Spoon World Buffet & Bar — Restaurant in Basildon

Lets start with the positives:

The food was nice. My usual complaint with the food here is that its not HOT, its mildly warm, this time the food was a perfect temp and there was plenty to choose from.

Another complaint I normally have, that appears to have been addressed, is the variety. I often find that a lot of the dishes are running near empty or are empty and there's no sign of them being restocked. This time however the food was plenty, and the few dishes running low were restocked fairly quickly. That being said, they were not very busy and that could be a contributing factor, also I must admit that i wasn't near the food and didn't see them restocking, but saw no dishes that were empty.

And Lastly, like always, the place was nice and clean and the atmosphere was pleasant.

But I didn't give it three stars for nothing.

Unfortunately the staff were the biggest let down. I am astounded by the staffs attitudes, when at one point I look up and see 4 members of staff standing by the bar, phones out taking pictures of each other. If it had been one pic and then get on with their jobs I'd have let it slide, Instead this went on for several minutes and went from taking pics of each other to selfies and, passing phones back and forth so everyone got their own pic. The worst part was how blatantly obvious this was, yet no member was reprimanded.

And two separate occasions i had to make eye contact with a member of staff for them to remove the plate from the table, and it wasn't a case of they may not have realized the plates were done with, as the dirty ones were stacked neatly on the end of the table. Considering how quiet they were (so quiet they thought it was the perfect time to take their insta pics) I don't expect to have to specifically ask them to do their jobs.

Lastly, and possibly most horribly, to end my meal I decided to finish with a crepe. I get up and as I'd expect, for health reasons, the staff behind the crepe area are wearing blue gloves. And the charming woman who didn't even smile the entire time i was waiting for the crepe, had obviously a lot of pride in her appearance, as her stunning pink acrylic nails were tearing out of the gloves and were being used to touch and move my crepe. I just hope she scrubs her nails, which considering the gloves and the fact the sinks are visible and i couldn't see a nail brush, is not likely.

Overall a good experience let down by the...

This is an "all you can eat" multi/international cuisine type of venue. You pay before you go in. I was disappointed that soft drinks were not included in the price, although soft drinks are part of the help yourself package. Free tap water is available by the glass instead of a jug.

It is a functional setup with lots of seating and okay on a quiet Saturday afternoon, as we didn't have to queue at the different food stations. It might be less comfortable when very busy, as the tables are close together and getting around might be more restrictive.

Signage at this branch could have been better, especially for some sections; Indian, Chinese, Thai, Malaysian. Others were clearly marked.

Most of the food is kept in big warmer trays and regularly topped up, so plenty to choose from and for meat and fish lover's it is generous. My only issue with fish/seafood is that it dries out quickly. Some dishes are lovely, whilst others were salty or too dry and tasteless. I wouldn't say this is authentic cuisine, but it caters to a general taste palate. The sirloin steak and lamb chops are small but cooked to order and tasty.

The desserts looked great, and there was a lot of choice, but some items had dried out too much. The cooked to order crepe bar was popular, but the toppings are limited; golden syrup, lemon and sugar, strawberry, or chocolate sauce. However, you can top them with ice cream. I would have liked better quality ice cream.

The staff topping up the food and clearing tables were quick and efficient and worked seamlessly. The meet and greet at the start seemed brusque and focused immediately on taking the payment and passing you through the security check and taking you to the table. I would have thought there would be a check regarding food allergies, ensuring everyone understands the colour coded labelling for each food item and how the drinks work. This would be important for people coming for the first time.

All you can eat venues will be popular with some diners, but less so for others. I like generous food portions, but I don't like eating a lot in a compressed time, so I suspect this type of venue is wasted on me, as there is a time limit for the table. It's probably not good value for...

Been to World Of Food in Basildon twice, first time my wife ate chicken that was raw, not cooked at all from the BBQ area, she was violantly sick in the toilet and several times that evening. We decided to try this place again as others had said it was okay, we called at 20:10 and asked what time they shut, we were told last customers in the door at 21:30 close at 22:30. We travelled all the way from London to eat at World Of Food, we arrived at 20:45, so 45 minutes inside the last customer time. When we arrived we paid our money as you have to do up front at this place, we were told there is not much food left as the kitchen was closed ! I asked to speak to the manger and said we had called and asked what time they shut, he just shrugged his shoulders and said you can leave if you like its up to you, we were so hungry we stayed, by the time we got to a table the entire kitchen staff had come from the kitchen and ate all the food, no rice at all, no chicken other than some long time cooked sweet and sour, 50% of the dishes were completely empty. The head floor lady a chinese person was really rude to us with comments of well you should not have come in if you don't like the food ! We also witnessed he shouting at her own staff whilst several rables of customers were trying to eat, one telling off believe this or not was because she thought one of the young girls was mopping the floor in the wrong direction - lol - supervisor not - she wants sacking ! The meal cost £115 for 8 of us, we had around £25 worth of old left over food that basically no one else wanted including the staff. I would personally NEVER recommend this place, poor customer service, rude staff and managers that don't know how to deal with a customer complaint ! If I could have given minus stars I would have...