Mr. K and I haven’t really had the desire to eat Chinese buffets in a long time, with the exception of Tomi Buffet in San Jose which has surprisingly high quality sushi.
But for some reason, I’ve had this desire to revisit Savory Buffet lately. It’s been years since I’ve been, but we kept passing by a big banner advertisement and then we got a coupon on the mail, so I made the executive decision for us to visit for lunch.
One thing we noticed was that the place seems to be under new management. The service seemed much friendlier. The food options though appeared to be the same as when we visited years ago.
On weekends, lunch is $10.99 per person. The buffet selection includes various cold entrees like cold seafood and salads. Then there are various hot food stations ranging from fried rice and lo mein, to stir fried vegetable and seafood dishes.
They also offer a few dim sum items, soups, and some kid-friendly foods like French fries, fried donuts, pizza, and chicken wings.
There is also a sushi station and a hot noodle station.
Desserts consist of soft serve ice cream, fruit, and various cookies and cakes.
I enjoyed the hot entrees the best, like the seafood vegetable stir fry, clams with black bean sauce, and steamed fish. I actually also liked the seafood udon. The sushi was pretty bad, with most of the rolls using a paste of some sort. The desserts weren’t very good either. The soft serve was extremely watery.
Overall, I still think it’s a lot of food for $10.99 and you can eat your money’s worth, especially with so many seafood offerings. But after this visit, I think it will be a couple of years before I have the desire to revisit again.
Savory Buffet
7040 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92121
We were headed here last Saturday (after seeing the crowds waiting to get into East Buffet) and instead stopped at Sima’s, which wasn’t crowded for once (because it wasn’t a weekday). Will be trying Savory soon (it used to be called “Crazy” Buffet…I think because it listed various cuisines on it’s signage and served all of them mixed up together- taquitos next to won tons and sushi with the salad bar…)
Oh you’re right! I couldn’t think of it but it was Crazy. I haven’t been to Sima’s yet. Need to try it out.
I haven’t visited this place in over a year. Last time we went, the food was pretty bad. It seems like the still offer the same stuff though – I thought the beef noodle soup last time was really good. How was it this time around? And yeah, you can’t really beat the price.
I thought the beef noodle soup was decent. It reminded me of the frozen bowls you can get at Ranch, but in a good way.
Wow! They have zongzi! How was it? Ranch 99 is the only place I’ve seen it and it’s not very good.
These were the frozen dessert ones, so not very good.
I like East Buffet, further east on Miramar. You should TOTALLY go next door to Woody’s Burgers, by the way! EXCELLENT burgers, especially the Blue Burger. Right by Savory Buffet… mmmm!
Thanks, Woody’s has been on my list.
I agree with you. I ate at this restaurant long time ago, I didn’t like it. Reading your post, I don’t think they have improved any. I’m surprised they are still in business.
Well I think they have switched ownership a few times. And there aren’t many options.
We used to go here from time to time – did it have a different name when they first opened? But it’s been several years since our last visit (food quality seemed to be going downhill). I almost never bother to get the sushi at Chinese buffet restaurants because they’re usually pretty disappointing.
I think it probably has gone through a few name changes. I’m not positive. I always confuse it with the other one also on Miramar which I know had gone through a few name changes.