I can’t express the love my husband has for a buffet restaurant He has a massive appetite, and loves nothing better than filling himself up with his favourite foods. So when we were offered the chance
I can’t express the love my husband has for a buffet restaurant He has a massive appetite, and loves nothing better than filling himself up with his favourite foods. So when we were offered the chance to review Red Hot World Buffet in Milton Keynes we were keen to head back after being there 4 years previously for a date.
Saturday night was our date night, we had a table booked for us beforehand (you can do this via their website), so it was no surprise to find it really busy. We were shown to our table with a point of the finger, before the staff member walked off. We looked at each other curious about drinks, and around five minutes later a waitress came over to take our order for drinks. She pointed to the paper place mat which explains the Red Hot experience.
So you go up to the buffet, grab a plate and help yourself to whatever takes your fancy. There is a vast range to choice from, from Indian to Chinese, BBQ, Tex Mex, Pasta and much much more. There is stations where you can have your own stir fry or pasta cooked to your specifications from scratch.
On my first plate I picked a couple of starter bits, prawn toast (lovely crisp and hot) vegetable spring rolls, chicken wings (chicken was lovely on them, not chewy at all). I did however find it really hard work even getting to the food as it was so busy. There was a lot of people there barging through you. On my second plate I went back and got some fajitas, pizza, some curry and rice. Sitting down at my table I tucked in my curry to find an odd texture, looking at it I found it to be less than well cooked in my opinion. The other bits were cold. The pizza on the other hand was dry and very very well cooked (I would say burnt on the edge personally).
My husband experienced the hot station where you pick what you wanted and they cooked it for you right there, he had stir fry and said it was the best thing out of everything available…however not that fantastic that he would visit the place just for it again.
Meanwhile, we couldn’t hear each other talk over the noise of the place, and also the heavy bass which was coming from the nightclub next door. On top of that, there seemed to be a ritual happening every five minutes or so, where a member of staff comes out with a crier bell and rings it in your ears repeatedly. This, as I later found out is because it is someone’s Birthday, and the staff all quickly gather to sing some song to the person in question.
The desserts looked quite good, and there is a brilliant selection to choose from. I was happy to indulge in some cake pops which you can coat using the chocolate fountain in the restaurant There is also a large range of other items you can dip, such as marshmallows, biscuits, grapes, strawberries and much more.
The staff I found to be more interested in completing their jobs of clearing tables than they were in customer service, a few times they were in the rather slimline walkways talking to each other (I assume work related) but were not in any hurry to move despite me being there needing to get past.
The walkways are actually the space between each table as shown in this photo…..
Since sitting down and getting our first drink, we were unable to get another one, with the staff not having a second to stop when you are there actually trying to get their attention. We sat and tried to get the staffs attention for the bill, and ended up walking to the desk and requesting it in the end.
I no doubt that Saturday night is probably their busiest night, however the quality of food was less than perfect and the customer service was non existent. It is not an experience I will be repeating in the future. After sorting the bill, I was asked if everything was OK, and when I stated the problems we had encountered, I was told that it was always busy on a Saturday night. He stated that the bells do ring a lot on such nights as there was so many Birthdays that night. I told him that the food was cold, he advised me that I should stir the cold layer on top into the warm layer below…not something that really appeals to me personally.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend visiting this venue on a Saturday night.
You can find Red Hot World Buffet online at http://www.redhot-worldbuffet.com/
We were provided our meal free of charge at Red Hot for the purpose of this review, all thoughts are my own and 100% honest.
