Great buffet which includes all of the traditional Chinese food items as well as a Noodle Bar, Prime Rib and duck!
Also great for take out with large portions and reasonable prices. Â China Blossom also has a great staff who do a great job making sure everything is running smoothly and that the buffet is well stocked.
Overall not only one of my favorite Chinese restaurants but China Blossom is one of my favorite restaurants!
My previous review was a three star rating as well, and we tried the buffet. My comment was that it was ok, but pricey, and that we were looking forward to the carry-out.
Well, we tried the carryout, and again, it was just ok. Portions were very small. We each got combos and the majority of each was the white rice. $11 for a vegetarian bowl, you'd think you'd get more than 5-6 small pieces of broccoli and a quarter to half handful of the rest of the veggies.
If the flavors were out of this world, I would be more forgiving. But the food is just average, and the portions are suer small. I honestly feel that I can whip up the vegetable dish I got for about a buck.
The wife ordered cashew chicken, which was a little better. She had it with fried rice, which was greasy and overall bland. Again, lots of rice, not a lot of the main dish. She also got an avocado roll, which was warm. Not room temperature warm, but warm. It was, however, in its own little bag. Thank god she didn't order anything with actual fish in it.
We wanted to like this place. We really did. It's two miles from our apartment, so we were really hopeful, especially since they pride themselves for having been around since the 60s! Alas, swing and miss.
The buffet is definitely on the pricey side (especially on holidays) but this is my favorite chinese food in the Andover/North Andover area. They have all the standard appetizers in the buffet and most are average or above average quality in comparison to dozens of other chinese food restaurants I've had over the years.
Review Source:ok, this is a tough review.
first. buffett. $20pp, i ate one small plate of food, opt for the menu!
the food, was not good, it was mass produced, on the cool side, and not flavorful.
i could go on about individual choices, but it's really all the same. tastes bland, and cool temperature, and felt like it had been out for a while.
the fried rice was empty, each tray has minimal food in it.
avoid what they try to pawn off as "sushi" i'd rather eat it from market basket.
i actually had to leave the table and go to the bathroom to spit it out.
i have no idea how so many people were eating the buffett, it was horrible!
the comedy show last night was decent.
room was small, service was slow, we had to ask for second drinks
we waited 10 minutes before our server initially came over to offer us drinks.
the first man, johnny pizi was actually the funniest in my opinion, material was funny and about real life antics (ie. trying to put young kids to bed, Â grooming)
the host jack walsh, also not that funny, kinda rough around the edges, and that's all i say about him.
amy t was had funny material about bipolar, which was accurate but honest and comical
frank santorelli seemed drunk, tired, or on drugs?? i have no idea why he was on last. we googled his material b4 we decided to go to the show, and think what's on line is his funniest stuff, which he used all of it, material that was online from 2008??
another annoyance was lack of feeding off the crowd or improv, you could tell the material was all "canned"
great job john and amy! rest needs some fine tuning.
This American-Chinese restaurant has been around since most of the current Yelp reviewers were babies.
First: Â The buffet. Â Most of the negative reviews on this restaurant swirl around the buffet. Â I don't like buffets. Â I rarely purchase them. Â To me they are simply an excuse to overeat for the patron and a reason for the restaurant to dump whatever they can cheaply.
The China Blossom serves your typical run of the mill American-Chinese food. Â Most of it really isn't Chinese and most of it isn't healthful. Â Unless you are eating at an upper-scale hotel, buffets are not a good choice, in my opinion. Â Restaurants are in the business to make money as in any business and as such they are not going to put out their best food.
I ordered a standard number plate that contained pork fried rice, pork strips, an eggroll, and ribs. Â The ribs on the bone were great. Â I dislike very much boneless ribs. Â The rice was delicious with lots of flavor and not just salt. Â The egg roll was meaty and fat. Â The star here were the pork strips. Â They were juicy, thick, and I could have eaten a bucket of them. Â Pork strips are a particular favorite of mine; but, many times they are served dry as dead bones with no flavor. Â Not so with the China Blossom's verson. Â I absolutely loved them. Â I also ordered homemade shumai. Â They tasted far too fishy for me; but, that might just be my aversion to seafood. Â I knew they contained shrimp but they just tasted a little too fishy.
I ordered a coconut drink because that's what you should do when you eat in a Chinese restaurant. Â It was just strong enough and I only had one. Â
A positive experience overall.
This place has gone downhill fast. Â Nothing worse than showing up to a buffet where the food is not hot and you know the owner is trying to stretch what is left on the buffet before replacing with fresh food.
Went a week ago for a weekday lunch around 12:45pm.  Still pretty busy but the steam table was barely hot and food was not being replenished.  Chow mein looked like it's been  sitting in the steam table since they opened.
This place use to be solid but has recently been very disappointing. Â Doubt I'll be returning anytime soon.
I needed a new spot for my Chinese food craving because one of my favorites ,The KowLoon, has been a little behind with the freshness lately. I came to the CB for the buffet and I was not disappointed. Everything was very fresh and a wide variety of all my favorites including Kung Pao Chicken, Pepper Steak and every concievable appetizer. I was amazed that they also had Roast Prime Rib included. It looked good, but I wasn't going to fill up on that and miss my asian dining experience. For you Sushi lovers plenty of sushi and WASAAABI !!
It's a good 30 minute ride for me but I will be back soon. Loved It !!
This Kowloon's wannabe might be one of the worst Americanized Chinese food joints around.
The service was slow, unprofessional, and some of the waitresses looked like they are coming off a meth bender and serve that way as well. Some of the worst I have ever seen. We watched a waitress zip around all night looking frazzled and unorganized. This same waitress dumped a drink on a patron because she was rushing them out the door, didn't make much of an effort to apologize, got pissed when it didn't look like they left a tip, and then trucked over a young child walking back to her seat. Our waitress forgot to give us napkins and visited our table only 3 times. Not a very pleasant woman either and looked like she wasn't digging her job that much. Matter of fact, everyone looked like they hated waitressing there.
Also, what is the point of having tea cups on a table if the wait staff doesn't offer you tea like every sit down Chinese food restaurant does? IE Kowloon's, Beverly Jade, PF Changs, Gourmet Garden in Swampscott, and Szechuan Taste in Newburyport just to name a few good ones. I know one thing, I love my tea at places like this, and the fact that I didn't get offered any made this place not get any higher than a 2 star.
Food wise, OK. The food tastes like you would get it from a typical hole in the wall Chinese food place. We got chicken lettuce wraps, general tso's, and a veggie delight plate. But in theory, they are probably just pulling it from their buffet trays and it tastes that way. Nothing we got had any crisp to it. It didn't taste like it was freshly made and it probably wasn't. Very expensive for the quality and portions you get. Being the setting they try to pull themselves off as, the food should be much more than that.
The zombie I got and the spiked tea that my girlfriend got were good and boozy but were really small compared to drinks you get from some other places that serve the same stuff. Not a very extensive drink menu either for a sit down Chinese restaurant.
Overall, not a good place to go out for a casual night out. I will not be going back here. I'll drive the extra 25 minutes to Kowloon or find a better place in the area. I went on a tip my Dad gave me about this place when he went to it years ago, seems like they changed a lot or my Dad's taste in food sucks (which it usually does). If you are one of those people that likes to fill up on buffet style Chinese food, this is your place but don't expect a Kowloon type experience with this place, not even close. Save you pennies and support a local small place before you even think about coming here. TERRIBLE!
Just went back the other day. Â This time I ordered off the menu and got Hunan Fish. Â It's this crispy fried fish with some amazing sauce that you put on yourself. Â The sauce totally makes it. Â Of course, not to neglect the finer things in life, I paired the dish with a classy drink of Maitai. Â I like my drinks strong so the bartender certainly made it just right for me. Â Still loving it.
Review Source:Very extensive Chinese buffet. Like most buffets, food quality varies, but is mostly quite good. Certainly plenty of choices, so you ought to be able to find something to your liking.
Highlights for me were Peking duck and make your own soup stations. Normally Peking duck is a big order, so this is a good chance to get to try it. At the soup station, you can pick your ingredients (vegetables, noodles, etc.) and the chef will cook it up for you. Very nice!
My wife and I went here on mothers day for their all day buffet. The food was consistent as it always was. Good, not great, not bad. Never a complaint from either of us. Very large buffet including fruit, dessert, standard assortment if Americanized Chinese, prime rib and duck. 20$ per person and you fill up quick. We always come back and recommend for the variety not necessarily the quality. If you are looking for quality, there are a lot better options.
Review Source:Upon entering the place looks promising, further inspection reveals a flawed restaurant. The wait staff doesn't communicate well, the food made to order tastes like it was reheated or leftovers from when they changed out the buffet bins. It took us about 45 minutes to get the check after the food left in front of us was taken away and the drinks had long dried up. The buffet was a disappointment at best, for $20 you think it would be quality food considering the plates are about the size of one used to hold your bread at an italian restaurant. With places like Lee Chen in the same town you think they'd take themselves a little more seriously. Place has plenty of potential, but I didn't see any of it put to use.
Review Source:OK so I dropped by here the other day. I was jonesing for some sushi & with The New Beijing being on deaths door & only serving sushi on the weekends I stopped by the Blossom. I'll give you the good & bad.
The good was the 2 mai tais I had were good. The bartender was a tinny little bit more friendly than the last time. While he stayed on the other side of the bar he did talk to me a few times. I also wanted some lettuce raps. The lettuce raps were good. The bad. NO SUSHI. They have very limited selections & only in the buffet. In their place I ordered crab rangoons. Not good, not good at all. WHY CAN'T I GET FRESH RESTAURANT SUSHI IN NORTH ANDOVER???????
I had only ordered from China Blossom when I ate Chinese with my mother, who is a vegetarian and loves their spring rolls. Otherwise, I would happily order delivery from Wah Sang or Wang's Table. I find the food to be average, not very memorable. Delivery takes a long time, but if you pick it up they have the order done fast.
I ate inside the restaurant once with my family a few years back. We had the buffet and I was totally disgusted. I went up to the buffet and found a FLY in with the food. AND a couple flies were buzzing all around the buffet. I notified one of the servers that there was a fly in the food. She scooped it out and walked away. She didn't change the plate of food that the fly was found in! DISGUSTING! I hope this was a one time occurrence and hope that such things didn't happen with the delivery food.
So as for the buffet, I wouldn't risk it. Delivery, the food is average and way overpriced.
I get to CB 4-5 times a year and tried again last night with a friend for dinner. We both got the buffet which consisted of standard Americanized Chinese fare with the exception of the prime rib, roast PK duck, crab legs, and the nonexistent sushi bar. The Rb was cooked quite nicely, not overly fatty, and very much on the rare side (the way I like it). It was a little tough but overall pretty good. The duck, which is served with the standard wrapper, H sauce, and green onion was also pretty good. There was no sushi except for a few pieces of Cal Roll over in the buffet setup. It was inedible. Cold, dry, and tasteless. The crab legs, though quite large for snows, were water logged and tasteless as is so often the case with that product almost anywhere. The biggest disappointment was the buffet itself. It was only 7:30, but it looked like closing time. Refilled items were brought out when the bins were empty and even then they brought only enough to make the hotel pan look like it needed refilling. Most items were cold and tasteless unless you really, really like salt. They had a clam w/ bean sauce dish that looked like it was made from C-rations during the cold war. Didn't touch that. All of the fried items were very greasy and only room temp. We had just the tea as I've never been impressed with the drinks there. The service was typical of buffet style restaurants. Minimal, but acceptable. At $17.50, I thought it was overpriced unless you're just into the prime rib, duck, and marginal crab. Even then, there are better choices out there. I was there a few weeks ago and it was more acceptable. Everything was more fresh and abundant. Still, I didn't really enjoy it. I won't go back.
Review Source:I was amazed by how authentic some of the dishes were at China Blossom, definitely a nostalgic moment for someone from Beijing. Since then, I went back frequently and explored more fine cuisines that China Blossom had to offer.
The buffet offered many different choices and satisfied many cravings. The off the menu dishes were very authentic and absolutely delicious! The service staff and managers were very attentive and friendly. Â Great ambiance especially with newly renovated open kitchen. Definitely a fine dinning experience!
Highly recommend Hunan Fish, White Tuna Sashimi, and French Martini for your next visit!
Every time I have gone there something goes wrong. Either we order take out and they give us the wrong thing or we have to wait as long for that as a table or if we do eat there the service is horrible and the food is bland is boring.
The last(and final) time we went there we were virtually ignored by our waiter who was too busy watching TV at the bar, and our food was awful. We did not leave a tip that day.
If you must get food from there go with Take Out, and have someone else pick up because you will wait for ages.
The only time we have had it since was when others had already ordered. There are so many other good options in the area. Don't settle for this one cuz the outside is pretty.
I've been here twice and had the buffet both times. The dinner buffet is expensive, around $20 a person. They have the standard fare, general's chicken, crab rangoons, spring rolls, etc. etc. They also have some pricier items that you wouldn't normally see in a Chinese buffet like prime rib and king crab legs. Since I'm not really a big fan of those 2 items I stuck to the standard fare. The crab rangoons were very good. The generals's sauce was tasty but it was a little too gooey and sticky for me. Overall I would say everything I had was average as far as Chinese food goes. My husband went with me and he's all about the crab lags and prime rib. I would say that if you like those 2 things then the buffet is definitely worth it because those are pretty pricey on their own. For me though, I felt like I overpaid for a few plates of average Chinese food. I also got a frozen mudslide which eh. It sort of tasted pre-mixed. Bland and icy.
Review Source:I love Chinese food, but it is definitely something you CANNOT screw around with. China Blossom is a good staple for Chinese food. They get all of the standards right and throw in some extra tasties for good measure. I usually go there with family during the buffet. It is a little pricey for standard Chinese fair, but it's never disappointing.
Review Source:China Blossom has a great chinese buffet. Â I've enjoyed coming here for many years. Â While not as huge as Mandarin Super Buffet in Salem, China Blossom still has a great selection of quality appetizers and entrees. Â The egg rolls here are my favorite, anywhere. Â I also love their sweet and sour pork and peking ravioli. Â They even have jello, ice cream, and little cakes and desserts if you're not full enough after your meal.
Forget the sushi. Â Chinese buffet sushi in general is never good, and if you like it, there's probably something wrong with you. Â Avoid!
Service here can be hit-or-miss, I will admit. Â We've had trouble with water refills and waiting far too long for the check.
Still, China Blossom has a solid buffet for a good value.
I ordered take-out from China Blossom this past weekend, thinking it was some kind of hole in the wall place. Surprise, surprise, it's actually quite a substantially sized Chinese restaurant, nice-ish in that the large anonymous chinese-restaurant-that-turns-into-a-comedy-club kind of way.
I got the shrimp and veggies dish. The shrimp were large and the veggies crunchy, but there wasn't much flavor. Not ginger, not garlic, just sort of a cornstarchy bland sauce. And it came with miso soup and a white dinner roll, but white rice had to be ordered separately. My BF got sushi, which he liked fine.
We did have a look-see at the buffet. It was swarming with blue hairs and families. I would have loved this as an 11 year old whose body was not yet impacted by mass consumption of delicious chinese fried-ness.
All in all, I probably wouldn't return, but nor would I argue with someone who wanted to go.
It is indeed a typical large Chinese restaurant, but the food there is very good. Â A group of us go there for lunch very often and their buffet is great. Â I mean, all you can eat Chines food, *including* a descent sushi bar, for about $10 - it;s not hard to take :-)
In terms of service, it depends on who you get. Â Half their stuff is Chinese that barely speak understandable English, but being that we get the buffet which means limited interaction with the water/waitress, we really can't complain about the service.
Once in a while we'll sample a couple of other similar type Chinese restaurants in the area, but we end up returning to China Blossom, because the food is descent and the value is great!
It's a typical, large suburban Chinese food joint, well staffed.
I have done take-out there a few times, with no issues. Last week, my wife and I went there--she ordered off the menu, I had the buffet, and the service was great.
The food tasted good. Unfortunately, I got pretty sick the next morning and have been quite ill for several days, now. Â Just my experience, for what it's worth.
Yea, I've been here like 6 times because it is decent and it is open pretty late considering most restaurants in North of Boston are not.
The service used to be better. I feel like with every trip, it gets worse.
We used to get the sit down dinner more often and it was goof. The pu pu platter is pretty good and they have the best crab rangoon. They're duck sauce makes anyone else's duck sauce seem like garbage.
Like i said it seems to not be as good. The boneless spare ribs were very chooey tonight. The sushi is not special. The dessert cake sucked. I liked a few things, maybe I should go back to the sit down dinner and forget about the buffet.
Wow. I am so surprised by these reviews. I love this place. The general chicken is outstanding and their crab rangoons are the best! I get the takeout a lot, it has always been good.
I'll admit. The afternoon buffet crowd are a little ...well people you would expect to see at an afternoon buffet.
wow.
it's almost as if someone gathered up all the Wal-Mart shoppers and bussed them here. so much bad fashion worn by Ugly Fat Americans. quite the freak show.
completely serviceable suburban Chinese food with decent Tiki drinks.
the only thing saving this place from one-stardom is the fact that i had a small sushi nigiri plate last Friday that was pretty good. it was just Maguro, Suzuki and some Hamachi sashimi but the fish was fresh and the presentation was very pretty, little pepper roses accented with different colors of Tobiko atop each nigiri.
i find myself here a few times a year, but i don't really know why.
I have to agree with the other reviews. The buffet was loaded with the typical fried foods and appetizers (egg rolls, crab rangoons, etc) The boneless ribs were tough and chewy. Ordering items off the menu instead can prove to be pricey, as many entrees were in the $15 to $20 range. Â Lastly, to add insult to injury, there is a sign on the front door that "DUE TO SPACE, NO STROLLERS IN THE RESTAURANT" AND "WE HAVE LIMITED HIGH CHAIRS". They might as well have put a sign up saying "no kids welcome". If you want a lot of typical, all-you can eat buffet food, this is the place. If you want good Chinese, drive right by.
Review Source:Ugh. China Blossom. I had my first meal here after moving to North Andover, and boy was it mediocre. I think we went back once or twice for buffet, but it did not get any better either time. Basically, it's overpriced and the food is simply not tasty. The buffet offerings are cheap and boring. The dining room is a bit old. I don't even know what else to say. Don't eat here.
Review Source:I grew up in North Andover. My family used to religiously go to Beijing and we never ever went to China Blossom. My folks' loyalty shifted apparently because Beijing got bad. So it wasn't until I was in high school or even possibly college until we started going to China Blossom.
But now, years have past since the loyalty shift and we ordered some take-out for father's day. Lots of take out - keep in mind this is only for 4 people. We ordered some of our standards - for apps we got: peking ravioli, beef teriyaki, and crab rangoon. For the entrees, we ordered: general gau's, sesame chicken, chicken cashew, pork fried rice, and steamed vegetables.
I have particular expectations when it comes to the apps and they weren't met. The raviolis were small, somewhat burned and overdone. So those were disappointing. The beef teriyaki wasn't thin and covered in a thin coating of sauce, instead they were oddly fat and short ( I don't mean fatty, just oddly large on the stick). Meanwhile, the crab rangoons were sort of a good - in an unusual way - they were overflowing with creamy goodness, which is great because I'm sure I've eaten at (and subsequently reviewed) places where there was very little crab rangoon inside the crispy shells. The note of caution was that the creamy goodness wasn't amazing or anything, but I figure that w/ something that involves creamy goodness - it can never really be that bad.
The most disappointing parts of the meal were the entrees. Both the sesame and general gaus' chicken was bland, dry and sauceless. I'm used to some places just dousing and completely coating their chicken in sauce. No such luck here. The sauces that were present were very thin and had to be poured onto the chicken after serving - but again the sauces weren't even flavorful or good. And the chicken w/ cashew apparently wasn't getting much better reviews from the other side of the table either.
Overall, not a good experience. Luckily, I don't live in North Andover anymore and can enjoy Wang's in Somerville when necessary. But if you do live in North Andover, maybe going over to Beijing would be a good place to try for comparison. My folks said they've recently had a change in management or ownership. I couldn't tell you a single other chinese restaurant in North Andover.
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