China Bar Signature Buffet

5.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  4      Service  7      Value  4     

China Bar is one of the few buffets left in Melbourne, with food of any quality. However, it is by no means a cheap eat. If you enjoy pork and prawn, they have a pretty good choice of savoury dishes. If not, you are sure to be disappointed, whilst they're popular options in asian cuisine chicken, beef, fish, and other meat or shellfish are largely absent from the menu. They offer a good range of salads and a huge variety of a cakes, so its not all bad.

However, it doesn't meet the expectations for the price. Another positive is they maintain strict seating times, so you must book, arrive and finish at a set time. This is a vast improvement on the typical experience in eastern suburbs Chinese restaurants, where you wait indefinitely in a breadline at the door, before being seated at a cramped table.

Mar 26, 2012 

6 Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  6     

Our family went there in Christmas lunch 2012, a lot of food to choose from but the quality is average. Like: a lot of different kind of dishes and you won't feel boring unlike: most of the food is below average, especially preserved egg, sushi, peking duck (meat more than skin), dessert.

Feb 10, 2012 

3.3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  7      Service  2      Value  1     

For a place called ChinaBar Signature, I had a high hope for this place. After reading the reviews here I thought I'd give this place a try, taking my family out for a get together. Unfortunately, I was to leave the place with a bitter taste both in my mouth and my wallet. At $33 per head, with good atmosphere, and plenty of food choices, the first impression were good. Until the first bite - very average. Reminded me of the foodcourt feed.

Sushis were no better. That's ok, give the noodle bar a try. Chefs too busy to give a hoot, stir fries your carefully chosen ingredients till it's either a thermonuclear mess yet still have bits still thrawing from the ice age. Hmmmm. So my 1 year old nephew dropped his tea cup. Asked for a replacement cup. "No you can't have one, it will cost you $3 dollars!" replied the waiter. I explained what happened, however, the hard nosed waiter say "$3 dollar or see my manager".

Fine, my niece can have my tea. Half way through our rather average meal, the junior waiter announces "Here's your bill, you need to finish in 10 minutes." Say what? "You need to finish up as we're getting ready for next lot of customers who's taking over your table." Hang on I'm paying 6 lots of $33 for lunch and I'm being told to eat up and get out? So didn't get to sample the fancy desserts they had bragged so much about. Bummer.

So after paying over $210 to get told to eat up and feeling a tad ripped off, I've come to a conclusion that next time I'll spend my money somewhere else instead, where I at least won't get booted for taking my sunday afternoon enjoying a nice meal. So my recommendation is, if you're planning to check this place out, do try and rock up with a teenage football team and eat your money's worth before they rudely ask you to leave.

Oct 09, 2011 

5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  5     

It really does feel like this place has an endless supply of Asian food. But it's a case of quantity over quality. We left feeling underwhelmed.

Jun 03, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

I went for lunch on Monday, after reading the reviews I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised with the selection and quality of the food. I am a big fan of Asian food and I was not disappointed. Fantastic selection of cold, hot, steamed and fried foods. Dessert selection was also excellent.

Service was also surprising, waiters were very attentive and plates were cleared within minutes. Water was also brought to the table throughout our meal.

I would recommend this restaurant to lovers of Asian cuisine as it presents better value than Yum Cha and in my experience they provide a higher level of service. I will be returning!

May 16, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  8     

I like the food. Love the location. The service is good but not the best compared to its price. Very disappointed with desserts. When we booked for lunch at 1:30- 3:00 pm session, at 2:30 pm there was only a few dessert left. It would be nice to have some dessert till 3:00 pm. Recommended if you don't like the city parking and Crown Casino buffets.

Apr 12, 2011 

4.5 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  2      Value  4     

Went for dinner recently. Presentation great. Seafood lovers - eat up as they are a plenty. Yum cha most are good but some very plain compared to your other yum cha eateries. Stir fries-and fruit they cld not keep up demand and we had to wait a couple of times for replenishment. Peking duck need to be more thinly sliced otherwise bit too chunky. Cramp tables. Chinese tea should be on tap or free. Children under 10 should be charged a lot less than 1/2 price. Waiters unfriendly or was it the management,, need to be more customer friendly. Variety great but some food need a bit more spice like the satays and curries. Go if u love seafood and leave kids behind or go to lunch and try. But I am in no hurry to rush back. They could do so much more to make you feel welcome and service up a few notches.

Feb 02, 2011 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

I have been to this place twice and I am impress with the variety of the food on offer. I went for dinner and they have a good variety of seafood like oysters, smoked salmon, blue crabs, mussel, prawns and cooked scallops. There are so many types of asian food that its almost impossible to try them all. Most of the food are authentic to a certain extend. They also have cooking station where you can order and have your noodles freshly cooked. However, there are just too many other kinds of food to try for me to bother with the cooking station.

The service is okay and I was not treated any worse than at other asian place. Our plates were cleared fairly quickly and when we ask for water and drinks, they provided it to us the same.

If you like asian food and buffet, I say give this place a go.

Jan 20, 2011 

2.3 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  2      Value  3     

I went here for lunch a few weeks ago and can say that it was a good experience. The food was good, the decor and seating good, the service ok considering it was so crowded. Have booked our office Xmas dinner here this weekend for around 17 people and hoping it all goes well.

Dec 07, 2010 

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  5     

Terrible. Would never recommend it to anyone! Some asian restaurants have bad customer service. This place just has absolutely none of that at all. I went with 9 adults and two babies, and we had pre-booked prior to arriving. You would expect a table for 11, including baby seats already set up, yes? Very wrong. When we were being led to our table, the waitress and the manager started discussing which table to put us, and then proceeded to set us up in a table for 6.

Imagine squeezing 11 onto a table of 6! I found this incredibly puzzling so I questioned the manager as to why wasn't there a table already set up, since we've taken the time to call and make a booking before hand to which he rudely said, "we might have just missed your booking". Then I responded, "but our booking was on the top of your list. I had to point it out to the waitress at the door". And get this: he then gave me the 'whatever'-look and walked off.

Later, my sister was feeding her 1-year old some food and needed a spoon. A waiter happened to be there, and so she politely asked him for a spoon. The waiter said, "it's over there, get it yourself". What the heck are waiters for? Especially saying that to a mum feeding a child? Did he expect her to get up leave her kid and get a spoon, when he is more than capable? Unbelievable. It turned out that the spoons were literally all the way on the other end of the restaurant.

All of that made me sick just looking at the food, which tasted like nothing anyway. Overly oily and lacking in flavour. There is absolutely no reason for me to come back. Why go to a place where the service makes you feel like you owe it to them to be there? Especially when the manager himself acts that way?

Sep 26, 2010