(732) 968-9333

  Full halal menu

  Alcohol-free

  $ out of $$$$

   accepted

  Reservations not required

  Available to-go

  Designated prayer area

  Clean restrooms

  Catering available (more info)

  Parking available

  Mass transit nearby

  Child-friendly premises

  Wheelchair accessible

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★★★★☆ The restaurant is closed. We went there for lunch today and there was a closed sign on the door and for rent sign on the window. It used to be a nice Chinese halal buffet place with a prayer room. Posted on March 3, 2013

★★★★★ Me, my wife and two kids went to eat there on Thursday (July 5th 2012)at around 6 pm. We unanimously agreed that this place is great terms of decor, cleanliness, quality of food, friendliness and service. Posted on July 5, 2012

★★★★☆ Wonderful dinner! We kept hearing about the new management and wanted to check the place out for ourselves. Masha'Allah the food was great and the staff was all very welcoming and friendly! The selection was super fun. Tons of seafood... I especially liked the teriyaki chicken and the excellent potstickers. Even plenty of food for picky kids - pizza, chicken nuggets, and ice cream. Also the manager showed us where they are building a dedicated room for salat! Great price, we had a wonderful evening alhamdolillah. Our new favorite place... Posted on May 26, 2012

★★★★☆ Three adults and a toddler! Every chicken dish was great! Except for shrimp, I do not care for sea food and do not like anchovies or anchovy--like fish; however, when by mistake I grabbed and ate teh sea food dish, it was teh 1st sea food dish that I did finish and had no stomach trouble at all--not even bad feeling! Negative: no ice cream! Kids and old pusses like me, love ice cream! I did not eat any beef, but my wife's daughter said that it was rubbery... Drinks were good, but selection was limited. Servers and stuff were nice and good looking! -------------------------------------------- Compared to Watchung Buffet1? Good: I coudl eat anything Good: no--salt or law--salt member of my party was happy Bad: less drinks, lower selection Over all, "A-." Posted on May 23, 2012

★★★★☆ im very happy with the buffet. Last weekend, a couple of my friends came to visit me from Maryland and we decided to go to china pagoda for dinner. I was surprised how much the restauant has changed, the service and the food has greatly improved and was much more organized There was more varieties of food and placed in their own group. As i talked to the manager i found out that the owner was still the same but the management and staff was different, the manager said that he's going to set up a pray room for muslims and i thought it was a great idea. The party room has been remodeled and it looks like a great place for parties, maybe next time i bring some friend over for a gathering. Posted on April 7, 2012

★★★★★ Same Halal Food, New Management!!! Now the food is better taste, the restaurant is very clean, and the service staff is very nice. The Lunch Special for take out is a great deal, cannt believe!!! Woooooo....... GREAT PLACE! Posted on March 21, 2012

★★★★☆ There's no place like this in the US, so if you're visiting NJ you must go here. It's a typical Chinese buffet, but the fact that all the items on the buffet are halal makes this place special and unique. We go here regularly, everyone in the family has their own favorite items and I'm sure a lot of the items will appeal to the general desi palate. Just don't go there expecting great service or ambiance; after all you're getting more than what you paid for in terms of halal food Posted on January 7, 2012

★★★☆☆ great food not all very fresh but you are getting what you pay for. The prices are great. Have been there at least three times. All three great. Posted on December 3, 2011

★☆☆☆☆ I registered just to review this restaurant, in theory its a good idea, a halaal chinese buffet sounds great, but the excution is bad. First when I go there there is alot of "islamic" wall decorations which made me feel good, the waitress sat us at a booth in the back. The hall itself is big and spacious, there is a prayer room in the back, also used as a party room for large groups. I went to the bathroom to wash my hand and was appalled, it was really dirty and unkempt, right away my expectations for the food dropped, usually u can gauge a restaurant by the bathroom. I left and went to get my food everything looked good, but the food was cold and overly salted. I was told by many pple to try them again, maybe they had a bad night. So we went again on a busy weeknight to ensure a high food turnover,again we found dirty bathrooms, cold and salty foods. I will not be going back Posted on September 13, 2011

★★★☆☆ I love chinese food, and it's not easy finding halal chinese in this area, so when my husband and I are in the mood for some chinese fast food, we go here. Personally, I did not find anything worth offense. The food was tasty and fresh (we went during lunch? Maybe it is fresher then), and there is plenty different dishes to choose from. we go here every once in awhile and I've never had a waitress chase me, but then again, I always leave the proper tip of at least 15%. The only downside is that there really isn't a dessert area. I'm a big sweets person, so any dessert is better than no dessert...but in this case, that rule doesnt apply. Even the icecream seemed old, hah! Anyway, if you're in the area and you want halal chinese, go for it! Posted on July 19, 2011

★★★☆☆ Ok...the place seemed decent when it first opened, but it has definitely gone downhill in service since then. The staff is not exactly welcoming...the food always tastes different, there is no consistency. The bathrooms were decently clean, but the place is just old in general. They didn't change a thing at all since it was the Max Buffett 10 years ago... Personally, when I get a craving for chinese food, nothing stops me and this is the only halal place within 25 minutes sooo...if you must, order takeout, because they cook the food fresh for takeout, and you get a lot of food for a decent price. I would order out again, but I wouldn't sit in, or take any family there. Posted on April 28, 2011

★★☆☆☆ Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. Don't go here Posted on December 4, 2010

★★★☆☆ $13 per person for dinner is not bad, there were loads of dishes to chose from, we were tired tasting them all. Buffets are not always very tasty but we were able to find some dishes that were tasty, honey chicken, black pepper chicken, noodles etc. Don't go for fried. Sweet dishes were awful. Staff was as mentioned rude and was not ready to listen. Glad we gave 25% tip otherwise they could have asked as it seemed from their behavior :) place was neat. Its better to have lunch there for $8 with same dishes that are fresh as the food does not seemed to be fresh Posted on July 7, 2010

★★★☆☆ Ok so here is the deal with the place. The food looks better than it tastes, but go to a non-halal Chinese buffet and will it be exactly the same. I am always satisfied when I'm in the mood for chineese and I always feel good when leaving so that's something. Posted on May 14, 2010

★☆☆☆☆ I have visited this place maybe three times during my 12 years in central Jersey. The waitresses are weird indeed. I generally tip well so I did not get chased after. The waitresses patrol the barracks rather than attend tables, almost like the North Korean nutcase. Once I went with a party of 5 and they told us that that they will be closing in 10 minutes. Generally, that means you guys made it just in time. After she said 'Eat Fast' I thought she made some kind of a joke. To my astonishment she was serious. She actually expected us to sit, eat, and get out in 10 minutes. wow. Go to the Afghanis down the street. They are hospitable. Posted on May 4, 2009

★☆☆☆☆ Avoid this place like the plague. I'll admit I don't like Chinese food but everything else here tastes horrible too. The "pizza" had a strange smell and taste. Staff is horrible. It is a buffet but the staff actually demands tips and will actually complain if you don't tip them according to their wishes. Now I know you can't blamevthe staff completely as they are probably making really low wages but it led to a really sour taste for me. They have a party hall connected too so if there is a party expect really loud music playing there. Never going back here again. Posted on March 6, 2009

★☆☆☆☆ Horrible Food.....Horrible service. My wife and I went there recently with our 2 year old who we didn't have any intention to feed after looking at the surroundings inside the restaurant but they still billed us for 2 1/2. We kept trying one thing after another from the buffet menu it felt like all this food was sitting there forever. Nothing seemed fresh so basically we walked out after having fruits from buffet paying 32 dollars. All this time we were there about 5-6 waiters/waiteresses were having their dinner to same time and they all were arguing and talking in chinese language as they were about to start a big fist fight. I would never recommend anyone to go to this restaurant. Posted on February 3, 2009

★★★★★ I've been going to China Pagoda for a while now, but I dont think I will anymore. Food is old, staff is mean, seating area is terrible. But this is not why I will stop going. I was at an iftar where food was catered by China Pagoda. In my plate, hidden in between the branches of a broccoli, I found a completely intact dead insect. Thats gross! I informed the host, and they were able to get most of their money back, but still.... Not going there ever again. Posted on September 28, 2008

★★★☆☆ I am not a regular customer of this restaurant, but I go once a while. Few months ago I had invited some of my friends to this restaurant. Before we sit the waitresses started to count and said 7 Adults and 3 children. It was lunch time but they charged more than 12 per adult and $20 as service charge that we paid. After we left the restaurant two of the waitresses came after us and yelled that you did not pay the tip. My friend told them that we paid service charge and it is buffet and more over the tip belongs to the customer decision and it is not necessary that you run after customers, but they were not convinced. I turn back and paid some money as cash and they left us and went back into the restaurant. It was a bad experience for me because I felt some kind of embarrassment in front of my friends. Posted on September 28, 2008

★☆☆☆☆ I am going to this restaurant for couple of years but after today's experience, I have decided never to go back there. As soon as we enter the restaurant, manager plus one other waitress start counting the people & even before we sat, they told us 8 Adult & 1 kid. I told them that let us first sit & it is not the right way & that they should asked the head of the party regarding how many kids are there. One other thing they told us as soon as we entered the place is that there is no more lunch price on saturdays & that they will charge $1/person for coke. We said OK. Also, they want us to sit in the middle of the restaurant which we dont like & rather prefer to sit in the corner. After we insist that we want to sit in the corner, they cave in & let us sit to the corner table. Food was OK. Soup & other items were cold. Also, service was not great. When I asked them to bring pizza & beef pie, waitress just said OK, & never bother to go inside to tell the cook for the request. I then asked the manager & she went in & told the cook to fill those trays. After eating the food, waitress brought the check & I gave $6.40 as tip to make the payment equal to even $125 as I was not happy with the service. On this, manager call the waitress & she start arguing & yelling at me & told me that it should be 10-15% just like in other restaurant. I told them I need to be serve well in order to give that kind of tip. In summary, staff is very rude & aggresive. I totally agree with couple of other reviewers regarding staff being very aggresive & sensitive about tip. I hope they will stop this otherwise, lot of people will stop going to the place. Posted on July 5, 2008

★☆☆☆☆ I visited this restaurant last month and encountered the same embarrassment. Two of the waitresses who even didn’t serve us, ran after us and demanding the TIP and saying to give atleast 3 or 4 dollars. First of all giving TIP is on the discretion of the customer, you CANNOT demand it. They were also yelling in Chinese which I couldn’t understand but it was my last visit to China Pagoda Restaurant. Further, they charge $6.95 + $1 for Soda for kids. My daughter is 3 and half and they charged $8 to her also. This is totally unfair as she might eat 2 or 3 nuggets. I won’t go to this restaurant even again and won’t recommend to anybody else. Posted on June 12, 2008

★☆☆☆☆ I am kind of regualar customer and I been there for almost 30-40 times. It is near to my office so going once in a week for lunch. Most of the staff knows me. Last week I went there with four office friend. We put tip 1.50 just because the total amount was perfect for sharing. We were outside near to car and one waitress came out and said you put very little tip. Please increase it. We all got shocked. I said I am coming regularly and putting proper tip. I explained her why I put less tip today. She was not understading and started yelling in chinise or some other language. I was in very bad situation against my office friends. This is really bad. Food is good. Service you don't care since it is buffet. But staff is very very very rude. Management should have done something for it. Posted on April 21, 2008

★★★☆☆ I went there last weekend, lots of selections to choose from. I agree, with so many foods there, the aroma gets mixed up and you don't know what you are eating, especially if have Tso's chicken and honey chicken. Overall, good food but waitresses were weird. Posted on April 15, 2008

★★★☆☆ the food for lunch is good but they re-use the same food during dinner so it starts to taste old and as if it has been sitting out for way too long...i hated the waitresses there because as soon as you start to get your jackets on, they rush over and ask you if you left a tip...which isnt necessary when its buffet and you serve yourself....but overall the place was decent...if your in the mood for chinese or asian food and there arent any halal places near you...try it Posted on February 22, 2008

★☆☆☆☆ I went to this restaurant for the second time with the assumption I would get a better service this time. But unfortunately both times I received the same pathetic level of service. I must say the staff in this restaurant is really very weird and unpleasant. They are very sensitive about the tips and even they force you to pay them hefty amount for their repulsive services. The food is good but what's use of this buffet when you find the trays empty. I would not go to this place again even If I am invited as was the case in both of my visits to this restaurant. Posted on July 3, 2007

★★★★☆ Good Stuff, quantity and quality. Posted on May 19, 2007

★★★★★ Asalam Aleikoum Wr Wb, Some brothers and I go there to enjoy a great meal and the scenic surroundings. All in all we love it! Hey btw what is all the talk about "the halal duck" i ate it alhumdulilah it tasted zaki and halal to me :) Shout out to bro Nussrah,Tawheeeeeeeeeed Son! Posted on March 7, 2007

★★★★☆ its nice to have a halal chinese place in nj where u can eat everything or anything......good service, spacious seating area, relatively clean bathrooms....depending on what time of the day u visit it.......everyone in my family luvs this place, except my husband, whose only complaint is that since food is served in a buffet style....all the aroma's get mixed up & then u cant fully enjoy it............we still go there whenever we can Posted on February 12, 2007

★★★★★ salams brothers and sisters in islam there food is halal and zabiha the reason for is that they bring all of their meat from United Halal Meat and Grocery in Plainfield on main street right across from the masjid, and i noe the owner from the store he says he delivers meat to them daily. ne ways very good food. i think the waiters shud all b muslims instead of wearin those ugly tight clothing, well its good food i luv it i go like almost 1nce a week. Posted on January 28, 2007

★★☆☆☆ I dont know why, but when I went with my husband, we had a very bad experience! It was a weeknight, Friday, so the place should have been busy; but it wasnt. The food wasnt rotated, so things were getting soggy and cold. The trays were not full, in fact they were on the empty side.Food was bland. I have had much better halaal chinese. I didnt enjoy it at all. Posted on October 3, 2006

★★★★★ They have a place where you can make salat mashaallah. And the waiter looked at us, we were about 6 brothers, and he said salam and told us if we have to pray we can make wudu and he showed us where. They had the prayer rugs and everything alhamduillah. This place is very good and my fav. food was the Beef Pie, mashaallah. www.IslamicThinkers.com Posted on May 14, 2006

★★★★☆ I visited China Pagoda, thanks to this website!! Really good food and vv reasonable. Someone please ask them to do something about the smell in the restaurant---they need some heavy-duty air freshening system or something. Otherwise, an A+ restaurant! Posted on March 16, 2006

★★★★☆ The food here is good, not great, for the genre. They have a fried stuff table, a chinese dishes table, a pizza/western table, a sushi and salad table and a desert table. The lunch price is very cheap, ($6), while dinner is closer to $10, and on weekends $12. Good for families. The restaurant has been there forever. Not sure exactly when it became halal. Attracts a non-Muslim and even Chinese crowd in addition to Muslims, which is sort of an endorsement, I guess, for Halal foods. Much cleaner and fresher than average Chinese Halal. Not sure why the doubts about duck, which is perfectly halal. Those who avoid shellfish (Hanafis) should be careful. Posted on January 13, 2006

★★★★★ This week, I went and got some take-out select from the resturant for my family. The foof was very delicious! My comment is that we should thank Allah that the Muslim owner came up with this project (may Allah reward him kindly). Some of the other comments seems to be focused on the staff not being muslims... instead of the fact that the food is authentic chinese and Halaal! Without pork in the kitchen! Islamically, if the owner/a brother says his food is Halaal, then it is, unless one can proof it otherwise. Let us learn to speak kindly of such great effort and support them. I will insha Allah send a similar comment to the resturant to see if they can get a Halaal certification or post an "Owner's Halaal statement". I definitely recommend eating at this resturant. Posted on November 30, 2005

★★★★☆ They have the 99 names of Allah poster up near the cash register, but they also serve halal duck. I asked several muslim families in restaurant and they told me they've been eating here for a while and that it used to be upstate somewhere before. I've also inquired with the cheery waiter there and he has reassured me several times. I'm not sure how else I can check. But the halal duck just doesn't sit in right. over 30 dishes and food is good. Posted on November 18, 2005

★★★☆☆ I ate there after driving by and seeing the "halal" sign in window. I had my doubts about authencity and asked waitress if it is halal, she smiled and said yes. I was asking if it is zabihah halal and she didn't understand. Just like to confirm if it is really zabihah halal or not. Be careful Posted on November 16, 2005

★★★★☆ goood food!! but other than their general tso's and sesame chicken, the chicken has smell...i guess they dont cook it fresh all the time! Over all good food:) Posted on October 19, 2005

★★★☆☆ We were thrilled to find halal chinese by chinese in Somerset County. Clean and friendly environment. The food was good, but a little too salty and my body reacted as if there was msg added. I've had better, but will go again to try the take-out. Posted on September 14, 2005

★★★★★ Found reviews from others very useful. Went to this place 2 weeks back and have been hooked on to their food since. Went there again last week and inshaAllah will visit them again next week. Excellent food, lots of options in buffet...apetizers, entries and desserts...I just tasted the different varieties and I was full. Will recommend to everyone. The food is very cheap during the week Mon-sat. Sundays are slightly expensive as they have crabs, lobsters and a lot more varieties. Enjoy... Posted on September 5, 2005

★★★★★ Excellent quality, Great Selection of food, economical and great environment for family. Posted on August 29, 2005

★★★☆☆ Last week I visited this restaurant to try their food. I like the enviornment and place. It was first time so I just tried fried wonton and hot and sour soup. Fried wonton was not completely fried as they were supposed to be, instead they were more like steamed and the chicken had some smell. soup was better and serving size was good enough for two people. Definetly I'll try again before I will made a honest impression about them. Posted on August 27, 2005

★★★★★ I visited this restaurant because I read an internet article regarding the owner and that this is his third Chinese restaurant, as I'm otherwise a little leery of Chinese food out and would prefer to cook it at home. This place has a very good selection of both buffet and take out items. The prices are very reasonable for take out and great for buffet. The flavor of the food items I tried was very good. The restaurant was clean. The wait staff was polite and attentive. I would definitely go again. Posted on August 23, 2005

★★★★★ Frindly, neat clean and family environment. Food quality is excellent. Very resonable priced. One of the best Chinese restaurant in USA. Posted on August 15, 2005