To not want to go to an all you can eat buffet?

[wizarddry]

I've only ever been to once once about 10 years ago. Have they got better? There's just something about the piles of food on people's places and the thought that if they do that many types of food then none of them can be done well. Are my preconceptions wrong? What is your strategy for tackling them? If I say I'll go is it acceptable for me to just have one plate of food or will my hosts be annoyed at me?

The naawaab in south Manchester was an Indian buffet. Haven't been for years. The naan were amazing.

It's only a one off and no one else is interested what you put on your plate! Very easy to just eat a bowl of soup and some vegetables if you like.

I haven’t been to one for ages, but the only thing that would bother me (ditto at hotel buffets) is people taking a load of food and then leaving much of it on their plates. Wasting food really makes me 🤬.

You’d think that wouldn’t you. Likely as you’re normal. But you can see from the thread, many people are really very interested in what others have on their plates then judge them.

i find it very odd. When im out to dinner with someone, i pay attention to them, im not sitting looking at what everyone is eating, how much they are eating and judging them. I’d really not wish to go out to dinner with someone doing that, from both the fact they would be poor company and also I dislike judgey folks.

I love the one where I live. So weird that people pay so much attention on what others are eating.

@NeverEnoughPants Do you think most people can go to Hertfordshire for dinner?

Do people feel like this on AI holidays? I’ve never been on one but loads of people have, and the hotel buffets seem basically the same thing. Do all the people on here who can’t face the UK buffets because of how distressing all the greedy people also avoid AI holidays?

I love The Glasshouse, it used to be the only place nearby that did good sashimi too.

For me it is the food all being out and breathed on! And coughed on! and sniffed over! I have seen people take things off tbe buffet and then put them back with unwashed hands - grim

Good idea

I've never been on an ai holiday. Can't afford it

Oh god how grim

I'm a greedy bint so I love them

If I had no choice but to go (e.g. birthday meal for a dear friend), I'd choose the foods that I like and are least likely to give me food poisoning (people touching the food / food being left out) and generally be happy and chatty but not eat much. I feel really unwell when I overeat (that doesn't mean I never overeat, but I always regret it!)

Luckily, there are not any/ many of this type of restaurant where I live so I haven't been invited to one for years. When we were teenagers, I remember there were fill you up inexpensive buffet restaurants in Chinatown (London).

Those “world foods” style buffets were mostly bloody grim. The kids liked them when they were younger.

Far too many foods for one restaurant to make any to a high standard or with decent ingredients. The majority of dishes bought in 80% prepared and heated through.

It was like a vast array of supermarket ready meals to pick and choose from.

They are hit and miss. Last one I went to in Manchester was pretty poor quality and very similar dishes. Nothing was so nice that you would eat loads, it just wasn't special at all, most v low quality. But good for a crowd where people are fussy or want different things.

The Cosmo one used to be good but I haven't been for a while. It had some genuinely delicious Chinese and Indian dishes, where each one tasted unique and was fresh and not over cooked.

What?! You’re massively over-thinking this.

Just eat what you fancy. You choose your own portions.

“All you can eat” doesn’t mean “You must eat until you physically can’t eat any more”. It just means you can eat as little or as much as you want and it will still be the same price. There’s no etiquette involved. Nobody will care how much or how little you eat.

I would go with others but I wouldn't choose it for myself. I can't eat more than one normal plate of food anyway so I don't really get the appeal.

an Indian restaurant here does one and it’s lovely- lots of fresh food and quiet. Nobody goes OTT
That said I went to a ‘world foods’ one and it was help on earth. Cheap, greasy food and loads of people. It made me feel ill and non of the food appealed to me. If it’s one of those place Yanbu

The last time DH and I went, we had salmon sashimi ( had to rush as soon as it came out) crispy duck and hoisin pancakes, and fresh seafood cooked on the teppanyaki.

People hear the word buffet and assume it's all beige ultra processed food.

That’s probably because buffet all you can eat chains like Red Hot were either ultra processed or shite.

I am obviously not very worldly as I thought this concept only existed at Chinese restaurants (and AI hotels) but it sounds as though there are other types!

I’m not a fan of the ones at Chinese restaurants because I don’t like Chinese food all that much (or the anglicised version of it at any rate). Went to one recently for a birthday and it was £25 a head!

Not something I would want to do. Even less if it is billed as brunch, a word that should be deemed as unacceptable to market as the F or C word is. We are not the 51st state.

I like them because if I ever go out to eat, I always order the same thing to ensure I like it.

But with all you can eat, you get to try new dishes and things that you may never have tried before.

You don’t have to gorge yourself.
You can have small amounts of different food on your plate.

It doesn’t bother me if people want to gorge and go up multiple times.
I wouldn’t judge them for it.

What I cannot stand is food waste and some people fill their plates and then leave most of it.
If it’s a place where you can go up multiple times then there is no need to overfill your plate every time.

To be honest though OP, I don’t think I would go if I was you.
It doesn’t seem your cup of tea, which is fine and so I would make an excuse not to go.

I change my mindset - it's not about all the quantity you can eat; it's about all the variety of dishes available for you to choose from

We have done them for big family meals and it's so much easier when you haven't got to find one restaurant/cuisine that will suit everyone
We all have the dishes, portions and timing we want

I personally go for the freshly cooked to order stations and avoid too many carbs. I'm not stuffed and last time had steak cooked how I wanted it, salmon, prawns and veg. Plus dessert and cheese!