Given my willingness to eat almost anything, there are few places that make me uncomfortable. I’ve sampled crickets, and locusts, even a deep fried scorpion. I’m as at home in a fine dining environment as I am eating chips out of a bag with a can of something fizzy (dammit, I’m craving chips now), but one place has always made me feel a little uncomfortable.
The all you can eat buffet venue.
The last one I went to was in 2013 – that’s how uncomfortable they make me. I always eat too much, too fast and the food can be, well, tired. But, I’m always willing to give something a go, hence this visit to another buffet, this time Peachy Keens in the Printworks.
I was hopeful. Whilst waiting outside for Keeley, a good number of people went inside. It was early on a Thursday evening, but the doorway was busy with families of all sorts, groups of friends and couples.
Inside it was bustling – we’d obviously caught it at rush hour, queues at each station, the bar busy serving drinks, mouths full and a nice general hubbub of noise.
We were guided to one of the little square tables at the back of the room, perfect for people watching, and we ordered a glass of wine. My first little niggle kicked in at the number taped to the table.
Food or drink had sunk beneath the tape – my OCD itched. I wanted a vinyl label, or metal lettering or something less ad-hoc. But then the place has only been open… since 2013. No matter, I was going to be eating off plates, not the table, I could carefully lay a napkin over it.
Our wines were placed down with a frown from a member of staff and we exchanged a glance, and then exchanged wines. I think we’d caught our waitress on a bad day. No matter, this was help yourself, so we’d be fine.
And there really were some good meals to be had. The Cauliflower cheese was surprisingly good – no soggy cauli here, and the ribs were tender and tasty.
Another surprise was the Keralan fish curry, perfectly white fish, still firm and flaky, spicy sauce, delicious. Unfortunately the chicken was by comparison tough and chewy and the meatballs were rubbery and squeaky.
This was the theme throughout. One Thai curry spicy and full of flavour, the next bland and uninteresting. One chicken dish tender and rich, the next disappointing. Even those that I expected to be poor could turn out to be winners, the squid wasn’t rubbery and chewy, the mussels weren’t mushy, but then something simple like the chicken and sweetcorn soup was bland.
And I defy you to find any kernels of sweetcorn.
Feeling overly full already, we hit dessert and again with mixed results. The amount of fresh fruit on offer is fantastic, especially for a fussy dessert eater like me, lots of grapes and a vast platter of pineapple.
Even the dark chocolate pudding was rather good. The tinned peaches however, had a funny metallic taste and the creme caramel was ‘meh’ to put it mildly.
But the tiramisu looked great and if you fancied an icecream adorned with a sweet or two, you had no problem at all.
We sat awaiting our second glass of wine (which took quite a while) and watched the crowds slowly dissipate. Once the lull had begun, thicker steaks appeared on the barbecue grill, and everything was once again replenished ready for the next wave.
Another lesson learned, go after 7pm.
So, overall? I’m still not convinced about buffets (though if someone wants to give me the recipe for that fish curry, I’d be grateful). But I do know that sometimes it’s what suits. You’ve got fussy eaters, you’ve got a party of kids, or dammit, you’re just plain hungry and don’t know what you want.
And, to be honest, the food was much better than my last experience at Red Hot Buffet. So, whilst there were a fair few issues, it wasn’t that bad.
But if we do go back, can we have a different waitress next time please?
This meal and its accompanying drinks, was at the invitation of Peachy Keens. As you can see from the above, this doesn’t guarantee a positive review.
However, the issues raised have been fed back to the restaurant, so we are hopeful they will take these issues on board for future customers.
I am really not a big fan of buffets in the UK, but all the ones I have had abroad, mainly in Mexico have been incredible. All the self serve dishes are in small quantities, so they replenish them more often, which I think helps.
I agree. I’ve had incredible buffets in Italy and Hawaii – great value for money, and great food, but all done on a smaller scale, replenished more often and have never felt as uncomfortable as I do when I eat in one over here.