APR 9 / 2003

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Diamond House - Offering The Best of Both Worlds Have you ever driven past a place, possibly for years, and never really given it a second thought? Have you seen an establishment repeatedly, noted it, yet for some reason always passed it by? Well that has certainly been the case with me and a Chinese food restaurant called the Diamond House, located at the corner of 75th Street and Whyte Avenue. After living nearby for years, I finally met a colleague there for lunch. One thing is clear, my not patronizing Diamond House was far more my loss, than theirs. Fist and foremost, that place is squeaky clean. Second, and almost nearly as important, the service is friendly, as well as efficient. Third, they have absolutely one of the best lunch buffets in town. I arrived a bit early and was taken to my seat and politely offered something to drink, as with most places. I was curious as to what Chinese beer they might have and the waitress went to great lengths to explain my options. (To be honest, I am familiar with Chinese beer; but I wanted to see what would happen.) As I sipped on my brew and pondered the menu, the place filled up quite quickly. In fact, during mid week, the establishment was pretty well packed, blue collar and white collar alike. Almost everyone went to the buffet. What I could not help but notice was that every five or ten minutes, one of the employees came by and systematically wiped down every inch of the buffet table and serving area. Very seldom have I seen that in any establishment, oriental or otherwise. Diamond House is a surprisingly large establishment - far more extensive than the modest exterior would indicate - with an impressive internal décor. There was no discernable dust and everything seemed immaculate. By my standards, that would be no small chore. As things got busy, and my luncheon date was a bit late, I had the opportunity to notice that the staff was very busy attending to customers. As I said, it was nearly a packed house. They were noticeably hurried and intent on performing their duties, yet they had the time to assist people with those extra questions, or to help people find their luncheon counterparts, or to take an extra drink order from a table of twelve, the people obviously there as a group. Not only did they retain their composure, they maintained their good spirit and legitimate concern for all of their customers. In the 19 years I have been doing restaurant reviews in various cities, never have I gone this far into a review without yet once mentioning the food. That is how impressed I was. So…as for the food. When my associate, Mary, arrived we both thought to do the buffet. To be honest, all buffets look similar from a distance. Most offer a similar selection. However the choice here was slightly more extensive. What I can tell you is that the hot buffet was superb. The rice cakes were tasty, substantial and not at all greasy. If there was any MSG, it was minimal. The taste clearly came from the foodstuffs. The fried rice was as good as anyone's. The sweet and sour was boneless. That in itself is nothing special; but the size of the morsels of pork lead me to think there were bones. The chicken breasts were juicy and not over-cooked. The Chow Mein was distinctively fresh…I could go on. There was also a cold vegetable and dessert buffet that was part and parcel of the lunch. The veggies were fresh and crisp…but I was too stuffed to even consider the desserts. Mary and I had a lot of business to discuss. So we were there long after most people had left. In fact, the staff had pretty well cleaned up by the time we finished talking. I was beginning to wonder if they might be anxious to kick us out., Instead, they came around offering us more green tea. I was so impressed that, within a week or so, I ordered their take out on the phone. I had a group of people over for an informal dinner, as a couple of friends were helping me with some house repairs. I said nothing about my change from where I had previously ordered take-out. Everyone noticed the difference in quality. When you can feed six people for about $35.00 take out plus tip, you can't go wrong. Diamond House is the first Chinese food restaurant that I found to be as good at takeout, as they are with on-premises preparation. There is no doubt I have to go back, exclusively to order off the menu. Should they do as well as they do with their buffet and their take-out, I have a new favorite Chinese Food establishment in Edmonton. BEST POINTS: Service and cleanliness top the list. The food is good and prices are very reasonable. AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: The beef and vegetable dish was noticeably stingy on beef…both at the buffet and when I ordered it again for take-out. However other dishes were generous with their proportions. RATING CATEGORY: I've got to give it an 8 out of 10 and offer my congratulations.