Restaurants
Woo Buffet Restaurant & Lounge
Woo Buffet Restaurant & Lounge is perched atop Yonge-Dundas Square, amid the massive billboards, neon lights, towering televisions and retail outlets. It's the new player in Toronto's buffet and lounge scene, or shall I say, the only player. Stepping out from the shadow of his father of Star Walk Buffet fame, owner and operator Wayne Woo set out to create a new and exciting venue while living by the motto stick to what you know.
Entering 10 Dundas East, we ascend the three levels of escalators arriving at Woo. Our booth offers a grand view of Yonge-Dundas Square. Avoiding a more traditional decor, the dining room is a well-conceived attempt at the modern restaurant-lounge while accommodating the formality necessary to offer a buffet-style food service, i.e. prepared food islands.
After a failed attempted at an a-la-carte-only menu, Woo has returned to what he does best, and, with the help of newly appointed Executive Chef Chris Kanka, implemented a rotating menu of fusion-inspired cuisine featuring unlimited Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Vietnamese eats. Sadly, the impressive breadth of Woo's offerings translates to a lack of depth in many of the more complex dishes.
The sushi at the Japanese station includes oily mackerel, buttery soft salmon, bbq eel, and impressive tamago (egg). Unfortunately the sushi rice is over-cooked and tightly packed which gives the nigiri a moist and somewhat mushy mouth feel. The tempura suffers from re-used oil. The deep fried crab claw with shrimp paste is light, perfectly fried and delicious.
In good Star Walk tradition, the Chinese station offers buffet classics such as fall-off-the-bone bbq spare ribs, delicate steamed fish, crispy sweet and sour pork, mussels and noodles; none memorable but all edible enough.
The dim sum station features four unlabeled steamers containing steamed buns; banana leaf wrapped rice, and steamed shrimp dumplings. The dumplings, thick with an abundance of dumpling skin come with surprisingly tasty shrimp. Most popular is the hearty butternut squash and shark fin although they should really stop serving this and go watch the movie Sharkwater.
The glowing centre buffet islands offer chilled items like ketchupy mango salad, deviled egg, fusilli and subtly spiced cold shrimp.
Desserts include an insanely dense and chocolaty cake, sweet and toasty coconut macaroons, refreshing and subtly coconuty jelly cake, exceptionally fresh fruit and ice cream.
Dinner runs $20.95 (weekends $23.95), and lunch is $13.95.
Photos by Jason Lam
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Anyway, I love the place. Not worth $23? Jacks costs as much for chicken fingers, fries and a pint.
And lunch is $13.99, but the choices shrink (no sashimi, no roast beef, no DIY pho, no crab legs or roast beef)
Going to try them out tonight, let's see how it is :)
Initially without knowing that it was more than just a typical buffet experience, i walked in a little confused but was pleasantly suprised by it all. Walking up the stairs with mirrors on the wall, i had a feeling i was entering a nightclub. Once upstairs, i joined my guest in the bar at one of the booths and soon after was greeted by our server(yes even at a buffet!) Chuck.
The bar area was confusing as it was separated from the dining room by a wall of wine glasses in a glass case. I was informed that on thursdays to saturdays, they move all the buffet islands out, tables and chairs put away and turn the buffet place into a club..
this all made sense now looking at the surroundings, and gave it a subtle supperclub feeling.
Wayne the manager/owner was sitting in the booth next to us and very happy to chat with us about the inner workings of the nfl(it was on the 2 lcd screens in the bar).
The food was a great mix of traditional chinese favourites, japanese delights, and thai/pho goodness.. for those a little scared of all the exotic foods, they had on a "canadian" steam table with turkey, mashed, gravy and veggies(maybe just because it was thanksgiving).
Drink list was pretty big with lots of exotic cocktails and martinis, dare i say a bit overwhelming?? Spirit and cocktail lists were good, but some of the prices were a little too high for comparable product at other destinations.
After a few rounds of food, Chuck informed us that you get a half pound lobster included in your buffet.. my partner destroyed it in seconds as it wasn't very meaty, and was left wanting...
after a few rounds of eats, and a couple rounds of drinks, good conversations with Chuck and Wayne, we got our bill.
Dinner for 2 with 4 rounds of drinks will run you $100-$125 but we felt it was worth it. The service(yes again service at a buffet), smiles, conversations, interaction and atmosphere were great and made for a perfect dinner before the movies(which they sell tickets for to use at the AMC for $8). I will go back again for dinner soon!
regards and thank you
cidel rivera
I went there for lunch and I was far more impressed than the Mandarin at Yonge and Eglinton, for example. Well worth the money.
However, I want to address another point in this post.
What does the place turn into in the late evening? I mean, do they stop serving food and turn more lounge-y with louder music and primarily designed to go for drinks with friends/significant others?
I would be really glad if someone can share their late-evening experience with Woo Lounge.
Thanks!
The location is right by Dundas station so you can tie it in with a trip to the Eaton's centre or it's even just convenient by the subway line. It's pretty cheap too for the amount of food you get.
Go hungry!
The food was so tasty and we’d definitely come back for it any time. A few key buffet items to try if you’re going here:
- potato pancakes
- chicken wings and chicken balls
- edamame
- short ribs (amazing)
- mango chicken
The options at the salad bar are quite good as well.. This is definitely a must-try if you’re in the area. We threw in a movie with this dinner and it worked out well cause the theatre is in the exact same building – the buffet isn’t too pricey so it is a pretty good all-in-one date idea as well.
This is really delicious... the food they offer is much better than other asian buffets in Toronto.
I'll have to come back for more one day soon!