All inclusives: what’s your buffet strategy?

[Juicesausagecake]

Help! I used to be good at this!

Am currently on an all-inclusive, and may have lost my mojo. I blame the need to feed the kids with healthy food (cucumber, tomato, melon etc. on a little plastic plate), and am not rinsing managing the buffet as effectively as I would have in times of yore.

How do you approach it?

You are on holiday. How long for? A week? Let them have what they want to eat it will not harm them

This reminds me of a holiday in Greece with my 2 DS. We had a lovely buffet, but 8 year old son piled his plate with cucumber, I told him he had way too much, but no he had to eat it. Next day he was violently sick and spent 2 days in bed.

oh no! I am far more nerdy than this! (and dc can have what they want, by the way … they are only little and want chunks of melon, cucumber, tomato etc.).

What I mean is that a major joy of the all inclusive for me is buffet negotiation. But I am afraid that I have lost my way …

For example, I just saw a woman putting a coffee over her ice cream to make an affogato. Genius! That’s the kind of tip I am after from MN!

Poor him! But I completely sympathise. With the choice comes a degree of panic; a strong sense that you may never get to eat the thing ever again!

It’s either that (piles of one thing) or creating some sort of sample plate of chicken tikka, pork with sherry, moussaka, lasagne combination of things that don’t go together.

That’s why I need a strategy!

If you're looking for ideas for making your own dish out of what's on offer....

My favourite salad is watermelon with feta,
Onions and olives. We don't go all inclusive but these ingredients or some of them are often on the breakfast buffet. Drizzle of oil and vinegar if available

Day 1: eat a bit of almost everything, feel stuffed and vaguely sick
Day 2: work out what are the recurring items, so no need to prioritise. Take smaller servings of what looks best to try, with DH taking different things. Go back for more of the good bits. Stop whilst not too full to allow more cake eating.
Day 3: eat things that go together e.g. lasagne and pizza or various curry bits but not both.
Every day: Avoid bread. Bread is always there at home and is too filling.

I don't particularly recommend my strategy though!

My tip is (depending on the age of your child) to train them to refill your drinks. DD is 6 and did a great job!

Use a soup bowl for a side salad. Nothing worse than piling it all on with the hot stuff.

Have a good look around before picking a main. Eat all the puddings.

Breakfast - 3 courses, cereal, fried foods then continental with cheeses/pastrys/churros 😍😍 (could also have a fruit and yoghurt course if you're into it but I'm not)

Lunch/Dinner - usually see what the soup is then have a wee plate of what I fancy from the "adult" section then go back to the kids section and have a wee beige plate 🤣 potentially make a nice sandwich from the bread and cheese/cold meats etc at lunch time too!

Always have a wee mini selection of desserts too 🤣

With the kids I just let them pick what they fancy. My 3yo and 5yo are much healthier than me cause they actually asked for fruit 🤣🤣

My tip is not to get a little bit of everything, because you will soon get bored. After all when eating at home you don’t usually have a little bit of everything in your cupboard and fridge. You make a meal. Best to do a recce first to see what is available, and always stick to a theme. And go for courses rather than putting everything on a plate all at once.

Walk up to the buffet. Eat everything like a hungry pig then walk away.

That's my strategy 😁

Try everything the first day and see what's worth eating again. That's my strategy anyway.

I like your week long approach @BendingSpoons . I hadn’t considered that sort of scope, or factoring in the panic / flailing around billiousness as an essential stage.

And child labour? Also clever. I think the only drink they let you make is an espresso (maybe that’s a Covid thing), but it would be well worth the 5 year old learning that, and massively in his interest to have bright and alert, caffeinated parents.

I do hope you make the appropriate sound effects!

I had forgotten the word recce. That is crucial! Do a recce of the buffet! (… and pronounce those two words so that they rhyme!).

Yesterday, we kept on seeing people with prawns and were initially ok with not being able to find the prawns but then it actually kept me awake at night that there had been prawns, and neither of us had got to eat them! What if they don’t have prawns again!

Ok. Don't pile your plate too high (you will be judged) but on a main course plate go for the premium stuff first, crab, giant prawns, lobster/langoustines if available, plus any spicy chicken, lamb or beef kebabs if you like that. Go up for seconds if you like. It looks better that way than piling the plate sky-high.
Next trip up, carbs -- potato salad or chips, or lasagne, risotto. Take a separate plate and get some of the best looking salads, eg Greek, or mixed vegetables like ratatouille or similar. Bread too if you like.
Then puddings or the ice cream fountain/cart. Fresh fruit like mangoes.
Cheeses if you're not too stuffed.
I learned this on an AI holiday in Cuba, taking my lead from the French contingent at the hotel...
(it was a Spanish hotel and the food was extremely good. Hence lots of French.)

@PepsiMaxandPringleStacks I am definitely with you on the breakfast.

Actually, hotel buffet breakfasts used to send me into a blind panic, so I would stick religiously to what you outlined (… if only to negotiate the imposter syndrome of being in a strange place; I would always place mark with juice, then order coffee then dive into your three courser … and I don’t usually eat breakfast!).

@Mindymomo 😂 Luckily there was no sickness!!

We go away this month and the buffet is something I have been thinking about(probably too much)
they have screens up since covid and serve you the food you ask for-this makes me anxious what if i want more than they give me? what if they do not choose the best/biggest looking item????
i do like the idea of a salad bowl,that will be my plan i think-salad and some kind of meat for most meals
i don't really like deserts much so would rather have bread rolls

My dc used to want the "adult" food off the buffet as tots, I did get looks. They loved curry, chilli etc. i can remember dd1 queuing up patiently for a dosa about 5 years old and the waiter trying to send her to the burger queue! For breakfast buffets they just mainlined the smoked salmon

Me, I just seek out the seafood and lamb, I refuse to eat pasta as it's what we eat too much of at home and certainly no chips. We aren't ai this summer which I actually prefer but I will book one hotel with a breakfast buffet

Walk round the buffet, note what is available, then get a plate and take what you really want (as opposed to sort of quite fancy because it's there).

I think your all-inclusive sounds considerably more classy than my all-inclusive, @SiobhanSharpe !!! 🤣 And now I am a bit jealous.

But I do also judge the plate loaders. I think those people are naive (although once you have small children around you, there is a sense that you have one shot at rinsing the buffet, and then you do need an Alan Partridge big plate).

Does anyone bring their own plate?

I remember my dds not eating much when they were little as we were in a strange place. I’ve left them to it. We’re on holiday —I’m on wine— anything goes.
I usually take loads of sea food like prawns, mussels, clams, salmon, octopus, squid etc.

Recce yes
Take a plate for high end stuff, fish prawns, specials
Take back to table

Another recce and get lovely side salads and carbs to match

Take plate back to table

Tell other half about other yummy things...

Eat in peace whilst he goes off with the kids to get salad or what ever

Say "oh no I can't believe it went so quickly"

Maul it 😂😂😂😂 let them try everything but not too much that plates are over flowing it becomes a waste