Hi everyone! I'm Gemma, 28, Sales & Marketing Manager from Stoke. Crikey it only seems like to minut...
Hi everyone! I'm Gemma, 28, Sales & Marketing Manager from Stoke. Crikey it only seems like to minutes when I was heading for red and now i'm off to Orange. Thanks peeps xxx
Member since:25.09.2005
Reviews:158
Members who trust:25
Buffet Island is a restaurant that me and my colleagues have spoke about visiting for a long time and never ended up going, its one of those places that when you drive past it, you say to yourself I must go there but never end up going, however we booked a table for 6 for last night, so Buffet Island here we came.
There are several Buffet Island across the country and I do think there is a chain however in discussions, this Buffet Island in Newcastle under Lyme doesn't seem to be part of the chain and is run independently from the other that are part of chain. I believe it is owned by local businessmen that have several Chinese restaurants and also have a take away section for all their restaurants.
The table was booked for 8 o clock, so we all decided to meet at half past 7 for pre dinner drinks. Upon arrival, the establishment is very big and there was not enough parking spaces on the car park to accommodate all diners if they all chose to drive, so parking was an issue as I didn;t get a space and had to park in a side street lower down the street.
As you walk into Buffet Island, it has automatic doors which is quite a nice effect when walking into a restaurant.
Directly in fron of you is a relatively big bar area and seating area where you can have pre dinner drinks and chat prior to your meal. The seating area is very modern with leather tub chairs and tables and you are able to look out of the huge glass windows around this particular area.
Upon seating in the pre dinner area, you are greeted by a host, who ensure that everyone has a drink, make sure al your party are there are are happy to seat you at your table whenever you are ready. Very friendly staff that are happy to help and are their for your every need.
You are taken to your table by the host, the actually dining area is very basic in one respect and not quite what you would imagine from thefirst area you sit in. As it says for itself Buffet Island, you are made welcome to go to the buffet at any time and make as many visits to the bars as you like.
First stop of course was starters, each part of the meal has its own area. In the starters area, you had 12 dishes to choose from, or all of them if you wanted, including: Sesame Prawn Toast, Barbecued Spare Ribs, Crab Claws, Onion Rings, Spring Rolls, Samosa's, Chips?, Seaweed, Skewed Chicken, amongst many others.
Chinese starter, i could eat these as a main, the Sesame Prawn Toast was extremelt tasty, unlike some that you come across, you can't tell that their are prawn in it, with this particular one ther are cut into little square and the amount of prawn inside it is unbelieveable.
Barbecue Spare Ribs were very tender and just fell off the bone, plenty of meat on them and were not not completely soaked in barbucue sauce so were not not too messy either. I founf their was no grissly bits on these either.
Spring Rolls were miniture versions and had tiny little pieces of chinese pork in them with beansprout and various other vegetable's. The samosa's were very similar to the spring rolls and not too greasy either.
Next Stop
Crispy Duck with Pancake Rolls - you can help yourself to how much duck you like and how many pancake you want too. The duck is pre shredded and is freshly cooked. At the side of the duck you have your plum sauce and various other sauce to put on your side plate, with shredded letuce and cucumber sticks to accompany it.
Again, the duck was very tasty, i was surprised as sometime you do get a little fat on it, but i think they may be selective with what they actually put out for people too eat, and only put the tender duck out. Extremely tasty indeed.
Mains
Thinking back, there are around 24 different options to choose from, including noodles and beansprouts. Dishes included Cantonese Crispy Beef, Chicken Curry, Szechuan Beef, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Duck in Plum Sauce, Salmon Fillet in a creamy sauce, plus many many more dishes with various rices, noodles, beanspouts and chinese vegetable to choose from. There was something with chilli's in that was very tasty but I can't remeber the name.
The Szechuan Beef was absolutely fantastic, cooked and served in onion, it was a taste sensation and i had to go back for a little more. Which i think a lot of people were doing too.
The Sweet and Sour Chicken was nice, something I don't normally have as a rule but on this occasion opted for it and found it not to be too sweet which was great.
In addition to the main, you can also choose to have something freshly cooked for you if they don't have it on that particular night. YOu just go up to the chef and ask for what you require and they will cook it right in front of you.
I didn't try this but they also have a sushi bar there if someone wants to try something different, this is one stop i will make next time but make sure i pace myself with everything else.
Dessert
I have never seen so many desserts before, all in a chiller, to choose as many as you like including: Black Forest Gateau, Cheesecake, Creme Brulee, Chocolate Cake, Eclairs, Profiteroles, a wide range of fruit, Souffle, Ice creams and many other desserts. There is also a chocolate fountain with marshmallows and strawberries, that you put underneath them. Very messy with chocolate dribbling everywhere but very tasty too.
The waitresses are always available should you require more drinks and are very helpful. One thing that they were quick on was removing plates, as soon as you had finished they were there and would clear half a table whilst people were still eating, which was one slight down side. I also got the impression that they wanted us out as soon as we had finished to try and close.
The restaurant was spotless and tables were cleaned very quickly after guests had left. I didn't visit the toilet so i am unable to comment on the facilities.
For five of us the bill came to £90, which is fantastic, all you can eat chinese for £12.50 plus reasonably priced drinks too.
I am so glad i have visited Buffet Island and look forward to retruning very soon to sample some of the bits that i didn;t get an opportunity to taste.
Certainly a must if you are in the area. Fantastic.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Sounds like a great place. I love chineese buffets
TheWizardsSleeve 28.02.2008 14:56
sounds like great value - it is difficult to find good Chinese buffet restaurants as the food needs to be fresh so needs a high volume of customers through it.
Feb 26th, 2008
exceptional by (3%):
very helpful by (97%):
