Asian Express

I’ve eaten here many times in the past two years. It is one of the best, healthiest asian buffet bars I’ve ever eaten at. They have several recipes that you’ll find almost nowhere else that are simply delicious, such as the carrot-​beet salad, sauteed mixed mushroom salad, the sweet potato vermicelli salad, all favorites of mine. They have California roll sushi, too. The hot fare is also delicious, such as boneless spicy teriyaki chicken thigh, General-​Cho-​style chicken, and crispy hot tempura veggies. Overall, it is crave inducing. Only quibble: a little on the expensive side.

I found a hair in one of their eggrolls while I was looking at the selections. I let the owner know and she proceeded to call to the attention to one of her workers and the eggroll pan was tossed out. I paid for my items but ended up tossing out right after paying because the thought of finding hair in my food made me nauseous. I will not be getting food here again.

I’ve frequented this place for lunch several times a year, the food use to be so so, but seems to have really gotten bad over the past few months. I’m expecting the owner is taking the subpar hot food to begin with and simply re heating it from one day to the next rather than throwing it out and spending the money on fresh made up dishes. The sweet and sour chicken for example taste likes its been reheated for days on end. I won’t be back I’ve had it with this place.

I was delighted to see all the fresh green vegetables at first. Soon I discovered that they are almost all served cold. It’s a disappointment because stir-​fried vegetables are supposed to be served hot, not as a ‘salad’.
The hot food selection is rather limited. The noodles are too sweet and same can be said about the teriyaki chicken, beef and tofu. At $ 6.59/lb, I neither pick the rice nor the noodles.
Overall, it is not Chinese food because the way they are prepared. It’s a combination of items to suit the taste of the lunch crowd.
For some reasons, the final price after getting my food on the scale seem to be $ 1-​$ 1.50 more than the displayed price. I understand that the sales tax is about 10% but it’s clear that there’s a .$.50 swipe fee. For instance, my box rang up to be $ 5.30 by weight, the final price including sales tax was $ 6.68 I only started to pay attention to the rapid fire style in ringing up the sale when more often than not, the price including the sales tax exceeds the 10%. There is no visible sign forewarn a minimum patronage of $ 5 and how much the swipe fee is.
Fortunately, there are quite a few more options around so I’ll vote with my wallet.

Food is good when it’s around lunch time since it’s filtered out more frequently. There tends to always be a line here since it’s self serve and by the pound. Be careful on how much you get because the price can get pretty high. They make the food more dense so don’t get too excited. Other than that it’s good if you’re in the good court. Note after I believe 3pm everything is half off what’s left in which usually another line develops.

I’m not sure why this is classified as «Chinese» food; if it specializes in anything it is Korean food. The kimchee pancakes nail the chewy/​crispy dichotomy and the japchae (sweet potato noodles) are good too. I am also a fan of the basil papaya salad and the california rolls are good too (see? this place is pan-​Asian more than anything). I’m not loving the selection of meat, though, the teriyaki chicken and thin sliced seasoned beef; it just tastes cheap, is fatty and over-​sauced. Still, this is a go to lunch place of mine for healthy, quick mid-​day food.

I’ve been here before and don’t remember everything being so greasy, but when I went in today I felt like all the veggie dishes I got and the noodles were drowning in oil. Good flavors, but too too oily.

This lunch spot is located @ the Columbia tower and I love this place! It’s a buffet style by the pound and they have two sections (cold and hot foods) assortment of Korean, and Japanese salads, Soybeans, kale, shitake mushrooms, broccoli with garlic sauce, noodles and etc!
From the hot section, I liked the spicy tofu, veggie egg rolls that are huge, white fish with tangy sauce (yum!) chicken potstickers and I love the fried calamari!
The hours are 11 to 3pm. I suggest going between 11−2pm ^_^

la de da de daa, where should i get my next review from? it seems the more i review places near my work, the farther i’m having to walk! haha! — but, walking’s a good thing, so… it’s a win-​win! ;)
AE was decided upon. Got some rice and veggie items (mmm string beans, asparagus, broccoli…) plus chicken. I really liked the kale salad with soybeans (?). That was good and super healthy! Haven’t seen kale at any other asian pound buffets I’ve been to. Cool.

In my experience, the quality of the food here is just fine. It’s a standard issue pan-​Asian buffet.
Given the price, however, you’re well warned to be judicious in your selections. I made the mistake of grabbing a lunch consisting of fried rice, four pieces of mabo tofu, and a side each of napa and soybean sprout kimchee.
Talk about sticker shock: ten bucks! For a bunch of cheap carbs and no meat? Ridiculous.
However… totally my fault. Remember that it’s priced by the pound, so even the most cheap-​to-​produce dishes are the same price as those most expensive to prepare.
For these prices, the California roll is not a bad option.

I am so tired of the Columbia Tower Food Court! I find myself frequenting Asian Express the most, however. It’s a bit pricey at a whopping $ 6.99/lb., but the deep fried items can’t be beat! My favorites are the fried chicken wings and calamari. So flavorful and delicious! I also like their crispy fried white fish in a sweet and savory sauce.
The fried rice and cold lo mein noodles are also great. They have a good selection of hot and cold veggies, as well as a limited selection of sushi rolls. To be honest, I’m not the hugest fan of their hot beef, pork, or chicken dishes, but they have so much other good stuff, it’s not a problem. If you come after 3pm, I think the owner gives you half off. Or gives you some sort of discount.

Not that I ever expect much from a food court, you would atleast think if you had to wait in line over 10 minutes just to grab a tray, the food might be alright. I was suprised so many people could have such bad taste, or then again they all could have been trying it for the first time also.
I decided to go for the spicy chicken, some rice an egg roll and what I think could have at one time been yakisoba. Well the rice was fine (but next to impossible to mess that up) as for everything else it was cold, soggy and pretty much tasted like I was eating cardboard.
Needless to say I was pretty disappointed in the food here, but then again thats what I get for eating in a food court.