Star Walk Buffet

Big mistake! Honestly! We decided to try it for the first time, but it was a total disappointment! It was lunch time (arrived at 1:30 PM), the restaurant is huge, but only 10% filled (on Friday!) Five food stations with almost empty trays, except from a couple of pieces here and there. The food had one major common factor which was: cold and greasy! Most of the trays did not carry labels to tell us if it were beef, chicken, or even fish! Hard to tell, especially if it were unrecognizable piece of protein! One interesting very first impression that was the host did not show any interest in serving new customers! A cheap plastic water jug was placed on the table with five big cups (beer cups)! Weird! The server didn’t show up again to check on us if needed anything! I asked one hostess if they had cheese pizza for my son! I didn’t understand if she said “wait” or what! I thought she basically ignored me! But later a second hostess came back with severely broken English and told us that that was it!! None of us was able to tell if the food was spicy, sweet, or salty! Just a bare flavor! In fact, no flavor at all! Impossible to find a food that could grasp you attention, just fried things! The desert was certainly prepared a week ago just from the looks of it, not to mention the taste! First time in my life that I saw a cheese cake that’s not cold and moist! Totally dry and worm! To add more insult to our visit, the washroom was a curse! Totally filthy, dark and smelled like hell! I always know that I can tell a lot about a restaurant from the washroom, and that was not a plus! Interestingly, the hosts did not speak one English word, which add more frustration and made us wonder if we were really in Canada!
The kids were totally disappointed since they had great expectations when they learned that we were going to a Chinese restaurant!
This experience was a total disappointment ended by $50 (2 adults and three kids in a buffet!) for such awful food!
I will not try it again even for free!

beautiful entrance to this restaurant, good atmosphere. not too many selections for lunch buffet. service is ok. it's conveniently located inside of a shopping mall.

We arrived at 5:00 p.m. when the restaurant opened, hoping to find everything hot and fresh. Instead we found half filled dishes that had been sitting on the steam table since the restaurant closed at 3:00. Many dishes had a congealed skin on the sauces, making us wonder if they were safe to eat. The fried food was cold, greasy, and soggy. Salads did not look fresh and generally everything looked tired and grubby. The station where we had previously enjoyed roast beef, waffles, etc. was not in operation, although there was a tray of wet mashed potatoes on it. The sushi station displayed sushi on half full plates, covered with plastic wrap, and while I was watching a cardboard decoration fell from the ceiling onto the sushi preparation area. We had to ask for clean cups for our tea.

On our way out we stopped in the ladies' washroom, which was desperately in need of attention, with paper towels spilling out of the large waste basket, sticky floors, and dirty basins.

This was particularly disappointing since we had a wonderful meal there several years ago. As soon as we arrived back in the Toronto area this time, we made plans to return. Never again. We were just glad that we did not get sick afterwards. To add insult to injury, the price for dinner is considerably higher than the lunch price. Don't go unless you enjoy eating "left-overs".

I don't often like to go to buffets as I get this image in my head of pigs eating from a giant trough. The whole experience cheapens the respect I have for food and the dining world. This place has changed hands a lot since I last remember it. It used to be China buffet king, then a sushi/buffet, then an Imperial buffet, and probably something else entirely before turning into a Star Walk. At least I don't have to line up for lobster anymore.

Food:
Truthfully, I went there to gorge myself on a Peking duck leg as I had remembered that they are the only buffet that serves it in this fashion, but i was pleasantly surprised by the other dishes they had to offer.
Lots of choices for seafood, but the thing with it is that seafood does not keep well in steam trays. The ginger-onion lobster was overcooked and it seems like a waste of good product. The steamed fish (or what's left of it after the crowd has its way) had an unbearable fishy smell to it. The sushi was very good for self-serve buffet style lying out in the open for long periods of time. My favourite dish was the Chinese wine chicken in the cold dish section. The chicken was moist, perfectly prepared, and absolutely delicious! Highly recommended!
Dessert was uncharacteristically great too! The tapioca was pleasant and the warm soy milk was phenomenal! A word of warning needs to be made. Their turnover rate for food isn't as high as the Mandarin, so some of the items tend to stay unchanged longer than others.

Service:
Not bad. They fulfilled their capacity in servicing. Filling water in a timely manner, clearing plates. I ended up staying for 3 hours and there were no complaints, nor did they try to force me out by sending me the bill!

Cleanliness:
The place leaves a little bit to be desired. The washroom floor was sticky and the table at which I was seated had a lot of residue on it. Nothing to alert the health officials over, but it shows some lack of sanitary skills.

It was a good overall experience. The food was delicious, and the staff are friendly and competent. It's just too bad that it's at the worst possible spot for attracting customers. Next to a fitness gym behind a community shopping mall.

Star Walk has such a great selection of many popular Chinese dishes, including dim sum, desserts, & a "gourmet" section (roast beef, Peking Duck, waffles, etc.). They also have sushi that tastes GREAT!

I haven't been to Mandarin in years, but apparently the only thing that they've got on Star Walk is a wider selection in terms of its salads.

Not as great dessert selection as Imperial Buffet, but the fact that their sushi tastes better is enough for me to choose this buffet over Imperial.

In terms of cost, it's slightly cheaper than Mandarin. Prices are available on their website.