Spoon World Buffet & Bar — Restaurant in Portsmouth

This was our first ever visit to an all you can eat place, and honestly, we were somewhat disappointed.

The page promises a variety of food. As per their Facebook page - "Chinese, Indian, Sushi, Teppanyaki, Roast Grill, Dim Sum, Pasta/Pizza and a wide range of deserts/pancakes".

Now, unless we are the unluckiest people on the planet, the above is a big fat lie. When we went, there was about half the selection of Chinese (the other half of the station although labelled as Chinese, were empty), There were maybe 5 Indian things, the Sushi consisted of nothing but crab rolls and mixed vegetable rolls, neither of which scream "Sushi belt", the Teppanyaki was missing, the Roast/Grill also missing, No Dim Sum in sight, no pasta - only 2 pizzas of a very questionable taste.

As for the deserts, it was mostly cubes of jelly of different flavours and some piece of coconut sponge, 4 flavours or really bad quality ice cream. The pancakes were alright, basically just crepes with a few sauce options and some fruit options (cheap fruit like canned pineapple and apples etc, we're not talking strawberries and blueberries). There were 2 chocolate fountain stations... empty. Which was disappointing because I'd have really liked to try that.

Of course you don't expect fireworks for a small amount of money but what was actually on offer I don't think deserves the title of "World Buffet". It was basically Chinese with the tiniest excuse for anything else, with half the promised things missing and half the stations dark and empty.

The layout of the place is also clearly just made to maximise profit, with tables shoved really close together and people being cluster-seated even though half of the dining area was empty. The toilets themselves were clean however the floor in the toilet area was literally so sticky my shoe soles were making that sticky sound for a good 5 minutes after I'd already left.

So yes, if you are really hungry and on a budget and just wanna stuff your face with lots of Chinese food then go for it. It was decent enough. But if you're expecting an interesting intercontinental dining experience as promised by their advertising, then take your...

In Summary this was the worst buffet I have been to in my life.

It was priced fairly and is following a similar price scheme to Cosmo and JRC Buffets. The drinks were also well priced at around £2.50 for the unlimited coke. This was really the only positive thing stopping me giving this review 1 star.

Overall the food selection was average, with lots of the food running out very quickly and lots of the food trays being empty and not being refilled. Most of the food was warm or tepid nothing being hot. The curry selection was average and many had a poor taste and relied on spice to drown out the bad flavour. The Chinese was nothing special and was your usual items, most being done poorly. The Italian food was sad and really bland with much of the food being very oily especially the pasta dishes. There were more sections but these were the only ones I tried as I tend to stay away Sushi and Fish at buffets.

Desserts again were very poor and boring, nothing attractive the pancakes which were the highlight somehow we made to be chewy which I have never experienced before. The chocolate fountain was very watery but wasn't too bad. The ice-cream was very cheap and had virtually no taste along with most of the desserts either being dry cake or really wet custard based dishes.

The staff were average, none were overly friendly and the manager or guy in the suit seemed more interested about forcing people to get in and pay.

Overall the restaurant needs better managing as I still believe it could have some teething issues related to it being new, but seeing as this brand is not new I would expect it to be near to perfect out the door as they have experience doing this. However even with a better managerial style they need to up the food and make it tasty and warm, along with stocking up the dishes. The seating area is cramped and tables are very close together which can make it awkward manoeuvring at times around the place.

I currently wouldn't recommend this place really ever as there are many much better buffets around such as Cosmo or JRC which tend to be much better and similar priced. However this place may be far superior in a...

So to start off with, got charged £5 for parking for 1 hour. 5 pounds! And as you can see by the map, huge car parking and including me, only 4 cars. They have an ANPR scanner for your numberplate yet it couldn't find any of our vehicles so all of us strangers had to work together to battle the machine. Once your in, me and 2 mates, we explain, they want to eat, i just want to have some drinks, they pay and then, only then, they said i cannot go in! I said why not? They said i haven't paid, i said i just wanted drinks! (You have to purchase drinks individually in the bar upstairs) and they refused entry and refused my friends refunds, so i ended up paying and eating. BIG mistake, food was awful, my friends had been there now 5 times and has said its not got any better, if anything been getting worse. Why? Well for the last two days, been having the worst upset stomach in a long while, all i had was ribs! How can i get this sick from ribs! A bottle of coke was £3. The bathroom was awful, Shared male and female washing room with individual cubicles, so if you had...dirty... hands you can to open and close 2 doors before you got to the shared sinks... my plates were taken away from my table quicker than i could actually finish them! Want to get a drink? Wellll your plate will be gone when your back! Even if it's full! Partially rude, controlling staff, cba attitude, treating the place like you've walked into a prison, over charging, food that makes you (and my mates) sick, my friends have been there many times and it's the same. DO NOT go here. If you want this style, go to cosmos in Southampton, further away, more busy, but it's cheaper, better quality, nicer staff and overall, won't make you unwell! Really big...