Starving Students.

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In the mood for a quick meal to tame the hunger pangs, the Starving Students hit Jubilee Super Buffet for an oriental treat. Jubilee is situated at 837 Prospect St. in Fredericton.

Jackie's verdict:

Let me begin at the end: The fortune cookie.

Its odd wisdom, humour and great taste make the whole meal I've just swallowed worthwhile. There's something peculiar about trusting a piece of paper that's hiding in a folded cookie, but these fortunes have a lot to say. They tell you your lucky number as well as an English and a French fortune. Add an 'in bed' at the end of your fortune, and you're in for a good week or so, no matter what it says.

Chinese buffets are a pivotal part of my diet. (My dress size is sighing). Despite the 'tsk, tsk' sounds coming from you health freak readers, I'll continue. There's just something about greasy Chinese food that makes me happy.

As far as Chinese buffets go, Jubilee Super Buffet is among the best. Its wide variety of Chinese food encompasses noodles, meats, vegetables and soups. It even offers desserts for those of you who don't fill up on chicken balls and chow mein. And it's affordable ($13.99).

I filled my plate with shanghai noodles, singapore noodles, beef and broccoli, chicken balls, lemon chicken, chicken fried rice, spring rolls and fried shrimp. I was impressed with the freshness and temperature of the items.

The one thing that always bothers me about buffets is that the good items (i.e chicken balls) seem to be few and far between by the time it's my turn. This time around, it was the lemon chicken that was scarce. Had I waited five minutes, however, I could have indulged in a nice plateful of piping hot lemon chicken fresh from the kitchen. That's the other thing about buffets: things just keep coming out of the kitchen like magic.

I'm not a fan of MSG, and I know it comes with the territory when you're dealing with Chinese food, but I still wish it didn't exist. I do, however, appreciate Jubilee labelling the food that contains MSG so I can avoid it if I choose to. (But, I never do. All the good stuff is drenched in it, I'm sure.) My biggest complaint would be the décor. The atmosphere at Jubilee is mediocre at best. The tables and chairs are remnants of the '80s. There are a few Chinese knick knacks here and there, but not enough of them to remind me I'm supposed to be in a Chinese restaurant.

But seriously. Who cares about tables and chairs when you're hungry? Just pass me another egg roll.

Oh -- and Jubilee delivers, too. So, I grabbed a take-out menu on my way out.

I give Jubilee Super Buffet a seven out of 10.

Matt's verdict:

Is it just me, or do we review Chinese food restaurants far more often than anything else? To be fair, the choice of venue had little to do with me. I mostly just went along for the ride, understanding that Jubilee's Super Buffet is a staple of the capital city dining scene.

Let me start by saying like many people I tend to believe Chinese food is similar from one place to the next. Nonetheless, there remains something to be said about differences in Chinese food restaurants. Where some rely on authentic Asian décor and ambiance, others prefer delving into a strange and often uncanny mix of East- and Western cultures. The Jubilee, on the other hand, sacrifices the usual attention given to décor and focuses on the meat of the situation - food.

When I say food, what I mean here is essentially quantity. True to its name, the Jubilee Super Buffet offers the largest assortment of readily available food I've seen in the city to date. That's not to say there's anything particularly original about the options, but the fact that they're all instantly accessible is certainly attractive to some.

Unfortunately, like all buffets, Jubilee's suffers from the virtually inevitable impact of time. What I mean here is that, one has to wonder exactly how long certain foods have been lingering at the mercy of the elements. Though trays containing the usual fan favourites were constantly being refilled, some less commonly chosen options seemed a bit old and cold to me.

I made a point in trying virtually everything available-no small feat, I assure you-but found myself rather unable to enjoy certain things. Sometimes, what I was eating simply didn't agree will my palate; other times, I felt as if what I was attempting to eat would have been fine, if only it was a bit fresher. Such is the buffet curse, I suppose.

Still, I don't mean to be overly negative in the case of Jubilee. For every less-than-immaculate dish, there were at least four or five that were just fine. Moreover, buffets in general are perfect for people who are famished but pressed for time. Just walk in, choose a table, give a nod to one of the waiters, and you're good to go -- no need to worry about wait times.

Furthermore, although I didn't like everything on the menu, buffets innately offer the easiest solution of all for solving such problems. I simply loaded up on things I did like and ignored the rest. With so many items to choose from, it would take effort to be stuck eating something you dislike. Of course, the prerequisite is that you be the type of person who enjoys Chinese-Canadian cuisine; otherwise, why would you opt for Jubilee anyway?

En bref, Jubilee offers a remarkable variety of Chinese-inspired dishes, all waiting to be consumed due to their buffet-style format. If you're looking for a place to kick back with a mate and spend some time, this probably isn't the best option. As is the case for most buffets, Jubilee is a place to go when all you really care about is being fed. In total, I give the Jubilee Super Buffet a seven on 10, plus one for the simple fact that no other restaurant in town offers a larger buffet-that I know of, at least. If you're looking to add a size or two to your waistline, look no further. Cheers.