23 Buffet

Love the fresh food and great service employees always polite and treat you with courtesy they receive 5 STARS ALL THE WAY !!!

No complaints. It’s ur typical chinese food buffet+sushi. it’s just out of the way. im from essex county and that area is out of the way of everything. But if i had to go back i would.

I’ve been here twice and both times it was terrible. Dried out, lukewarm food. I like buffets once in a while and know what I’m getting myself into when I do go — quantity over quality for sure. But the typical quality standard for a buffet isn’t even met at this place. Skimpy, tiny, gray crab legs… bleh.

This used to be our favorite buffet! The food used to be fresh! Last time we ate there my husband and I both had very sick stomachs after! The prime rib was sitting under lights all dried out and the gravy had a thick oily skin on top of it! Also they leave you hanging for the crab legs hoping you’ll fill up on the cheaper items! The price increased to over 20 dollars per person for dinner and the quality went downhill! I asked where the green beans were and the owner told me the price went up! Don’t get the stir fry and add chicken because the cook leaves it raw inside! Parking lot used to be packed but now you have your choice for parking. Doubt they’ll be in business much longer if they keep it up!

The place is big, but the food selection is rather small. The price you pay is not really worth for the menu. I came in around 4pm for an early lunch. All the food there looked like it had been sitting there since they opened at 11am. Uff. Idk but I played it safe with my options. The service was alright. I had to pay first before I ate. I was the only one in the restaurant. Probably not returning.

That’s so awesome place. i came with my whole family, the food is so fresh and yummy, i like this place so much

I am not a buffet guy because the food is pretty much flavorless wherever you go. I was at this establishment a few years ago and it was really good. My wife was craving a buffet so we came back.
Very happy we chose here. Pretty much everything we had was good: crab legs, teriyaki, lo mein, shrimp, desserts, ice cream.
We bought our 3 month old. Apparently it’s BYOB as well. Clean place and it came out to $ 46 for two people and two drinks.
Overheard somebody else talking to the chef saying he always comes here because the seafood is good. I’m not a seafood guy. They had sushi, we didn’t try it, but there was alway a line for it.
Must try if you are in buffet mood.
Also staff was very on top of drinks and plates. Very friendly!

Very small selection, and the food was nothing special. All the meat was over cooked, and items that should be crunchy were soggy. Dessert was decent. Not worth the money.

GREAT BUFFET AND AMAZING SERVICE. The manager had such a hospitable spirit and gave us excellent service. The food was great and they had crab legs. EXCELLENT experience overall.

Customer service is rude. the food is just ok. they do not really keep or prepare the food in sanitary conditions, yet people flock here. The reason why I am giving them a low rating is because I tried to use the Unilocal coupon for 40 dollars for 2 adult buffet meals and they rejected it. The manager said they don’t know anything about Unilocal and that I had to use Groupon if I wanted any deal. they proceeded to click on my phone claiming the coupon was used.
Don’t waste your time here.

This is a pretty good buffet. You definitely have to go on the busier days/​times as that is when it’s then best. The selection is a little limited and some of the dishes like pancakes have no reason to be at a china buffet. Far from the best china buffet I have been to and it is a bit pricy for what they serve but over all not bad. Also, the place is pretty clean which is rare for buffets.

I have come from NYC to 23 Buffet twice so far. This place is so beautiful and welcoming. When you first walk throught the doors you feel like family. The staff are very inviting and don’t make you feel rushed. The food is always fresh and delicious. The endless choices and great atmosphere make this a must stop for any road trip. The prices are very reasonable for a buffett with so many choices. I can’t wait until my next visit. Thanks 23 Buffett.

This place is awesome. The quality of food is very good and delish considering it’s buffet.
they even have Sushi, sashimi, fresh raw oysters and clams that a guy is chucking in front of you, and also in addition, different types of meat, steamed clams and king crab legs.
Last.time they took away a dish that i loved and replaced it with something else and the waiters were kind enough to. go back in the kitchen to bring me a bowl back just for me! Now thats good service. My husband and i sometimes drive 30 mins to come here but its well worth it

23 Buffet is one of my favorite buffets in New Jersey. The seafood is fresh (oysters, sashimi, clams, crab salad), lots of variety in delicious hot food (American, Chinese, and Japanese), and a selection of great desserts! The host is also super nice and servers are very friendly.
Favorite foods: oysters, stuffed crab shells, Korean short ribs, chicken cordon bleu, and all the sushi rolls
Whenever I’m in the mood for some good food and can’t make up my mind, I come here, where I can pick and choose bits of any and everything!

The Story: So Apparently my aunt and uncle likes go check out buffets. I went this weekend with them along with my cousins. «DIE-​NASTY» we say!
Food: I am not impressed. The only thing I really ate was the black bean clams and desserts. I dont like the base sauce they use for majority of the Chinese dishes, the «american breakfast» was poorly made and sushi tasted sour to me.
Price: $ 10 for lunch is cheap. I can’t complain there.
Décor: Spacey buffet room.
Service: It was average.
Parking & Finding the Place: Has own parking. Easy to find.
Extra: yeah I’m not too impressed hence the pretty short review…

Considering it is a buffet and you expect buffet-​standard quality, it was still only alright. Went for lunch (cheap! ~$ 11) and there was a pretty interesting selection – sushi, American breakfast foods made poorly, Chinese takeout, raw seafood, etc. I’d consider myself pretty adventurous with food, but I also care about food sanitation so I just stuck with cooked Chinese food and nothing raw. Everything was just okay – decent clams with black bean sauce and spareribs and hot & sour soup. Good tiramisu but horrible green tea ice cream!
Definitely better options available for buffet and felt like wasted calories after the meal. The space is really nice though, super high ceilings and lots of room for seating and moving around. But I’d stick to paying a bit more and getting good quality at Minado or something.

As far as buffets go, this one seems rather high end. Lots of different food and most, if not everything I tried tastes delicious! A big variety of sushi, along with steak, and everything else you could want! And tiramisu! Wish I could go everyday! The management/​owner is really welcoming every time I go.
The one downside through is that it can get a little expensive compared to others in the area on weekends and dinners.

This is an awesome buffet for what it is. They offer exactly what they advertise online. Freshly shucked, delicious oysters at an all you can eat. Are you kidding? They also had crab legs, shrimp cocktail, a small but fresh selection of sushi rolls, sushi, and sashimi. I loved that they were placing straight up salmon and tuna in little bowls. They also had good Chinese food — typical greasy American chinese, but very tasty. They had about 8 kinds of shrimp alone. There was also a huge salad bar, and tons of soups. They had hibachi and a few American entrees as well for the kids. Our meal came to $ 40 for dinner for 2.
Also, the owner stopped us on our way out and thanked me for coming in. He was very sweet.
Don’t forget, this place is BYO!

Pretty good for a buffet place. They have lots of seafood and shell fish on the buffet. I enjoyed the chicken cordon blue. Decent sushi though I am not big on sushi. I came in with a party and we used their back room. The staff was friendly and attentive. I have some close friends that come here all the time and like it very much. I will probably come back again.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. How sad. The only reason we’re giving them two stars is that we can’t bring ourselves to inflicting a one-​star review on our once favorite buffet restaurant. This was our first visit to the 23 Buffet in over a year.
Seeing only a few customers there when we stopped in for dinner should have given us «paws». The fact that their giant aquarium which greets you by the front door needed a cleaning should have served as a warning. Another nasty surprise was finding dirty plates in the stacks at the buffet tables, that had food stuck to them. We’ve found that at other buffets, but never here, at least not until now.
They have lowered their prices by a few bucks, but don’t believe that this translates to better value, because it does not. The quality of their food has taken a tumble, and in at least two cases, appeared to be unfit for human (or canine) consumption. We were horrified that some of the food items were clearly spoiled (having a wet nose can be a blessing and a curse), and we were disappointed that a number of other items were inferior quality dishes that we never saw in the past at the 23 Buffet.
Several items were made with imitation crab or lobster and the like, instead of with the real stuff. Scallops with cheese, served on the shells, were little more than some chopped-​up bits of unidentifible garbage under a layer of cheese. If there was a scallop under there, we sure couldn’t find –or taste– it. Some steamed dumplings we tried were less than savory. We had trouble finding more than two or three items which were both appealing and seemed safe to eat. About the only saving grace was that the soups were pretty good. Could this be the same place we used to rave about ?
At least they were still displaying a «satisfactory» health department inspection certificate, albeit sort of hidden behind and below the front counter, and not in what we would consider a «conspicuous place». We wonder just how reliable those inspection reports really are. BTW, we really like the requirement in New York City, that food establishments must display their inspection letter grade on the front of their establishment, so you can see it before ever entering. Or even better yet, how about requiring restaurants to display their Unilocal rating in a conspicuous place ! :-)
Anecdotally (and this does not enter into our rating calculation), they now share the building with a dry-​cleaners, which does have it’s PERCs, if you know what we mean. Yum ! (In fairness, we don’t know what cleaning materials are used next door, but we still find it unappealing.) Now, you can be taken to the cleaners, and taken to the cleaners, all in the same place. Talk about one-​stop shopping.
Unfortunately, I don’t think we will be going back again. How sad, indeed. This place used to be really good. The best, in fact. Now, we have to find our new favorite buffet restaurant. Help me, Unilocal !
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