Cuisine - Chinese
Price Range - Medium - The buffet has two set prices depending on what time of the day you eat. Evening buffet starts at 17:00 every night and is £13.99 for Adults and rightly priced lower at £6.99 for under 10's. Lunch time is slightly lower for both at £6.50 for Adults and only £3.99 for under 10's. Drinks are reasonably cheap for a restaurant at £3.60 for a pint of beer and £2.50 for a pint of soft drink.
Service - 5/10 - As it was an all you can eat buffet, the service was almost non exsistent however when they did actually use customer service skills it wasn't ideal. For example on entrance you had to wait in a takeaway like cue to go up and pay for your buffet, then move to the next counter to pay for drinks, then you could go to your table and take a seat. Also staff seemed to lurk around tables, hovering, as though they were watching you eat; which was sometimes off putting if you caught a glimpse of them. Not only that but as soon as you put your fork down to show you were finished with you're plate they would whisk it off the table before you could bat an eyelid. One thing I would say was happy with was the fact they made one of our party a vegetarian omelette, however she couldn't choose what she wanted in it which was again disappointing.
Atmosphere - 6.5/10 - Within the Riverbank there was a slight excitable vibe about the place; perhaps it was people pondering the thought of all you can eat in their heads or just the business of the establishment. However but like I said in service, I felt watched and also rushed. As they were taking the plates away so fast and looming around the tables it made me feel rather unwelcome, as though they didn't want us there, so they could get another group on our table. The place seems very money orientated and customers come second to cash it would seem.
Decor/Theme - 7/10 - One of the better points about Riverbank, the theme and decor had a great pattern and sustained authenticity, remaining uncluttered. The tables were set out neatly around the restaurant with easy access to the buffet stations which were nicely situated in the middle, not only that but chairs and tables matched which is a basic yet important point. Use of authentic Chinese lanterns and beautiful photography of oriental flowers were a nice touch along with the traditional teppanyaki kitchen. The buffet section was big and easy to move around as the stations were clearly marked with 'starter', 'main', 'desert' and 'teppanyaki', however sometimes you would bump into other people as there was no clear way to go round it i.e. Clock wise or counter clockwise. Finally a low point was the fact they used pop music as a background sound, to gain more of a Chinese feel I thought this should be exchanged for some relaxing Asian instrumentals as pop music doesn't fit the atmosphere at all.
Presentation - 6/10 - With the restaurant being a buffet the presentation is kind of what you make it, so either pile it up making it messy or be neat, nicely placing it. All the food you can either put in small bowls or on large plates as these are the options you are given, after selecting one you then collect whatever you like from the buffet area. Food in the buffet stations isn't presented greatly as each station has large rectangle gastronomes which contain different types of Chinese dishes, some of which looked extremely appetising like the lemon chicken and noodles but some of which looked very off putting and unappetising like the squid and also the beef curry. The desert station seemed to draw the eye of most of our party as donuts, cake and fruit was pilled up in mountain like structures.
Food/Value For Money - 7/10 - With such a variety at hand this is a foodies dream as you get the opportunity to pick and try at various types of Chinese dishes. The variety ranged from deep fried claw, sweet and sour king prawns, lemon chicken, crispy duck and many, many more. Anybody who visits I recommend trying a small piece of everything and being open minded as it's a great oppurtunity to be brave with what you're eating. The flavours of some of the food was slightly off though as it had a dry taste and texture, I felt this was due to the fact that it had sat under heaters to keep it warm, for example the duck was dry and almost flavourless. Also another big factor I was dubious about was when I cut a piece of fried chicken as the centre possesed a slightly pink colour, this somewhat scared me, making me leave the rest of the chicken. Food I would recommend you try when going here would definitely be the sweet and sour prawns, deep fried claw and of course my favourite the noodles. If you want to get your money's worth here and make the food worth it's value I'd say go hungry as you can then have a great fill up on three courses, getting your £13.99's worth.
Overall - 6/10 - A very disappointing visit overall, this restaurant needs much improvement in my eyes to become a decent, recommended eatery. The staff, atmosphere and the quality of food cooking are the areas that are essential and really need to be improved as you get the feeling they are just trying to pump customers in and out as fast as possible to get money. Customer service should be improved greatly however it's not the worst I've ever seen, along with checking meat to see if it's cooked as it's so important to get this right. The establishment has so much potential to be something great as they offer unique Chinese dishes and traditional cooking styles that aren't used anywhere else and not only that but it's at an all you can eat offer. If you were to go to the riverbank I'd say go at a lunch time when the price is much cheaper and the restaurant is less busy, this giving you the oppurtunity to chill out and try everything at your own pace. Finally I'd like to leave you with piece of advice if you were to eat here... go hungry.
P.S. No picture this time due to my phone running out of battery.
http://riverbanknorwich.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment