Lai Lai Chinese Cuisine & Sushi Bar

I am not a sushi fan but I do like a Chinese buffet and Lai Lai’s provides it. The lunch buffet is very reasonably priced, the restaurant is clean, the service is prompt and efficient while the food is good. The prices are reasonable, the lunch buffet being only $ 5.75 for all you care to eat. That does not include any sushi, which is separately priced a-​la-​cart. I am not a sushi fan so I can offer no more information about their sushi than to say the place is clean, the food fresh and the sushi does seem to attract a regular following.
Now back to the buffet. The food appears to be fresh, not leftover from yesterday. The dishes are prepared well and they do keep a well stocked buffet. They have only 2 buffet tables with soup and entrees so their selection is somewhat limited, but ample. If I had a complaint/​suggestion it would be there are no steamed or fried dumplings (one of my favorites). However, they appear to have many of what I would consider Chinese favorites: Pepper Steak, Kung Pao Chicken, Egg rolls, Egg Foo Young, Sesame Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Pork, Bourbon Chicken, Broccoli in Garlic Sauce, Sesame Chicken, and so on. Some times they have something new such as Curry Shrimp and Crab in Lobster Sauce. They have soup including Wonton, Egg Drop and Hot and Sour. The desert/​salad buffet is a separate small buffet table with limited items that seem to mirror all Chinese buffets including fruit, salad, pudding and assorted dessert pastries.
The service is excellent. My water glass was never less than half full. Dirty plates were removed from my table as soon as they we empty. That helps to keep anyone from using a dirty plate at the buffet serving tables.
And now for the review. The service was excellent and attentive, prices for the buffet was very reasonable, the seating area and tables was clean, including the buffet tables which are kept free of spillage. If I can find a flaw, it is their limited offerings on the buffet itself. Their buffet is one of the smaller ones. That being said, I rate them 4 out of 5 stars and recommend you try them out for yourself when in the area.

Best sushi I’ve ever eaten! Large portions that are fresh every time I’ve eaten there.

Comfort food and great price. Best Chinese buffet and sushi in town! Highly recommend!

I’ve been going here since 1997. Ping and crew are amazing as is the food. Hands down, my favorite Sushi place in town. They use fresh quality ingredients and don’t skimp! The buffet is just as fab! The place is always has regulars. For me it’s become a place for comfort food!

Delicious sushi, Chinese buffet great price ^_​^ Thank you!
Dynamite roll, must try!

I have been dining here for many years. the food is always good, the service is always good and the place has always been extra clean. great place with great people. the Peking pork is exceptional.

Sushi is always great, But the lunch buffet has something to be desired.. Service is friendly and prices are reasonable…

I’ve had the buffet here twice, it’s nothing to write home about, but it’s cheap and they cram a decent amount of stuff onto the 2 tables. The items on the buffet never taste like they’ve been out TOO TOO long, although sometimes an item can be a bit overdone. However, for $ 6 or whatever the lunch buffet is, I expected a lot less.
Also, the service is always excellent, this might be because everyone got the buffet so the servers can just go around filling up water, but regardless, my water was always filled and every time that happened the waiter also asked if I needed anything else which made me feel very welcome.
If you are looking for a simple and easy buffet and you’re in the area, this will hit the spot, just don’t expect them to have exactly what you want or have it be the best food ever.

Read great things about this restaurant but no one mentioned you would walk away hungry. The buffet was very disappointing. 2 very small hot tables, one had only a couple Chinese dishes, the rest was various chicken dishes. There was a third table with a couple desserts. Will not come back, not worth it.

Great food, friendly staff, never a disappointment! Ping and his wife are so kind! Definitely worth trying.

We visited this restaurant with our friends that highly recommended it. We expected a wait since it was the dinner rush on a Saturday night. We were the ONLY diners in the establishment for the entire meal. I decided to have the buffet. Unfortunately, most of the food had been sitting under the heat lamps too long. Most of the meat was crusty, and a lot of the sauces had started to harden around the food in the buffet trays. The labels above the food did not match many of the items below. I would recommend this restaurant if you are looking for a private dining space with food that will leave your stomach crying for relief. I will never return to Lai Lai.

Stopped by here for late lunch/​early dinner. The place was empty when I walked in at 3:30 pm on a Thursday afternoon. The waiter was friendly and gave me ample time to look over the menu options. Since the lunch buffet just ended, he informed me that the dinner buffet would be available at 4:15 and it would cost $ 7.25. I looked over the menu and decided to wait for the buffet since most of the meals would about the same price anyways.
The food selection wasn’t that great nor the taste, but what can you expect for that price? My favorite thing was the broth for the Wonton soup, the sesame chicken, and the Chinese ribs. Everything else seemed kinda stale.. They also give you unlimited Chinese fried noodles at your table too (those were good). My server was great in making sure my glass was always full and he kept my table clear and clean. In the end, I was full but not in the good, satisfying «I just had an excellent meal and I feel great about it» kinda way. More like «I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stomach this» kinda way.
If I go back, I would try something off their regular menu or their sushi. My mistake for chancing it on the buffet.

Lai Lai restaurant is one of the best and cleanest place for oriental cuisine in the central Florida area. They have a really great and diverse menu that covers both your usual Chinese take out menu items and sushi. All of the products are extremely fresh and of high quality and the family atmosphere is really nice.
Mr Ping and his wife Betty own and operate it and they are wonderful to see and spend time with while you are enjoying your meal. The service and the food is New York style, and the closest thing to the big apple Chinese cuisine you can get. I highly recommend going and trying out this little gem next time you are looking for oriental cyisine.

Been coming to this place for about 15 years now and the sushi is always excellent, super fresh, and delicious. Ping is the owner and he and his family are wonderful hosts. They are always very accommodating and are happy to make special sushi rolls that are not on their regular menu. I highly recommend the Special Spicy Scallop Roll with shredded crab, while it’s not on the menu, they have been making it for me for years now. They also have a full Chinese menu and buffet, but I never make it past the sushi.

This buffet is really good & price right plus the sushi is always fresh like everything else is def a great place to eat and lunch was only 20 $ for all 4 of us

Went for dinner on a Monday night and ordered the chicken rice noodles dish. It was very tasty and the portion was huge! The host was very nice and accommodating. Checked on me frequently to see if I needed anything. If I’m in the area again, NJI would definitely return.
The buffet wasn’t very big, but I cannot comment on the food because I didn’t try it.

Visiting Orlando on business, I stumbled across Lai Lai while trying to find somewhere to eat near my hotel that was not your typical fast food or one of the many latin-​themed restaurants in the area. My options regarding where to dine were somewhat limited due to being about two weeks into a low-​carb diet kick with my significant other.
I found Lai Lai to be quite easy to spot from the road, especially in the midst of my tour of the numerous pawn shops in the area. The parking lot was easy to navigate and had many open spaces when I stopped around 8:30 on a Thursday night. The main entrance was clearly marked, and the exterior looked well-​maintained and well-​lit.
Immediately upon entering Lai Lai, I was greeted by a friendly, older, woman. Based on the other reviews, I assume she is one of the owners. She informed me that, although they offer seating if you would like to dine in, you do still have the option to place an order off the regular/​sushi menus (or even take buffet food) to go. This is a nice touch for those of us that either hate to dine in public alone, or have work to catch up on at our hotel rooms.
The hostess provided me with a well-​laid-​out menu that was easy to read and navigate, and offered me a seat while I looked over the menu and placed my order, even though she knew I would likely be taking my order to go if I ordered anything at all. She offered a beverage while I waited and asked if there was anything specific I would like to watch on the television they had located in their front (less formal) dining room. The volume of the television was not so loud that it would have been obtrusive if I had been dining in.
Knowing there is one dish you can always use as a measure of a Chinese chef’s skill, I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken, which was clearly marked as a spicy dish on the menu. She asked if I would like it spicy, and when I responded with a simple «SPICY» she went a step further and confirmed that I wanted my food really, really spicy. This is a nice touch for those of you who may not be able to tolerate food with a bit of a kick.
My food was prepared quickly, and was packaged in nice plastic containers as opposed to the traditional paper (and often soggy) boxes. The portion sizes were exceptional for the price, there was a good ratio of meat to vegetables, all of the ingredients appeared to be very fresh, and — best of all — the dish was delicious!
Once my order was ready, I was then asked if I needed napkins, plasticware, chopsticks, or anything else, and the hostess made sure to ask how much of each I would need in case I was taking my food back to share with someone. Only after everything else was handled, did she ask for me to pay for the food. I know it is not a big deal, but it’s nice to know that they put their service first and the money second, as opposed to rushing to have me pay for my food at the time of ordering and then pushing me out the door once it was ready.
In a nutshell, Lai Lai made a very good impression with me during my first visit. Their service is top-​notch, their menu food appears to be fresh and tasty, and I will most definitely return whenever I find myself in the area.

The place was absolutely amazing, sit at the sushi bar and request one super interesting man called Ping, who gave us a full blown lesson in sushi making!
We were a little worried since it was so slow, but believe me when I say it was the best service I’ve ever had at a sushi restaurant… And did I mention Ping at the bar?! A+!

Ask for the Gil roll. Its not on the menu but its a Ping speciality and its awesome!

I went to Lai Lai a few weeks ago for the buffet and was not impressed at all. The place was kind of empty and the buffet was tiny. Also, the buffet was extremely in impressive but you get what you pay for.
The only reason why I’m giving this place 4 stars is because the service was awesome. The two owners were so accommodating and never failed to refill my drink or make conversation.
I will probably go back to try the normal menu.