Buffet restaurants in Europe
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A
Dream House
Although not the easiest place to find – look for the door on the left inside the small shopping arcade and climb the stairs – this vegetarian restaurant is well worth seeking out. The menu includes dishes such as grilled tofu, algae soup and various stir-fries. There’s an all-you-can-eat buffet on Sundays (5 lv) and beer and wine are available.
reviewed
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Stadtkrug Hallein
Tables fill quickly during the midday rush at this bustling, wood-beamed restaurant in the centre. If it’s warm, pull up a chair beside the trickling fountain on the square to refuel with an enormous schnitzel or plate of goulash.
reviewed
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B
Krua Siam
Eating Thai noodles while staring out into a blizzard can be a bit strange, but Krua Siam does a darn good job of transporting tastebuds to the Land of Smiles, despite being a mere 40km from the Arctic Circle.
reviewed
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C
Vox
The Hilton’s five-star restaurant serves up superb seasonal dishes – think pink-footed goose with caramelised apples – and there’s usually a vegie option. The waiters sometimes bring out extra little treats for you to try – for example, their amazing ‘invisible gazpacho’! The daytime bistro puts on a recommended Sunday-brunch hot buffet (Ikr2850/1425 for adults/children six to 12 years) – gorge on fruit, bread, prawns (shrimps), bacon, eggs, sausage and pancakes until you burst.
reviewed
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D
Zé Carioca
Set in a series of colourfully decorated rooms in a handsome old town house, this Brazilian eatery is both relaxed and elegant. The grilled meats, moqueca de camarão (shrimp stewed with coconut milk, tomatoes and cilantro) and caipirinhas are all superb. The weekday per-kilo lunch buffet is a good deal, as is the rodizio de carnes on Sunday afternoon (€11.90 for all the meat you can eat and still waddle home).
reviewed
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E
Chess Cafe
The table reserved for chess players at the back of this buzzing wok eatery provided the restaurant's name. It's located in an old grain silo in a semi-industrial and somewhat unloved part of town, about 1km from the Grote Markt. Wok à volonté - pick your ingredients from the self-service buffet bar and watch the team sizzle and spice your meal with beer-laced sauces.
reviewed
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F
University Café
This old-world café with beautiful wooden floors and an outdoor patio is one of the gems of Tartu. Palm trees, high ceilings and black-and-white photographs give a colonial charm to the upstairs airy space. Buffet meals are charged by the kilo. Downstairs there's a simpler buffet (decent breakfasts), also with outdoor patio, that makes a good spot for coffee or a quick meal.
reviewed
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G
Pizza Margherita
It might look like a bland canteen but this is one of Salerno’s favourite lunch spots. On any given day, the lavish lunchtime buffet might include mozzarella, mussels in various guises, and a range of salads. The daily lunchtime menu (pasta, main course, salad and half a litre of water) is chalked up on a blackboard, and there’s also the regular menu of pizzas, pastas and mains.
reviewed
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H
Den Grimme Ælling
A charming restaurant in a cobbled lane, The Ugly Duckling specialises in varied high-quality buffets. One area is set aside for cold ingredients – a rainbow of new potatoes, herring, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, sweet corn, pickled red cabbage and the like. Hot-plate items include fried plaice, succulent lumps of beef and plenty of sauces and gravies.
reviewed
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I
Seglis
On Vaskiluoto, and part of the local sailing club, this is a stylish but surprisingly reasonably priced restaurant. It has a terrace overlooking the marina and features dishes such as whitefish fillet in lobster sauce, and chicken in cola sauce. There's plenty of value in the steaks, and there's also a decent lunch buffet and plenty of children's choices.
reviewed
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J
Due Giganti
It sounds like an oxymoron, but it isn’t. At last, a ‘fast-food’ restaurant that’s tasty and not conducive to heart attacks. American-style fast-food franchisers would do well to send their researchers to Due Giganti to sample the fresh pizzas, buffet salads and regularly topped-up pastas. A height measure invites children under 1m tall to eat for free.
reviewed
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K
Naturist Club - l'Isola
In attic-like, wood-lined rooms, this self-service vegetarian restaurant has a rustic feel and serves a variety of tasty salads and pasta dishes, including vegan options and some fresh fish. The food is good and the setting intimate - a world away from the street below. Reservations are requested for the evening. Nudity not necessary.
reviewed
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L
East Buffet
The key word here is `buffet', as in unlimited. For around Rbl450 (around Rbl550 after 18:00), you are invited to help yourself to all-you-can-eat sweet-and-sour pork, cashew chicken and shrimp tempura. Then you are invited to go back and do it again. The selection is vast, including enough greenery to sate vegetarians.
reviewed
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M
Picnic
In business for nearly half a century, Picnic has a wide-ranging menu of traditional favourites like salsiccia fagioli con polenta (sausage with beans and polenta), supplemented with whatever’s freshest from the market – grilled fish of the day, for example, or local strawberries with whipped cream.
reviewed
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N
Fresc Co
If you just can’t face deciphering another Spanish menu or are in dire need of a do-it-yourself salad, Fresc Co is a fresh, well-priced, all-you-can eat antidote. An extensive buffet of salads, soups, pasta and pizza is on offer, and the price includes a drink. Queues often form out the door at lunchtime.
reviewed
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O
Café Lasipalatsi
The warm interior is popular year-round with lunching city suits, while the terrace throngs during after-work drinks. The ravintola (restaurant) upstairs is plusher, but stick to the lower deck for the best value, including the popular lunch special that runs to pasta and soups with great breads.
reviewed
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Vinzenzmurr
Throughout the city, branches of Vinzenzmurr offer the quintessential fast-food experience, with favourites like Weisswurst, Leberkäse im Semmel (spicy meatloaf in a bun) or Schweinebraten mit Knödel (roast pork with dumplings) among the best lunch deals in town.
reviewed
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P
Fiskekyrkan
In an old warehouse at the south harbour, Fiskekyrkan has live music Wednesday to Saturday, plus an affordable lunch buffet (around Skr70) and a range of meals on offer, from fast food (kebabs and pizzas) to more ‘gourmet’ offerings. This is a very popular late-night drinking spot.
reviewed
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Q
Drova in Chistye Prudy
The self-serve buffet ranges from solyanka (salty soup) to sushi to sweet-and-sour pork. It's not the best place to sample any of these items, but the price is right. Hungry student types really take advantage of the `all-you-can-eat' option: it's not always pretty.
reviewed
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R
Drova in City Centre
The self-serve buffet ranges from solyanka (salty soup) to sushi to sweet-and-sour pork. It's not the best place to sample any of these items, but the price is right. Hungry student types really take advantage of the `all-you-can-eat' option: it's not always pretty.
reviewed
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Timbaali
Slow food doesn’t get any slower than snails and they’re best slurped up on a sunny day in the courtyard of this Porvoo legend. Try the escargots with duck-liver butter for a real treat, though they do nongastropod dishes including a reindeer pizza or wild boar fillet.
reviewed
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S
ÅSS Paviljong
Don't worry about the acronym: this boat-owners' favourite is the oldest restaurant in town, and also one of the most atmospheric. It's in a lovely old wooden building on the water's edge. The speciality is seafood and the set lunch buffet is good value.
reviewed
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T
Blå
This is a large, shiny, trendy place, with a nightly all-you-can-eat Thai buffet in winter and a regular menu of fashionable fare like risotto, gnocchi and baked salmon. Unsurprisingly, Blå turns into a nightclub as the evening progresses.
reviewed
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U
Ristorante Self-Service Leonardo
It's got all the atmosphere of a factory canteen - offset by the chatty old gents who run it - but this large, overly bright self-service joint will do for an uncomplicated feast of salads, fruits and hot dishes courtesy of bain marie.
reviewed
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V
Svarte Rudolf
The best of the floating restaurants moored on the south side of the Aurajoki, this place does Italian with a leaning towards seafood. While long summer evenings invite top-deck drinking, the downstairs dining room is an elegant alternative.
reviewed
