All-you-can-eat buffets and bottomless brunches - how do you make the most of them?

wolvoman

comeandgo said:

Would never go near them.  Why would anyone eat more than they need. Total greed.

Why would anyone drive faster than they need?
Why would anyone take more time off than they need?
Why would anyone spend more time lying in bed than they need?
Why would anyone have more holidays than they need?
Why would anyone spend more time with friends than they need?
Why would anyone have more wine than they need?

You must live a very puritanical life!

Ramouth

My top tip is to visit one when you have cycled 100k for the 8th day in a row and are really really hungry.  My favourite was in France somewhere and as well as the cooked buffet you could choose a load of ingredients for them to stir fry for you while you watch.  Delicious.

jon81uk

MalMonroe said:

I have only been to an all you can eat buffet place three times. My friends can be very persuasive!

Sadly, I cannot eat much at these places, no matter what time we go. And drinks are not included so they are not cost effective for someone like me who just cannot stuff their face to order. Even when I feel hungry I can't do it.

A Cosmo opened in our city centre a few years ago and it's always jam packed - or rather it was, prior to the pandemic. It isn't a drop in place, you DO have to book a table in advance. If you don't, you can wait to see if something opens up but generally it's not worth a wait.

It doesn't matter whether you book a table at peak times or not because there are still the same number of people milling around and I find the general atmosphere is better when there are more customers. You have to leave after 90 minutes. I have to say that what food I had there was very good and tasty, though.

It's currently £16.99 per person - a couple of pounds more at weekends and peak times though) which is a complete waste of money for me because I probably eat around £5 worth, including pudding. And I usually just have water to drink because paying around £20 in total (more if you have a hot drink) is just ridiculous.

I have seen groups of younger people, mostly men, come in and they really can eat loads - they do get the best value for money. I don't know where they put it all! But maybe they are very active because they aren't plump! 

Once a friend insisted on paying for my meal but I felt really guilty as I ate a sparrow portion. I think you have to find the right place for you. I do like Pizza Express, for a treat!

Where else would you eat out where you can actually purchase £5 worth of food in a restaurant? You mention Pizza Express, they are around £10-14 for a main, so even if you go for the light option you are spending around £10 plus drinks. The buffet places offer three courses, so at £16.99 is good value if you want three courses, even at Pizza Express three courses would be over £20.

Personally I would probably rather have quality now rather than quantity, but I still know I am looking at paying £10+ for a main meal to eat out and much less than £8 for a main I'd start questioning the quality of ingrediants!

y3sitsm3

wolvoman said:

comeandgo said:

Would never go near them.  Why would anyone eat more than they need. Total greed.

Why would anyone drive faster than they need?
Why would anyone take more time off than they need?
Why would anyone spend more time lying in bed than they need?
Why would anyone have more holidays than they need?
Why would anyone spend more time with friends than they need?
Why would anyone have more wine than they need?

You must live a very puritanical life!

None of those are relevant.

Nobody goes faster than they need, nobody takes more time off than they need, nobody lies in need more than they need.  They do all those things in excess because they can, but there is very little value in eating more than you need, and quite possibly a very detrimental effect to your health if you do.

Arriving at your meeting 10 minutes early won't kill you, eating 5 pounds of greasy fast food every day will do so prematurely.

Voyager2002

Top tip: have a good look at what is included and concentrate on the things you like, with just the right amount of rice or whatever to optimise the flavours.

I used to live next door to a good Chinese restaurant that had a really good buffet offer so I went a few times. I soon found that if I used the buffet to eat as much as I wanted, the amount I ended up eating would have cost the same as the buffet fee had I ordered in the usual way. Eating any more would have been a waste, and potentially unhealthy as well. 

cannugec5

I have, on occasions eaten at a buffet for an all inclusive price. However I do so because the cuisine appeals to me or whoever I’m with. It’s not about stuffing in as much as we can in the quickest time. 

It’s not even a cheap option. However if you are a picky eater it permits you to have your fill of starters and no main, for example. Or seventeen teaspoonsful of individual different dishes if that’s your way. 

I do agree that it encourages gluttony but that is always optional. 

diinozzo

I much prefer my food freshly cooked and served up and not sitting stewing for who knows how long.

NBLondon

cannugec5 said:

However if you are a picky eater it permits you to have your fill of starters and no main, for example. 

There used to be a Chinese/pan-Asian place at the O2 where I would do that - multiple starters/ Dim Sum and not bother with the main.

We were once taken to the bottomless brunch at a hotel in Central London - maybe the Lanesborough?  Didn't pig out - but took the opportunity to have something I wouldn't cook for myself (Eggs Benedict) and then seconds.

Admiral_Barbarossa

The greed to waste food. When I worked away, I sometimes stayed near a place taht had a servery thing, the number of times I saw ---- go and pile up their plates with roasts and veg, only to leave most of it twenty minutes later and have a pudding!

Sandtree

diinozzo said:

I much prefer my food freshly cooked and served up and not sitting stewing for who knows how long.

Ultimately if you go to any restaurant you'll never know just how freshly cooked anything is... our favourite local indian has a 24hr black dhal, now clearly that isnt being cooked to order, nor the slow roast rib of beef as it wasnt 8 hours from ordering to serving. 

Not all restaurants with buffets have dishes sat there for hours, many busy ones are turning over most options very quickly and potentially quicker than what your local al la carte restaurant has with the pre-service prep sitting there stewing behind the scenes. 

There are a few brazilian restaurants around the place now with an alternative to the buffet style but still all you can eat. Salads, starches etc are self service from a buffet but protein is cooked over the grill and then circulated around the restaurant to each table and so will be "freshly cooked" for all but it does mean you may be waiting a bit until your favourites appear and you may accidently say yes to the chicken hearts if you dont listen carefully to what they're offering.