As with many of the eateries we’ve visited, Harvest Moon Buffet is located at the epicenter of Falls Church fine dining: Graham Road and Highway 50. In all honesty, the Thurber House has been eyeing this restaurant since our first scouting venture, and the evening did not disappoint. Located somewhat cattycorner to Las Americas and across from a new Giant Food, Harvest Moon appears to have been a constant of the Highway 50 landscape for some time. At first glance, the aesthetic appeal of Harvest Moon left much to be desired. However, the sheer size of the dark, brick building coupled with the hypnotic glow of an orange moon and matching 80’s font beckoned us into an already crowded parking lot. In fact, parking was our only obstacle of the night as we were forced to engineer a spot along the service road parallel to Hwy. 50.
I immediately felt at home upon our arrival as the Harvest Moon edifice reminded me of childhood visits to the Rol-A-Rink in High Point, NC. Harvest Moon’s true curb appeal lies in it being one of the few stand-alone restaurants in the vicinity. Additionally, any Chinese Buffet rivaling the size of Bowl America can’t help but draw customers.
Rating: 1.5 Thurbs
Ambiance/Entertainment: Mark
Food/Beverage: Tommy
Driving down Annandale Rd. toward Route 50, we told Jacki, our guest of honor, the choice for the evening’s eatery. “Harvest Moon Buffet? Is that a buffet?! I love buffets!!” Like most restaurants with “buffet” in the name, Harvest Moon Buffet was just that. The selection was vast, with everything from standard fare like general tsao’s chicken and egg foo yong to more unconventional choices like “mystery white cube” which we finally had to ask the waitress about, as none of us were able to identify the substance. It had an unusual texture that Jacki accurately compared to biting into a rubber bouncy ball, but with the smell of cherry and the taste of none of the above.
The food, although plentiful, was nothing to write home about (save the “sugar balls” – balls of fried dough covered in sugar that were somewhat like a large donut hole). The stainless steel serving trays held the food just warm enough to ward off bacteria but not quite hot enough to provide hot menu items by the time you brought your plate back to your seat. Had the food been hotter, I would have given this a better rating. Also one may want to keep in mind that the food may have suffered slightly due to the fact that the staff had to keep a close eye on the wedding going on in the adjacent room, and clearly we were not the most important party in the restaurant (nor did we feel we should be). Because of the sheer number of menu items, I am not going to elaborate on what each person had; rather I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. Mark got a plate of this, Brian got some of this, Matt enjoyed a heaping portion of these, I got a balanced plateful of all this, Jacket got a little of this and that. Overall, Harvest Moon Buffet offers standard Chinese cuisine with a few extras like individual servings of Hershey’s ice cream. But if you’ve had one Chinese buffet, you’ve had them all. Still waiting for some Chinese buffet to prove me wrong.
Rating: 1.5 Thurbs
Service/Cost: Matt
To accurately evaluate the service and cost of Harvest Moon, I am going to need to approach this in terms of three distinct reviews: 1) the waitress serving our table, 2) the numerous other hosts/managers buzzing around the restaurant, and of course, 3) the price of our meal.
1) Aside from the tuxedo-type outfit that she, along with all the other servers, was wearing, the waitress at our table really did not do much to impress. She was a little bit difficult to understand, not because of a language barrier but more because of the speed and the brevity of her words. She gave lots of one or two word comments, such as “Soup?” when we first arrived and the occasional “Okay?” or “Yes?” to make sure we were satisfied. In fact, no one ever really asked us if we wanted to try the buffet (although I don’t know why anyone would ever choose anything different). We were just sort of left to figure out on our own that we should walk right up and grab a plate. All together, I think the waitress said about 35 words to us over the course of the night – and about half of them were used to describe the mysterious white substance on the dessert cart (almond Jell-O, thank you very much). But she kept our plates cleared and our glasses full, and for that we can only be thankful.
2) In addition to the servers, there were a handful of other employees walking all around the restaurant that seemed to be in charge of the place in some way. Each of these people were almost over-the-top friendly and accommodating to our group, especially considering the massive wedding that was happening concurrent with our visit. They basically let us wander freely around the wedding reception and photography area and almost pushed us all the way in to join the celebration. One of the restaurant hosts even offered to take our picture standing in the very backdrop used by the bride and groom for their own wedding photos! I mean, these people were nice – especially considering the fact that we were basically dressed like bums compared to everyone else in the restaurants (even the children!).
3) And finally, the cost of our meal. No matter how bad I thought the food was, there is no denying that the Harvest Moon buffet is a bargain at $8.95. Truthfully, I would pay that much just for an all-you-eat buffet of Jell-O and those Chinese doughnut things.
Rating: 3 Thurbs
Live wedding singers are by far the best form of entertainment. Wedding singers are closely followed by the hypnotic allure of Chinese music (which the Shazam program on Matt’s iPhone amazingly recognized). Euphoria is experienced when these two come together as they do at Harvest Moon. And just in case you want to remember forever the night you spent with 400 of your closest friends, a camera man is standing ready to take your picture in front of the Greek-inspired floral wedding backdrop.
You can feel the love spewing forth from the fountain of youth the moment you enter the restaurant. The floral print chairs and tired decor complement the projection equipment that, on this night, was reeling a looped wedding montage. Naturally, Christie (fiancée) and I asked them how often they had weddings and if there was any availability. With quite a large smile, the owner/receptionist informed us that they have weddings every weekend and they are booked through...well, not sure but they are effectively booked solid. No surprise there.
Rating: 3.5 Thurbs
Harvest Moon Buffet
Overall Rating: 2.375 Thurbs
Guest of Honor Review: Jacki Waring
First, let me say that i waited (and whined) for weeks for the opportunity to join the Thurber gentlemen for dinner. My instincts were right. This was to be a grand adventure. I could have never imagined that we would inadvertently crash an authentic Chinese wedding AND enjoy fine buffet style dining in one magical evening.
Before entering the doorway at Harvest Moon, there was some foreshadowing of what was to come; namely, the crazy, jam-packed parking situation and the ladies and gents entering the restaurant dressed to the nines (i'm talking floor length gowns and carnation boutonnieres). Sure enough, just inside the door was a wedding portrait of the lovely bride and her handsome groom. And in the very next room, there they were under the fake-flower-arch, posing for pictures with their wedding guests (think prom).
Still feeling pretty awestruck, we made our way to our table and were immediately served some yummy hot tea and some so-so soup ( and by so-so i mean just okay, that's not a type of Chinese soup). Since i prefer a little variety on my plate, Harvest Moon was the perfect place to satisfy my palette. My approach was to try a little of everything that looked appetizing. My one exception was the jiggly, milky white, jello-like substance, which did not look appetizing but had a certain intrigue. I just had to try it (actually, i made Tommy try it first). It was unanimously agreed upon that the unidentified white substance was the same consistency as a rubber ball, once it's been cut apart- although it was not very bouncy. Overall, the food was decent, definitely a good bang for your buck. And of course the pinnacle of the meal was the sugar-covered doughnut balls. I think i had 5, maybe 6 of them. The live performance by the Chinese-wedding-girl-band, being streamed live on the three jumbo-tron screens really solidified the experience for me. Oh and yes, at one point during the meal i saw Brian with his entire torso dipped in the ice cream freezer, (another wonderful buffet option); and i said, in a guttural voice, remarkably similar to the Kool-Aid guy, "Oh Yeeeaaahh. I wonder what flavors they have." This phrase was to be repeated throughout the night. Twas a truly magical evening, and i would go back, even just for the Chinese sugar-balls and the wedding crashing.
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