Papa Panda — Restaurant in Ipswich

Well, I've no idea why it's taken me so long to get round to trying this restaurant, especially as it's "All you can eat", I think it might have been the odd review about the staff and service, but I have to say, in all honesty, I found the opposite to be the case. Very friendly, understanding, accommodating and sociable staff, letting you get on with your meal and just checking in with you every now and then.

They provide masks and gloves for everyone to wear just while you're up getting food, which is understandable, and which was very tasty, there was a good presentation of the classics and a few more thrown in, with dessert options too.

Also the food here was hot, unlike another all you can eat site with various cuisines located the other end of town, it was fresher too and didn't taste like bland mass produced frozen stuff, whether it was or not I couldn't tell, it was that tasty.

This has now become my number 1 go to place for food when I'm in Ipswich.

Some of the not so great reviews I gather were from a weekend or 2 when it was crazy busy, and to be honest, I can see why it would be that busy, my visit was on a Tuesday afternoon, it had a nice ambience, lots of room, good staff, good food, good location and good options. for me, on this my first visit, I was honestly expecting out of 10, go be giving it a 3 or 4, but after my experience, I'm happy to be giving it a solid 8 out of 10.

I would have like to have seen slightly bigger plates, just a few more options for dessert, and have normal spoons as an option, rather than just teaspoons or soup spoons, but to be fair, that's the same at the...

Worse place I’ve ever been to!!! Only come here because the place we wanted to go to was closed until later on and we wanted lunch , thought the place looked nice , until I walked around for ages trying to find nice food 🤣, # there was none, there was three family’s in there including me and my lot , and was all seated next to eachother , even though there’s Probably 50 more seats ,the food wasn’t even nice all I had was chips and curry samosas , and curry sauce because there was nothing else that looked nice or smelt nice , the sauces looked absolutely disgusting , and was thicon top and had lumps. There was egg in a pot that looked like sick and was very dry. People sneezing over food , no one watched the buffet area all to busy wanting you to hurry and give them money . The staff watch you eat very closely and watch your plate and as soon as you take your last mouthful the plate gets taken , when I went up to get my first plate there was dirty dishes , didn’t feel comfortable eating as I already have anxiety about eating infront of people but being watched was even worse , there’s cameras in ever corner and ever inch of the place , which doesn’t quite make sense , and for 4 people and 4 drinks it was way over what I thought .

After I got in the car I felt sick to my stomach and fell asleep , felt like poop, got home and tried to call abck to sleep but had to run to the toilet . Still hours later I feel sick to my stomach and can’t keep anything down . Hands down the worst place I’ve ever been to .

Sticking with...

Tried here for the first time before seeing a show at the Ipswich Regent Theatre which is just across the road.

We booked ahead for a table of 5 but there was plenty of room. The restaurant is quite open with ample space between the tables which makes for a better eating experience without going elbow to elbow with the table beside you.

There was plenty of choice when it came to the buffet, they kindly ask through signage that you don't overfill your plate due to waste but otherwise if you know you can eat it then you have the option to revisit and try to fit as many dishes in before your stomach calls a day on it.

Majority of dishes provided were under their own individual cover which I quite liked to see, kept the food warm and prevent contamination from it's neighbouring dish. Vegetarian options available and my partner who is vegetarian stated they were happy with the choice on offer.

We all said that everything we tried was nice, there were no dishes that we wouldn't try again. I enjoyed the butter fried prawns and went back for seconds, possibly thirds. Everything was hot, not greasy or dry and restocked in good time.

I did make space for dessert and again there were plenty of options.

The staff were very friendly and attentive for a eating style where you serve yourself they would take plates and cutlery away quickly but with a smile.

I thought it was reasonably priced and an idea location if you are visiting the theatre or just in...