China Buffet

Not in the mood for pizza (again), so what else is there in little old Auburn, Indiana? That is a good question! We decided perhaps Chinese food would be a good choice. We had three places to choose from (Oriental Gourmet and Peking Buffet) being the other two. No good reason  originally for choosing China Buffet other than I saw it first while driving around town.

When we called the number to order ahead I was greeted with a "Hello?" and that was it. No "Hello, this is China Buffet" so I said "oops wrong number" and hung up. Both the phone book and their carryout menu list the number I called. Once I arrived there I believe it was the young girl (middle school age?) who answered that one. So be on guard if you want to call in your order.

The place is easy to get to right off Seventh St. in a little strip mall area. Plenty of parking. Make sure to enter the strip mall to find the door to China Buffet. Inside it's your typical Chinese restaurant decor. They do have a fish tank, which I've never seen in a Chinese place before. Unfortunately it's right near the cash register and there's no seating there if you were hoping to entertain little ones with fish-watching. Place looked clean and nice.

I was pleased to hear Chinese being spoken. I thought that was a good omen. The woman and her daughter were polite, kind, and easy to communicate with (which as we know isn't always the case when getting Chinese food, let's be honest). At this point we're at a 4 star rating. Easy to get to, nice employees, clean, food came in a reasonable time, etc. The woman even threw in an extra egg roll on my way out.

I ordered the Orange Chicken with white rice and my husband had the combination General Tso's. The Orange Chicken was supposed to be spicy. It wasn't. Either they forgot to put the rice in my order or they don't actually put more than a grain or two in it. Not sure which, just know there was no rice. My husband kept saying "it lacks flavor." I would agree. I had enough left over for the next day, but opted to throw it out instead of eat it. Very disappointed.

Given that we choose a restaurant based on their food quality/taste and not on their service or lovely fish tank, we won't be going back. Just drive a little further West on State Rd. 7 and head into Garrett to have much better Chinese food at Chef Peng's.