The Best Of Everything

Good Fortune

Livonia's huge Fortune Chinese Buffet is nothing less than boffo!

whenever you get more
Asian array of dishes from
food) and bring more drinks
Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam,
or whatever.
Korea, Mongolia, etc. ... Also
Seating is at tables and
Italy, United States, etc.
booths for about 200 ...
The well-spaced aisles
When owners Sue and
upon aisles are filled with
Kenny Yim came here from
excellent choices, many sel-
Maryland to open Fortune
dom seen on a Chinese buf-
Chinese Buffet it was with
fet ... About 170 items
DAN NY
the intent of having some-
weekly ... and around 300
RAS KIN
thing different and the
on weekends, including blue
Local Co lumnist state's best ... including
crabs.
many features not seen here.
You'll find it very hard
Their cold bar is the only one of its
pressed to think of another Chinese
kind in Michigan ... with smoked
buffet that has things like fresh oys-
fish, Korean noodles, marinated
ters and clams on the half-shell.
squid, Japanese radish salad, etc.
Mongolian barbecue and noodle
Cousin and general manager Kai
soup are personally prepared in front
Wong, is recognized by many from
the similar post he held previously at
another Chinese buffet.
Fortune Chinese Buffet is open
seven days ... Sunday-Thursday, 11
a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11
a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Lunch Monday-Friday is from 11
a.m.-3:30 p.m. ... Dinner Monday-
Thursday is $9.95 ... Dinner Friday,
Saturday, Sundays and holidays is
$10.95 ... These prices are for 11
years old up ... Other prices for chil-
dren are from ages 2, 3-6 and 7-10 ...
with no charge if younger than 2 ...
and senior citizens 10 percent off ...
Reservations are taken only for par-
ties of over eight people.
It also has carryout buffet ... with
lunch or dinner sold by the pound
(three or more items) ... and beer and
wine
is available for those dining in
Fortune Chinese Bu et owners Sue and Kenny Yim with general manager Kai Wong
the restaurant.
The food may not be the absolute-
ly very best you've ever tasted, but it
can-eat appetites.
is extremely enjoyable ... with a lot of
of you ... with a Mongolian barbecue
Fortune Chinese Buffet on
chef standing by to prepare your cho- perennial favorites for everyone ...
Middlebelt and Five Mile in Livonia,
From the soups through the meat
sen stir-fry dish while you wait.
in the Mid-Five Center, also has the
and veggie dishes, there is much vari-
There are items like pineapple
number-one feature that cannot ever
ety ... and in my opinion particularly
chicken, baked salmon, spicy beef
be ignored ... extreme cleanliness.
good.
tenderloin, crispy shrimp, cocktail
The sparkling sneeze protectors
You'll also love the distinct fresh-
shrimp, steamed flounder, Chinese
over rows of food bars gleam with
ness at Fortune Chinese Buffet ...
stuffed eggplant, mussels, snow crab
inviting glitter ... as folks gorge
and coupled with its cleanliness ...
legs, etc.
themselves on what is probably
they make an unbeatable combina-
Customers can even order Peking
Michigan's largest Chinese Buffet
tion of goodness to go with a hard-
duck from one of the server aids ...
selection.
to-believe array of all-you-can-eat
Service
itself
is
pretty
irrelevant
as
After taking over one-third of a
dishes.
you just go to the buffet tables and
former Farmer Jack space, it opened
Certainly a Chinese all-you-can-eat
make your choices ... but you do
in May, 2002 ... and became an
buffet operation that is definitely
need waitpersons to take away your
almost immediate success with a full
worth the visit.
old plates (you receive a new one

A

n all-you-can-eat Chinese
buffet that also includes an
authentic Japanese sushi
bar ... with a Japanese
sushi chef making fresh sushi dishes
all day in back of his bar?
No kidding! ... All you can eat, too
... I've seen these Chinese buffets
with some sushi on them, but never
one with a full sushi bar that has a
Japanese chef making whatever you
order ... All-you-can-eat freshly made
on the spot!
Maybe it should have been called
the Good Fortune Chinese Buffet ...
because it is really that ... a good for-
tune discovery for folks with all-you-

THE RECENT CLOSING of Big
Daddy's Parthenon in West
Bloomfield, brings to an end a Greek
restaurant reign that began Oct. 28,
1994 ... and fell a month short of
reaching its ninth anniversary ... At
one time, many felt that attaining
this and much more was a certain
snap.
Former owner Rick Rogow's reason
is, he says, that after his heart attack,
he lost the will to work ... that the
stress was too much ... and his doctor
thought it best that he get out of the
restaurant business.
It wasn't just dumb luck that, at
one time, made Big Daddy's
Parthenon such a restaurant standout
... It once had an unbeatable partner-
ship combination ... with good food,
good service and good prices.
Folks with party plans at either Big
Daddy's or Parthenon House have all
been contacted ... and told to call the
Bingham Farms-based Unique
Restaurant Corporation ... Matt
Pentice also had been contacted, says
Rogow, and arrangements made with
him to accommodate them and their
affair.
MAIL DEPT. ... From Maher
Shakarana, owner of Anita's Kitchen
on Orchard Lake Road south of 14
Mile in Farmington Hills.
"In our continued effort to serve
our customers, Anita's Kitchen would
like to clarify a recent article about
the restaurant.
"First, we assure you that Anita's
will continue to provide the quality,
service and sense of the family that
we have worked hard to establish.
'Although the current location has
became special to all of us, big busi-
ness and corporate pressure has put
the location of the restaurant in jeop-
ardy.
"Last year, when we had two-and-
a-half years left on the lease, we
asked our landlord for a renewal. A
tentative approval was given, but at
the last minute was withdrawn.
"We will continue to negotiate
renewal of our lease for the same
location.
"We assure you that Anita's
Kitchen will continue to serve every-
one, if not in the existing restaurant,
then in a new, nearby location."
REUNION DEPT. ... Members of
the 1964 ninth-grade graduating
class from MacDowell Elementary in
Detroit, are looking for former class-
mates in plans for a 2004 reunion ...
But they aren't the only ones invited
... Folks who spent good years, too,
with members are also being asked to