Panda Garden Buffet - Ottawa

Went for lunch with a group of 15, we ordered waters for everyone before the whole group had arrived, with the intention of ordering drinks after, but we were never given the chance. Server came by twice to clear plates, we asked and she said she would send someone by to take a drink order, and it just never happened. Service was disinterested and uninvolved. Food was, in a word: awful. Limp, sad veggies, brown lettuce for salad, stale and nasty desserts, and a whole bunch of greasy, weird deep fried.... stuff. Selection was limited and not one person at our table enjoyed their meal. Gross.

I am visiting the Ottawa area so not familiar with most of the eating establishments. Spent the evening at the new Tanger outlet mall then wanted to get something to eat outside of the foodcourt. Drove around and realized it was getting late and saw Panda Garden. The place is the typical low budget asian buffet. You walk into the place and receive the typical greeting from the few asian female servers. They give you this look like a wet mop and hustle you to your table. They first put me into this table squeezed right in the middle of a busy area but the place is huge and I see a lot of open booths along the window line and ask if I can sit there. The server reluctantly says ok then rattles a statement in mandarin to the other server. Felt like I was in that moment of Seinfeld when the folks were talking behind Elaine's back about her. They have a little bit of everything and the quality is as good as can be expected. Most of the items appeared to be dried from sitting the the warming pans too long. Service is the typical chinese servers running around and talking to each other in mandarin. Carpets in the dining area is really dirty and the area around the buffet was oily, slippery and as people spill the food, the staff does not bother to clean and mop the area down. Just a slip hazard waiting to find the right victims. The price of an adult buffet with a soft drink was about $21 CAD. This passes if you just want something fast and inexpensive.

Panda Garden is very good. The food is tasty. The atmosphere is also very nice. It is a great place for lunch or dinner. I don't know of a better Chinese buffet in this region

This place has some good atmosphere. Probably one of the cheaper buffets but it's still good. Plenty of ice cream to choose from. Parking is easy. Good place for lunch and almost dinner. They have a lot of variety of chicken and beef. And a lot of fried food. Fairly clean place.

Panda Garden is a very nice buffet styled restaurant and has a fair price whether you are going for the lunch price or the dinner one. They are a good restaurant for friends or family as they do provide high chairs for your kids. There is a lovely selection of food from soups, sushi, mains and desserts even including some Canadian styled food, although the food is good some of the food could be fresher due to the fact that it is sitting out for what could be hours depending on how popular it is. I would go there again but probably in the early evening when they are just setting up for dinner and I know the dinner food is just coming out of the kitchen.