COSMO All You Can Eat World Buffet Restaurant | Reading — Restaurant in Reading

REVIEW UPDATED FOR 2023 Still an incredibly positive experience! Myself and my partner went again recently (26/8/2023) and again had a wonderful time. My thoughts are still much the same as below - wonderful service, attentive hosts, great food and a lovely atmosphere. It is always packed when we come in, which is a testament to how fantastic it is! Definitely recommend if you are looking for an exciting dining experience.

Original review - visit 6/11/2022 Myself and my partner came to COSMO on the off chance on Sunday. We had to wait a little to be seated, but that was okay as we hadn't booked and the restaurant was very busy! When it came time to be seated, we were taken to our seat than none other than a robot - a very smart Spark EPoS 'Kettybot'. I had to laugh as I accidentally got in its way, and it told me to "get out of the way". Cute! I was also absolutely smitten with another robotic member of staff - another Spark EPoS bot, this one shaped slightly like a kitty cat! (Called a 'Bellabot')

A male server immediately tended to us and asked us what we'd like to drink. He was lovely. We then went to get some food, and my... what choice! There were more things to choose from than I could shake a stick at. All of the food I had was delicious and flavourful - I'll have to admit, even the things I didn't like so much (just personal preference) were very flavoursome. As for the food areas; everything was wonderfully clean and allergens clearly signposted. Food was clearly labelled, and again, there was so much choice!

The staff could be seen throughout the restaurant, tidying, cleaning spills immediately, tending to guests, and clearing plates away. I saw servers laughing and conversing with guests as they collected things from tables - it's lovely to see happy staff chatting with people. I was really impressed with the range of desserts too, and hey - there's a chocolate fountain!

Overall, it was a great experience and we will definitely be coming again. Thank you to all of the staff of COSMO, human and otherwise, for a...

I have been a regular customer of this restaurant chain for a long time, and I have always appreciated their food, especially early on they had offered a wide range of cuisines from different countries, cooked fresh and served hot. It had been a great place to try new dishes and flavours.

But yesterday I went there I was very disappointed. It was not the same restaurant that I used to enjoy.

First of all, the price had increased, but the quality and variety of the food had decreased. The food was bland, lacked imagination or creativity and was now repetitive. It lacked the freshness and diversity that I expected from this restaurant. The only thing that was good was the desserts, but they were not enough to compensate for the rest of the meal.

Secondly, they’ve put up these anti-covid screens, which are supposed to protect us from the virus, but they also protect us from the food. The lids of the trays were impossible to open and close, and the gap was so small, I could barely fit my hand through. It was like trying to get food from a vending machine, except with less time to grab your food before the lid of the warming tray shut on me!

Thirdly, the payment policy was unfair and illogical. We were asked to pay before we eat, while the customers who had booked ahead were charged after their meal. Are they saying that we are less trustworthy, or less civilised, because we didn’t book ahead?

Overall, I was not impressed with this visit, and I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon. I hope the restaurant can improve its service and food quality, and treat all its customers fairly and politely. This used to be one of my favourite places to eat, but now it has lost its appeal, and ironically my appetite for it has...

2022-08-19 edit: Don't really know what happened to this place. I had been going consistently every 6 months or so until COVID, then I returned yesterday for the first time since COVID and the quality of the food had noticeably declined. The variety of the food was the same, but the quality was worse. It went from being "above average takeaway food" to "below average takeaway food". Particularly for anything containing meat, there was more gristle, skin, etc than usual. Two members of our party reported undercooked (hard) rice, another reported an undercooked potato. A small amount of that stuff is fine and inevitable, but it becomes a problem when every member of our party commented on something, despite all of us choosing wildly different options (and also considering the price). That's a big enough sample size for me to believe it's an overarching quality issue, rather than a single batch having a problem. That said, it could have been a supply issue for that one day, so I'm giving Cosmo the benefit of the doubt and not reducing my rating too much. I'll return again eventually and increase/decrease my rating accordingly.

Just a side note, I did notice that there were fewer people in the kitchen than there were before COVID. I know there have been labour shortages, and I have experienced declines at other restaurants attributed to this reason. Perhaps I'm just imagining things, just wanted to say anyway.

Original 2017 review: Love this place, excellent quality food with an insane amount of variety and diversity. The atmosphere is also very pleasant and the...