Review China Bar Signature - Epping

One of the best Eat All You Can venue we have been to, especially if you love eating oysters, prawns and a wide range of seafood.. Amazing range of food available ALL prepared and presented with excellence.. Guaranteed to satisfy all.. Family friendly restaurant..

Big choice of cold and hot dishes, sushi, deserts, candies and even Asian ice cream. Food is good, however it is way too pricey especially that you need to pay extra for drinks. $42 may be a good value if you can fit a horse in your stomach, but other than that it is not. $13 for a litre of Coke is also a bit ridiculous.

Awesome food, oriental atmosphere and great value for money would highly recommend this place. One of the best All you can buffets in Melbourne Victoria.

Customer service management is exceptional, wait staff you need to get their attention if you want to order drinks otherwise they don’t ask. Plenty to choose from starting with Sashimi and nori rolls, wide variety of seafood (prawns, crab, Morton bay bugs…), dumplings, dim sum, jasmine, coconut, fried rice, meats, veggies, candy bar, ice cream, cheese, fruit fresh and dry, and a wide variety of desserts. Plenty of food!

You know I loved this place! Food was really great and the service wonderful! Oh and get this.. they showed us to a seat and we didn't like it.... and they showed us to another one! That's what gets them the extra star!

Quality of food has gone down. Sushi and variety of dim sum dishes are a huge plus. Pricey especially at weekends. Not rushing to go back.

This place continues to go more and more downhill every time we visit. The new management have killed the place for a fact because it is no where near as busy as it used to be. The people running this place have cut corners on the food; a lot of the freshly cooked meats and dishes are no longer available. The place is dirty and in need of cleaning. 65 dollars p/h is understandable if you are getting quality food but as far as I'm concerned, the prices here are not justified. Most of the food are cheap deep fried options that cost nearly nothing to make and the flavour is bland and lacklustre. The people who are running this place clearly dont care about the customer's experience and I will be glad to spend my money elsewhere.

Great selection. Price was fair for what they provide. Great service. Good flavour! BIG PROBLEM IS: Really disappointed that nearly all the food was cold except for the dumplings they were fresh. Meat dishes were too soggy, Prawns were soggy like they had been sitting in water for a long time. Over all I think I would prefer a single meal prepared hot and fresh.

Absolutely shocking! Poor quality poor service, black bean was off, oysters horrible, chips cold, sushi odd tasting and even the rice wasn’t the same as most good quality asian restaurants. Disappointment. Worst place in Epping (other than epping nandos)

Came here for the lunch buffet on a Sunday. The selection was limited and disappointing, from the seafood to the dessert. Do not come here if you are looking for freshness, quality or variety.<br/>I would say the most edible dishes were the sushi, and anything that was deep fried. Customer service was non existent but what you'd expect at any Asian joint.

From what I used to remember China bar signature in the city being, to what it has become is truly appalling. Lack of new and exciting foods being catered for what is supposed to be a trendy vibrant buffet restaurant. It’s a “has been” restaurant and continues to sink. Needs more attention to their catering menu’s, food quality and customer service. This isn’t a attack, more so a opportunity to improve and bring back the name it once held. Will dine in at a later date to update and hopefully change my rating, til then.

Quality has gone down every time I have come here.<br/><br/>They use to serve steak on order now it's pre cooked sliced steak. So you could imagine how dry and unappetizing it is.<br/><br/>Most of your selection is deep fried cheap foods like spring rolls & dumpling.<br/><br/>Hot food selection like curries, noodles & rice is also just poor and bland.<br/><br/>Sushi range is half decent but worse than your local Sushi joint.<br/><br/>Definitely not worth the price. ($69 per person?!?)<br/><br/>Really really disappointed. Also how can you charge $12.80 for a jug of coke.<br/><br/>Please don't waste your money here.

Went here for lunch around 11:45pm. Some of the Bain Maries were empty, There was only a few dumplings. Only a few sushi too. The staff cleared our table very quickly which was great, but no smile from the staff when I said thank you. <br/>I won’t be coming back 👎🏻

Such a good seafood buffet! <br/>I found the seafood quality changes with each visit - once, the crab was stale and old but another time the prawns were so plump and juicy! <br/>The food is good and I love the atmosphere. <br/>It’s a little quite which is good for us because the waiters were very quick to help us and cater to us! <br/>Keep it up!

We attended the 7.45pm session on Saturday night. Overall, the staff were polite, friendly and efficient. They kept the table clean of used plates and scrap bowls. On the negative side, they could benefit by having a drink waiter. I eventually had to collar a staff member to order wine and drinks. Note to management, there would be profit to make if you had considered serving beer and wine to the 7 adults in our group. There was an excellent selection of delicious food. The sushi, oysters, scallops and steamed chickens feet, for example were delightful. On the down side, the meat section with steak, lamb, duck and pork had been left way too long. These were all dry and unpalatable. When we arrived, there was a whole fish which was 85% consumed. I like my fish but there was no attempt to replenish this and it was still there at 9.15 when they started to clean up. There was plenty of variety but hit and miss on quality. The dessert selection was excellent. No complaints there. At $69/head for the meal, you should have made more effort to have fresh selections available. I commend that the birthday girl eats for free so that was a good benefit when paying the bill especially as she eats like a bird anyway. I will be back, even if only to give you a second chance. You can easily kick it up a notch.

China Bar buffet is known for their asian styled buffet. They have two branches in Melbourne, one in Epping and their main one in Burwood. We’ve been to the one in Burwood and its a lot more busier and better than the one in Epping.<br/><br/>We came here on Friday night and it was 90% empty. It looked quite sad tbh and not as vibrant as the one in Burwood. We had a birthday deal where if it was your birthday, you eat for free - promotion only for Epping branch. <br/><br/>Anyways, the food was below average. They had a great variety but they quality was extremely low. <br/><br/>I don’t think I would come back here, definitely go to the one in Burwood instead.

The lack of people and abundance of tables is a major red flag. It had been more than a year since my last visit which I had thoroughly enjoyed, this visit was terrible. <br/><br/>The service was good however, the food was dry, salty and stale. Dishes weren’t getting refilled and there was still another two hours to go. <br/><br/>Please avoid this place unless you want to pay for Food Star - Sushine quality at an inflated price.

If you want a genuine taste of Asian cuisine in all its various forms.. then this is the place to go.<br/>I was impressed with everything from the food to the ambience.<br/>Thoroughly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

For those who planning to visit this restaurant, my advise is NO, definitely NO! As a service line, they don’t even know how to serve their customer well. The way they serve their customers is TERRIBLE! The manager is just sitting there and playing with his phone all the while. When I’m proceeding to the cashier and ask for my bill, he (the manager) just ignored me for few moments, so I trying to talk to him but he yell on me with bad attitude and high tone. I did paid for service charges, why should I deserve this kind of ‘lousy services’ ? Very unprofessional and never visit again.<br/><br/>奉劝所有人不要去比较好.<br/>服务员服务是还好.<br/>最垃圾的是哪里的垃圾老男人经理！超级没有礼貌，看见客人已经站在柜台要买单了，却视而不见的在玩手机！<br/>还要大声吼客人，这就是你的待客之道吗？真不知道china bar是怎么traning员工的，这么烂服务态度的人竟然可以做经理！一个字！烂！永远都不会再去了！

Came here for New Year’s Eve, over priced for what the quality they offer.<br/>It’s just not the same China bar that I used to eat and tell everyone about. The flavour lost its touch, it just felt like some moderate Chinese restaurant with all their menu on the shelf for picking. The only thing I enjoyed was king prawn, but the flavour was inconsistent. I finished the first dish of it and when I went to eat it again after they refill it, the sauce was so salty that I can’t even eat it. <br/>Not going again for the price.

Came here with a group of friends before catching a movie next door. Was very easy to get what you want without too many people fighting to get the last piece of my favorite selection! The wait staff were quite attentive and made sure our dirty plates were cleared quickly.

Been here during dinner hours and they normally offer quiet a good range of selection. For my brother birthday we decided to go lunch time and the selection was not bad but you miss out on some selections such as oysters and peaking duck.

Tried the $29 lunch buffet. Food was very fresh and extremely tasty. They do not scrimp on ingredients. I tried every single dish on the buffet and I could not fault anything. The seafood selection included prawns and crab. However, even minus the seafood, the rest of the buffet was adequate on it's own. There were heaps of dumplings, soups, roast duck and pork, chilli prawns, singapore noodles, schizuan chicken, chicken feet, mussel curry, beef and black bean and lots more delicious dishes that I can't name them all. There was a wide variety of desserts and also a cheese/cracker board, ice cream freezer and lollies. <br/><br/>I have been to the Burwood one and Epping is a LOT better. I was so impressed that I personally went to thank the chef.<br/><br/>The decor is new and clean. Even the table tops are those nice stone benchtops. Lots of staff readily available to attend to diners (went on a Monday though and it was only half full). Definitely recommended.

Very cosy atmosphere to celebrate our badminton club anniversary! Came here with 15 of my friends! Everyone enjoyed their meals! Staff were attentive as well. Will be back

Was absolutely terrible for the price of dinner went just as it opened for dinner food was beyond shit sushi was hard and taste less seafood was old dry and frozen tasting the only good thing was the desserts was so depressed i was hoping for a good all you can eat experience

Great service, great variety of dishes, nice family friendly ambience and venue. Heaps of parking. Great for birthday functions and special occasions :)<br/><br/><br/>Update: not fresh anymore, takes 8:30 seatings but have to be out by 9:30 and rude staff.

The pricing between these two buffers varies to almost twice the price from lunch to dinner, I’m not sure if the same food is offered between the two but for $29 for a lunchtime feed you can’t go past the value for money for the variety of food on offer! I dare say at $59 for weeknights and $65 for weekend nights you’d be best off going to a nicer restaurant in town

I have been there a here times over the years and enjoyed it but not now. I went about 6 months ago and noticed a change but thought it was just a once off but I went again on Friday night and was disappointed and don’t intend to come back. The place was not crowded as it usual is. I used to love the scallops in the shell with mushroom and cheese, this time they were not cleaned correctly and had hard black pieces in it, hurting my teeth and large pieces of onion in them. The 3 Rice’s I saw fried, steamed and coconut all dry, I tried the coconut rice, which had no flavour just dry. All dishes used to be topped up frequently but not any more. Noodle dishes were dry. Sushi was dry and not cold?? Desserts have become less and less which would be ok if the desserts provided were adequate and tasty. Cakes were dry and had no taste and the fruit is whole apples and oranges no cut up fruit anymore, very disappointing. For a place charging $65 a head it should be a lot better than this. Maybe management has changed and are cost cutting, so they take home more money who knows, but it’s pathetic.

We came here with 4 people. Payed $60 to eat here, but there was no proper food. It was all finished and it took them 1 hour to put the food back. By the time they put it back, I only had chips and nuggets. We informed the staff, but they didn’t do anything about it. Also, before coming here we called over 8 times to make a booking, but no one answered. Overall, the experience was horrible and I’ll never be coming here again bc I paid over $200 for all of us to eat chips and nuggets.

Don’t go. Wish we hadn’t as selection is not as good as previous reviews state, they must’ve came on a weekend. If you don’t come on the weekend prepare for the stanky oysters. Sushi is not good, asian snacks are not good literally nothing was good, only the prawns from the seafood bar is edible, cooked bugs were still raw. You can tell the food has been waiting there for quite a while. <br/><br/>Happiest customers were probably the fruit flies crawling around inside fruit next to the chocolate fountain which seemed to be laying eggs inside the watermelon and oranges. Watched the staff members inspect the infested bowls whilst on their patrol but did not react.<br/><br/>Now we know why it’s so quiet on Mondays.

Unfortunately do not have much to say about this China Bar. Its quite small compared to the Burwood one. Considering they are both Signature restaurants, did not expect there to be this much of a difference. Seafood is good, cant go wrong. The food was all a bit stale and old, some had no flavour. The shark fin soup tasted like drinking water.

China bar has a wide variety of food for all. I especially loved the seafood, sushi, butter chicken, Asian snacks, fried rice and the dessert! At $65 per head it has wide variety of food. However I must say the oysters are quite small and if you don’t eat seafood you might not be able to get your money’s worth. The dessert and the chocolate foundation are a major highlight :)

Came here for a buffet lunch for $35 per person and children under 12 were half priced. Decent spread of foods. As a big seafood fan I was quite disappointed that their crab was no fresh. Sashimi at their sushi station was decent. I enjoyed their shark fin soup the best as well as their chicken feet. Dessert is very average, nothing outstanding. Stay away from the expresso jelly, not nice at all. Price point could be a bit better as it is quite pricey for what you get - paid almost $15 for a jug of soft drink.

Been here s few times in the past and have been very happy, but went recently on a Thursday night for dinner was very disappointed no peeled prawn or wagu steak mainly fried food big let down wont be seeing me again.

Been here a couple of times, both experiences were vastly similar. The food itself is pretty good for a buffet, not as refined and diverse but quite tasty. Service is lackluster but understandable for a buffet style restaurant. The steam dim sims (prawn and pork) were really well done and the fish was pretty good too. Dessert bar was lacking and more variety would be preferred. The price is abit expensive for what you get, but not other buffet in the area means no real competition. Lower the prices, get more variety and staff and the ratings will certainly go up. Overall content.

Im a big fan of china bar and have visited all branches at least 15 times combined. I have been to the epping branch 7 times but have not been there for 6 months. Just went back today and was shocked at the quality of the food as well as the selection and the lack of food been replaced when the dish was empty, some dishes took nearly 30 minutes for the next batch to come. The crabs were dry. Waygu beef had been removed and peking duck which is my favourite dish just doesnt even taste like peking duck. Im certain that i wont be coming back. Very disappointed as it was one of my favourite restaurants.<br/>

This is the third time i have eaten here & i must say that the standard of the food has slipped, we stuck to the buffet & it was pretty bland it all tasted the same - deserts were nice, wait staff were very good but will not return

I came here when it first opened. It's much smaller than the one in Burwood. Food was good as always and I left the restaurant happy and full 👍

Definitely a great place to go in the pacific epping strip of restaurants. Good atmosphere and service. Wide range of food options. Sometimes varies the quality of food. Would recommend trying the cook to order wagyu beef, sashimi, seafood and deserts.

My experience was disappointing. Food is below average and service is not great. Kept walking around in circles because I didn't want to eat anything. It was not worth the price. The only thing I liked was a popsicle.<br/>

Had lunch there today. $35pp. Food was good, a lot of variety. Drinks are pricey, understand now why people were asking for water instead. I had a ready poured glass of coke with crushed ice at $5 😅. At $35pp for lunch, it's best you have time on the day to "take your time" and sample every dish. Loved that it was so neat and clean in there. What stood out for me was the dessert display. Ambience was nice. Will be going back.

Amazing night.delicious food<br/>I enjoyed the desert bar<br/>Everything was great<br/>Thank you for the experience<br/>Yum cha was good too<br/>Will be back again<br/>👍

I went to China Bar Signature for lunch buffet. Stuffed myself with sushi, seafood, dim sum, cakes, fruits etc. The service was good. I liked the variety of sushi and cakes on offer. However, the wagyu beef was cut into big chunks and was tasteless. I wish there were strawberries for the chocolate fondue other than marshmallows. Overall, the food was quite average but it was a good place to have a relaxed long lunch on a weekday.

I bought 1 voucher 2 people for $50 ring up to make a booking. 1 girl pick the phone up and told me I can walk in and show them the voucher don't need to make a booking. We come on Monday the restaurant very quiet but the MAnAger didn't let us in because she said we have to make a booking before 24 hour. It very Sad

We purchased a cudo voucher and tried the evening buffet.  The seafood was really fresh and good quality and constantly replenished.... OMG I ate so many oysters, smoked salmon, bugs and crabs.... all perfectly prepared, yum!  There was also a huge variety of hot meals and dishes from mostly Asian cuisines (small amount of Moroccan), plus a sushi bar.  Standard menu prices are really quite reasonable if you love seafood and generally not bad given the variety available. We are not sweet tooth's but for those that are there are a lot of little sweets to try that look really good.  Bevvies are on the high side of normal, $8 a stubby of VB.  All in all a good experience, you will find it hard not to leave here feeling like you have just finished Christmas dinner... chock a block! Décor is simple, table seating is tight but really not a bad place for a meal.  We would totally return for the seafood and general variety that is available here. Service is pretty good, they clear plates and full seafood shell bowls quickly but are a tad slow with the drink service.  All in all, pretty good.

Fresh food and nice service. Always had too much food than usual. :)Fresh food and nice service. Always had too much food than usual. :)Fresh food and nice service. Always had too much food than usual. :)

Chinabar signature set menu is a scam. Especially when you have group larger than 2. We had 7 in our group @$50 each. Food was insufficient for a larger group, and the quality is not that great at all. It would've been better if we broke up our group to 2-3 people so that we could have more food. Set menu means you get what you are given - No top-ups.  Disappointing BBQ platter was a rather small plate of Duck, Pork and chicken (taken from the buffet & put into a plate. 2 of us could've easily eaten that amount served for 7). Boiled veges (also taken from the buffet and just plonked into a plate). So called Signature Fish dish was ok but not enough for 7 people. Even the platter of fruit was a saddening 1 small round plate that I could've easily eaten by myself! Big mistake to try the set menu. Always go buffet to get your moneys worth for an extra $10 each...  or get a decent good quality meal elsewhere that will make you full. SET MENU@Chinabar Preston is a HUGE mistake! With a big group it becomes a scam! If you want a set menu go to a proper Chinese Restaurant and order separate dishes!

I recently went to China bar Epping and was quite disappointed with the overall experience. The previous times I have been the overall quality of the food was much better. It appears as if they are trying to cut costs in as much aspects as possible. For example when you used to order a soft drink, it came with the glass bottle and a cup of ice but now it just comes ready poured in the ice, chopsticks are now not offered at every table and you have to collect them yourself. The steak is now ready made instead of made to order like it used to be, the quality of the oysters were also not as fresh.

Good quality food. We tried vegetarian noodles. Properly cooked. Need more vegetarian variety as only few options. Altogether good experience.

Went here last night for the first time. The food was alright but certainly not exceptional.<br/><br/>There was a lot of choice, everything from seafood to Malaysian curries to Japanese sushi and sashimi. It was very eclectic and this was reflected in the food, i.e. too much variety and average in flavour.<br/><br/>If you like variety then this is the place. For me it was quantity over quality and some people may like that... but not me hahaha.

So ive been coming here regularly for around a year now but a recent visit here completely changed my opinion of this place. Some of the seafood options (prawns & oysters) had an extremely pugent smell and taste of dead, rotting fish. Now i am not a picky eater at all, thats why i love this place but this was unbelievable and down right disgusting!<br/>We altered management and were told they would handle it after saying that only the one prawn i had picked was bad however they did absolutely nothing, they didn't take the food away from the buffet and we didn't hear anything further <br/>You have been warned about this

What can I say about the buffet, great variety of food. Service here is okay, I love the fresh sushi they are always making, dumpling sometime can be over steamed. Other then that it is pretty alright place. When you are not sure what you want, go to a buffet. One thing I must point out is the seafood here are not as fresh as their other location, must be cos there not much people in this area who would go for the seafood. I do like their dessert side, it's always amazing. The buffet is pretty big and opening, kids friendly and pram welcome. The Little joint inside the food court is alright, its pretty decent nothing special.

We used to love this place to eat a very good buffet but tonight completely changed our review on them. There was absolutely nothing to eat, there was NO steak, NONE around the roast section (usually they have roast or ribs next to the steak section), NO peking duck, NO oysters (always run out), NO moreton bay bug, NO durian dessert, NO Hainan nor coconut rice, NONE on Malaysian food section (absolutely none), NO crab noodle (mostly stir fry on Chinese food section), NOT much selection on anything they do put out such as the yum cha (barely anything). I asked the staff, and all they can say "we run out, sorry". If you don't have anything to put out then put up a damn sign that says so, don't expect people to pay the same amount of money by putting up quality of food that we can get at a food court. RIPPED OFF.

Went here for lunch several times. Haven't had the dinner option before but lunch was great. Definitely not high end and probably not worth the full price but we used a voucher which made it worth it. The dim sim selection was a highlight with a wide range of dumplings. Everything else was a smaller selection but all tasted good. Dessert selection was okay, good but nothing to write home about.

Half the food was good some of it was cold <br/>Very nice inside and the staff were very nice to<br/>But I think it is way over priced even though it is a buffet <br/>Deserts weren't very good not enough effort for the price.

We bought a deal through Groupon for the AYCE lunch buffet. The variety of Asian food was great. Sushi was freshly made. The basic seafood was well stocked and the dumplings were nice. Obviously the quality of the dumplings could not equate to that from Yum Cha but it is close behind. The variety of desserts were impressive and the candy booth was delightful. Well worth the money!

Food is quite nice. For me its expensive as I dont eat seafood and am full after 1 plate and a bit of dessert. Better value for money for seafood lovers and big eaters.

Food = I love it. Service = Always, reliably great and friendly. <br/>Ambience = Good, save children. Hate kids, they're not edible. <br/>Price = Could spend the same amount at a sub-par place and not have the friendly wait staff, so the price for me is worth it. Plus, all you can eat desserts! Hell yeah.

Depends what floats your boat. Does $50 - $60 seem like good value for all you can eat? If so, you will love it here. If you're like me and would prefer to order one or two dishes and pay half the price.......not so much.

Ventured here for Mother's Day.  My mum loves seafood, so she was last seen behind a big mountain of prawns, mussells and crabs legs!  I was very happy to find Green Chicken Curry - yum!  The food was well cooked, and of a high standard for a buffet.  I loved the mushrooms in oyster sauce and the mongolian beef.  There were even roast meats and pizza for a bit of variety - I didn't have the pizza but my son did and he enjoyed it.  My only whinge is that I would have liked more variety of dumplings, there were several variations on the prawn dumpling, but only one chicken type and one pork type, I wouldn't have minded a beef dumpling.  When it came time for dessert, I loved the patisserie.  Lots of choices all in tiny bite sized pieces, so instead of just having to settle for one dessert, you can have a sample of lots.  I also have to say, the service was excellent, we had a great time.

By far the worst Chinese I have ever eaten. Almost an insult to the Chinese culture, wouldn't even feed it to my dog. 60 dollars a head for absolute trash on a plate. At peak time dinner the food was cold. Would highly not recommend it. Would rather starve then go back there. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

GOOD ALL YOU CAN EAT -  if you are big eater than the $60 is well worth it.  A large variety of foots including satays and various noodle dishes.  I only had 1 round of food but made up for it with the desserts. Very busy with lots of families and kids running around which was the only negative. The place is very functional and quite large with two seating areas.  If you are hungry this is the place to go to.  Would definitely return :)

Absolutely love this place. If you love seafood and sushi this is the place to go, the food is super super fresh and abundant!! There's is a wide selection of seafood, sushi and other assortment of Chinese and fried dishes. You will not be disappointed if you come here. There is a lollie and chocolate fountain bar, a wall full of desserts and most recently a Japanese cold noodle station!! Customer service is impeccable and the place is just an all round great place to eat.<br/><br/>If you like seafood and sushi China bar signature is actually great value for money! @

Came for dinner, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the decor was. <br/>Service was average-good, however would probably improve if they had more waitresses. <br/><br/>Variety of food was good. However I was having dinner with a friend who had been to the Burwood one and felt that it had a larger selection to choose from. <br/><br/>Now onto the actual food. <br/>Enjoyed the shark fin soup, yum!!<br/>Peking duck was really lacking in duck so we ended up just grabbing some extra duck and adding it in. <br/>Order wagyu steak to medium rare and even with the waiter coming to our table to confirm if we wanted medium or rare (to which we emphasised medium rare) it was well done. <br/>Oysters were quite gritty and sandy but otherwise nice<br/>Lobsters were delightfully easy to eat. <br/>Snapper and satay were tasty. <br/>Sashimi is freshly cut and nice. Sushi less fresh and enjoyable.<br/>Smoked salmon was great.<br/>Cheese crab was meh, cheese scallop was slightly better. <br/>Grilled octopus was nice. <br/>Char Sui bao was a horror, stay away! <br/>Desserts had a lovely selection of fruits, lollies, ice cream, cake, etc. <br/>

When you want to eat a lot of great Asian cuisine for a great price, do yourself a favour and come here.<br/>There is always plenty of food and staff always make sure that everything is re-filled.<br/>For an all you can eat Asian buffet, this is the place!

I have been to China Bar twice now and both times I have been very disappointed with the food. The chicken curry was so oily that there was no sauce for the rice, just oil. The only vegetarian option is mixed vegetables, chips and steamed rice. At least one vegetable curry, dumpling or at least a vegie curry puff would have been nice considering the price of the buffet. I am very disappointed and will not be trying it again.

I am an avid lover of oysters and shellfish, which is what prompted me to enter this establishment in Epping. I got severe FOOD POISONING from the Oysters that I will never forget. I went against my better judgement and mother's words of wisdom-"do not eat oysters from just anywhere". I usually maintain this rule, but on that particular day, I didn't feel like heading into the city to my usual trusted Seafood restaurant, so I risked it. I learnt my lesson! Seafood should not be kept under lights as if it is a pile of fries. Stay away from this place! For the money, you can eat at much nicer places with better food and no risk of food poisoning.

Credit must be given as this could easily be your usual food court fare. Never thought I would see delicious Chinese seafood in a food court!!!!

An absolute must try! Had a wonderful selection of Asian, Chinese and seafood. <br/>The food was beautiful and fresh, very large selection as well as having some meals cooked on your request. I found the staff to be super friendly and very helpful, the professional atmosphere and set up of the restaurant and buffet was just lovely. <br/>Much nicer then a normal all you can eat buffet. Overall a terrific experience! Would definitely return :) Although expensive, it is a must try at least once.

Decent lunch. The sushi is good, decent pasta. Asian selection is pretty good too. The food does get cold and a little repetitive but the desserts are the main reason I come back. Their raspberry mousse is to die for.

Definitely recommend!. Myself as well as friends and family have been to this place loads of times, consistently awesome, food is always fresh and tasty, huge selection of desserts as well. 10/10

Reasonably good for a buffet compared to any other all you can eat restaurant. Definitely would recommend dinner over lunch for value for money. <br/><br/>It was busier for the time I went for dinner compared to the time I went for lunch, so food turn over was higher and was quickly replenished. There was also more variety for dinner including pecking duck and seafood.

BEST BUFFET EVER!. We went to the China Bar Epping for my birthday dinner on May 13th 2015. It was the best buffet I've ever had. The selection was amazing. My partner doesn't eat seafood so I thought he probably wouldn't get his "money's worth"........wrong; there's plenty to choose from for everyone! I do LOVE seafood and was happily overwhelmed by the selection. Oysters, prawns, Moreton Bay bugs, crabs, smoked salmon, a HUGE sushi bar etc.etc. Chefs are standing by, to freshly cook your chosen meat. My partner chose a piece of wagu beef which was cooked beautifully. The service was amazing. Staff were "on the ball" cleaning your table, emptying away seafood shells, replacing plates for fresh clean ones. <br/>My partner is a Chef and I am a retired Publican, so we can be harsh critics; however, we found NOTHING to complain about at this restaurant. I can't wait for my next visit! <br/>Thumbs up to China Bar Epping......you made my birthday very special!!!

Great fresh food and service was excellent. Loved the food here it's high quality not like how buffet restaurants were in the past and the selection is fantastic! From california rolls to dumplings to pizza to pasta to singapore noodle and desserts all the food was very fresh as the restaurant was very busy. Staff cleared plates efficiently with a smile. Plan to go again for sure.

Fair. Avoid: Anything under lights. Honestly some food was served at a temperature that should result in food safety violations. On that note, although the roast duck and pork were served at best just warm, my partner quite liked them.<br/>Decent: The rest. <br/>Excellent: Nothing. It's a buffet. Enough said.<br/>Value: Poor. It's a buffet. Enough said. Unless yo mama sit around the house by sitting aROUND the house, you'll never in your lifetime get $60 worth of food into you. <br/><br/>I'd mention the quality of locally sourced shellfish, but if you've never had Alaskan king/snow crab or Maine lobster, you don't realize how muddy and crap and overpriced local shellfish really is.

571 High St Epping, VIC 3076 0431 222 288 http://www.chinabarsignature.com/ I was invited to come to lunch with Jimmy's family at China Bar. Having been there before, I knew what to expect but this time round it wasn't the same satisfaction that I got from the last. Or maybe cause I dined out three days in a row and I'm probably sick of eating. We were going to try the China Bar signature buffet in the city but Epping is so much easier to drive out to compared to the city. This blog mostly contain pictures because I am lazy, did not take many photos because I've been here before and was pretty busy stuffing my face :) Overall, Rating: 7/10 Price: $$ (~$38 pp for lunch buffet) Atmosphere: Famiily and kid-friendly venue Standout dish: the design your own noodle stir fry dish Service: Good service, waiters were attentive and manager was very nice

Great atmosphere and interior design, large range of both savoury and desserts on menu, compared to other Chinabar buffets. In general, the food was enjoyable, however the desserts individually were only so-so.

Great value has great buffet that caters for the majority!!

My favorite sea food buffet restaurant, food excellent, staff very attentive and friendly...highly recommended

It's our third time been there, the quality of food was still good, especially the seafoods were fresh, will definitely go again.

Very confusing birthday deal. Even their own people do not understand.<br/>When I booked, I was told if we spend over 160$, you can have a deal. The same thing saying on their website.<br/><br/>Then, we went to eat, I was told<br/>" it has to be more than 4 adults in your group."<br/><br/>I double checked with another person at counter,the lady previously explained to me came and said" I've told you, you can't have a deal" with arrogant attitude.<br/>Then another person saw what we had,<br/>" You can have a deal, because you had drinks."<br/><br/>What? That lady took our drink orders, never told us so.....<br/><br/>Our birthday deal money was reversed.but there was no sorry or happy birthday...!<br/><br/>One more thing, oyster were shrunk...tiny tiny meat...it's worth going to south melb market to have a buck yummy fresh oyster.<br/>Lunch is worth, no more dinner for me, no more special occasion in China bar.<br/>It's very disappointing.

Was absolutely amazing! I give it 100/100 will defiantly be going back there again and the service was great!

China bar Epping. Although we have been a few times I would just like to say for the area it's probably a bit to expensive,and I think it should also be byo,I would go more often if it was both a little cheaper and byo, oh one last thing last time we were there they replaced the noodle bar with pasta! What the.... That's wrong guys it's Asian let us Italians do the pasta!

Good not great. Service was good and food also. But not spectacular. Seemed reliable and nothing disappointing. But felt something was missing for almost $60 per person.<br/>All in all a good night out. <br/>Will i come back? Not sure....

Over priced Christmas dinner. For $75 my family and I thought the meal was not worth it. Very few dishes were up to par. The lobster was old and rubbery.

Oink oink. All buffet venues bring out the I'm-going-to-eat-my-money's-worth in you and China Bar is no exception. Dinner cost $55.00 on a Tuesday night and I ate much more than I usually do. Value for money is good, but only if you are a seafood lover and stick to the oysters, prawns, crab, etc. If you don't eat seafood or are not a big eater, you would not be able to eat your money's worth. The Wagyu steaks were much smaller this time but you can go back and get as many as you want. My first Wagyu was supposed to be medium but was overcooked, so for my next one I ordered medium-rare, which was better. The two sauces to choose from were pepper or mushroom. The bain-marie food was lovely with a good variety to be had. The dessert range was okay, but there was a fair bit of "sameness" to it, with too many mousses and cakes. The only real downside was the cost of soft drink - a carafe of soft drink (half filled with shaved ice anyway) cost $12.00. Yikes!<br/>Service was very good, with plates being taken away promptly when finished and waiting staff being very friendly. Only once I had to go and chase up a knife and fork because they were taken away.<br/><br/>Should you try China Bar Epping? Yes, at least once. Try to stick to the seafood, be daring and eat a variety of things you wouldn't normally try and don't forget to wear loose-waisted pants.

Excellent!. I've had dinner at China Bar on many occasions and the food has always been fantastic. The seafood is always fresh and stocked up, the dumplings are delicious and the sashimi selection is very nice. There are so many options to choose from and the food I've eaten has always been of great quality. The staff are lovely. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Could be Better with Quality than Quantity.. Buffet restaurants are often judged by their Dessert Station and this is where I feel CB fails miserably when you compare it with New Quay Buffet (same price range). Melba Buffet has the BEST Desserts but twice the cost so you do get what you pay for. <br/><br/>Sushi/Sashimi Station - again, lots of sushi-rolled varieties (and colorful) but nothing really stands out. Yawn. <br/><br/>Stir-fried (Hot) Station - large varieties but I'm not paying $55-$60 to eat stir-fried. Passed.<br/><br/>Seafood Station - fresh prawns, oysters, mussels, seasonal crabs. Keep this up.

Went here for the dinner session and it was disappointing to find out there was no stir fry station. Desserts were mediocre. Only good thing was the lamb cutlets, wagyu beef and oysters. Very fresh seafood.

Great food, beautiful present, vast variety to choose from, good value for $, comfortable seating.

A great addition to this side of town, went there for lunch on Sat and was satisfied with choices offered. Dim sum was freshly made, sushi fresh and great ambience & service made it even better. Will be back!

Not as good as others. Very very disappointed with Epping chinabar buffet, I have been there twice now and food always cold , sitting on plates for who knows how long because not enough customer turnover. Was there Tuesday nite and lucky if there was 10 tables occupied. They are going to have to do a lot of improving or I don't see it lasting too long. Not happy chinabar too expensive for what you get there

What An Experience. I went their for lunch plenty of food choices didnt know where to start <br/><br/>Agree with some one who has posted a review above they do need an icecream machine not the ones on sticks like they had.<br/><br/>Certainly got my moneys worth let me tell you that and also i had dessert also. <br/><br/>Being a type2 diabetic having dessert put my blood sugars levels up that day it was not the food it was all the yummy rich desserts that i had but it was certainly worth it.<br/><br/>I have only been there for lunch but you can only get the seafood at night which was a disappointment.<br/><br/>Hope to go there soon for diiner and hope to be able to eat all of the yummy desserts again and again <br/><br/>I recommend you go there and have a try of everything it is fresh and no sooner is the bain marie empty do they fill it up again for you to eat until your heart is content.<br/><br/>I will be back china bar signature epping i will be back and hungry for more and a bigger and better appetite than last time.<br/><br/>Cheers

Fantastic food. Great range. Highly Reccomended. Good Value.<br/>Only 1 negative. They need an ice cream machine or tubs of ice cream and not stick ice cream like they have.

Thanks for Listening. The reason I stopped going to China Bar Signature in the CBD was the over-bearing staff who can't keep themselves from taking away your plate even while you're still obviously enjoying your meal. And that's not the case in Epping.<br/><br/>They keep their distance. Thank you! I enjoyed my food more without worrying my plate will be gone when I turn my sight away.<br/><br/>I recommend the China Bar Signature in Epping! Hopefully they will stay that way.

Disappointed. Having been to China Bar Signature in Exhibition St, I was looking forward to going to the Epping venue. The service was good - plenty of staff on hand which is not surprising given that the restaurant was less than half full.<br/>The food... well...it was disappointing to discover that the many of the hot dishes were only barely warm and the curries etc pretty ordinary. The desserts were good but we weren't going there for the desserts.<br/>The biggest surprise was getting the bill and finding that, despite the advertised price on the website of $30 per head, it was actually $35 per head. The other issue was the extra we had to pay for coffee after we had been told by staff that tea and coffee were included in the price. I don't mind paying but I don't appreciate surprises like that.

We went during lunch, no fresh seafood. Only curry mussels and calamari rings. There were roast duck and roast pork, a bit of stir fry dishes and fried food, they were ok, buy nothing really special to feel happy and satisfied about eating at this buffet. Too many mini cakes and mini desserts and not enough variety of hot food and seafood.

Visited this venue on a weeknight and the service was friendly and attentive. If you want to get your money's worth then stick to eating the fresh seafood which included prawns, oysters and moreton bay bugs. The cooked food was not overly impressive with limited variety of beef and chicken stir fry dishes. The sushi was dismal and tired looking and looked like it had been sitting there for an extended period of time so give it a miss unless it's the sashimi made to order. I had a stir fried vegie and noodle dish made to order which was delicious and worth the 2 min wait. Desserts consisted of a myriad of cakes, mousse and fruit but no soft serve which was a shame. Overall a good meal for fresh seafood lovers so bear this in mind before you part with your $55.

Consistent and good. I've been to the the city & burwood locations previously so knew what I was in for, I always go during lunch as I don't eat the fresh seafood which is on offer for dinner sessions only, therefore lunch is much cheaper almost half price, here at Epping lunch on Sundays is $35pp and there is more than enough to choose from and it's pretty good quality very consistent with the other 2. My favourite dishes are anything from the yum cha and dumpling section, hot food & make your own noodles (char Kay teow) station where you pick your own raw ingredients and then hand them to the chef who gives you a number and then wait for your noodles to be cooked. Desserts are good but I only had 3 different varieties as I was getting full, only downside was the "chocolate pool" I think it was meant to be a chocolate fountain but I dunno what happened there...so yeah it was like a big bowl of murky chocolate...I skipped that...but yeah pretty good al around

Good value. Have just returned from dinner and I had to have an "undo your fly button" moment. Well worth it if you love your oysters, moreton bay bugs, and other shellfish, as well as sushi. The sashimi was satisfactory, though not many choices of fish. There were enough interesting selections sushi wise. <br/><br/>On the open kitchens and bain marie's, these were again fairly interesting with selections to keep my interest, from mussels in xo sauce, to Peking duck (pretty good), to BBQ roast pork. The yum cha selection was a little limited but what I had was fresh and tasty. The "footballs" deserve a call out. <br/><br/>Desserts were Asian style, with black sesame, green tea and mango mousses, and flavoured sponge cakes, as well as mini passion fruit tarts and assorted cheesecake slices. I dug into the mousses and will do so again on a return visit. Stacks better than the usual puddings and ice cream selections. I didn't have it but with a fairy floss machine on board too, and flavoured icy poles (again a case of I-can't-fit-it-in"), how could you not win?<br/><br/>It's about time the Northerners had a decent buffet restaurant. Looking forward to the next time.

I am normally very cautious of all you can eat buffet style restaurants but this was wonderful! The Sashimi and dumplings were really good and surprisingly so was the seafood! They also had a cooked to order area and an interesting range of hot food and desserts

I've been wary of the buffet-style restaurants since a bad experience at Smorgy's years ago though was pleased to see that the new China Bar venue down the road in Epping made amends.<br/>It's hard to find if you don't normally go to Epping Plaza so look it up beforehand. <br/><br/>The main reason you'd come here would be to eat your weight in oysters, prawns, sushi, sashimi, dumplings etc and get your $50+ worth. Definitely worth it if you gorge yourself on the above and skip the rice and boring stuff. Dessert was a bit of a bore with some bland tasting cakes though you certainly wouldn't come to China Bar for that. <br/><br/>The food wasn't exactly fine dining though was comparable if not superior to anything this far north of Preston. Service was attentive yet not overbearing. Given that it's a self-help dining experience the staff kept us clear of our empty plates as we did the rounds and were present for when needed such as at the bain-marie and behind the sashimi cabinet.<br/><br/>Leave the pretentious diner attitude behind with your instagram food photos and enjoy the post-feasting food coma.<br/>Definitely worth your money if you target your appetite in the right direction. And they've got a fairy floss machine.

Food 7/10 Service 8/10 Set.... Food 7/10<br/>Service 8/10<br/>Setting 7/10<br/>Value 8.5/10

Pleasant. I went there for lunch last Thursday and it was a pleasant experience. The staff was friendly and the food was good too. Only downside of the day was that the sushi bar wasn't very impressive.