TCB Bolton - Unlimited Dining Experience — Restaurant in Bolton

Avoid at all cost.

Terrible service by both the human staff and the robots.

On arrival we were asked to download an app, when I asked if this was the only option I was told “Yeah, the app allows you to place your orders” I explained I did not have a smart phone with me (though I’m also not comfortable downloading apps for every single place I want to dine at). The host then appeared annoyed and huffed something about getting us a tablet then.

We were then shown to our table which was the 1st table next to the kitchen. The host did mellow a little and did take our drink order and asked if we wanted soup or mixed starters. We ordered one of each. The host briefly explained how the app worked.

We were able to order 6 dishes to begin with ( 3 each for 2 people). The soup and the mixed starters arrived promptly and were thankfully the only items on the robot. Then the second order arrived I believe ours were on the top tray and someone else’s order was underneath (prawn crackers & a sauce) however we were unaware it was someone else’s order and just thought they were a freebie. We took both trays.

The host then came back and said that’s someone else’s order and only then did she bother to explain how the light system works. Apparently the robot is supposed to light up on the side indicating which tray has been ordered for your table though all the lights are on when it is moving and as we were sat right next to the kitchen door they were still lit when the robot stops at that table (table #45). My friend tried to explain to the host that all the lights were on when the robot stopped but was dismissed.

We were brave enough to order another 6 dishes via the app (and seriously regretted it). We ordered a sauce some noodles, 3 mains and another mixed starter. Again our order was on the top tray. The robot came racing over and abruptly came to a stop flinging half of one of the mains on the floor. The robot could not move as there was something on the floor, so ended up causing a bit of a pile up. There was no physical staff around so I ended up clearing my food off the floor and then going to the toilet to wash my hands.

When I sat down the robot arrived again this time with just the mixed starters for our table and another tables order below. Again the robot came to an abrupt stop this time throwing sauce from another tables order right at our feet. Fortunately, this time there was a member of staff on hand to deal with it.

We knew we wouldn’t be ordering any more dishes so I thought I could relax and enjoy my food but oh no! I was subjected to a very long black hair which I didn’t notice until after I had swallowed it and regurgitated back up. Being a blonde I knew it wasn’t mine. That was the final nail in the coffin for us.

We paid our bill at the till and the member of staff was nice enough however I will not be returning and if I wasn’t in such a hurry to get out of there I don’t think I would have paid.

Appalling service and poor...

Used to be one of my favorite places to eat but has unfortunately gone downhill. I know the current situation has been hard for the hospitality sector, especially for buffets and I appreciate that. However, I always like to leave an honest review.

If you have visited before when things were normal, please note that things are now very different. When we arrived we were told to download the app and scan the QR code as it is now table service. Instead of getting your own food you now order on the app and it is brought to your table. This system can work if implemented properly and I have had many good experiences with table service recently, but unfortunately it did not seem to work with a buffet.

When seated we ordered drinks and selected our food on the app, which is limited to 3 dishes per person at a time. This seemed reasonable at first, but the service was slow and the portion sizes were tiny. I had nearly finished my drink by the time our starters came which really takes away the experience of an all you can eat buffet. We was given some prawn crackers to snack on while we waited but they tasted quite old and stale. When our food finally came we were quite underwhelmed. Most of the best dishes had changed and and been replaced with meatball dishes, which is a much cheaper alternative to char siu, beef or chicken. We did however manage to try a chicken dish and the quality of the chicken was quite bad. In fact it did not taste like chicken and had a strange texture.

To top it off the desserts also tasted stale, slightly frozen and low quality. Comparible to party desserts you can buy in bulk from a wholesaler and again, the portion sizes were tiny. We had a slither of cheesecake, a few mini donuts served with ice cream from a tub (no ice cream machine). Such a shame, the ice cream machine used to be one of the best things about this place. One of the things I found quite shady is the price of the drinks. A few drinks on the app did not show the price and some drinks like kopparberg were missing. When asking how much kopparberg costs we was brought the drink first and told the price after.. which was £6 for a normal sized bottle. This is a ridiculous price and something you would expect when eating in London, not Bolton. Now I know why our drinks came quick and our food took a while.

Overall very disappointing, but on the plus side the staff were very friendly...

Visited yesterday with a friend and our children. Starting off wasn’t good as the staff said they were clearing a table for us it would be 10-15 minutes. After 20 minutes I asked when it would be ready and they said we’re only just doing it now after telling us they was clearing a table 20 minutes ago!!!! We waited around 40 minutes with 2 babies and three children who were hungry. Apparently it took so long because there was so many of us… only 2 adults and 3 children eating so I didn’t get that! Anyway we waited and finally got to our table. Personally I didn’t enjoy the robot service as I couldn’t pick the food I wanted myself. I specifically like all of the more crunchy pieces of duck or any food for that matter and was only able to get what I was given which was a little disappointing as that’s why I like going to a buffet(didn’t really feel like a buffet to me if it wasn’t self serving). Anyways, the robot itself was cute and enjoyable! Now we ordered quite a bit of food, the staff didn’t seem happy I’m guessing they expected us to barely eat as we are both 5ft4 9 stone girls… well let me tell you don’t judge a book by a cover cos we can EAT 🤷‍♀️ Hence why we went to a buffet not a set menu! The chef came out twice and just stood staring at our table. When we looked over he didn’t even hesitate to look away! A waitress and a the manager were clearly talking about us looking and pointing which made us feel so uncomfortable! (We ate almost everything we ordered apart from a rubbery steak and chicken which had breadcrumbs on the photo on the app but came without) so it’s not like we was just wasting loads of food. Plus the portions were teeny they wouldn’t have filled up a 1 year old. My daughter ordered cake and ice cream and ate it all then asked for more so I ordered her another piece of cake, she ate it all again and asked for another so I got her one. (We was eating out for tea and she ate a lot of food so why not treat her) a manager came over and said sarcastically “another piece of cake” like we was doing something wrong. Again making us feel uncomfortable. A minority of the food was delicious. The majority ok. For the price I would go again. With staff like that… I won’t be setting foot in the place again. Just...