Buffet King At Metro in Gateshead

My daughter chose to go here as a birthday treat. We have been many times before and always enjoyed it. Not today. The food was lukewarm at best and not nice. I had some salad to start. The potato salad was partly frozen. The desserts were uninspiring. The cakes were rock hard I am a wheelchair user so have to get close to the counters ro reach the food. My wife had to shout at the Manager who had come behind me and was going to move me away in case I damaged the courier. I was completely oblivious to this but had she grabbed the wheelchair to move me she could have hurt both herself, me and probably damaged the counter anyway . £63 wasted Will not be going there again.

Diabolical food was not nice... £22 per person for dried out horrible food. No desserts apart from a cupcake or some jelly. I should have took £80 out the cashline ripped it up and threw it away. £80 spent and no food eaten

£18 for food which was OK. Paid the bill. Found the soft drinks which I am sure was not as advertised were £3 each, then they add £2 surcharge with out telling you. Our bill for 5 adults & 1 child came to £120. I could have bought a lot better food from my local take away. Take my advice, eat elsewhere in the metro centre.

Plenty of choice of starters but not much choice of mains and puddings. Everything was very salty, which I think was for you to get thirsty and buy more drinks. Special chow mein was bland, only one curry which was chicken and very watery. We went on Saturday afternoon and cost £22.90 each plus drinks cost extra. Every other Chinese buffet I’ve been to you get refillable soft drinks free. Out of all the buffet style I’ve been to I’d rate this one at the bottom.

Very disappointing, food was not stocked up and what was available was congealed and tepid. Witnessed a member of staff cleaning the shelving over the salad bar which was completely unhygienic, spraying the glass and wiping over the top of the food below. The salad bar was empty and never stocked up again and there was only vanilla and chocolate ice cream and nothing else apart from crumbs of cake. I get that they don’t want to waste food and stock it up but after 7pm I should still be able to have a good choice of food available. I have noticed this place steadily declining over the years but this was an awful experience. I will not return, not good value at all.

We forgot to book anywhere for Mothers Day so chose here knowing we'd get in. There was a great selection of food which we all enjoyed, it really was delicious, however the experience was spoiled somewhat by the constant removal and attempted removal of plates. No sooner did you eat your last morsel when it was snatched away, making you feel like you were constantly being watched. We retained a plate for bones/shrimp shells and were asked no less than SIX times in under 5 minutes whether it could be cleared, it was intrusive and became really irritating. On another occasion I clearly still had food on my plate when a waitress asked if she could clear it, and with a mouthful of food had to tell her no. I don't want to be forced into verbal interactions when I'm eating, I just want to enjoy my food in peace without interruption!! I personally would be more than happy to use the same plate throughout the visit. It's surely not economical nor environmentally friendly to be whisking away and washing so many dishes. Could a system not be introduced whereby customers are asked upon arrival whether they'd like to reuse their plate or have them cleared? This would avoid all lot of unnecessarily interruption whilst simultaneously helping save the planet. I will return because the food was great, but if by then they haven't implemented my fantastic suggestion I'll be telling them upon arrival to leave us in peace!

Staff working hard But food quality and choice not good for £19.90 each All the fruit was budget and hard Not a good sweet selection I won’t be visiting again soon

Grand buffet absolutely abysmal for vegetarians. Rip off. Fried rice ran out and waited 15 mins. Hot and sour soup ran out I got fed up of waiting for refill. Nothing for vegetarians worth 21 pounds.

Seated pretty fast & servers were friendly enough. Ran out of draught lager & no pint glasses for water. Food was terrible. It was bland, greasy, over cooked, or dry/rubbery. Selection was ok but we found ourselves picking the “least worst” things we could find. Basically paid £70 for 2 meals that mainly consisted of chips, rice or noodles with some curry sauce on. Not good value & when we’re were paying, gave them some constructive criticism. In one ear & out the other. Apparently the next time we come, we need to point out each dish that needs replenished or is substandard. We won’t be back so if you risk it, just let them know which dishes are rubbish & they’ll sort them for you! No discount, no apology & no empathy. Clearly couldn’t care less.

they will try and scam you and rip you off ...don't let them put the service charge on your bill ..as the will do it and charge you without your permission...they done it to me .nearly £10 ...criminals very true ...

Great Selection of Chinese Dishes. It's very tasty. The food was changed regularly. Dessert options could be improved. The service was excellent, and the restaurant and bathrooms were very clean.

Absolute rubbish. Food was tough and tasteless and possibly worst selection of buffet food we ve ever had. Desserts were a disgrace - ice cream, jelly, plain cupcakes, tinned fruit. I waited 20 mins for a banana fritter and gave up. Then on paying , cashier had the cheek to actually ask for a tip! How cheeky is that. Don't waste your money !

I have been eating at this restaurant for over ten years now and it seems to have gone right downhill, with only a four star hygiene after eating there with my family last night. We arrived at the evening menu which cost £76 for 2 adults and 2 children. The food looked like it had been out for hours, prawns were all dried up, chicken was dry, food was being put out in half portions in the bain marie so it was going dry really quick. The desserts were frozen and defrosted so were soaking wet and running water on your plate, we complained at the till and they just smiled and took the cash didnt offer any apology or solution. After last night i would not recommend.

racist restaurant that would sit black people in a certain area! Waiter refused to sit my family in our preferred area and said oh we’ve closed that section despite allowing a few people of other race who arrived after us. I also noticed only black people sat where he advised us to sit behind the counters. I know subtle racism when I see one

Family of 4, 3 Adults and 1 child. Arrived early so to get a seat about 11.30 am staff very good. Every bit of food we got was stone cold.

Well i have been tonight and was really disappointed. no salt n pepper prawns . Curry was tasteless. Gamon was extremely fatty. crab claws was replaced by spring rolls. None of the food i would say was a special as we went for the evening buffet. Waiters tried to take plates before we were finished several times

£17.90 per person so £43 with soft drinks. gristly pork or was it chicken? too tough to chew. cardboard fries, thin watery tasteless sauces, ribs were just bones no meat to speak of. waste of money for what we ate. then they ask you when you pay do you want to add a tip to your card payment or give a cash tip? do not go, save your money. only saving grace is the polite service. should of gone to greggs for a sandwich.

We visited here a couple of times and was surprised when I read quite a lot of negative reviews as I really enjoyed it. There was so much choice and everything was fresh. This place is busy whenever I pass it. The prices have went up since previous visits but you can get as many courses as you can eat.

My daughter is vegetarian and there wasn’t not any choice.for her. Only main meal was vegetables, she just had to have rice, noodles and chips. Manager said we should have looked before we took a seat. In this day and age we’d at least expect a couple of vegetarian choices. For the rest of us, the food was very disappointing. At least she wasn’t missing much ! The meats and fish were hard, hot and sour soup had no flavour. All the food we tried was tasteless. We won’t be back. My

Terrible meal. £16 per person. Tepid at best, rock hard chicken, chewy beef. Greasy rice and noodles. Total waste of money. Will not return

Never in my life have I been somewhere that determines weather a child is a child by measuring there height. Being charged an adult prices when they are children is an absolute joke.

Not sure if we were just lucky, but we were impressed with the standard of food and service. Hadn't read the reviews until I came on here to write my review. Food was hot and was fresh, regularly being topped up by staff. Watched a family make a real mess of their table and floor around it, but the staff came quickly to tidy the area to a good standard after they left. All in all, not a bad buffet restaurant to frequent when you have been shopping in the mall. And on a final note, the banana fritters were outstanding.

We went for a birthday celebration unfortunately this place ant cater for me then 8 people so we had to sit on 4 different tables so really wouldn't recommend for any sort of celebration more the 8 food was ok service was OK but they added a £19.50 service charge to our bill without mentioning there was one and no sings either telling us we would pay a service charge we spent over 250 pound on food and drink plus tipped 10 on card as well but still no mention of service charge at the bar don't like how they can do this to people you they should of mentioned they we picking there own tip when I tipped then disgusting rip offs

Salty overcooked food the salt and chilli prawns had been cooked so much they were hard. The spare ribs were so hard and chewy. I would not waste my money on such awful food again. The hot and sour soup was tasteless. In stead of it being loads of poor quality food in big tins why not have a menu that can be cooked fresh and bought to your table

We visited this restaurant today on the 27.05.23 and was very disappointed with the quality of the food we had hot and sour soup and it was tasteless,after that we moved on to the starter’s section I had the ribs which were very dry and tuff to eat I also had a the mini spring rolls which was okay the best things on that section was the chicken nuggets,we then moved on to the other two sections I had the sweet and sour pork,Lemmon chicken and some noodles again the meats were very dry and tuff to eat,and my mother in law struggled to chew all the meats as they were all to tuff so we rounded up with the sweets which were passable then we made our way to pay for the meal at the bar and the manager said can we give the staff a tip,um we declined on that as we like to leave a tip without being asked we would not visit this restaurant again as the food wasn’t up to a good standard

Food cold, tasteless, congealed. Place could have been cleaner. Very disappointed as it's not cheap. Will not return.

The worst food I have tasted let down ripping people off with rolls cola but charging for coke honestly the worst I have had ten pound for a kid who eats prawn crackers shud be shut down on hygiene reviews

This place is nothing special and only use it if you want quantity over quality. Not the best buffet restaurant by a long way but I have also been in worse.

Food was not nice, probably the worse buffet ever and then when I finished I thought I would check the hygiene rating and was horrified that it had a 0 rating from the health inspector. I won’t be going back

Enjoyed the main selections, and it was a good experience for me as I do not really go to buffets. However, the customer service was poor due to the waitress asking if we would like drinks 3 times and forgetting to bring them over. Also, the desert section is poor due to only serving jelly, ice cream, and cup cakes. The main selection of food was nice if you don't often go to buffets.

Visited one evening and place very busy. Service was good with staff very friendly and efficient in removing finished plates. Food was ok and no issues, as expected wide variety of choice and did see the food being refreshed and topped up on regular basis.

I enjoyed the food for the mains, the rice let the meal down but was very cold! A lot of the meat was chewy! The waitress was very rude and called me cheap for ordering water. And she forgot the drinks twice. The desert section was terrible considering the price: a few bits of fruit and some stale buns. The soup had the texture of glue which wasn’t nice at all. The soup was supposed to be chicken and sweetcorn but was just thick water. The staff were very awkward at the end trying to force us to pay a tip at the end for a very average meal. The icecream had a lot of freezer burn and was like crunching ice with the occasional bit of ice cream! I don’t think I would return simply due to service! For the sake of an extra pound I could’ve gone elsewhere and had free refills on drinks instead of paying an extortionate amount!

Me, my sister and 2 year old came to dinner here. My 2 year old barely ate anything; cold boiled rice, few chips and cucumber .. he had mouthful of ice cream and mouthful of cheap supermarket cupcake and was charged £8.90, Childs portion, as...

Went here on Saturday night with our family. I try never to put restaurant’s down as it can be damaging but the food was awful. I tried several things in case it was one bad item but the noodles tasted stale, all of the chicken...

First visit for a while and very disappointed to find false finger nails in the salad. Informed staff who although really apologetic did not seem to take any attempt to actually go and check the salad serving area. Needless to say we left after explaining...

Food was cold, dessert were dry cheap fairy cakes (they label them cup cakes, which they are not) or jelly & ice cream, rip off at £16 per head, hardly finished eating & they were taking your plates & cutlery, felt like they were trying...

Terrible value now and awful food! Before COVID it was a treat to go to Buffet King but now the food is awful tasteless and some was cold. The duck meat for instance used to be just shredded meat but now it has gristle and...

I ate in this restaurant this afternoon with my brother and his two kids, the first shock was when they told us that we would have to pay full price (nearly £17) for my niece who was a child, only because they have brought this...

Visited on the last weekend before Christmas. Although the restaurant was busy we only waited around 5 minutes for a seat. The staff were friendly and quick to clear plates away when we were finished. There was a great variety of food, even for a...

Absolutely terrible service!!! Went to metro buffet king with a group of individuals with L.Ds and was told as there was 8 we had to pay a service charge….fair enough, then a group of 4 people came in that we knew, and they were rather...

After waiting 30 minutes in a queue which I was fine with the couple in front of us waved over another 4 members of there family who were waiting around the corner, again, I wasn’t too bothered but then they decided to phone another family...

It s a fabulous resturant, me an my partner, and daughter, grandchildren... absurlutly love this place, the staff are always helpful... its clean, an has plenty to offer...gosh! Its delicious.

Wouldn't go there got food poisoning and me and my partner didn't even eat that much we started to notice that we weren't ourselves after at all I'm not happy as my first time eating there and get this now having to pay and suffer...

My son ate here tonight with his uncle. They hadn’t read any of the reviews before hand but I wish they had! He has been up being sick for most of the night and has dreadful stomach pains. He said that the chicken was chewy...

Visited here last night with my partner. The majority of food here is mediocre and some dishes were extremely chewy. The dessert selection is shockingly poor, considering an evening buffet is £16.50. I recommend using a toilet prior to eating here as the toilets are...

I called buffet king at 11am sat 30th july to check last entry to the restaurant and was told 9pm so i told them i was going to the pictures over from them for my sisters birthday and would be there for 9pm anyway got...

My daughter wanted to try here and I wasn’t sure but it always seems super popular so thought we’d give it a go. Big mistake, dreadful food and super expensive for what it is. My teenager ate about 3 bits of noodles and a chip...

Came for food with my family, the bairns picked some chicken wings up. Turns out the wings aren’t cooked, neither are the other peoples that’s sat around us. The manager then turns around and says it’s been cooked in 300 degree heat. Telling me I...

Go on regular basis and never have I been charged adult price for my child she’s 11 years old and you can tell she’s 11 she hardly eats and still charged me adult price I only paid it as she really wanted to go but...

The food was cold you could tell it had been lying there for god knows how long. The chicken on all the dishes was so tough and extremely dry ! The prices have went up so it’s not exactly a cheap family meal out and...

I can't comment on the majority of the food as most of it I couldn't have as almost everything has meat, milk or eggs in it. Even the only mushroom dish was in an Oyster sauce. The small amount of food I could have (the...

Looked quite busy so decided to give it a try, food was at the best average and service was pretty slow, hoped it would have been better but just average

Last visited in Oct 2018 - before the pandemic hit us. So I really wanted to visit to experience something "normal." I must be honest and say I visited earlier in the year - and felt it was still a great place. The food is...

Staff are lovely but some of the food is over cooked and dry, the duck & quid were tough and chewy, disappointed I was, price has gone so high I’ll not be visiting again

Called in after 5pm which you pay more. Had duck, prawns and other meats, tasted ok but could do better and I had worse else where, couple of meats dishes are fatty which I did not tried. The staff seems polite.

food was cold !! £14.50 for a plate of chips and peppers - little to no choice of food !! not worth it at all !! we all are starving

I have been to this restaurant once or twice and food has been ok, staff are friendly and helpful. My son took me yesterday for mothers day and we were disgusted by what we saw. One member of staff was in the gents toilet in...

Totally very disappointed,  the food has no taste, the deserts are very poor, staff is rude, there are no hygiene in the restaurant at all, all cutlery spoons, forks and knives are dirty, they are totally disgusting. Poor value for the price, I never ever...

Both adults walked away feeling sick. Most of the food tasted stale. One of the kids wouldn't even eat anything after trying one chip. Paid just over £8 for one child to eat 2 small chocolate buns and £8 for the other child to eat...

Lunch time visit After spending the morning shopping we decided to try out this restaurant On entering offered hand sanitiser and shown to our table. Waitress explained the concept told us after every visit to the server to to leave our used plates and they...

Cant fault the food or the staff all good.Only thing I would query us the pricing for kids.If you have a tall child be prepared to pay adult price.They have a line on the wall instead of age guide.Other than that all was good.

Spat everything out except the black banana fritters I scraped out the anemic soft batter and felt sick whilst I put the black banana in my mouth. Disgusting 🤮 Walk past unless you want to feel sick afterwards and during. Don’t waste your money it’s...

My daughter is 10 years old but tall. Because she was taller than the line they have on the wall, they said she would be charged adult prices. I queried as to how this was the case as you can't define a child be height...

Absolutely a joke!!! Be aware future customers. We where a regulars in this place until today. Unfortunately today we where scammed by them. We booked a table for 1 adult and 2 children Age 7 and 11. When we where welcomed by front of house...

Went yesterday with my Mum and little brother. Never been before and expected it to be decent given the queue! Could not be further from this. The food was decent but very pricey - £15.50 per head?!?! And thats not even with drinks included😳 Then...

Myself & my friend went here today & we will definitely be back. We had to through hand sanitizing, mask wearing & had our temperature's taken, which, I thought was spot on. The restaurant was lovely, we had 3 plates of delicious food, nice &...

Went today with friends, arrived at 2.30pm to find that they now had a Christmas menu for £15.50 before 5pm... Was a bit surprised at the price increase but thought ok they might be offering something extra as it's a Christmas menu. Nope same old...

Disappointed to say the least. If I could score it at a zero I would. What has happened to this place? This used to be our favourite place to go but we suffered cold food, Lemon chicken that was so tough it couldn't be chewed...

So after recommended from serval people we thought we would give it a try so when we arrived and sat down the food was below the minimum standard as the food was freezing cold and informed several members of staff they was not bothered about...

Despite notices customers werent wearing masks ad children running around fingering food was a bit off putting. We enjoyed our food but didnt stay long.

Called for lunch - choice of 3 soups which was good however other starter selection limited. Nice salad bar. Good selection of main courses, some of which were really tasty, others very bland. Puddings again limited and cakes very dry whilst ice cream was very...

Firstly, I would select ZERO stars but that is not even an option. The food was revolting and I wouldn’t even feed a stray dog anything from the menu - pancakes were like tracing paper, chicken was actual pigeon, meatless ribs, yesterdays chips, bistro gravy...

Have been here many times before and enjoyed but our visit today was awful. The place has gone down hill since our last visit with bland food, if you like chicken and pork that’s great but very little choice of other meats or seafood and...

The food is amazing and the service is great. We enjoyed the food a lot and they have a selection of halal food too which is good.

Went here 2 nights ago, the selection of food was terrible and definitely not worth nearly £16, there was no sushi and the desserts were shockingly bad

Informed we would be charged an extra 5% because the size of our group (7 adults, 4 kids) however, we were all paying in our individual 3 groups. We were then told to pay before we eat unlike every other customer in the restaurant and...

Went yesterday for lunch the food wasn’t very nice and was warm very disappointed considering how much you pay won’t ever be returning

Arrive abiut 7pm didnt have to wait to long to be seated. The staff were friendly they took our temperature as we entered. Given a good seat. The chouce af food was good. Woukd definitely gi again

I travelled over to the metrocentre with family and I knew that time was getting on, so we purposely called through before arriving to be told food was cooked until 9:30pm - we arrived at 8:45pm to actually be told that the food was stopping...

This place doesn't even deserve the 1 star. Staff are rude. We went as a family of 4 as the kids wanted a chines buffet for lunch. They took our temp and gave sanitiser which is fair enough. But then we got told we all...

Absolutely horrible. Only a few vegetarian friendly options, (these were all cross contaminated with meat such as chicken wings and ribs.) £10 for 4 small glasses of some terrible, off brand pepsi. Chips were stale, and the poppadoms were left in a box. Watched a...

On a shopping trip and we'd promised the kids that we'd take them for a Chinese buffet. In hindsight I wish I'd just promised to punch myself repeatedly in the face. Firstly, the good points....... Emmmmm well errrrr....nope I've got nothing, literally nothing. Price, 16...

what an absolute joke this place is. Been here many times and found it OK, but today post covid rules are set out and are confusing. The tables are touching distance apart from each other, no dividers or anything so you are ontop of everyone....

We called in here for lunch as we’ve done many times before and we really wish we hadn’t bothered. The service was good and pleasant, the new ordering system was fine if somewhat restricted compared to the pre pandemic buffet system but the food was...

Okay…..so i get that the restaurant can’t operate under a pre-pandemic system were customers ‘plate’ their own food however, the owners really need to re-think their current business model if they want to keep customers. The food that was served to us today was cold...

Trading some of the reviews about buffet king, if your not bloody hay with our food then bloody go somewhere else instead of complaining on a public bloody website

We have never had a bad experience here and have personally always found the staff extremely welcoming and accommodating. They were extremely helpful in guiding us to choose the Bento Box while the buffet is restricted . The food was fresh, hot and extremely tasty...

I’d never go to this place again staff so disrespectful upon paying bill money of manger was snatched out my hand because I asked why menu had of been condensed absolutely disgracefull coming from a restaurant manger so rude I’d just say if your thinking...

Made uncomfortable at the way the staff are treated by members of management. Very unprofessional in front of customers who are trying to enjoy a meal.

Even if the food isn’t brilliant, the pleasure of a buffet is that you can pick what you want. Obviously with Covid buffets are banned so the staff fill a Bento box with five items of your choice. All my items were cold an greasy...

Food was utterly disappointing, all 4 of us had upset tummies the next day. Seemed as if it had been stale food, Served cold and dry. On a positive note, staff followed covid19 guidance appropriately and portion sizes were good. Not visiting again ever. This...

Called in with 3 companions.They have got a new system whilst restrictions in place.This involves ordering a tray with your choice of dishes so limited to this as no Buffet available.We ordered and the starters arrived followed 30 secs later by the mains.We gulped down...

We are in the middle of a global pandemic (accepted) places are packed the rifters as it’s 50% off (accepted) us girls love an all u can eat (primark sizes excludes) We brought the masks like Gabrielle did the eye patch. Where met with a dentist who temperature checked and wiped our memory.Played a game called find the prawn, we didn’t win! Good luck the next crystal maze players

Not a buffet now but food is selected from the menu and served in tray boxes. Food hot delicious and staff are lovely. Must admit my husband and I prefer this idea more relaxing and much safer due to pandemic. Well done loved it. Restaurant spotless

We have been going here since it opened and it's only gotten better and better. Many of the now managers have been there years and have always run a tight ship. The food is always hot and fresh and constant attention is paid to spills and quickly seen to by the clean up team. Always great choice and my daughter loves that she can try different things. We rarely visit INTU without a trip to Buffet King! :)

A Buffet meal was on the cards when we arrived at 'The Intu Metro';But the Government had stepped in to Thwart Our Plan, with an Almighty 'NO'!With a Table for Two available, the young man at Reception Explained;A choice of two main, with a starter and noodles or Rice Remained.Now if your Hungry as I often am, a small selection may not be enough;However, with Spicey Sour Soup to begin, I was satisfied without feeling Rough!The Chefs deserve Great Compliments alongside the Staff in Equal, Generous Measure;For the whole Experience was Memorable, the Tasty Food, for us both: A Pleasure!Our Lunch that tested our Taste buds, was more than Ample for Both;A Choice of Dishes with less Waste: The New Format: Enjoy its Return in 'Good Troth'!!

Visited the Metro Centre before flying out on holiday, found the Buffet King and in we went. Sadly, the first sign was the table was not clean and then came the food. Mass produced, watery and lacking any flavour. Never to return,

Heavily processed, mass produced, one size fits all buffet. I wouldn’t pay to go again when there’s such a fantastic selection of food around it.

Though not 'salt' people, we have been known to enjoy a pinch on chips and other bland foods. This left us ill-prepared for lunch at Buffet King.Staff were polite, friendly and happy to help. The whole place looked spotless and the food looked amazing.But every dish we tried was saltier than Capt. Birdseye's armpits.With the benefit of hindsight, it appears they might get most of their profits from drinks sales. We requested tap water, which we were promptly served in those small, chunky glasses in primary school.Avoid unless you're dialysis/stroke curious.

Plenty of choice and reasonably priced. Food is tasty and warm. My main issue is food allergy information is not listed very well. My partner has a nut allergy and it was hard to see what did or didn't have nuts in.