buffet city in Plymouth

Used to go here regularly a few years ago and was always satisfied with food and staff etc. Unfortunately, the wheels have come off. £15.99 for adults, half price for kids, for a basic buffet. Staff were unfriendly. They charge you before the meal. Probably so you don't do a runner. As I said, food is basic. Rice, noodles, steamed vegetables, sweet and sour, curry, etc. The normal prawn toast and nuggets. Definitely not worth the £16. However the food is edible and it's cheaper during weekdays. Won't be going back, unless they improve.

Last went here just before COVID, so a bit cautious having read some of the recent negative reviews - but my daughter wanted to go, so we did! Went for tea (or dinner, depending on where you’re from!), arriving at approx 6pm. Restaurant was busy and had a good atmosphere. Plenty of space around tables and going to/from the buffet area. Yes, the selection is fairly limited but it’s a Chinese buffet not a world buffet, so you’d expect that. The trays were kept topped up and the food was a nice temperature. We both went up 5 times and tried most dishes on offer. We enjoyed everything we had apart from 2 things - the sweet and sour chicken had a weird taste and the filling in the chocolate eclair was weird too. The rest was really nice. The price is value for money and we would go back.

Let's be honest the food although in abundance was rank, dry, over-cooked, too salty and over flavoured with monosodium-glutamate designed to make you buy more drinks. The proud owner strutted about with his chest pumped out, wearing a baseball cap and sporting a rather egotistical ponytail. The clientele saw several families and people with no respect or manners for other diners. A restaurant no matter how bad the food is a place considered a calm place to dine at ones leisure. Some clients were very loud, bullying others over their kids ransacking the food and very unhygienic (these were regularcustomers). Avoid at all costs because we warned you!

The worst food we have ever eaten. Everything was overcooked, cheap food and most things inedible. I feel we wasted a lot of money for us to eat a minimal amount. Choice of food is very limited but I guess they can carry on getting away with it as it is the only one left in Plymouth. Things need to change.

This is amazing the food was plentiful although looks like small area for food, definately recommend to all, everything cooked to perfection clean tidy staff extremely accomodating

Hot.food frequently refilled and areas cleaned staff quick to clean away used plates unfortunately limited vegetarian option maybe a vegetable curry could be added. Will visit again

First visit here and definitely won’t be going back. Staff were pleasant enough but food was awful. Nothing was hot more like cool which was worrying. All tasted bland and not much Chinese food. Lots of English rubbish. Main problem though we both had tummy upset next morning and I spent all day running to the toilet!!!

It deserves better reviews than it gets. You get what you pay for and yes it’s not a restaurant per sé, but it’s clean and tidy, got a good selection of hot foods (for the size of the premises) that are freshly cooked and regularly replenished, It’s essentially an eat in takeaway premises and the food is perfectly fine and affordable. I would recommend.

Delicious freshly cooked food. Plenty of choice of different dishes including starters, main and dessert. Friendly and polite staff. Looking forward to our next visit.

Buffet city is a fantastic place to eat and socialise. I took my mum her boyfriend and my boyfriend there last week and it cost me less than £50 for all of us including drinks. The staff are fantastic and friendly and know myself and my mum well as we go quite often. They know how my mum and I like our coffees at the end of our meal and make them according to our taste, which make us feel like valued customers as we are regulars. I definitely recommend going to Buffet city. Very reasonable prices and the food is fantastic. I'm almost obsessed with the crispy seweed and have it as the base of my plate with the sweet and sour sauce it's so tasty. The restaurant is so clean and is kept clean as soon as costomers leave any mess is cleaned up and the tables are set again ready for the next costomers. Fantastic and efficient. I highly recommend Buffet city. I hope you enjoy eating there as much as we do.

Very expensive for poor selection of food.My 11 year old got charged an adult price because he was taller than 4ft 6 if you ever.£64.70p for 3 adult and 1 child meal and 2 half cokes,hot choc and an orange and lemonade.Dry tasteless food!

Absolutely disgusting, total waste of money. Food was bland, no flavour felt like I was in a school canteen and even that was much better in comparison. Walked out feeling like we had been robbed. £15 per adult and children over 4ft 6ins (how do they decide that height for how much a child will eat?). The child ate some curly fries, two chicken balls and half a bowl of ice cream, seriously £15, taking the absolute pee. Never will I go there again as to top it off ended up with bad stomachs. If you don’t mind paying for rubbish food and ending up with a bad belly then fill your boots but personally I would rather go somewhere else that will serve you edible food and your stomach not hurting after and needing the toilet after

When we visited Plymouth, we were a little unsure about visiting given the reviews on here but we love Chinese buffet, so why not. However, have no fear - our experience was 5 star. Remember this is a buffet not a restaurant so you will not get delicate food cooked to order. What you will find is authentic street food style food which was all fresh, tasty and a great selection. The food reminded me of the food halls we visited in Singapore. What did puzzle us was why there were 1 star reviews? We thought the place was excellent given its £15 a head even on Saturday. Overall great value and a good experience. We will definitely be back.

Visited Saturday afternoon. Very busy. Room was hotter than most of the food. Pretty mixed bag - some was OK, some was poor. Not for us.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Like most buffets you tend to go there for quantity over quality. I've eaten at Plymouth Buffet city a fair few times over the last 10 years, but I hadn't been in the area for a couple years. I've lived all around Asia and Europe and this was the worst Asian dining experience of my life. For £14 per person I should of really asked for my money back and I paid for my friend too. How can you serve crispy pancakes and not have duck? The crispy pork they did serve as a substitute was flavourless and dry, I can only describe it as something you'd only want to feed your dog. Worse than that was the taste and consistency of the hoi sin sauce, never have I tasted something so off from the flavour it's supposed to taste like. The rest of the sauces were gelatinous and also far from the taste that set Asian cuisine high in regard. All the dishes were so far below any standard i've experienced. A shamefull experience, I'd be ashamed to be serving that to customers and I'm ashamed I was a customer.

This is without the blandest food I have ever eaten. Over 70% of the food is English . Even the desserts were a disappointment. You have to pay on arrival and if you want a drink you have to go back to the bar and...

Probably the worst Asian buffet I’ve ever had and some of the worst food I’ve ever had as well. Noodles swimming in water, squishy chicken. Disgusting! Anyone who gives this five stars is either bought or has no concept of food!! I’ve had a bad...

We calledin lunch pay before you eat quite a good selection friendly staff and clean we would use again

Very rude to the customer - questioned about taking tissue which was available to customers in the first place. The woman at the till was rude and did not care. Service was bais and discriminative. NHS 10% discount is only available with a drink which...

Most disgusting Chinese I've ever tasted. Staff are so rude. My belly didn't agree with it after either 😭

Gone down hill chips are cold don’t do many desserts at lunch time cakes are dry no ice cream machine will not bother going anymore

Sadly disappointed by the experience at buffet city Plymouth. Tried to use Valid loyalty card for free drink but despite no expiry date they refused to take them. Advising us that it's no longer same company as before. Are you sure? Says buffet city on...

Haven’t been to Buffett city in years so thought we would give it a go before an evening out in Plymouth, the food was way below average with some dishes noticeably not even cooked properly. At this point I wish I had left but for...

Have been to Buffet City a number of times and can honestly say I've always enjoyed the food. The Duck, Lamb and Prawns are excellent. Eat all you want. Staff very polite and attentive, can easily recommend this place, real value for money! Plenty of...

Only visited this place twice tonight and 6 moths ago and cannot believe how bad it is compared to then for a boys night out certainly not a place to take a date or a loved one. It was OK and reasonable value for money...

Well there seems to be a common theme, today's visit was a total disappointment I'm really not sure where to begin, I'm pretty sure the EHO should take interest in this establishment...85% of dishes at the buffet were in various states of warm to cold?...

Had been here a couple of times before and always been nice but it seems to have gone downhill. The first thing you are asked is to pay for your meal just as you get in the door! The place was clean and staff checking...

Excellent Service, food was excellent. Clean restaurant, friendly staff, fair prices. Please Don't believe any negative feedback we've been coming here for years and never had any problems with staff or foods. Thank for your amazing food and services xxxx

Absolutely shocked with the food today, cold food even asked for it to be blasted in microwave so at least I had something hot to eat, some meat was like chewing on leather. Not worth the money and will not be rushing to go back...

I stopped by at Buffet City on Sunday the 9th of October to give my family a Sunday treat which I now absolutely regret. We are a family of four; myself, Wife and two Kids. My youngest is a 12 year old female Child who...

I had not been here since before covid and reading the reviews I didn't know what to expect. But in all honesty it was excellent the staff were great and the food was fabulous there were four of us and all had a lovely time.

Thought I’d treat my wife and 6 kids to buffet city today as I’ve never been before and the kids kept asking for us to go. Checked online the opening times etc etc and all seemed well… We have a double pram as we have...

Came in at the end of the month as had never been in there before and I wished that I hadn't the food was awful Chicken balls had a very odd taste and some kind of mushy filling and nothing tasted fresh, in fact all...

3 of us went to this restaurant but 1 wasn’t eating yet they were l going to order a drink We say to the guy at the door that there is 3 of us but 1 will not be eating but will have a drink...

I’ve eaten at buffet city many times over the years so wasn’t expecting outstanding quality, more a quick value fix with a couple of ok dishes to choose from. It’s my 1st time back since the pandemic and will certainly be my last. I know...

We love coming here, the staff are really friendly and polite. The food is incredible and it is a really nice atmosphere in there. Especially in the evening. Our little one loves the desserts there and there is actually a lot of variety. They offer...

On weekend break in Plymouth and just had to go to Buffet City Chinese Restaurant again. Did not let us down. All you can eat from a buffet of dozens of different choices. As many times as you like. then there are all the different...

My Dad walked in yesterday on his own at 12:30pm. He told me he got turned away really rudely and he had to pre book book. He told me the restaurant was half full. Me and my husband went in two weeks ago absolutely fine,...

Went here on my recent trip to plymouth since ive been to the buffet city in exeter a few times and I like the exeter one so I thought I would give this one a try. Sadly the plymouth buffet city is poor in comparison....

Wasn’t bad food, chicken was a bit tough! Was warmish Negative! Old boy was running round like sonic collecting plates from tables went to the loo with a full plate on table and the lad had taken it by time I got back needs to...

I've been here twice now and each time there has been an older gentlemen who sits next to the entrance in the corner watching the staff work, getting up to get himself another beer every now and then, whispering to staff that are standing around,...

Attended Saturday, luckily we booked as was queueing out the door. Was pleasantly surprised, food was warm and tasty. Its a buffet so not premium but definitely adequate. My kids loved going up and choosing what they wanted. Was not rushed in anyway and plates...

We visited Sunday with friends, the service & staff were excellent, & food was delicious, excellent value for money, would definitely recommend

I was actually prepared for the food to be sub par as its only 12.95 but enjoyed everything I tried and tasted . No complaints as it was great value for money.

Staff friendly , food very nice , we got there as doors where opening expecting fresh hot food ,, all the food was cold

Went here yesterday all the food I tried was fantastic don’t know what people want for £12.95 I’ve never left a review on trip advisor before but after reading some of the comments felt I had too empty plates taken away right away children over...

Not very nice at all over priced cheap food an having to pay full price for children is a joke... .....

We have visited Buffet City a couple of times this year once for lunch and once for evening meal.Both visits the restaurant and tables have been clean and the food area spotlessly clean. On arrival there is hand sanitiser to use and you pay on...

I visited this place today with some friends and I have to say I was really disappointed, the staff seemed quite hostile and although wearing a face covering is now a personal choice they said we had to wear them if we wanted to go...

What a unique experience to say the least, cross contamination via use of tongs, chicken in the broccoli, and food cold on touch, managed to get our money back but this place needs to be closed down.

Loving the changes from the last time we went which was a few years ago now. You pay on the way in and the food counter has been moved give more space. The food was beyond expectations. Hot, loads to choose from, all very tasty...

I was in the area on holiday. I enjoyed similar establishments in my home area, and places where I worked, so when i saw the place in a search I did for where to eat tonight, I thought "why not' Was it Michelin Star stuff...

This has to be the worst Chinese food I’ve ever seen and eaten! Absolutely horrendous! You can see why they make you pay before you can even sit down, so they have your money and don’t give a refund if you make a fuss! It’s...

This place was clean and well run. The selection of dishes above average. I had a small amount of a wide variety of dishes, and all were good. I prefer my food served at a higher temperature than most of the dishes, but it was...

The food was what you would expect for an all you can eat buffet. We didn't have any problems with it as we didn't have any high expectations, its not somewhere you would go for a slap up meal, but if you wanted to grab...

Buffet city was average, good price for a all you can eat at £10.95, however the food wasn’t the best, this is not to be expected for the low price. We left full, however not the best experience, nice staff, good if you are looking...

Staff were nice but the food was terrible there was more English food than Chinese. The food was cold to luke warm and less selection

Not very much selection and the food that was supposed to be there there was barely any of. The food that we did try was not very good, very low quality, wouldn't recommend. Though saying this, if you go in the week and at lunch...

Ordered delivery. Was a little concerned after reading the reviews but was pleasantly surprised with the food I received. The delivery driver was friendly and even brought a free can of tango with the food. The food was all hot, tasty and the portion sizes...

We have been to this restaurant several times but this was the first time in a year or so and I appreciate changes have had to be made due to covid but it wasn’t a good experience. The waiters have to bring the food and it’s bought out on sectioned plastic plates. I asked for pancakes and pulled pork. The pork tasted like tuna, I had to wait for hoisin sauce and ask for spring onions and cucumber which had to be prepared so I had to wait even longer by which time the pork was cold. The chicken and sweet corn soup was cold and glutinous. The sweet and sour chicken was not like any sweet and sour chicken I’ve had before and the banana fritters were soggy, not crispy. The so called special fried rice just had bits of chicken in it and the spring rolls were tasteless. I appreciate you get what you pay for but the all you can eat restaurant in Exeter is self service, limited to four people at each station at a time so adhering to covid rules and the food is gorgeous so I’m not sure why Buffet City can’t do the same thing.

Came with my husband for Christmas Eve because we wanted to have a last meal before the year finishes and from the moment we came in all stuff was very attentive, gave good food and everything in general was lit. The COVID-19 measures are awesome, good social distancing and everything so clean.I’m willing to come back when they extend the menu again but my experience is always 5 starts.

Not bad at all, cheap and cheerful, nice staff, as it’s buffet now you have to order food and the staff bring it out to you, clean xx

It's an 'all you can eat buffet' so you're not looking for the ultimate dining experience. Still, I would honestly not feed this garbage to my pets.The choice is so small, your average local takeaway would have probably 200 more options.The food is dry, tired, NASTY. I mean NASTY. I managed half a dish, felt rough, finished the pepsi and bailed.DO NOT GO HERE. IT IS THE WORST.

Vile. Dried up, awful flavours, terrible choice. Whatever you do, just avoid. staff were friendly, but god knows what the chef is thinking. Never ever again

Visited this restaurant in Autumn 2020 with two other friends for a lunchtime buffet. I can honestly say, it was the worst meal we've ever had, was a joke. Last time I visited 2 or 3 years ago, the food was lovely. This place has gone right down hill and I'm surprised they are still open. The food was cold tasteless mush served in what looked like prison food trays which suited the food really. I had beef in black bean sauce and that's all it was - chewy beef in a brown tasteless sauce. No green peppers in it or anything like you would expect to get. The vegetable spring rolls just contained mush - couldn't even recognise any veg in there. The noodles and rice were completely tasteless, spare ribs just fat. Everything was cold. We had a good selection of different dishes and can honestly say everything we had was shockingly bad. I wish I'd have asked for my money back to be honest - complete waste of best part of £30. Cheap, crap bad quality food. I bet your bottom dollar this place is no more this time next year. We certainly won't be returning sorry to say. What a disappointment.

Went here yesterday for tea for the first time this year and the whole experience was terrible. You pay for your food and drink on arrival and you are shown to a table. You are given a menu and told to start by ordering 5 dishes each and then you can order another 5 etc. They literally give you 2 minutes to choose your first 5 dishes, which is barely enough time. We hurriedly ordered our first 5 dishes and they were literally in front of us in about 2 minutes. At least take the time to pretend you are cooking the food from fresh please. Food arrived on the smallest plate. It was barely warm and the standard of food was appalling. I ordered chow mein and it was literally a few luke warm noodles. I ordered beef with green peppers and black bean sauce. It was literally 4 pieces chewy beef in gravy. Meat was cold and disgusting and we were hurried through our whole meal, and to top it off, I am ill today. Have reported them to food standard agency today. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!

I’m not here to slander the restaurant but the quality of food was very underwhelming, and as you have to pay for any food you don’t finish (on the buffet) we were in a sticky position to force down bad quality food or pay extra for bad quality food that we didn’t eat. They have shredded pork instead of duck, for the pancakes, the pork has no flavour. Even the rice and noodles were underwhelming. It’s a shame because the staff are polite and friendly and the restaurant is nice enough, but the food needs a serious revamp. You need better chefs and recipes, sorry buffet city.

Bueno, por dónde empiezo, el pollo olía a perro mojado, sabía a eso, los fideos sabían como recién salidos del calcetín de gimnasio Usain Bolts. las bolas de pollo eran sólidas como una roca y la salsa satay parecía una mezcla de pus y esperma. incluso el helado sabía como si hubiera estado en el congelador durante 8 años. El peor lugar que he comido en mi vida. las porciones eran terribles. Aconsejaría que nadie coma aquí. Me sorprende que no se haya cerrado.

I thought the buffet was very adequate, although some dishes were just warm and could have been hotter. Desserts were very nice. No complaints here.

De vez en cuando uno tiene la necesidad de comer a sabiendas cosas que usted sabe, probablemente no es saludable, se produce en masa pero apela a los instintos gustativos más bajos. . . . . Barato y alegre.Este lugar hace esto muy, muy bien. Sin pretensiones, pero una gran variedad de entrantes y platos principales honrados por el tiempo.Una muy buena sorpresa en cuanto a postres. . . . una fuente de chocolate para mojar malvaviscos.Por el precio, 10. 50 esto realmente fue una gran oferta. La comida podría no haber sido la mejor en términos de sabor, pero era bastante aceptable. Pescado, pollo, carne de res, langostinos y cerdo en varias formas, con una pequeña selección vegetariana entre los entrantes y platos principales. Las visitas ilimitadas realmente terminan lo que es una ganga de sótano. . . Poundland de restaurantes.Si quieres una fiesta de avaricia barata, pecaminosa, indulgente pero sin pretensiones en Plymouth, no busques más.

Me and my mum went into buffet city for a bite to eat, this was our first visit there and probably our last time we ever visit this establishment as we paid £18 for both of us, it was £7:50 each for the food, I had a vimto and my mum had a latte, all the food we both had was, a few chips, 3 chicken balls, 3 cocktail sausages, and 2 small banana fritter balls and a small dish of Eton mess which was missing the key ingredient ( meringue ), we both ended up with bad belly’s within 10 minutes of eating and couldn’t stop running to the toilet and being sick, this is not very good when you have stuff to do in town and are forced to go home because of it, I can honestly say we did not have £15 worth of food between us, absolutely disgusting, will not be going back ever again even if I was starving, should have read the reviews first before going in, would not recommend.

Excellent customer service. Always polite, helpful & welcoming. Toddler friendly also! Food is always fresh & tasty!

good range of Chinese food always freshly prepared and topped up regularly. We know what we like and here, you can check out new choices and see if you like them! reasonable prices and a 10% discount for OAPs and students if you buy a drink

The better of the 2 main resturants that do buffet style Chinese food ... the staff are very welcoming ... the service is excellent ... the food is always fresh ... always warm .... the prices are excellent value ... Great place for couples families and groups of friends .... highly recommended....

La calidad es la esperada para un buffet libre. La comida está rica y no especialmente grasienta. Hay muchos platos con diferentes estilos de pollo, arroz, noodles..

I agree with another reviewer that it’s not ‘high cuisine’ but it does serve very tasty food at a reasonable price. This return visit was no exception. I am always impressed to see the staff giving their attention to detail when cleaning the servers and surrounding areas.

Visited on a Friday night and enjoyed it so much we visited again for Sunday Lunch.

Its mental how many poor review's there are on here. Perhaps people are more likely to review if they have had a bad experience?

Nice buffet with a reasonable choice of Chinese food. The other reviews didn’t put us off and for the money we felt it was value for money and offers a good range, eg a buffet.

Decide to give it a try, staff very friendly, food was average , just an average buffet style noodle bar really but price was very cheap! £9.95 pp so what can you expect??? Deserts are very nice! I would eat here again.

We have been going to buffet city in Exeter for a long time enjoying each visit so decided to switch it up and try Plymouth..... Well after a few minutes we had realised that the place sucks and the food is terrible handing over £20 for such an awful meal was painful avoid like the plague. Food blame and all tasted the same we will sick to Exeter from now on

So on the off chance of other resturants of choice being closed when we went to eat we decided to give buffet city ago....

Keep away food was that bad today we walked out staff was not friendly 100% i would never go back to buffet city Plymouth

Saturday evening we had a meal @ £9.95(15%more if no drinks ordered) with a nice bottle of wine @£10.95. Good value for money for all you can eat buffet. You had to be lucky to get your food hot.Lots to choose from including duck pancakes and soup starters,plenty of main courses with couple different noodles & rices. Desserts included a chocolate fountain &icecream; machine.

Most of the food looked the part but I struggled to find anything that had much of a flavour. Too salty. Plenty of choice but overall disappointing.

Food was tasty & reasonably priced,. Question mark over healthy - lots of sugar & salt. Waitress was a bit dour,

Went to buffet city in Plymouth for a light lunch.

Eat as much as you want mainly Chinese buffet, loads on offer and once your plate is empty there's loads of cheerful staff who make sure your plate is taken pretty much as soon as your finished to help yourself when you want more. Staff's always on hand to order drinks and top up drinks, prices are very good, then once eaten your meal IF you have room after 3/4 helpings lol there's plenty of desserts and I'm talking about LOTS of desserts, so if you haven't tried BUFFET CITY please try it, well worth it.

Despite the negative reviews that some people have left here, this facility provides a very passable buffet lunch. You generally get what you pay for.

First time I have been to Buffet City and will be back. On arrival we were shown to a table and we were shown the price of the All you can eat and if we had a drink you would receive a discount off of your meal which is a fair deal. Drinks cam out really quick and then it was time to grab a plate and go eating.

Good selection of meals, most of which are pretty nice... but you come here for the value, and if you want to have a super filling, tasty meal for under a tenner, buffet city is a good shout

Tried four or five different dishes each one was as bland and greasy as the previous. Usually of a good constitution but these dishes went through me like a pretty girl at a paedos picnic. If you need to visit the chemist for a laxative save your money as its cheaper to eat here than the £4 for decent laxatives.

Have had several lunches here,always ok plenty of choices just can be a little cold at times,service good.

This is the first 'All you can eat' i have visited and after trying others in the city i will stick with this place in the future.

Okay, so its not TERRIBLE, but its not GREAT either...

There is a great selection of chinese food with set prices for different times of the day and evening.

Will not be back. Just not worth the money. Went in the evening so it was £10 pet person but wasn't worth 1/4 of that. Sad, but we all learn.

Regretted going here. The food is not fresh and generally has a bad taste to it. I wouldn't go again, sorry. Why people go to this place I do not know.

La comida está bien, pero en general no es tan bueno como si hubiera sido preparado recientemente y llevados a la mesa. Hay una buena selección de platos salados. Y también dulces, a los niños les encantó la fuente de chocolate.

Horrific adventures in diarrhoea. Just shovel it down and pick up toilet paper on the way home. So cheap