get their ice cream!  Light, yet very creamy, and full of flavor.  The caramel has caramel flavor throughout.  It wasn't only caramel syrup on ice cream.  The chocolate had so much chocolate flavor!  Wish they had ice cream cones, but otherwise, a great way to end dinner!

Service is friendly but needs improvement.  Drinks took a long time to be refilled and plates stacked up on the table before being cleared off.

I wouldn't go back to Luxe Buffet, while it's a good value, most of the cooked items are just too salty.

Yum Buffet & Grill-Closed

Yum Buffet & Grill
3920 Grand Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-517-1588

Yum Buffet & Grill replaced the Hometown Buffet in Chino.  They really gave the space a huge upgrade.  They put tile on the walls and it's a much nicer place to have dinner.

There is a huge buffet line along the back wall, with the Mongolian BBQ at the far left!

The buffet on a Sunday night is $16.99.  

Chow mein, with coconut shrimp and shrimp from the seafood delight entree.The chow mein was mainly noodles.  There were some celery and cabbage, but 98% yellow noodles.  Pretty standard.

The coconut shrimp was way too sweet.  The shrimp was coated in a thick batter and then deep fried, then a sweet coconut sauce.  Not a good dish.

The shrimp from the seafood delight entree was well cooked and seasoned.

Sauteed mushrooms and greenbeans!  The mushrooms were great, well seasoned, good flavor and not overcooked.  They have steak at the Mongolian BBQ, so the mushrooms would make a good addition to the steak.

The greenbeans were cooked with some garlic and this was a good dish. 

Mongolian BBQ- shrimp, mushrooms, green onions, red and brown onions, and jalapenos!  This is cooked to order. This was great!  Fresh veggies, and shrimp and loved the fact they had some jalapenos, which added a nice heat to the dish!

Shrimp cocktail and fried shrimp.  Shrimp cocktail was small sized shrimp that was chilled and well cooked.  The cocktail sauce, I think I got the medium heat, was good, even for something that I suspect is from a bottle.

The fried shrimp was your standard frozen shrimp dropped into the fryer.  Some pieces were good depending how how long the shrimp was on the steam tray.  I got some pieces that just came from the fryer and tasted good.  Others had been on the steam tray for too long.  Just the way things go at a buffet. 

Snow crab clusters.  A bit salty, but meaty and plentiful.  They restocked the crab legs frequently and the new batch were quickly taken.

Service was pretty good.  But, one of the servers just stood there staring at the 2-3 tables, waiting to take away any used dishes.  It was like you were being watched by the lunch aides during elementary school lunch.

Overall Yum Buffet and Grill was a good value.  I would go back there. 

Osaka Seafood Buffet-Closed

Osaka Seafood Buffet
200 S State College Blvd
Brea, CA 92821
714-672-9698

Osaka Seafood Buffet took over what used to be Bobby McGee's restaurant and night club.  Where will the 21 year old now go since Bobby's has closed.  They also took over West Coast Seafood Buffet in Hacienda Heights.  It's amazing as I look back on type of restaurants I have reviewed on The New Diner or The New Diner 2.  When I first started The New Diner, I reviewed a lot of Chinese buffets-many of which are no longer in business.  Now I prefer quality food over the buffets.  Though, I'm not opposed to going to buffets.

The seafood buffets costs $18.99 on weekends and includes lobster claws and Lobster Thermidor.  

Sushi-Crab meat, tuna, shrimp, and yellowtail.  All the sushi was ok.  Not the top quality sushi or even the freshest, but good for buffet.

Spicy tuna hand roll.  This was just ok.  The spicy tuna was a bit mushy, either it wasn't fresh or had been sitting on the buffet table for too long.

Sauteed mushrooms- very well cooked with some onions and soy sauce.  Nice earthy flavor.


Green beens- sauteed and welled cooked, not greasy.

Grill sea bass- this was just ok.  The bass was a bit overcooked and chewy.

Garlic shrimp- This was amazing.  Lots of garlic flavor  with red and green peppers added.  The shrimp was well cooked, pretty fresh.  I would get a to go order for just this garlic shrimp!

Snow crab legs- served warm and fresh.  Good amount of meat and not too salty.

Lobster claws-a bit tough and chewy, but I'm not expecting top quality lobster at a buffet.

Fried noodles- pretty basic fried noodles cooked with soy sauce and a small amount of veggies.

Shrimp cocktail- chilled and good tasting.  Cocktail sauce needed more kick.

Lobster Thermidor- I didn't eat the cheese part, but the lobster itself was chewy and not that fresh.

Service is good.  The plates were taken away promptly and refills were always coming.

Overall, a pretty good seafood buffet and worth the price if you eat a lot.  Somethings I would stay away from like the sushi, but the garlic shrimp is amazing!