Vikings Luxury Buffet, SM City Cebu — Restaurant in Cebu City

Restoring my 4-star rating. Featuring the weekend lunch at my second most visited buffet restaurant in Cebu. Discover Viking Luxury Buffet. My brothers and I arrive exactly at opening time, so food stations had fresh and beautiful displays of their dishes, allowing me to take a lot of photos. I like buffets because food is ready as soon as you walk in, dozens of dishes to choose from, some stations cook or grill for you, a wide selection of fruits and desserts, beverage and coffee and beer are included, and most of all their staff is very friendly, polite and highly efficient. A must visit

2-star rating I deleted my original which I posted about a year ago to change my the 4-star rating. I probably visited this place like twice a month. Today, I came with my brother as a walk-in at opening which is at 11AM. When we were finally called to be seated, 15 minutes, after being listed, I asked if we can have booth #223, which is our favorite spot, my brother and I. The stern hostess, Shelly told us that the booth is already reserved. and were led to table #104 without even looking at her sheet. I was fine with table 104 until I found out my movement was restricted because right behind me was a small storage area for beer and high chairs for kids, which was often being used. Dining near a storage area spoiled by appetite. By 12:15PM, Booth 223 remained unoccupied. So I went to the front and looked for Shelly to complain. She as matter of factly told me the booth was already reserved for 12Noon, I told her we never had problems with getting booth 223 before as long as we get there by opening time, and besides why would she give us a table by the open storage area when there were a lot of other tables available? I took our time finishing our meal and left about 12:25PM and the table was still vacant. Everybody in this establishment from servers to the sushi station to the cashiers are very pleasant anc customer oriented. The host and that guy who led us to the table (whom we also requested a table change} need to change their "I am in charge here" attitude. I will still patronize Viking because of the other staffers who know what hospitality means, and it is close to where I live, but I hope they train their first in line hospitality...

From all the Youtube vlogs this place seemed like the most middle of the pack buffets as far both price and quality were concerned. They usually take reservations online which requires a 100P deposit (so you will need a local online payment mechanism). There were long waits for walk ins midweek, so if you don't come when they first open, I would recommend getting a reservation or have a plan B ready.

THE REVIEW: CLEANLINESS: Its was clean and well maintained COMFORT: It was pretty darn hot. The AC kicked on for 10 seconds while we were there. SERVICE: We were greeted and seated promptly. We asked for better seating, but were refused as the claim was that all seats were 'reserved'. Yeah, right. The seats we were given seemed abnormally close to the buffet, as if they are squeezed in for additional seating but not meant to be there. Constantly bumped by passing diners AT the buffet line. Our dishes took a while to be pre-bused, but eventually were. Drink service is self serve. FOOD QUALITY: All the high ticket items (ie roasted meats) were mediocre at best. Not seasoned well. Pork skin more chewy than crunchy. Salad station was decent. Sushi station was ok, but only had maki rolls, although somewhat fancy. Dessert had a decent selection but had no stand outs. There was a stir fry to order section, but I did not avail. Chinese section was pretty poor representations and very stereotypical. rendition of Chinese cuisine. Pizza station put on a show, but the actual food, meh ok I guess. COST/VALUE: We went on a Sunday, so it was peak pricing around 1100 each. I don't doubt that this is the 'going rate', but just don't feel that it was anywhere near a good value given the quality. I will pass the next time. If you want to pig out on average desserts, decent salad, and maki rolls--and think that price is acceptable, go for it. There are way better values for all the other...

08/18/2023

It was my second time coming here and it disappointed me so much. It wasn't as fascinating as my first experience.

First, the staff at the reception weren't really welcoming. If not, I think they were a bit judgemental with what we're wearing and carrying 2 helmets. I told them it was my birthday and would like to avail the birthday promo. They were able to prepare the table for us (that lady was very nice. I didn't get her name bc she disappeared real fast) And it all went downhill from there.

We were seated beside the comfort rooms on the left, which weren't tidy and nice to look at so do expect your meal to be unappetising. The foods were okay, especially the dumplings. I think it was just steamed too long. There weren't many desserts left, so we just tolerated the cake slices. We enjoyed the drinks which had a lot of options.

But the main ick in the whole meal was, I SAW A BIG RAT RUN FROM THE DESSERT DISPLAYS TO THE BATHROOM. It wasn't even a small one - it was HUGE. It could've been the size of an adult cat. I still gag up until this day. I wasn't able to take photos because it happened so fast and I was walking from the dessert section. But I sure saw the table facing the breakfast table gasp in horror. All of us froze in shock when the rat stopped in the middle then went on his way. No one even acknowledged it and continued with their stuff. As for me, I paid the bill and left a couple of minutes later.

Needless to say, I was excited to go back for a second try but I sure as hell won't be coming back EVER. God knows how many rats could their resto have behind the scenes. This is not ratatouille. This is real life.

I hope you do...