World Buffet

In a word: Not enough Gambian or Uruguayan food.

The specs: #0742  
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; review at Yelp; listing at Eat Drink Madison; official web site,

Latest World Buffet news and reviews

JM & Nichole ate the lunch buffet with a tea and a soft drink.
The bill was $16, or $8/person, plus tip, minus $2 coupon (thanks, Valpak!).
JM gave World Buffet a B-; Nichole gave World Buffet a C+ (see our grading rubric).

World Buffet is a mostly-Chinese buffet out there by Southtowne Mall. Fifteen years ago, it would have been a supertreat on Nichole's Shopko-in-the-same-mall wage and JM's first-job-out-of-college salary. But this time we had a coupon.

We went at lunch on a Tuesday, and the dining room was about a third full.

Basically it's an OK sub-QQ buffet, but we skipped over the standard salad bar and passed over lots of main dishes because they seemed to have grown cold. JM grabbed General Tso's chicken, sweet and sour chicken, beef and mushrooms, a dumpling, and mashed potatoes (this last item as a token for the "World"). Nichole reached for hot and sour soup, egg foo young (the accompanying gravy had skin so she skipped it), crab salad, kimchi, a red pepper/krab/cream cheese inside-out roll, and meatloaf (ditto).

We could have also gone for the cooked-to-order Mongolian-style stir fry, which is probably the best option here. The choices there included tons of shiny, freshly-chopped vegetables, fish, and meat on ice, comparable to but cheaper than HuHot etc.

Instead we stuffed ourselves on soft-serve and banana pudding with Nilla wafers. Sometimes you just have to.

Comments

[Amanda]

Gravy + skin = disgusting.

[bob watson]

I visited the new location near west towne easly the worst buffett I ever Had. the food looked like it was sitting for hours. and well I strongly recommend you pass this place by.