Ponderosa — Restaurant in Da'an District

My review is for the Ponderosa Steak House located in the Taipei New Horizon Building. Knowing the "culture" of buffets in Asia where I have lived most of my life I should have known better. My friends and I were going to Eslite Art House Cinema on 3/13/2022 which is in the same building. The choices are slim either a tea house which does not take reservations or a food hall (which I love) but is packed the minute it opens especially on a Sunday. The place was full at 11 am for lunch so thankfully I had made reservations. Their policy is ridiculous as you need to pay in advance, even what type of steak you plan to order, and you are not seated until your entire party has arrived. I said NO WAY and was seated. The serve yourself unlimited buffet was soups, salads, fruits, hot foods, desserts and beverages provided you can get near it. The "culture" is to pile up your plates as though it was The Last Supper. You must wear a mask and plastic gloves which I respect but hard to manage if you are lucky enough to get any food. The refills are slow in coming some with labels others with no labels and if you are lucky to find a bowl or plate to put your food on even better. Guess the dishwasher was broken or his day off. Now for the steak. We all ordered filet beef to be medium pink inside no blood as that is the way to order filet beef. What we finally got was over cooked black rocks that only a dog would eat. The service was atrocious, the dirty dishes were piled up on tables (some people were reusing their soup bowls and dinner plates for deserts) and a bill for ntd$2000. After the movie we passed the restaurant and the line to get in was all the way back to the bathrooms and elevators. Good luck people and off we went to Mc Donald's for a happy meal which was far better than anything Ponderosa...

Sirloin 6.5 oz Australian Prime Steer ($739): I make it medium rare and it’s served with black pepper sauce and their signature baked potato. The steak here has got is the greatest of all time in Taiwan and almost as great as Australian steakhouse. This has been the most succulent one since I was a child when my parents took me here, full of nostalgia. The signature baked potato has also never changed so far with the melt in your mouth texture and relishing buttery flavour.

On top of that, all the mains include the Buffet but can also just order the Buffet (a la carte $469 on weekdays, $499 on weekends and national holidays) without the main dish if you want to save money or can’t eat much. Buffet includes drink bar, ice cream, spaghetti, chips, onion rings, fruit and salad bar, and cakes.

To sum up, it’s quite generous of Ponderosa that you can not only enjoy the steak but also the buffet at this kind of price. It’s been more than a decade and Ponderosa never disappoints me at all aspects. The restaurant is only a few minutes away from the MRT station exit 2 (Gongguan) and convenient for undergraduates and graduate students from NTU. Overall, it’s a 10 out of 10!

FYI, you order at the counter before getting ushered to your table and there’s a 10%...

I only got the buffet. $469 It had a lot of variety, but I didn't like it a lot. Mostly carbs and vegetables and the chicken goes fast

Chicken also takes a long time to restock, (if you see some crackers, see photo, it means they're making more chicken, so wait)

There were no correct ingredients for tacos (taco rice, meat, etc.) The serving spoons were dirtied by other people and curry got all over my hands Restaurant staff were polite, but they are working very hard because there's not enough staff I think

The Taiwanese exclusive dishes were a nice touch the hot pot with the fish cakes was good, but the curry and other Asian items were not my favorite.

It was nice to taste some American cuisine at least. Overall not bad,...