I'm one of those guys that thought negatively about Mandarin growing up. Maybe I was SHORT and that all the adults at a busy Mandarin blocked my vision to the food and I had to wait until my turn. It was also considered "Canadian" and "Expensive" especially the ONLY time I went during dinner.
It wasn't until co-workers taking me back to this Mandarin for Lunch that I've noticed a different vision. I'm the one IN-CHARGE now and expensive only refers to dinner and not LUNCH. In my books Lunch has value and dinner does not.
Mandarin does special CELEBRATIONS and that's usually the period when we go and eat because there's EXCITEMENT in the air or at least NOISY patrons but it's expected of a buffet place.
Nothing out of the usual in terms of the Decor, Setup, Food, Service, etc... I've experienced a 30 min wait here once, as I'm told from the hostess because I fled once I heard the wait time.
The FORTUNE COOKIES do not have Lucky Lotto Numbers anymore and sometimes you might want to ask for more than 1 Cookie as the last few times with a table of 6+ we tend to get duplicates of each others. I'm BAD LUCK so I don't believe anyone can have my identical fate!
I tend to do my own STRATEGY at buffets but now it comes second-nature. It's also one of the GREAT places to experiment with your PLATING DESIGNS. No one will judge you and you have all the time in the world to play around.