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?

I've packed a lot of lose waistbands. I'd lost a stone before I came here. I think I'll be taking it home with me from this holiday.
My current strategy is avoiding bread, chips but I'm a sucker for paella, nice veg but I know they are covered in oil. I'll just struggle through.
Enjoy. It's nice not to have to cook for anyone!

I always do a couple of circuits of the buffet to check out all the choices.

Look at the dessert and gauge how much room you need in your belly for all the ones you want. This helps when picking the other courses.

I tend to eat 3 courses and get them separately. Compile your own starter if there is nothing you like that is already made up.

You can put together a caprese or Caesar salad quite easily.

I don't like to ram my plate with multiple food items. I will use separate plates instead.

Always use hand sanitizer before you pick up your knife and fork to eat.

So many people do not practice good hand hygiene and you all use the same tongs.

I've known people take their own tongs to buffets.

D&V bugs sweep through hotels.

To make sure the damage is not too big 😂, I always make sure half of my plate is veg/salad, 1/4 rice/potato & 1/4 protein. I try to avoid bread at all costs but on the last holiday (tanzania & zanzibar) they had a lot of amazing naan bread & chapati so that went out of the window. I avoid the cake/pastry part of the buffet and go straight to fruit if I want dessert.

Has anyone had a fried egg sandwich by the pool? I forget to fulfil that particular fantasy while I was there. Go on! Do it for me!

Nah, you need chips in a paper cup at about 4pm by the pool. Accompanied by lager.

I much prefer a dinner in a little restaurant overlooking a harbour/jungle/ski slope
Same here but the rest of the family don't agree. So I book AI and we eat out every other evening. Once you ignore the niggle of having paid for it it works well. (Sunk cost fallacy).

I love a buffet breakfast. All the UK hotels I stayed in this year had gone down the menu only route.
We did do an AI in Lanzarote in April though. Adult DS came along, it's so much easier when you don't have little DC. At breakfast DH was in charge of juices, DS the toasting machine. They go for the big cooked breakfast but I just have bread. Lots of lovely bread with thick butter and honey.

At lunch and dinner I do a planned recci (DH and DS just get everything).
Bowl of salad first. Then choose the meat or fish and carbs.
I'm not a pudding eater butwill usually get a plate of fruit. They had some fresh mango which I ate every day.

Booze and all the buffet offerings here! ( well except the salad) I’m on holiday! I eat salad all the time! Those two weeks mean everything preferably fried!!

wine and I'm happy!

Half way through week 3 AI. Dare I say it's getting boring. I'm on toast for breakfast and chicken and salad for lunch. Fed up with large G&Ts too

@Gottoomuchgoingon 3 weeks is a serious commitment to the all inclusive. Where have you gone?

… and there’s nothing wrong with toast for breakfast. Do you have to send the slices of bread down a toasty conveyer belt?

We're in Mexico.

Started off with a bit of everything for breakfast. Cooked, eggs,omelette, pastries and fruit. It's got less and less now.
I've discovered lobster bisque which I've never had before and eaten dragon fruit for the first time.

Those toasters give me the rage. I've been using the nice bread you slice yourself whilst holding a napkin. Once through isn't enough twice is burnt. We have them in work so I refuse to get breakfast in the canteen for that reason. I'm a bit of a dick head

Just back from a supposedly 4* plus AI and my advice avoid the buffet. we ate out pretty much every night. It's great for little kids but Jesus the food was shite.

The breakfast toaster and lunchtime toastie machine are sent to make you mad.

Thankfully my kids are old enough that we are going back down the s/c route next year.

I’m on my AI holiday now and am v pleased with the deal. Food is good. Great, in some instances. Lots of choice and they vary the options a lot every day.

We haven’t done AI before but for one week at this particular time, when we just wanted to fly and flop, it’s excellent. One of my DC is autistic and the lack of planning we have to do on this holiday is a welcome relief, as is the knowledge that she’ll be able to find something she fancies and likes with ease.

There is honeycomb on the cheese table!

As for all the talk about cucumbers on this thread: it’s still one of the first things my 13 year old DS reaches for.

Jesus home after 3 weeks AI. Only put on 6lb. I'll take that 😂

@Gottoomuchgoingon that's amazing well done! I've done some serious damage. I'll start on Monday....🤣

@Gottoomuchgoingon I can’t help but smile at the appropriateness of your username after you put six pounds “on” To be fair that’s probably not too bad for three weeks!

I wisely (stupidly?!) didn’t weigh myself before going or after. If anything clothes are looser. Not because I didn’t indulge at every mealtime, I did. But is was the first week all year where I’ve stuck to mealtimes and not snacked at all.

I think it was because I didn't snack it was T more. Every meal was at least 2 courses though dessert was fresh fresh fruit
Had a mind to get loads of fruit in but can't be arsed to go shopping yet.

I think it's the snacks that did me in. I can't resist crisps. I'm terrible for them Ah well. Life's for living.

I think you are overthinking things. Just enjoy. I agree with having a reccee / overview first. And noting which bits are regulars and which are one offs. Plus maybe having something small first ti satisfy you. Then you go up again, but more discerning. If you'd Had a little something then you might of been prepared to queue for the omelette that you really wanted.