Seaside Buffet, 8998 Miramar Rd, San Diego, California 92126
By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO — We recently had nine members of the family together and decided to go out for dinner. My youngest son picked the restaurant, so we went to his favorite all-you-can-eat place — Seaside Buffet — which contrary to the name is not near the ocean. But they do have a lot of seafood so I guess that’s where the name came from.
I tried to make reservations, however they won’t accept them for parties of less than 25, so I wasn’t happy about that. It turned out that there was ample seating in the huge restaurant, but still I wasn’t pleased about the questionable customer service.
Seaside Buffet is a Chinese-owned restaurant, and I was happy to see that most of the crowd was Asian.
The restaurant has a lot (and I mean a LOT) of different options ranging from sushi and sashimi to fresh noodle soups, Brazilian barbecue, and Mongolian barbecue.
There are some other interesting dishes that we can’t mention as they were straight up traif, but for our non-observant readers, you’ll have fun discovering them.
A tip: if you really want to get your money’s worth, stick to the made-to-order steak from the Mongolian barbecue, and the tuna sushi.
As you would expect from a large buffet, there was something for everyone and no one went home hungry. The Brazilian barbecue was a little over done and dry to my taste, but all the meat eaters agreed that the steaks from the made-to-order Mongolian barbecue station were pretty decent for an all-you-can-eat buffet.
The other thing that everyone was excited about (especially the kids, but not only them), was the cotton candy station and the s’mores bar. It was my first time seeing such items at any mega buffet, and I have to say it was a nice touch.
Although the restaurant was busy, they managed to keep a steady supply to all the steam trays, and there was never a lack of anything.
Points off, however, for lack of attentiveness to clearing plates from the table. For such a busy night, they didn’t seem to have enough servers on the floor and we had to flag someone down a few times.
While none of the food was amazing, for a $22 smorgasbord, I think it’s safe to say that no one in the party would protest going there again, and that the night was a success.
I’ll give Seaside Buffet a score of 7.75 out of 10.
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Sandi Masori is the food and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World. If you have a favorite restaurant that you would like her to review, please send her the details at sandimasori@gmail.com