Now that they have put all other buffets out of business Mandarin is everyone's favourite.
The name sounds Chinese and they are known as a Chinese buffet, but frankly they have transformed into an Asian/Canadian buffet. The fare ranges from Thai skewers to those fake sushi rolls that Chinese people make to Chinese-Canadian Chicken Balls to pizza to mussels and shrimp to Italian desserts and so on and on..
Buffets are an embarrassment and I normally do not go unless invited or part of group, but at least Mandarin does it right. It is $25/person for lunch including all the extras.
The ambiance is amusing and it is clear they have worked on it hard with the pandas, the waterfall, the umbrellas and the poor poor carp fish in the water.
The huge restaurant is clean and unlike other 'Chinese' restaurants so are the washrooms. They do need more stalls and space in their washrooms however. 1,000 people and four washroom stalls creates a bottleneck.
It is clear that people gravitate to this place on their birthdays. It is tiresome and sad to see, but to each his own.
The staff are polite and courteous and there is a high level of service present despite being a mass market business. Kudos to the employees and the management.
One last thing: I have to admit that the food here had some taste. Anyone who has ever visited a Mandarin knows that every dish and tray and food and offering and menu item tastes exactly the same. The ice cream tastes like the chicken tastes like the mussels tastes like the noodle tastes like pork tastes like the cookies.... I have speculated this is because they go out of their way to make their foods as average and bland as possible to satisfy everyone and that they cook the food and place it in hot water to keep warm so it is ready to go. I do have to admit that at this location there was indeed a couple of food items with a modicum of taste.