Green Emerald

Reviews 4

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Adam O

I read the previous reviews and was very put off. But I love Chinese food and have tried many restaurants throughout the states, so I decided to check it out first. Walking in the atmosphere is very nice and the staff speaks little English but are extremely polite in a traditional Asian sense. Before I paid, I asked to look at the food and it all seemed to look great, a fantastic variety, the dishes were warm and appeared to be fresh. I paid for my plate ($8.50 including self service beverages) and started off with the favorites, All which were very tasty. best spring rolls I have ever had. No lies 8) the rices were moist and appropriately flavored and the lo mein was phenomenal. The meats were very good and I could tell that they use a higher quality cut of meats for their dishes. The reviews that I read seemed mostly unjust. after eating to the point of stomach explosion, I was very happy. You can take these reviews with a grain of salt. Being in customer service this makes sense, seeing as its usually only the ornery people that like to present themselves as superior by complaining, who like to take the time to comment. The one thing I agreed with was every single one of their fountain pops tasted like pool water. However, their tea was great and very traditional. I got there at 2:00 pm, right after there lunch rush and half the tables were filled with dishes and it appears they are understaffed. They scored the biggest points with me when I watched the chef change the lo mein out, he did NOT empty the old lo mein into the new tray. Bravo. Many Asian restaurants do not do this because in their culture wasting food is an extreme disrespect. Welcome to America baby! I would highly recommend this restaurant but before going to any buffet always inspect the food before you pay, its just common sense. Also, with any buffet if you want the freshest food come right when they open and u will not be disappointed with the freshness. If you are crying your food is cold try not taking gigantic plates that take you 10 minutes to eat. Remember, it is a buffet, you dont have to horde food like u are going to die without it x) take your time, enjoy the cuisine 8)

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Derrick Glander

This has become one of my more favorite places to eat chinese because of a couple of key items.. the honey chicken and the BBQ chicken. They also have peanut chicken, coconut chicken and a plentiful selection of other items as well. I always try to go at these places right at 11AM which is when the food is always freshest. This place does a better than average job and keeping the food tasting good during the off hours, though. I went at 3PM last week and most everything tasted pretty good, though a few items were old. Dont care what other people think, I love this stuff, and I can go right from this place to the bike trail which is just a block away when I come up for a ride. They also have a hibachi section where you can put raw items on the plate and have them fry it up huhot style. Very good, though they dont have quite the selection going to the huhot would. Definitely eating here more in the future and going to watertown vs sioux falls more, as I like this place more than the Hibachi Grill in Sioux Falls. Quality has improved and the two above mentioned items.. honey and bbq chicken, are alone enough to get me to come. Like the place in Brandon, this place heavily focuses on chicken so if you dont like chicken, you might be disappointed. I go for the chicken. The staff is rather inattentive at times. You could probably go in, eat, and leave without them noticing if you wanted, though I wouldnt. As an introvert I dont care about customer service or what theyre wearing honestly, as long as it tastes good lol. I dont come to talk to the staff, I come to eat and leave. One of my pet peeves about all chinese places is they dont seem to care to swat any of the flies... it makes me wonder what it looks like in the back... Id rather not know. ;) The last time I went there were no flies at my table or at the buffet and the guy at the register asked me if I did online reviews when he saw my name on the receipt.. so they do read these! Kudos! :)

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Alexis Hernandez

This place was horrible. First, the cups were stacked together and soaking wet. It smelled very strong of whatever chemical that is used. So i grab an cup and it is cracked down the side. So, the food selection was terrible. Pretty much all chicken. They were out of noodles, rice, whatever shrimp dish. So i got some random things and sat down. I picked off that plate, and decided to go up and see if they had replenished the food. Nope. My husband was getting the mongolian. The meat was not frozen like how it is at most places, but sitting in its own blood. I assume it was chilled. I hope it was. Then my child had to use the bathroom...the toilet seat was literally broken. The next stall had a dirty toilet and some bucket next to it. So, a three year old can not hold it, so we had to so what we could. No soap, it smelled like a fish market. You can see the filth. By then I was just done. As I am telling my husband that the bathroom was disgusting, he finds a hair in his food. Done! So I go up to speak to them about at least getting some money back since I didnt even eat, nope. I was just stared at. No sorry, no nothing. I think I was giving him a panic attack. He then said I could stay longer. I told him that I wasnt interested in eating there anymore and he said its not up to him. He said its up to the manager. I asked him who is it, he said the owner. I said is it family owned and he said yes. Then we stared at each other. So then I said well ok. I will NEVER go back again and advise to spend your money elsewhere..oh and I also had to bus my own table.

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Daniel Dulitz

I took my parents here for lunch in early December 2008. There were a fair number of people in the place, and it was reasonably clean. The tea may have been a blend of barley and oolong, and it was tasty. You pay as you enter, and there arent very many options. There is a lot of variety in the buffet: mac and cheese to General Chicken. Unfortunately almost all the items were pre-prepared bulk restaurant food. For some things thats fine, but the egg rolls were dry and tasted freezer-burnt. The processed crab was inedible (even for processed crab it was bad). The sesame chicken may have been the best thing, but it wasnt very good. The room is spacious, and I was able to have a great conversation with my mom. She doesnt have a very hearty appetite, and the variety was stimulating for her. I havent tried the other Chinese buffets in Watertown, but Mom said that this one was the cleanest in her experience. It is slightly difficult to find. After turning onto 29th Street, its on your left in a strip mall that is set back a ways from the road. Its window faces west, near the concave corner of the L-shaped strip mall. The bathroom was what passes for wheelchair accessible in South Dakota.