Chinese all-u-can-eat in Dublin

Piliger

I have been a once a fortnight or so regular in Jimmy Chungs, beside O'Connell Street for a year now and leave it in brilliant humour every time. Great food, Huge choice, nice desserts. Great value and nice waitresses
I was telling a friend about this (as I have often done in the last few months) when he mentioned the Chief Changs Buffet on the top floor of the Stephens Green Shopping centre.
So this afternoon I was on the Green and didn't have time to get down to Chungs so I went in to try Changs.
WOW was I disappointed
Only one starter available. No desserts apparent.
I had chicken sweetcorn soup which was tasteless. And I know the difference between 'delicate' and 'tasteless'. Nevertheless I ploughed on - it wasn't a disaster.
I then went for rice with beef blackbean sauce and a chicken dish that I later realised has beef slices mixed in ... weird. I am not kidding when I say they both tasted EXACTLY the same ! i.e. no taste whatsoever!
Now over the last 25 years I have had a lot of chinese, here in Dublin, and abroad. I have NEVER experienced a tasteless black bean sauce. I don't know how they managed it. I was hungry so I ate 60% but I just got to point where I couldn't go any further and left. No desserts available (huh?)
I really am amazed. I wasn't surprised there were only about four people there at 4pm in the afternoon when in Jimmy Chungs there would be almost 100.

Anyone know any other good all-u-can-eats in Dublin

Slydice

hmmm, I've been to changs and experienced a similar disappointment.

chungs sounds much better from your post

latenia

Piliger wrote: »

Anyone know any other good all-u-can-eats in Dublin

If you're constipated I recommend any of the places downstairs in the mall on the corner of Moore St and Parnell St. An hour later you'll have 'complete evacuation' of your bowels.

Piliger

I wouldn't tar them all with one feather.

StanMcConnell

The Indian place in Moore Street Mall is actually really good.

The Chinese Buffet on Abbey Street is good (€6.80) but very basic on the desert front (cup cakes & fruit).

Chungs is good but maybe, a little over-priced.

Br4tPr1nc3

there is china kitchen in donnycarney.

its located on collins ave, across from kitty kernans pub.

I have to say I love the food. not a huge menu, about 6 or 7 staters and a few main courses.

10 euro. But really have to say the food is lovely!

Piliger

StanMcConnell wrote: »

The Indian place in Moore Street Mall is actually really good.

The Chinese Buffet on Abbey Street is good (€6.80) but very basic on the desert front (cup cakes & fruit).

Chungs is good but maybe, a little over-priced.

The selection of dishes in The Chinese Buffet is very small if I recall correctly from when I ate there a year ago. The price is excellent, however, though with such poor desserts and selection I would suggest that Chungs is well worth the extra. I am not flush these days but 9.90 is still a damned good price

Piliger

I first discovered all-u-can-eat places in the US when I was there on business in about 1993. It has taken an amazing amount of time to reach ireland but I guess it took a recession to make it attractive.

When I was in the US the best ones I ate at were European style ... with roast beef and other roasts, chicken, and a variety of other dishes. I also remember that one always had to pay on the way in, through a kind of turnstile system. I liked that a lot better than pay at the end.

Dub13

Br4tPr1nc3 wrote: »

there is china kitchen in donnycarney.

its located on collins ave, across from kitty kernans pub.

I have to say I love the food. not a huge menu, about 6 or 7 staters and a few main courses.

10 euro. But really have to say the food is lovely!

I would agree with this,I have been in a few times but the Mrs & my sisters are always in and they never have a bad word to say about it.

vard

You should have asked ol' Jimmy Chung to borrow his MSG.

Davy

I think there is one in Omni beside burger king, good or bad?

Dub13

Davy wrote: »

I think there is one in Omni beside burger king, good or bad?

Very bad according to a mate of mine.

Davy

Dub13 wrote: »

Very bad according to a mate of mine.

It doesn't really look great from the outside, but afaik its been their a good while so thought it might be alrite. Glad I never tried it now

Dub13

The main reason I like the one on collins ave is its not a buffet,you order and they cook it.It does slow the process down a small but but at least you are not eating food that was cooked hours ago.

Eggonyerface

Davy wrote: »

I think there is one in Omni beside burger king, good or bad?

Avoid! Better off doing the all you can eats in the jazz(coolock village) or china kitchen on collins avenue. Both are all you can eat,but food is cooked to order instead of plonked in a hot plate and shared with the whole place

Br4tPr1nc3

yeah ive heard nothing but bad things about the place in omni. never tried it because of that also.

Piliger

Dub13 wrote: »

The main reason I like the one on collins ave is its not a buffet,you order and they cook it.It does slow the process down a small but but at least you are not eating food that was cooked hours ago.

Meaning it is a run of the mill restaurant. I like the mix and match and whimsical nature of all-u-can-eats myself, unless I'm out with someone for a 'serious' meal.

Karen23

Davy wrote: »

I think there is one in Omni beside burger king, good or bad?

I never tried it cos I heard a bad review about it and there never seemed to many people in it but the last few times I've passed there it seemed much busier , I wonder did they make changes.

ixoy

StanMcConnell wrote: »

The Indian place in Moore Street Mall is actually really good.

I know this is a thread about Chinese restaurants but can I second "Spicy Bite" (in the Moore Street Mall) as an excellent value all-you-can-eat. Good range of food (half-vegetarian / half-meat).

Piliger

ixoy wrote: »

I know this is a thread about Chinese restaurants

I meant it as an all-u-can-eat thread :P

Eggonyerface

Piliger wrote: »

Dub13 wrote: »

The main reason I like the one on collins ave is its not a buffet,you order and they cook it.It does slow the process down a small but but at least you are not eating food that was cooked hours ago.

Meaning it is a run of the mill restaurant. I like the mix and match and whimsical nature of all-u-can-eats myself, unless I'm out with someone for a 'serious' meal.

It is all you can eat,but cooked to order, nothing to stop you ordering three starters and three mains at the same time if you wish....same price

wyndham

Anyone remember years ago when it was very expensive to go to a chinese restaurant in Ireland? Could be £30 or £40 a head just for the food, in punts.

stovelid

Great bunch of restaurants.

Piliger

Eggonyerface wrote: »

It is all you can eat,but cooked to order, nothing to stop you ordering three starters and three mains at the same time if you wish....same price

I do appreciate your point and I'm not meaning to be knocking but I find that style less than satisfying.

The great thing about all-u-can-eat places (I don't always eat in them ... just when I feel like it!) is that you can browse, and pick and mix at your leisure. I have eaten in the style you describe but it is formal and it's uncomfortable to keep asking for a bit of this and a bit of that ...

Piliger

wyndham wrote: »

Anyone remember years ago when it was very expensive to go to a chinese restaurant in Ireland? Could be £30 or £40 a head just for the food, in punts.

At least! Up until 2008 or so myself and my now ex used to take our young son out to a chinese in Shankill called Grace's Garden on the night of getting the Xmas tree. It was one of those rituals that made the whole thing special.

Now it was a VERY good chinese. Fabulous Chinese decor too. But we never dropped less than 80 or 100 quid there, with no wine !

We stopped in 2009 and they also happened to go way down hill since then. Food poor, staff poor and still have high prices. They don't even invest in a decent web site.

A couple of years later a Chinese called "Green Dragon Well" opened on the Killiney roundabout and though it is nothing to look at it is really nice and now has special lunch menus for 10 quid and a great early bird for about 15.

There's nothing like competition.

gurramok

There is a food hall off Liffey st catering for all sorts of foreign food. Its quite popular for the Chinese dishes.

spurious

The problem with all you can eat is the fact that the food is sitting around under lights. That's where the problems begin.

Jimmy Chungs is bearable because they are so busy, the food gets eaten before it has time to get really disgusting.

The one in Omni had a visit from inspectors and was shut for a little bit. It's back in operation now I think. In fairness, some of those closures are for storage and preparation practices that happen in people's own kitchens everyday - they just don't allow them in commercial kitchens. I don't know on what basis it was closed.

Piliger

Almost all health based closures happen because of kitchen problem. Not because of food display issues. They would want to have the food uneaten for a second day to cause issues to worry about.
However the food does dry out and look and taste pretty poor if it is left out too long I agree. The solution is to go to reasonably busy places. The only place I recall seeing that was regularly almost empty was the place on Capel street (I think it was asian). You are right about Chungs. The food there moves too fast to sit around for more than an hour.

shanered

Should check out the Mongolian Barbaque in temple bar!
All you can eat and its fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You make your own dishes, hope you try it, its possibly my favorite place in town, does lunch for €5 too!

psychward

The problem I've had with all you can eat food when I've trued it before is anywhere I have been it seems to be soaked in oil or something greasy that bulks it out in your stomach hence you get full or sick of the food pretty quickly.

Piliger

shanered wrote: »

Should check out the Mongolian Barbaque in temple bar!
All you can eat and its fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You make your own dishes, hope you try it, its possibly my favorite place in town, does lunch for €5 too!

Wow interesting. What is Mongolian food ? :eek:

psychward wrote: »

The problem I've had with all you can eat food when I've trued it before is anywhere I have been it seems to be soaked in oil or something greasy that bulks it out in your stomach hence you get full or sick of the food pretty quickly.

I've been in a few poor ones but never ever that bad. One good reason for this thread I guess :-)

ixoy

Piliger wrote: »

Wow interesting. What is Mongolian food ? :eek:

It's whatever you want it to be

I've been there loads of times and really like it. It's a bit like a buffet in some ways. You grab a bowl and add to it a selection of (raw) meats: chicken, lamb, and pork last time I was there. To the same bowl you add from a selection of vegetables (brocolli, sweet corn, kidney beans, etc). Add as much or as little as you like.

Once you've got these ingredients you can add a selection of spices - again entirely your choice. There's the hotter spices like cayenne pepper, paprika, chilli powder as well as the flavouring types like oregano, garlic, ginger, etc.
The combination of spices is entirely your call - there's a few recommended mixes there if you want to use them. I never bother.

After that you can add from a selection of 10 sauces, such as lemon& herb sauce, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce. Pour it over the bowl that contains the meat, vegetables and spices. I reckon it's good to use a fair bit of sauce to ensure it soaks into the dish.

Finally, you take the bowl to the waiting cook. This is the Mongolian element - they cook it in front of you on a large open heated flat stone (least I think it's stone). They use giant sticks to move the ingredients around. Generally they're cooking a few dishes at once, side by side but there's never any crossover with someone else's meal.
As the portions of meat are finely cut, it doesn't take too long to cook. Once it is cooked they scoop the finished product back into a bowl and hand it back to you. You take it back to your table where there will be a bowl of rice waiting for you (they'll replenish this bowl of rice as much as is required).

With the all-you-can-eat you can go up as often as you wish. I'd advise then to make small dishes. It's tempting to pile on the ingredients but if you get a wrong mix of spices/sauces, it mightn't be the best. Sample the various combinations.

Very good value - I'd recommend trying it out.

shanered

Its amazing, and I'm chuffed you did the explaining for me!

Piliger

I don't want to appear ungrateful I guess I am a bit on the lazy side when it comes to food, but all that trouble doesn't appeal to me much ...:rolleyes:
I want to browse ready made stuff where I can test and taste a variety as I go. ThoughI can certainly see the attraction for some people.

Gin Fizz

The Mongolian sounds good. I have been to an all you can eat Chinese before but avoided the rice as much as possible and went with the meat dishes.

Piliger

Just an update.

Due to pure laziness I popped in to the Chang all you can eat on the top floor in Stephens Green Shopping Centre at 2.10pm today to see if they had improved ANYthing about the place, rather than walk all the way to O'Connell Street.

Wow ...so so poor

Arriving at 2.10pm there was clearly no lunch trade, as there were only 4 people there and no evidence of anyone else having been there and just left.

The chicken sweetcorn soup was luke warm. The prawn crackers were so leathery I had trouble biting through one and couldn't swallow it.

The pork cuts were luke warm also.

Then I had a blackbean dish and a chicken dish. As I reported earlier in this thread they both tasted almost the same ! tasteless ! So no change in months. No improvement.

The tables are so grotty and rank that I felt uncomfortable sitting at them.

The contrast with Jimmy Chung's off O'Connell Street is night and day. The number of choices is limited to about two or three main dishes, no desserts, one start.

I really do not understand how they can afford to stay in business.

Degsy

Mongolian bbq is hugely overpriced,always full and very likely to give you a dose of teh trots..the food is cooked in such a hurry its often not done properly.

Eggonyerface

Me so horny

youcancallmeal

Degsy wrote: »

Mongolian bbq is hugely overpriced,always full and very likely to give you a dose of teh trots..the food is cooked in such a hurry its often not done properly.

I went once on Friday night, it wasn't that busy, I enjoyed the combinations I came up with and I didn't get teh trots. That was a few years ago, maybe its changed since then?

Esoteric_

Degsy wrote: »

Mongolian bbq is hugely overpriced,always full and very likely to give you a dose of teh trots..the food is cooked in such a hurry its often not done properly.

Overpriced? It's a fiver for a bowl at lunchtime, or 10 for all you can eat, and 16 for all you can eat in the evenings. When you can get a big, healthy lunch cheaper than a McDonald's, I don't see how you can call it overpriced.

Also, I've never gotten the 'trots' from the food there, and my food is generally covered in chilli powder and flakes and madras spices. Never had the food given to me undercooked either, and I eat there regularly.

CeluiDuDehors

ixoy wrote: »

It's whatever you want it to be

I've been there loads of times and really like it. It's a bit like a buffet in some ways. You grab a bowl and add to it a selection of (raw) meats: chicken, lamb, and pork last time I was there. To the same bowl you add from a selection of vegetables (brocolli, sweet corn, kidney beans, etc). Add as much or as little as you like.

Once you've got these ingredients you can add a selection of spices - again entirely your choice. There's the hotter spices like cayenne pepper, paprika, chilli powder as well as the flavouring types like oregano, garlic, ginger, etc.
The combination of spices is entirely your call - there's a few recommended mixes there if you want to use them. I never bother.

After that you can add from a selection of 10 sauces, such as lemon& herb sauce, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce. Pour it over the bowl that contains the meat, vegetables and spices. I reckon it's good to use a fair bit of sauce to ensure it soaks into the dish.

Finally, you take the bowl to the waiting cook. This is the Mongolian element - they cook it in front of you on a large open heated flat stone (least I think it's stone). They use giant sticks to move the ingredients around. Generally they're cooking a few dishes at once, side by side but there's never any crossover with someone else's meal.
As the portions of meat are finely cut, it doesn't take too long to cook. Once it is cooked they scoop the finished product back into a bowl and hand it back to you. You take it back to your table where there will be a bowl of rice waiting for you (they'll replenish this bowl of rice as much as is required).

With the all-you-can-eat you can go up as often as you wish. I'd advise then to make small dishes. It's tempting to pile on the ingredients but if you get a wrong mix of spices/sauces, it mightn't be the best. Sample the various combinations.

Very good value - I'd recommend trying it out.

:eek: I always wondered how that place was, it cannot even be called a restaurant at this stage, let the customer pick the ingredients and just heat it all on a hot stone, terrible idea! Do they have a menu of some sort or is it just that horrible concept?

Slydice

Just happens that I saw this review of a Chinese buffet on Moore St recently:

Esoteric_

Slydice wrote: »

Just happens that I saw this review of a Chinese buffet on Moore St recently:

Myself and my friends thought the food there was disgusting tbh.

griffdaddy

CeluiDuDehors wrote: »

:eek: I always wondered how that place was, it cannot even be called a restaurant at this stage, let the customer pick the ingredients and just heat it all on a hot stone, terrible idea! Do they have a menu of some sort or is it just that horrible concept?

The customer doesn't cook the ingredients and heat them on a hot stone, they hand them to the chef who cooks the on a big grill thing. I've never had my food undercooked and it's always delicious. Never had the trots or anything either. It's in no way overpriced either. The €5 euro lunch deal is probably the best lunch option in Dublin if you're looking for something like that

Degsy

[QUOTE=griffdaddy;80035210The €5 euro lunch deal is probably the best lunch option in Dublin if you're looking for something like that[/QUOTE]


No it isnbt,you get a tiny bowl with a miniscule helping of meat plus some soggy vegetables.

if you want a good 5 euro lunch deal the Temple Bar Hotel does a daily special for the same amount.

griffdaddy

Degsy wrote: »

No it isnbt,you get a tiny bowl with a miniscule helping of meat plus some soggy vegetables.

if you want a good 5 euro lunch deal the Temple Bar Hotel does a daily special for the same amount.

Different strokes for different folks then I guess. It's always jammed at lunch time so clearly a lot of people like it. It's hardly a minuscule helping either. You can fill your bowl up with vegetables and noodles as high as you want, they're never soggy either. I always find the portions of meat are enough, but some of them do seem to be bigger than others. You also get unlimited rice as well. Did you have a bad experience there or something? When did you go? I've only been going in the last year or so, so they might've improved since you were there or something

Piliger

LyndaMcL wrote: »

Overpriced? It's a fiver for a bowl at lunchtime, or 10 for all you can eat, and 16 for all you can eat in the evenings. When you can get a big, healthy lunch cheaper than a McDonald's, I don't see how you can call it overpriced.

Also, I've never gotten the 'trots' from the food there, and my food is generally covered in chilli powder and flakes and madras spices. Never had the food given to me undercooked either, and I eat there regularly.

I know several people who love it. It's full because it's so popular.
Comparing it with a normal restaurant is just silly. It's about the experience.