After a recent trip to see the IMAX version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,, I decided to try Jumbo Buffet. Louisville has several Chinese restaurants, many of which feature buffets, but few that I have tried have been as good as this one. Jumbo Buffet is located on Hurstbourne Lane, near the Stonybrook cinemas.
Upon entering the restaurant, the first thing I noticed was a beautiful fountain in the restaurant’s lobby. In the fountain were several colorful koi goldfish and live turtles. The next thing I noticed was the delicious aroma coming from the dining room. We were seated quickly and began to serve ourselves from the buffet.
We found many of the standard Chinese buffet dishes, such as sweet and sour chicken, crab rangoon, General Tso’s chicken, and so forth. Alongside these were several traditional Chinese dishes that I have found are not always included on buffets, such as bourbon chicken, Mongolian beef, and sesame chicken. Each of these that I sampled was delicious, particularly the General Tso’s chicken. It was just spicy enough and not at all sticky or gluey like at some other restaurants.
One of the best things about Jumbo Buffet is their great selection of sushi. I have only recently begun to try and enjoy different types of sushi, and I am usually limited to the two or three varieties offered at most Chinese buffets. On my first trip to the buffet table, I found six different types of sushi, all of which proved to be delicious. On my second trip, most of the ones I had tried had been replenished, plus there were three new varieties that I immediately tried. On my way back to my table, I noticed that diners could watch the sushi being prepared.
Never having seen this done, I stopped and watched the Chinese woman prepare, roll and slice the next selection. She was stationed near the restaurant’s Mongolian grill, where diners could select their own raw ingredients and take them to the chef to be prepared. My dining companion and I discovered this feature too late to take advantage of it, but will certainly do so on a return visit.
In addition to the above mentioned dishes and other Chinese fare, Jumbo Buffet had a wide variety of salad fixings, cold items like boiled shrimp and steamed mussels, soups, and desserts. For hard to please diners, or diners with picky children, there were items like pizza and cheese sticks. Some of the desserts available included soft serve ice cream, cherry tarts, Chinese doughnuts, and apple cobbler.
Jumbo Buffet is definitely priced right. Our lunch buffets cost only $5.99 each. Dinner prices were posted at $10.99 on weeknights and $11.99 on weekends. We also saw signs indicating that the weekend buffet contained a wider selection of seafood, including crab legs. Overall, I found Jumbo Buffet to be delicious, extremely affordable, and well worth many return visits.
