Super Grand Buffet, Baldwin, NY - REVISITED

I first reviewed this Chinese buffet on January 5, 2007. At that time I called the restaurant "average". Tonight we went back to give this restaurant another try. Tonight I was a little more impressed.

I will not describe the restaurant again. You can read the original article in the archives here. Most, if not all, of the description remains the same.

There were some positive differences tonight. The most important of which is that tonight all of the food was good - not just average. If you ask me why, I cannot really say it is because of this or that. If I had not been there before and I was reviewing this restaurant for the first time I would say that the food here is good.

I was more impressed tonight with the sushi bar. The sushi chef was there all night and continued to make sushi that he placed out on the serving cold table to the side of him. There was a nice assortment including salmon and tuna in various forms and combinations and a spicy salmon roll. There were also several non-fish sushi rolls. There was plenty out so that one did not feel that taking any was going to empty the tray - something I found wrong on my first visit.

There is plenty out to eat - but most of it is in the form of fried Asian appetizer items. There is a lack of variety of Chinese meat entrees aside from the standard chicken and broccoli, beef and peppers, and General Taos chicken. There was a lot of shrimp and chicken, but it was pieces of fried shrimp and fried chicken with and without sauces. The cold, peel and eat shrimp are still big!

I must still say that I avoided the Mongolian grill again for the same reason that I did not have it the first time. The meats were not frozen. They were in pans in a cold table, but the meats were limp in their own raw juices - and again, this concerned me. There was activity at the grill this time and people were having plates of food cooked. There is no large grill or wok, but two fry pans on a burners behind the serving table. The Sushi chef seems to double as the cook. It might be good to try having vegetables cooked here and then add cooked meat or shrimp from the buffet.

I had a closer look at the ice cream freezer tonight and there is an excellent variety of hard ice creams that you serve yourself. There were a number of good flavors including sherbet. This is all real container ice cream and not the sometimes disappointing soft serves that are really ice milk.

The service was excellent. The server came several times without our asking - and still half full glasses of soda - to refill our drinks. This time we asked for knives and without hesitation they were brought to us. Dishes were cleared from the table immediately. The service staff clearly speak and understand English - with no offense intended, this is not always the case in a Chinese buffet. Everyone is friendly and seemed to go out of their way to make one's visit pleasant.

So - if you are in Baldwin, New York in Nassau County on Long Island give the Super Grand Buffet a try. I know that I will be going back again!