I had heard many people rave about Buffet King but had never managed to visit it myself. When I had a friend staying I decided that a buffet would be a great place for a meal as you can guarantee that there will be something that we both liked there and it would be informal and reasonably priced. Situated in Carnegie Drive, the restaurant is just a minutes walk from the bus station and there is also ample parking in the council owned car parks across the road.
It’s easy to see the appeal of a buffet, you get to fill your plate with as many tasty morsels as your stomach can hold but I have found that the quality varies greatly, lets see how Buffet King measures up.
The restaurant was fairly quiet on the Sunday evening we visited which surprised me given how many people have told me about how great it is. We were seated straight away in the bright and modern room and our drinks orders were taken, a pot of jasmine tea for me and a fresh orange and
soda for my friend. The restaurant is also licensed with a wide range of alcoholic drinks on offer, all drinks were reasonably priced which makes a nice change.
I was impressed by the starters on offer, the two soups were cream of chicken and chicken noodle and unusually the tureen for the chicken noodle soup held just the broth and you helped yourself to fresh noodles, chicken and spring onions. There was also a nice range of meats, salads, prawn cocktail and the usual deep fried spring rolls, onion rings, ribs, chicken wings and prawn toast. I had a bowl of soup and some prawn cocktail, some lovely crispy roast duck and bread. The soup was delicious, the prawns lovely and fresh and the duck cooked to perfection with a crispy coating and moist meat inside. I’ve had a couple of bad experiences with prawns in restaurants so they tend to be the thing I judge quality of food on and these passed with flying colours!
Now time to move on to the main courses. I liked the wide range range on offer here, many buffets fill their hot plates up with cheap filler items to keep costs down but at Buffet King they had roast duck, duck pancakes, mussels in black bean sauce as well as the usual curries, chicken balls, rices, noodles, a couple of vegetarian options and chips. I filled my plate up by the time I was half way along the hot plates forcing me to go back for more! The three sauces on offer were curry, sweet and sour and barbeque. All of the food was nice and fresh and well cooked and full of flavour, the dishes at a buffet are often stingy in the meat bulking things like curries out with loads of cheaper onions but not here. The only slight gripe that my friend had was that the vegetarian selection was not huge but she certainly never went home hungry either.
The desserts were in a separate section with the typical selection of cakes, fruit salad and ice cream available on request. My friend had a slice of chocolate cake and my toffee cheesecake was brilliant, lovely and rich and creamy and a lovely end to my meal.
What really impressed me about Buffet King was the calm atmosphere. In many buffets you feel like everyone is crammed together too closely with little room to manouver between the tables and people wildly grabbing everything in sight in the food queues and generally acting like pigs at the trough. The atmosphere here was much quieter and calmer with loads of room to move around and you felt like you were in a nice restaurant rather than a fast food joint meaning it was quiet enough for me and my friend to relax and have a nice girly gossip.
The service was excellent, our waitress whisked away our empty plates as soon as we were finished and offered to top up the jasmine tea with hot water when she noticed the pot was empty. When we went to pay we ended up having a chat with the friendly waitress for ages about places in Scotland she had visited.
I was impressed by the food, atmosphere and service in Buffet King and I am sure that it is a place I will visit many times in the future. It may not be the biggest buffet out there but in my eyes it is certainly one of the best.
Prices vary between £5.95 for a weekday lunch to £11.50 for Saturday evening and children under 10 eat cheaper than adults with under 3’s eating free.
The food may vary each time you visit.
Pictures of Buffet King, Dunfermline
Buffet King, Dunfermline my starter, soup, prawns and duck.
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