VEGETASIA — Restaurant in Vienna

Utterly disappointing! We decided to try the buffet lunch based on rave reviews and left the restaurant utterly disappointed.

First, CLEANLINESS - when we arrived at 13:30, it was not busy, there were 3 occupied tables, AND many dirty tables that were not cleared. There was only 1 female staff (maybe boss?) behind the counter, and a robot cleaner was seen moving around, but did nothing. The only clean and set table was right next to the toilet.

Second, FOOD - I suspect the buffet food were NOT FRESH and were scraps of food from the kitchen maybe from other dishes. I HAD A STOMACHACHE after visiting Vegetasia, luckily it wasn't serious and it cleared up after a few hours of discomfort. The food at the buffet were not extremely warm and the refill was very slow. The fried rice tray was perpetually empty. There were Vietnamese fresh rolls, sushi and fruits and they actually DEEP FRY the fresh rolls, sushi and fruits to create the impression of a wider variety. In fact, they are the same food. The deep-fried samosa (we found only one - felt like a food scrap) was super hard and would break your teeth. There's nothing special about the sweet and sour Melazzani which reviews raved about - standard sweet and sour dish taste - a bit on the sweet side actually. A big group came after and all the fortune cookies were snatched up - again, no refill. Overall taste is mediocre, what you would find at standard cheap restaurants. There were two soup pots and no space to put the hot lid - very awkward! Do they expect customers to carry the hot lid while taking the soup? The best so far is the peanut sauce for the fresh rolls.

Third, SERVICE - The sole female staff (or boss?) was welcoming at first. She was usually behind the counter and did not clear and clean the tables. We did not order drinks, and no water was served to us (although it was served to the bigger table). Everything was self service and there was little interaction with her. Overall, the service was ok. Until... she tried to chase us out by bringing us the bill early (fair point, as we understood that the buffet stops at 15:00). It was raining heavily at that time, but she chased us out anyway with a "Sorry, we are closed".

SERVICE TIPS - I wasn't not sure if the quality of food, cleanliness and staff service would deserve a tip, but when she brought us the bill, she was hovering for a Trinkgeld (tips) for a few seconds, as if it was her God-given right to receive a tip (for the non-existent service she provided). I did not leave a tip as I felt that the poor quality of food and level of service and cleanliness do not deserve one. The restaurant would have to be more motivated to improve on all those aspects BEFORE they should expect a tip. Clearly, she was disappointed. And probably why she chased us out, not once, but twice.

PRICE - Certainly expensive for the quality and variety of food.

ALL IN ALL, I don't think this place Vegetasia is worth visiting, and I CERTAINLY WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE. There are much better buffet places with more variety of food, faster refills, fresher food, cleaner premises, and much better service. And it is a vegetarian buffet for 16 euros for lunch in a location that is not central (25 euros for dinner - definitely NOT WORTH IT). You can get a meat buffet for 15 euros for lunch in a central location, and not feeling disappointed by the quality of food, being pressured to leave a tip, or the worst, experiencing a stomachache...

Quick review: Average/ok food. Terrible service. Longer review: we arrived at 19:50, the buffet was almost finished but still with some options. When I went to get some some food a lady who works there interrupted me and decided what I should eat. She took my plate and served whatever she wanted, which was all rice. Obviously avoiding the most expensive plates, (like the soya duck, which was the option I was trying to get). She implied that I needed to order a drink as well and I said no thanks, but she offered me some tap water for 1 euro and she said I could come and get as much as I wanted. Even though it's strange to pay for tap water, I said alright, but the problem is every time I wanted more water they made me feel uncomfortable and started making jokes about me asking for more ( I asked only 3 times and the cup is small). about 8.30 pm there was little or no food left on the buffet, and o asked if they were going to replace it, they again treated me badly, but in the end they served like a small amount of new food on the buffet and they said super rudely for me to go grab it. Whenever I grabbed the new plate, they brought me the bill and said that I had to pay, but I could stay longer ( in a sarcastic way) the bill came up to 27 euros ( 2 people). We gave them 30 euros but they never brought the change back. They took it without asking. Normally people can choose what they pay as tips. They shouldn't offer an all you can eat buffet, they should offer an a la carte meal and stop trying to take...

Terrible experience. Would it be too difficult to give a menu or an indication of how it works? We understood that we were in a hot pot restaurant, so until then we had it right. I had prepared a plate full of the ingredients I wanted to put in my hot pot, full of enthusiasm. The waitress took the plate away from me and went to put the ingredients back on the buffet. Then she brought out the hot pot with vegetables, of course, but those were the ones I wanted in the first place. In short, I ate what she decided I should eat, which was very unpleasant. The famous ‘hot’ pot cooled down quite quickly. Then I decided to try my luck again, I again selected the ingredients I wanted in my hot pot, I took it to the counter (this could be notified more clearly, we're not soothsayers we can't guess things, even the other customers were confused). I was FINALLY able to eat what I wanted. But as I'd already eaten a previous unwanted and not chosen hot pot, I had to force myself to make sure it wasn't wasted. ONE CHOSEN HOT POT WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH. I really didn't appreciate this attitude of taking me for a stupid tourist. As a result, at the bill, I paid for two hot pots, one of which she forced on me. Disgraceful. Having clearer instructions would be a great help to customers. And don't take...