Papa Panda Restaurant and Bar in Ipswich

Food and service is beyond excellent and has remained that way all the years we have used it for our irregular meals out!! Last visit was yesterday evening 21 March 2025, when I personally received such kindness due to immobility and having forgot to bring my walking stick‼️ From moving our booked table to a one much nearer to the food containers, Giving me an arm to steady me to it, taking my chosen plate of food to the table and making sure we were given special attention by the lovely waiters. All of which made a special night out with my Daughter in Law even more special. Thank you all.

Felt very rushed and quick to get rid

Food is always good and consistent in quality, busy enough to be popular but not so busy you need to pre book. One of my favourite Chinese buffets. The only suggestion I would have to the owner would be to upgrade the ice cream tubs to a soft serve machine!

Have been here before and thought it was ok, not great but ok. However I went last night and within forty minutes of leaving my stomach felt uncomfortable, it gradually got worse until I ended up being sick 5 or six times over the next few hours. I have never felt so bad in my life. I would have gone to A&E if not for the prospect of sitting in a chair for several hours waiting to be seen. I was the only one of three who got ill and the only thing I ate differently was the small squares of cheesecake in the fridge at the back of the room. Needless to say we will not be going again

First time there with family. 'Eat as much as you like' was delicious and so much choice. Good service with drinks and collecting empty plates. Would recommend

It’s the first time I’d been there my friend had been there before I was very impressed with the service and how friendly the staff were my friend and I didn’t wait very long to be seated the food was really nice so much variety we couldn’t fault anything the Desserts were really nice and i would go back there again.

Went in for lunch today with the family to celebrate a birthday. Staff were fantastic from the moment we walked in the door and the food was lovely.

Food is always good for the price!

Very bland. Nice noodles tho. Advertise duck pancakes but we had pork choice only. Not the same.

Exceeded expectations- after reading a few bad reviews . The service from all the staff was top notch . Very attentive from the moment we walked in. Young man passing me napkin as he realised my specs were steamed up. Another young man pulling out a chair for me - very welcoming. Nothing was too much trouble . The food was good - not the best I’ve had but still very good . The seaweed was the BEST EVER . Lots of choice of food and replenished when empty . If we were ever in the area again would visit again . Thank you to all the staff front of house and behind the scenes

Our go to Chinese buffet even though it's 45 miles away from us. The buffet selection really good and constantly cleaned and refreshed. They don't put fresh food on top of old they replaced the dishes completely ensuring meals are fresh and hot. Good selection including shellfish and a great selection of desserts including banana fritters to die for and pancakes made to order. Staff very friendly and plates taken away when you finish so not re-used. Looking forward to next trip.

Too expensive for the food served. Not much variety. Lots of empty trays. The Cocktail I ordered was awfully too sweet with lack of alcohol.

It’s a good budget friendly place to have buffet with wide variety of cuisine including deserts and starters. I would recommend it as a must try spot in Ipswich.

Fantastic food! Staff are very friendly and helpful. Very clean restaurant. Highly recommend visiting and trying the best food in town.

Fantastic service lovely food excellent price will definitely be here again wife and myself will recommend

Bit crowded when I went but got sat it was a lovely experience

It's been a while since we went to a buffet Chinese, and with this being straight across from the theatre, it was ideal for our night out. We was shown quickly to a table, and with drinks ordered we were free to help ourselves. Lots of choices available, and I suspect there was a few bits I didn't get a chance to try. There were staff constantly making sure it was all tidy etc. I actually thought the food was pretty good, but I think if you was having a meal out for the evening you would be better off somewhere where you don't have to get up to refill your plate, we did feel like a tag team on occasions with one of us getting up and then sitting down as soon as the other person got up! It suited our needs - and as mentioned food was nice as well, so bonus!

Phoned up last night as staying in ipswich for the weekend and they fitted us in. The place was packed but service was very quick and food was absolutely amazing x lovely friendly staff and great atmosphere. Can't wait to go back

Excellent choice of food. Lovely tasting food and the service is amazing. A+++++

Very nice meal. We had lunch and good value. The food is always good here. Always come here when we are in Ipswich.

I love this place. Been a few times now and they always have plenty to choose from. Food is always hot and topped up. The staff are really friendly and efficient. There is food for everyone. I really like getting a pancake at then end even though I'm stuffed😂👍

Brilliant buffet and a lovely Chinese restaurant

It says it all when you turn up at 7.00pm on a Friday night to only another 2 tables in the place. Food very average and staff very surly. No smiles and no charisma about them. Drinks plonked on your table. The waiting staff look so bored and wandering around like they can’t wait to go home! Plates taken away with a curt response. Been here in the past when it first opened and it was much better. It’s now very poor and I won’t be returning again.

Nice friendly staff and delicious food.

Food not good. Chicken toast tasted freezer burnt. Pork was really chewy, sauces watery. All rather tasteless not worth paying £19 for. Worst Chinese I’ve eaten.

loved it. haven't been for a while qent with girls from work 4 lunch was amazing

Had amazing service jay asked me if anything else I wanted and he was going to ask chef to make for me.

Was very clean and all food was covered in their own hotplates and staff very polite

This place is really good value for money clean with friendly staff 👌

The staff were fantastic and the food was lovely.

This is by far the best chinese buffet myself & hubby have had ( and we have tried a few) food is always tasty we have no complaints at all, staff are really nice & polite, we have been going once a month for lunch for nearly a yr now, highly recommend

Wow what a great choice of dishes! Staff were happy and VERY helpful, will be going back again. Also get a photo with the panda!?.

Always great service. Food is always great and very well stocked up too.

Superb Chinese buffet, lots of variety which is constantly topped up friendly attentive staff highly recommended both myself and my neighbour came for the lunch buffet and thoroughly enjoyed it

Lovely food and gentleman who works there very funny with his jokes with the kids and adults

Good tasty food, waiter was attentive

I ate 3 platefuls (stuffed), the Chinese tea is great, table service is complete. Yep it's dangerous to eat that much!

What a fantastic chinese buffet! Food was fresh, hot and plentiful. Staff all very polite and attentive but a special mention goes to Jay, what a funny man, had us giggling all the time we were there, he really is an asset to this place, it was a pleasure to meet you Mr Chow (his nickname so he told us!). Well worth a visit ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was disappointed with the seating, as it was falling apart and had no cushion left, making for an uncomfortable environment. On a positive note, my son enjoyed himself, even though his meal consisted of just chips and chicken balls. The prices are quite reasonable, which is a plus, but the overall experience could definitely be improved.

Lovely place to have lunch in :) I was spoilt for choice on what to eat. If you aren't too keen on Chinese food there are some English food, like chicken nuggets to choose from. There's parking nearby with a short walk, free disabled parking which is good if you have mobility issues. Drinks (cokes) were given in a nice big glass which is good. Would recommend this place for a nice lunch date.

Considering the price you pay, the food on offer is very reasonable. All staff were very friendly and there is a decent enough variation of dishes on offer to choose from. My only real point to note is that we were sat very close to the food service area, which wasn't particularly comfortable for a group of nine. All in though, I'd recommend a visit if looking for a hassle free, reasonably priced meal out.

Nice and near us. nicely priced. table service. quiet place to dine. fast polite service from staff. lots of food to choose from and well posted to what food it is etc starter vegetarian etc. A nice website you can book before going. closed each Tuesday. can celebrate birthdays here. does takeaway service too. The food is delicious and topped up often. Never feel pushed to eat up and go. would recommend.

food was cold and made my daughter feel very unwell

Pure greed and weakness made me go up for a third helping. I know! I'm disgusted with myself but OMG what a selection. It was delicious

The best fried noodles have eaten in the UK 😍😍

I didn't have high hopes for a buffet restaurant based on precious experience, however, from the moment we went in until the moment we left, the experience was exceptional.... Lovely staff, a bit of humour and so attentive, just excellent. Then there was the food, the choice was beyond good, and far exceeded expectations, plus it was all great quality as well. Plus, great value for money.... Will definitely be returning.... Well done papa panda. 😊

never been let down. the go to chinese in Ipswich. restaurant quality food at home.

Food arrived early and hot however this didn’t make up for the quality. Meat and tofu was both chewy. Black bean sauce was way too salty. Then the chow mein was a dry chewy mess.

Food was nice and hot. Satay chicken didn't have a lot of flavour, tasted more like weak chicken gravy!

Nice service customer service air conditioning nice setting plenty of room relaxing atmosphere guick service getting drinks served and table service great food local parking veggie dishes

We have been to this restaurant twice now and will be back again. The food was delicious, and there was a large range of choices all at a great price.

Great restaurant, delicious food and friendly service, I recommend it 😃

Was quite a nice evening, until i turned and saw a slug sliming away next to my table.

Spring rolls were chewy and not crisp, the crispy shredded beef was soggy beef not happy with either

Papa Panda Restaurant and Bar Papa Panda Review (GabsBitesizeBlogs) Well, who does not like a nice Chinese (well I do) so I thought I would try the local Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet! When we entered papa panda we were greeted by rules and regulations. All of these posters threatening to fine us if we left food on our plates. I was with my nan at the time, and she would never eat much. This put us off already- could it get even worse? Buckle in and find out. We then had to wait a good 20 minutes at the booking desk to get sat down. The prices menu was then handed to us by the very impolite employee. £20 for an adult and £10 for a child (all excluding drinks) We thought this was an okay price as long as the food was nice. Until we then spotted a tiny bit of text underneath, the prices “a child is classed as a person 150cm or under”. We were gobsmacked. If I had brought my cousin who is the same age as me (she is under 150cm) she would have been eligible for child prices. This was implying that if you are short, you eat less. I do not believe this is true. We did not mind paying the prices until that happened. We then eventually got up to get our food, we then saw the dry, anaemic food. Even a dog would not eat the food. But we were starving so we started eating the food. Yuk. While eating, I spotted that one of the employees were staring at me. This made me feel extremely uncomfortable while I was eating. If I had to sum up this experience in one word it would be uncomfortable and if I wanted to say one thing to the owners is that height restrictions are for theme parks not restaurants. So, if you need a Chinese buffet to enjoy in Ipswich. Find somewhere other than Papa Panda.

Great food. The experience was lovely for the of set. Welcoming, kind. My little one was allowed to have a pic with there big panda n they even made him do the dab for a pic. So many choices and it's great to know that they don't like to b wasteful. Clean environment also. Will definitely recommend. Will definitely be visiting again.

The best option if you are looking for all in one. I had their unlimited option for lunch and it was just amazing.

all tasty food chow mein bit light on meat, crispy chilli beef seemed like no chilli was added other spicy dish ordered wasn't at all, maybe a one off as first time have used, will give another chance tho as everything else was good

difficult for driver, apparently town centre roads busy, making him late, although app had the food still in prep well after scheduled delivery time so don't think it was drivers fault. Food was excellent though, hot and tasty, plenty of it.

Tried this place out, to see the comparison in price, and the food, for a Saturday all you can eat Chinese buffet compared to a bigger place down the road. For a LUNCH BUFFET, I ate the same as I would in another large establishment down the road and it cost £9 less. Per person, and there were 4 of us. Great for a lunch on a Saturday between midday up to about 3pm. Filled all of us up and with drinks, it was around £60. Plus we were offered 2 jugs of free water. Cannot fault the staff, all attentive and very friendly, but not overbearing. It is a cheaper establishment, Not for the upmarket Thai experience, but albeit, I would go back for lunch again. Just a note for the management .. the beef in sauce and the thinner noodles were tasteless. ( These are 2 of my favourites ) But I enjoyed everything else. Also, maybe less fast food type and more Asian food/sauce. It's just the little things 😊 I never eat dessert, but I tried 2 of the mini cheesecakes and they were delicious. The lemon was the best for me 😋 All in all, I would go back. The price reflects what is on offer and you would not be able to help yourself to so much food, any cheaper. If you don't enjoy the food, go down the road and pay more, simple 👌

1st time coming ans we enjoyed the food. We will definitely be coming back

We visited at the beginning of August, our second visit. This time we liked this restaurant even more. The food is freshly prepared, tasty and well thought out, providing a good choice of favourite Chinese dishes. It is also very good value for money and the staff is very polite and attentive. We do not hesitate to reccomend a visit.

friendly workers and good food selection buffet

Tasty food, good sized portions. Arrived quickly and hot.

The quality is fine, but some of the meat is too dry, rubbery and is a bit of a choking hazard. The chicken toast (prawn toast replacement) doesn’t taste like chicken at all, it appears to just be a roasted sesame paste. There’s a good variety of food on offer, however it’s rather expensive to dine on Friday or at the weekend. I’d recommend going to mizu or takiyama if you know what you want. PapaPanda £40 for 2 (buffet on Friday evening). The weekday £12.99 lunch deal is steal though!

On holiday and found this place for Sunday lunch. Quite busy. Very friendly staff and great food. Nothing to fault it. Highly recommend.

The best Chinese I have ever been too there must have been 30 + turines off different food all hot and delicious £19 All you Can eat . Fantastic

Great food, and early as usual

We visited Papa Panda as we were early for our show at the ipswich theatre, so we tried Papa Panda. The woman at front desk was very friendly and chatty so we sat down at our table and after 5-10 min waitress askwd if we wanted any drinks so after we helped ourselves around there is plenty to choose from diffrent kind of Chinese foods. I did find that the noodles tasted a bit burnt. The food itself was okay it was just a warm temperature. I would like it if it was a bit hotter, in my opinion. Papa Panda is a clean place there is no food on the floor etc and the staff are very quick taking plates the price itself is reasonable. I will go back to Papa Panda, but not anytime soon

Very quickly delivered and the food was amazing. Thank you

apart from delivery all good 👍 15 mins not that bad lol

Not much choice and no pancakes. Not worth the money for the evening

Decent little place lots of choice and variety friendly staff .

Love this place, The main guy dealing with F.o.h duties is legendary

Food arrived early , well packaged and hot. Tasted great.

Used to be a regular here. We took our football team here and the staff was rude. Limiting the kids to portions of food and getting aggy with the boys. We won't be using papa panda again. Unfortunately the staff let themselves down.

Empty food trays and pots,not much choice

Freezing cold and tasteless food

Great all you can eat buffet, friendly staff and nice food

Delivery was on time but the food was discusting!! The chicken was hard, over cooked and chewy and the "crispy" chili beef wasnt crispy AT ALL!! It was soggy and chewy! Called the restaurant to explain and the lady was rude and refused to help even though we had just paid £40 for food that wasnt even edible! Discusting food and awful service, will not be ordering again!

app didn't have that delivery on way, it had still being prepared. Not moaning as food really good and rather early then late. App didn't update until after delivery.

The server jay is an absolute hero would definitely come here again if he was serving me 10/10 hilarious & an absolute legend

Delivery was on time but the food was discusting!! the chicken was hard, over cooked and chewy and the "crispy" chili beef wasnt crispy AT ALL!! It was soggy and chewy! Called the restaurant to explain and the lady was rude and refused to help even though we had just paid £40 for food that wasnt even edible! Discusting food and awful service, will not be ordering again!

Great food and service! when either visiting or getting delivery. The Chicken Wings are the best around.

Efficiently and politely run, with a pretty decent selection of food. My son (for whom it was a special meal) loved it! My personal favourite were the crepes.

amazing as always ! my daughters birthday today she wanted Chinese so that's what she got she said it was amazing 👏 thank so much

bland tasteless food not worth the price charged for it

First time ordering from this place, ordered fruity duck and pineapple with egg fried rice and chips and sweet and sour balls. The rice might as well just been plain rice as the egg was non existent, the duck was also non existent just skin in a bland mess although the pineapple was the only thing with taste, the chips were dry and inedible. Only tasty thing about this meal was the prawn crackers

Loads of choice, really tasty. Accommodating friendly staff, we were a large party for a birthday, with multiple kids, balloons, cakes etc etc and the staff were fab. Will defo come back 😊

Amazing. Fresh food and spacious.

Lovely clean and friendly place, self service with plenty of choice. Will come again.

Great place, delicious food and friendly service. I recommend it 😀

What a fantastic place to eat plenty of variety nice and hot lovely friendly people just across the road from the theatre great atmosphere

Lovely place to eat, lots of choice and staff (esp the manager) goes out the way to make it a good experience

Great choice of food and reasonably price. Would go back next time in Ipswich

Great food very good prices, and really lovely staff . Win , Win.

Tasty food. Good service. Thankyou

Nice food and very good service! Definitely coming back soon

Like canteen food.Food tasteless and didn't feel fresh as if it had been hanging around or reheated The Singapore noodles were overcooked to the point of being crisp.The place feels cheap with a coat of paint slapped over flaky wood.Not cheap either you could get a decent meal for about the same price at a proper Chinese restaurant felt thoroughly cheated

Superb food at an amazing price!! And staff are so friendly and helpful