Mongolian BBQ Restaurant — Restaurant in Arona

After watching YouTube reviews and reading through countless reviews I had quite high expectations of good food and a good evening. Alas not to be. We (wife and I) were greeted at the entrance by a very friendly young man. He showed us to our and left us to it. No one came for drink order so after maybe 10 minutes we decided to head on inside for the food. I had watched the video, I knew what to do, in fact I even told some other people what to do as nothing was explained. First off for me was some BBQ ribs. Although meaty and tender they were bland, Second plate, I went to grab myself a metal bowl. To the bowl I abbed some rice, noodles, token amount of vegetables and some red pepper chicken. This was all raw food to be taken to the grill chef. Lots of different sauce options, I chose satay. I had plenty of time to choose as from the time I arrived with my bowl of raw ingredients it took just over 45 minutes to get the food back and on a plate. There was no orderly queue just a gathering of people some waiting for their food to be cooked and others standing with a bowl of raw food. It was Saturday evening 6.40pm when we arrived. The place was busy and the 2 grill chefs simply could not keep up with the demand of every person wanting noodles or rice. By the time we left 2 hours later, there were no real queues. So if you want to go, check out how busy the place is and if it's busy go back later. So by this point I had been in the restaurant for over an hour and had eaten nothing more than a few small ribs. The satay rice etc was finally cooked and on my plate. Added a few extra bits, chicken skewers, crispy duck and got sat back down again. Whilst the food was OK, that's all it was. Nothing special but likewise nothing bad. I ate the food, looked back at the queue and decided that I simply couldn't be bothered to stand in line again to ask "please sir can I have some more ". The all you can eat sign out front should have said all that you can be bothered to eat. The eatery was at best mediocre, maybe better at a less busier time. From my experience though, there are many Chinese /Asian buffets. I have tried several 😁 and from the list this rates the lowest. Don't believe the hype on the YouTube vids, I am sure that they are not as transparent as they would like you to believe. Best thing I ate was the duck sauce. It was super. The best bit about the evening was the bill €34 for the 2 of us, both...

After walking by it many times, we have eaten here a few times. On one occasion, they could accommodate a group of 12 on very short notice, and it took less than five minutes to group the tables together, set everything up, and seat us.

You order drinks from the waitstaff, then choose if you start with some appetisers, soup (two to choose from every time we've been), dessert, or mains. There is a lot to choose from.

There were probably 10-15 items in the appetiser area, probably another dozen or more items like vegetables, noodles, etc., in a refrigerated stand, and at least four different meats (I was only interested in the chicken and shrimps) in a big cooler. For dessert, there are cakes and several flavours of ice cream.

You choose whichever meat(s) and other items you want, put them in bowls or on plates, and then head to the cooking station. Once there, you can choose one or more sauces (I posted a pic to show what those choices are), and the chef will prepare your food accordingly.

Like most all-you-can-eat places, choose your time wisely. We don't go when we are starving, nor if we just want a little something. There are so many excellent restaurants and bars in this area, and while the prices are extremely reasonable for the quality and amount of food you get, I don't like stuffing myself. You can enjoy all Mongolian BBQ has to offer if you pace yourself.

The seating is outdoors but mostly covered. This means, depending on the time of year you go, that bugs (flies) can be a problem. I did not see any basic preventative measures for the flies, but honestly, not much would probably help since you are outside. I would rather chase away a few flies than sit where poison...

I came here with high expectations and at the time, I could find no fault with either the food when cooked or the service.

HOWEVER, I had massive reservations about how the food is handled. Basically, the food to be cooked - raw beef, chicken, seafoods - are layed out together in the open with serving tongs to pick up each variety. It is open and you use the tongs not knowing if the person before you has used the same tongs for another item. The capacity for cross contamination and serious food bacteria is so great that this would not be allowed in the UK.

36 hours after I dined here, I was hospitalized with severe gastrointeritus which not only finished my holiday but also cost me a considerable sum of money. I cannot prove that it was as a result of eating here however the only other food I ate was bought sealed from the supermarket.

I have no wish to malign anybody or any business however after my experience, I think it's only proper that I warn anybody thinking of dining here of the potential dangers that they might face as a result of the way they...