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Located in the River Rock Casino, "The Buffet" offers an extensive selection of gourmet dishes and local specialties for their buffet. Recently renovated with a name change from Runway 26 Buffet.
Went here on a Tuesday night. There was no wait,so we got right in.
First off, I would have assumed there would have been a bigger chinese food section,being in Richmond and all.
IT was sad. Wonton,sesame balls,crappy veggie dish,beef and greens,unappetizing chicken potstickers. And an unfilled spagheitti with Bolognese sauce. Never tried it,because it never got refilled.
Basa fish in a cream sauce,Blah. Roas beef,hard to screw that up. Seafood penne,no seafood. Pesto pasta was average.
And,strangely enough,a "Mediterranean" section. Rice Pilaff meh. Falafel, hard and dry. greek salad was good.
The salad bar was full of different things,Like pea shoot sprouts for instance. Who the hell eats those?
The best part was the dessert section. A large selection of desserts,however,some of them looked like they were attacked by chainsaws. People digging into them like savages leaves the line in a very unappealing state.
The "bottled" water that is complimentary is merely tap water,which is ok I guess. Kind of a neat feature.
I was really expecting more seafood,or really,any kind of seafood for that matter. Some prawns, crablegs,anything.
All in all,It wasnt worth the price. Maybe they switch up the menu occasionally,and i picked a bad week.
Either way,this place is not on my return list.
Food court,although pricey,would be a better choice.
I've gone to the River Rock buffet on several occasions and was always left satisfied. Although I've heard iffy things about the breakfast, I really enjoyed the dinner buffets I've attended.
Last week we went there on a Thursday night for my dad's birthday. Thursday nights are a bit more expensive (23 or 25 I believe) compared to their advertised week day rate, it was worth it! Thursday night is Memphis BBQ night and it's ribs, brisket, roast chicken, pulled pork, hush puppies, pecan pie, cherry pie and peach cobbler- all the specialties were great!
As well as the BBQ theme items they had a variety of other hot items. Just off the top of my head- they had creamy polenta, catfish, pork buns, dumplings, fried rice, noodle dish, lobster cream sauce pasta, sundried tomato penne, a beef and a lamb dish, and much more.
I read a review saying that they only had a few salad items- they have at least 10 different salads! Maybe more, the salad course is a large course in itself because there are plenty of options to choose from.
As well, I always look forward to the dessert selection because they have a large selection of great desserts.
Service is prompt and friendly, my water glass stays full and as well as any other drinks (pop, juice, coffee, tea and sparkling water are all included).
Over all, my family and I really enjoy the river rock buffet dinner service and do not consider it cafeteria quality at all.
This buffet started out great when RIver Rock first started many years ago. It was a welcome addition to the nice places in oten to bring friends and family for celebrations and special occasions.
Then the food became run of the mill, mass produced and cafeteria like in quality.
Edible was a word that came to mind. Though you can see men dressed as chefs milling about in the background, the food that came out of there and into your plate was not any step up what a fast food bulk cafeteria can produce. All for show.
There are other better places to bring the birthday celebrant in the family or mom during Mothers days.
It had been a couple years since we last went to this buffet, and since we received a gift card we thought we'd try it again. We love Vegas buffets, but there is definitely no comparison - this is no where close to that quality. First we felt ripped off - the website states dinner is $21.95 Sun-Thurs - we went on a Monday night only to see a sign at the entrance stating dinner is $27.95. Not sure if they were trying to milk it because of the Olympics or what. The cashier was less than friendly, and could barely speak English. The hostess who seated us gave us a choice of sitting closer to the buffet or window. We chose a window seat, and the busboy prompted filled our water. The waitress appeared quickly and took our drink order.
With the renovations the food area is larger and looked more welcoming than before. However, on closer inspection the food was not so impressive. The variety is very limited. The salad bar was ok, they had about 5 different kinds of lettuce and other salads. The hot food, well, let's just say it was a strange mix. There was dim sum (siu mai and shanghai pork dumplings), fried noodles and fast food type chinese food, 2 kinds of pasta, gnocchi with cranberry sauce (very strange), samosas, spicy eggplant, mashed yams among other misc dishes. The roast beef was tough, though it tasted ok. The salmon was not too dry. They had a hot dog station. Hot dogs? Are you kidding me?
The desserts at first looked pretty nice but again on closer inspection was not too appetizing. The chocolate fountain is a gimmick. It didn't taste good at all, but I'm sure kids had fun making a mess dipping their fruit and marshmallows in it. Everything else just looked like a big mushy mess.
As for the service, the waitress was very diligent in taking our plates away, once practically as soon as I lifted my last bite off the plate. However, she never returned to ask if we wanted anything else to drink. The entire experience was less than satisfactory, and totally not worth the money. I think it's safe to say we will not be returning.
I was given gift card and heard about River Rock buffet. I tried it out after 1pm, wasn't too busy for the holiday season.
I was greeted by a friendly server, paid my $17.80 for my lunch and was seated near a window. I walked to the hot bar, tried the mashed potatoes, turkey, roast beef and salad. I got my beverage and walked to my table. I loved their turkey, lots of flavour, tender and great tasting. I had a slice roast beef, it was okay, a bit on the rare side and my side entree's complimented one another. I tried the dessert table, I like the creme caramel, light with lots of flavour, and found the strawberry banana triffle, too sweet and only ate a couple of bites.
The place was relaxed, not too busy, service was attentive and i would try it again for lunch.
Will be back to explore the menu.
I have dined at this atrocious "buffet" on one occasion and will never go back.
The food is profoundly poor in both quality and selection. It tastes totally institutional. The service is uncaring and unprofessional. The value quotient is nil in view of the preceding two parameters. The ambiance is totally lacking.
It is clear that the quality of this place is so poor because the government runs it. There is no incentive whatsoever for striving for excellence. Compare this dump to the excellent buffets in Reno or Las Vegas or even to the other local privately run buffets and there is simply no comparison.
Spend your money elsewhere where there is some striving for excellence in food quality and service.
It's true that there are many buffet restaurants out there, but my friends and I have found that unless we're in Vegas, they've all declined in quality (or never really had edible food to begin with). Imagine my surprise when we had dinner at the River Rock - the food was fresh, and dishes were clean.
FOOD: Was good. The salad bar was well-stocked and very fresh, the prime rib was medium rare and tasty. The dessert section was awesome! Lots and lots of great desserts. The salmon was a little dry, and the hot food in the Asian section was more of the food court variety, but the yummy food everywhere else easily made up for it. Sushi bar wasn't bad either.
VALUE: I think we paid about $22 / person on a weeknight (it's more on weekends) and the price included drinks (ie. coffee, tea, pop) For the quality of food, and compared to other buffets' prices, I'd say this is my new go-to buffet.
Hey, if you want to pay $15 for some fresh cut fruit, coffee, juice, toast-it-yourself bagels, and artery clogging breakfast food then be the River Rock's breakfast buffet guest.
Honestly, IHOP and Denny's outmatch the food at this buffet. The hashbrowns are oily and soggy, the scrambled eggs were clearly packaged liquid egg, the "pancakes" and french toast had to have been produced by Eggo. The eggs benedict were ok granted I knew it was an actual fresh egg but the Hollandaise sauce was fairly weak and limited.
Now, the buffet does have fresh bread and bagels to toast as well as a juice machine, and fresh cuts of basic fruits like watermelon, grapes, apples, oranges, cantaloupe etc. So after prodding at my styrofoam hashbrowns and pancakes I got a plate of fruit, cottage cheese, and toast that would be worth about $5 at any corner cafe.
Ultimately, if you get a free voucher it's worth it but don't pay for it.
I came here for the breakfast buffet after spending a night at the hotel with a group of friends. I had heard old AMAZING things about their dinner buffet and was excited to gorge my hungover self on yummy breakfast foods. Man was I disappointed; first of all, WHO charges upwards of 20 dollars for a buffet that serves powdered eggs? They were absolutely disgusting. My friend realized his toast was rotten 2 bites in and the croissants had to have been days old. The only thing was the orange juice or eggs Benedict probably because it was doused in sauce. I would never recommend their breakfast to anyone I had an ounce of respect for.
We decided to go to the River Rock Buffet as we were going to a concert there.
I was a bit worried from the reviews here.
First I need to compliment the staff on excellent staff. The were there to meet every need, clearing our plates away and refilling our water and pop glasses right away.
We started with the salad bar, full of a variety of lettuce and salads such as corn salad, lentil salad, potato salad etc. Fresh dressings and buns. It was a Friday night so they also had crab legs, shrimp and oysters.
There was a sushi bar on friday night as well.
The hot food, did not have a huge selection, but the quality of most of the food was excellent.
I had the dim sum which was great, as was the roast and au jus. Rainbowcrab had the pasta and loved it.
There was a wide variety of desserts, although not as much chocolate as I like.
I acutally had more salad bar for dessert I liked it so much.
Although a bit on the high end of price, we really enjoyed it and would go back again.
It was OK. Just OK. Nothing stood out as fantastic, the service was lacking (we ordered a bottle of wine and we didn't get a single glass poured for us) but they did clean the plates quite rapidly. But we were in the VIP room so not sure if that makes it better. My date, who eats alot more meat and alot less veges than I do, seemed happy with his turkey leg and red beef, and I was a little peeved with the lack of salad toppings and classic veges sides. Gotta say the dessert rack was amazing, except it would be cool if they had some sort of ice cream machine.
But not great. It is what it is, nothing even close to Vegas style buffet but for the spread, not bad. Weekend $27 buys you all kinds of salads, cold seafood like prawns, crab legs, mussels and hot food included more seafood like stir fry mussels, fish. Meat dishes included a station where the slice thin slices of prime rib but it was tender and delish. Grilled chicken, NY steak (a little tough) was also on the spread. Desserts were ok, I did enjoy some of the mousse. Different kinds of carbs like pasta, rice. Veges had a ratatouille, grilled veges and stir fry. Kinda buffet with an asian influence due to the majority of the customers and locale in Richmond. Doubt I'd go again though as it was just ok, would try the lounge again next time. Service was good, fast clearning of plates, drinks served promptly and staff was relatively friendly.
i've been to many casino buffets, and this one is by far the worst and overcharged. Few selections, stale food, low quality....and the restaurant layout after renovations is awkwardly designed. Do they really need that many more seats and tables with the quality and quantity of food they serve? Total rip off. Avoid it at all cost.
Reading today's review reminded me that I never did get around to putting in my review from eating there on Oct. 31st, 2009. This was actually my second visit as the first one wasn't much different, but I was the birthday girl and had high hopes. So a friend and I were going to the Joan Rivers performance and decided to eat at the buffet prior to it. First of all, with all the renovations going on it was nearly impossible to find the restaurant - signage was sorely lacking....and perhaps it would have been best NEVER to have found it. This was a Sat. night therefore top price. Where to start? Salad selection was fine, no complaints. Then onto the rest. Crab was obviously previously frozen and full of water and no flavour. Roast beef was grisly and stringy, again no seasoning. Buns were good and the mashed potatoes were fine. Faux Chinese food is better at a food court-trust me. Even vegetables were steamed to mush. I didn't even bother with the desserts but my friend (the eternal optimist-bless her heart) did and I swear frozen McCains chocolate cake would have been superior! Some rubbish cheesecake with tinned pie filling splattered on top completed the selection. The best thing that I saw was the fresh cut up fruit. I must say that we had a wonderful server who at the very end AGREED with us on the crap food!! I HAD to ask her why she would choose to work there and receive very little in tips because of the food and she shyly admitted that the other workers were like a nice family and that was the only reason she worked there. She also admitted she rarely ate more than salad and mashed potatoes and gravy and now I know WHY! This place needs a serious menu revamp and get rid of the hospital/steam table food! When you buy the groceries, you COULD have made great food out of it...why do they choose to make such POOR quality/tasting food? Quite the dilemma indeed. Seriously, NEVER again.
I went here last night, which was a Friday, and apparently Friday's they have a seafood feature. It's a little more costly, but it was my one year anniversary so price is out the window. It came to $29.95 plus tax each. Gotta say it would be totally bogus if that WASN'T the price seeing what was awaiting inside.
I was expecting just kind of Uncle Willy's-like food, but probably with better decor, but I was delightfully surprised. Walking in, a really nice lady has you pay and everything is in perfect unison with the rest of River Rock; elegant and clean. Then a hostess seats you which is different to me, and then you have your own server in case you want some alcoholic beverages or just drinks in general (juice, soda, tea, coffee, all included in price).
The table we sat at was a little two seater with neatly placed napkins and cups and tea cups, and instead of just having a fork and knife, they have the salad forks, butter knives, dinner forks, and dinner knives which was a nice touch, and a teaspoon. Ambiance got big points because there was a nice view of the sunset and everything was set up with good taste.
My boyfriend being anxious to eat, we promptly went to the salad bar. Huge selection of different greens: iceberg, spinach, frisee, mesclun, and just medley of things. And then they had dishes of things to put on your greens, like artichoke salads, crab salad, sauteed cold corn, tomatoes, bacon bits, freshly grated paramesean, shrimp, crab legs, and cocktail sauce. Also three different kinds of dressings. At the same bar, they had some rolls and a flat bread. I loaded up on the salad because everything looked so good.
After our amazing salad, we went to the hot bar and everything was fresh and being prepared in the kitchen on the other side of the bar. They had sauteed zucchini, fried squid, rigatoni in a rosy sauce (my favorite out of the whole buffet), some chinese dishes like tofu in oyster sauce, and fried rice, and other pastas, dumplings, chicken, and even crab claws. Going to admit the fries rice and basa in cream sauce were kind of meh... but everything else was rich in flavour and used quality ingredients.
They also had a sushi bar with all the basics and then some, all were being prepared fresh in front of you which was nice.
The dessert bar was the same size as the hot food bar, and wow. So many choices. Cheesecake with raspberry puree, tiramisu, apple pie, lychee jelly, baklava, fondue, cookies, ice cream, and so much more. Everything was fresh and everything was absolutely rich and tasted so awesome. They had little shot glasses with white chocolate mouse and a raspberry layer, and I normally hate white chocolate. Until I had that.
All in all, our plates were picked up promptly, the food was so satisfying, and thanks to River Rock, it made our anniversary even better.
I'd been wanting to try this place for some time now and thought no better time than mother's day. Fortunately I wasn't able to book on mother's day so I made a reservation for dinner the day after mother's day, no problem.
Started with the salad bar, not bad, lots of selection. But who goes to a buffet for the salads? Moved onto the hot food items. Everything looked dried out like it had been there for hours. Even the carved prime rib was tough and rubbery. I realize that Monday's are not the busiest day of the week and the food won't move as quickly, but at least replenish with some fresh food. I was able to enjoy the soup (corn and bacon chowder) and the dessert bar was pretty good. Our server was excellent, very friendly and attentive. Unfortunately good service and decent salad and dessert are not worth the drive out to Richmond.
Hopefully things improve after their renovations are complete, but I'm not sure if I want to go back to find out.
I have been to many many many buffets around the world I would like to share my experince with you all. On June 26, 2010 I arrived to River Rock Casino by Skytrain...Not bad 15 mins from Cambie Station! I felt really hungry and I remembered my girl friend talking to me about the the buffet. The time was approx 615pm I walked thru the skytrain walkway...This goes straight into River Rock! I didn't want to dine alone but once I got to the front of the buffet the lady at the hostess stand was very personable, friendly and greeted me like its not ackward to eat alone.
I was shown to the Cashier where I stood behind 5 people waiting to pay before entering. Funny thing, I saw that people who are curious and asks tonnes of questions sure makes the waiting time longer... WOW!
Once I paid I approached a check point, I was greeted with a big smile. The Buffet was BUSY! Big parties with people laughing and kids actually eatting... Felt like I was in Las Vegas.
I got a table near the food as I saw other tables that are farther near the water. I am sure those seats are prime! Anyways I skipped the salad as I don't believe in greens, but I was amazed with the selection that looked like 10 or more choices of salad and that they have an ice platform to cool the salad. Nice presentation... if you been to any other buffets that have a salad station this looks pretty neat!
I proceeded to the entree items. Prime Rib was waiting for me... Yummy! The asian selection was very tasty. Sorry that I am a meat lover as you already know I don't eat much vegetable items.
I paid for what I ate... great value as I had 6 meat items and tonnes of dessert.
Our group of 4 dined at Buffet at River Rock on Monday February 1st. There was no line up, which was a plus....at first.
FOOD: I was dissapointed with the few selections available, in particular the main dishes. There was an over-done roast beef that seemed more like beef jerky, 1 chicken, 1 salmon dish, and 1 mussel tray. Most others were dim sum, chow mein, veggies, or pasta (fillers). Salad and dessert bars were ok, but nothing that's unexpected. There was a chocolate fountain which was a nice touch, but looks nicer than it tastes.
SERVICE: This was probably the worst part of our experience. We were shown to our table but were immediately told by our waitress to all leave and head to the buffet so she can set up the table. Is that normal? I would expect tables to be set up before the guest are seated. My expectation of a buffet waitress is to bring and replenish our drinks, and to take away empty plates promptly while guests go back to the buffet. Never of these expectations were met. Our waitress took forever to take our drink orders and much longer to bring them. She never came back to check if we needed refills. Plates were piling up probably 7 or 8 high (between the 4 of us) before she came by to take them.
Towards the end of our meal, we were waiting for our waitress to order coffee/tea. Instead, she was not seen again. I ended up getting my own coffee when I saw that the waitresses were gathered in a corner chatting away.
When we left, our waitress was seen getting a plate of food for dinner. I guess she didn't intend on checking in with us again.
AMBIANCE: The newly renovated area is nice, although nothing spectacular. It's what I would expect the look of a restaurant inside a casino. I have never been there before so I can not compare it to pre-renovations when it was "Runway 26". Our table was in the corner of the restaurant with a view of the Fraser River. Unfortunately, the table was poorly lit. Half the table could see the food on their plates, while the other half could not.
VALUE: Weekday rate - $22 per person (including soft drink, coffee/tea), $19 for seniors (55+), it's a fair value at best. I'm not sure if lunch or weekend selections are better but I'm not prepared to go back and find out.
OVERALL: If you're prepared for marginal food and non-existant service, than it's worth trying once to just know what they are about. The poor service is what's going to keep me from going back. Even on a Monday, I guess that's why there was no line up.
We did the Sunday brunch (24.95 per adult) and we definitely didn't think we were getting value here. The food was moderately warm at best and this is a significant leap from the regular lunch price of 16.95 any other day. The only difference we could tell is maybe the seafood options (which only consisted of crab legs that were salty and hard to eat and mussels - no smoked salmon or anything else you would expect at a brunch). This is our fourth experience - the first was BEFORE the renovations and I was duly impressed with the food quality (way more selection never to be seen since renovating) and decor. Then we went during the renovations and I agree with the other posters who said that it was an inferior experience and they should not have charged regular price while renovating. Then we went after the renovations - once for dinner and then today, for the brunch. Before the renos, the decor was plush, and it felt luxurious. They even made fresh sushi on-site (we've never seen this since). Now, it has more of a cafeteria feel to it. Definitely NOT HIGH END. This was probably done to accommodate more people. The service is inconsistent - today's experience was less than satisfactory. While they took our dirty dishes away, they didn't offer us refills on our coffee or water (in the end, we just helped ourselves). And there are some really bad tables (in terms of where they are located) so it's a crap-shoot where they will seat you. If you want value, you are much better off going to a higher end restaurant and having a proper (hot) brunch. Chances are pretty good you won't be paying $25 for it either.
Went here the other night for a family birthday dinner, the casino itself wasn't very busy but they told us between 30 and 90 minutes for a table. This seemed odd to have such a range, later on (much like everyone on here) I discovered this is because they have unadvertised renovations going on depleting their seating area.
To top this off, they give you a pager, which went off almost an hour later and we cash out from our gambling, go up and find out they pushed the wrong pager button! Totally unacceptable!
Then when we go in, they tell us groups of 8 or above have a 15% gratuity, which seems really strange to me since it's a buffet, why would we have to pay for service when someone is not even taking our orders or bringing us food.. then they admitted it is not "mandatory" which was even stranger.
The food was okay, nothing special, I heard a lot of people complaining and for the $21.99 price you could go to The Keg and have a delicious steak + potato instead of filling yourself with marginal food. The decor looked like Denny's at best and the naming of the restaurant for being able to see the runway no longer applies due to the renovations... you can only see the underneath of Oak St. Bridge which isn't very exciting.
As for the service, we got 1 round of drinks and that's it. No one ever came by after and the plates got stacked up about 10 high before anyone even came to get them. Really lousy, certainly not worth even 10% let alone 15%.
Would never return and highly recommend avoiding this place. Totally not worth the money or wait.
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