Reviews for Buffet King

by kristiana t.
17th May 2012

Buffet King is so yummy. Have been there a few times for lunch and dinner , mmm , mmm . Must be a very good place with high food standards and wonderful customer service , I say this because I’ve rang a few times to make reservations and they are always fully booked out , love the food and the people keep up the good work .

by Kristina C.
17th May 2012

We loved was very filling, planing on taking family and friends back soon

by Phil
3rd May 2012

A great place to go with young kids, plenty of choice and great quality. try the butter chicken it is great.

by Tamaitia P.
22nd March 2012

I thoroughly enjoy the service here at buffet king. The staff are very welcoming and polite. They always check to see if we are okay or need anything else such as refills in drinks. The food is delicious and the service is great. I like the option that they give us in choosing where we would like to sit. The management service is great as well. I would visit this place again. Recommend it to all viewers and to those who want to know where a great place is to dine at with a friendly service. Well done Buffet King you are doing a great job in serving your customers.

by Kerry D.
8th March 2012

Tried out Buffet King for lunch today. Manger explained how the restaurant operates, pointed out servery areas ,toilets etc showed me to my table and was very pleasant. Tried a bit of everything that was on offer, have no complaints, the butter chicken was especially yummy. 3x helpings plus 2x pudding+ a large glass of chilled tomato juice It was a bit of an effort to get to the car Total cost $20.00 these guys are a real good deal will be calling back soon!

by Waiata
26th January 2012

Spacious, Clean, Fantastic service, Waiters, Chef and Bar, Fantastic Food and Food Choices, couldnt ask for more. Not going anywhere else anymore…..all 6 of us thoroughly enjoyed our meals! the chowder was my favourite….yum…keep it up Buffet King!

by KittyKate
22nd January 2012

We ate at Buffet King to celebrate my daughter and Hubby’s very late birthday in November 2011. We were surprised of how amazingly good the foods were. I’m a huge fan of their salads, for I am on a diet. I have tried everything and everything is just tasty and perfect for my taste buds. My kids enjoyed the roasted ham and the desserts. Pavlova with Kiwi on top is nice! It was worth the money. We had coffee after lunch, and we got free bags too. Our only negative comment to say is that, the glass that they gave us were not washed properly. But other than that, Buffet King is a great place to have big good meals.

by niao
15th December 2011

I dined here based on reviews from this site.
And I think these reviews have been forged by the Management/Directors of this Establishment.

Everything was utterly appalling!

My Mother & I went for Lunch today.
1st thing we noticed was all cutlery weren’t polished. The Female Staff member unprofessionally told us to sit at any 2 seat table & she’d be back to take our drink orders.
The tables weren’t wiped properly & our glasses had finger prints on them.
10 minutes after we began eating the Woman still hadn’t taken our drink order because she was still gas bagging to the other Waitress & that annoyed me so I went up & asked for a jug of water as I didn’t want to spend due to the crap service.
Everything we ate was disgusting & over spicy. My 1st marinated Mussel had a crab in it, by the time I got to the 3rd one it was so spicy I pushed the rest away. My mother ate the rest as we saw a sign that if anything goes to waste we may have to pay extra.
The Ham was so salty. The Potato in cheese sauce was disgusting as I make my own & it tastes much better.
How can you make surimi & mayo so hot & curry like??? Not all of us can handle eating curried everything!
Our plates hadn’t been cleared & because I still saw the staff standing around gas bagging I placed them on the next table. When I complained to the Waitress about the crab in my Mussell she said “it’s okay that’s normal”.
Working in Hospitality for 7 years I knew it wasn’t right & instantly corrected her (which amused my Mother).
Still hungry but disgusted by the food, cleanliness & service we decided to pay & leave.

Upon paying the Supervisor asked how Lunch was. I said I was appalled that the food was too spicy & had too much curry in it – instead of trying to fix it she said “Oh” and smiled before asking if I wanted a free grocery bag!

Valentines deserves 10 stars after dining here.
This is the worst Restaurant I have eaten in, $16 is not even worth it!
Never again will I be dining here & I will make sure I inform everyone I know.

In response to the Manager

Firstly, for a Restaurant not wanting to polish their Cutlery is pure laziness.
I’ve never dined anywhere with unpolished Cutlery & haven’t heard any Restaurant say its not practical. We get slammed, many other Restaurants get slammed yet I’ve never seen any Restaurant with unpolished Cutlery.
There’s a reason every Restaurant/Cafe (except yours) polishes their silverware, can you tell me what that reason is?
Thanks for the sarcasm concerning the Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce. I always order Sweet Chilli or Thai green curry Mussels if its available- hell I get the Chefs at work to make it for me every time its on the Menu & at home. I know what its supposed to taste like so when I say your Mussels are over spiced then they are over spiced.
Please remember – We all don’t eat curried or spicy everything – So please cater to everyone.
So you have an A grade, that doesn’t justify the uncleanliness the day my Mother & I dined.
Also upon talking about my experience to my Cousins they informed me they also dined at your Restaurant & were appalled with the taste.
They didn’t eat everything on their plates & informed the Waiter that they were not going to & they wouldn’t pay extra for not doing so as the food was yuck & they didn’t go to be forced to eat food they didn’t like – I wish I had done the same!

Lastly, I will go into detail about being greeted from your Waitress. What I was disappointed in was her lack of Professionalism & Customer Service.
Tell me is this how you expect your Staff to greet your Guests? After I explain about how she greeted me I will give you an example of how I serve my Guests.

BK Waitress: Hello.
Me: Hi can I have a table for 2 please?
BK Waitress: Yes, sit here.
Me: Can I sit there?
BK Waitress: Only at a table with 2 seats, not at any other table.
(We sat down)
I’ll be back to take your drink order.
Me: Okay.
(10 minutes later I turn my head to find the Waitress gas bagging with the other Waitress)

And this is a example of how I greet my Guests!

Me: Good morning/afternoon/evening Sir/Madam can I help you?
Guest: Yes Table for 2/3/4 etc
Me: Certainly, please follow me I’ll show you to your table.
(Customer sits, I give them their Menu. I go straight to the bar to get their Water, I give the water, I wait until they put their Menus down then I take their order, then I move on to the drink order. I give their food order to the Chef. I prepare their drinks then take it to them immediately!).

Someone needs to be trained.

Comment from Ritesh C. of Buffet King 16/12/2011    Hide »

Firstly I would like to apologize for the dining experience you…    More »

Firstly I would like to apologize for the dining experience you had at Buffet King, especially since this was your first time at Buffet King. I would like to take this opportunity to go through your comments especially from the beginning when you first entered into the restaurant.
We are genuinely trying to create an atmosphere where people dine at Buffet King for three key reasons: Tasty Food, affordable price and a nice place to dine. Based on these 3 core elements we have been receiving positive feedback which has reflected in our reviews. Neither the Management nor the Directors of Buffet King have adequate time during the day to forge reviews. I suggest if you have any issues with the authenticity of the reviews, please direct all your concerns to:
Ms. Karen Gibson
General Manager – Business Development, Menu Mania
Ph: 09- 521 8533
As you entered into the premises you may have seen our recent (3 weeks ago) council Health Grade of “A” (awarded 3 terms in a row) and since you have 7 years of Hospitality experience you would be aware that the Environmental Health Officer only grants “A” grade to those restaurants that has systems, policies and schedules implemented & followed on a regular basis. We are a Buffet restaurant with a high traffic of guest using cutlery and therefore it’s not practical to “polish” this on a regular basis. As part of our cleaning schedule the cutlery is soaked overnight for a further clean on a regular basis.
The seating arrangements; our waitress did the appropriate thing to request you to choose a table of two either on the carpet or on the tile. Some customers prefer to sit closer to the buffet or away from the main door or against the wall for a quite meal therefore we prefer if customers choose the preferred table. Hospitality Industry has positions from dishwasher to a Head Chef or a Duty Manager and since you have over 7 years of experience you would understand the importance of customers dining experience starts with seating arrangements.
The Marinated Mussels; the label clearly says: Marinated Mussels in Sweet Chili Sauce; I do apologize if you find “Sweet Chili Sauce” spicy. The crab inside the mussel was a human error and our chefs are now taking further steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
The Champagne Ham is supplied by a reputable company which is then glazed by our chefs. I have forwarded your comments about “salty” to them.
We do have a surcharge policy for food wastage and the purpose of this is to ensure that customers purposely don’t waste food.

Ritesh Chhaganlal
Duty Manager

by siale t.
5th December 2011

Been to Buffet King a few times now for Lunch and Dinner.. The staff are really friendly and the food is yumm …The cost is really reasonable if you want to have a night out,or just dont feel like cooking…..

by Margaret
28th October 2011

Fabulous Manager and Staff are pleasant and professional, Food is delicious and of a high standard. Bathroom facilities are extremely clean and the atmosphere is excellent. We had a group of 6, and we were all impressed with Buffet King.:P

by lynelle
20th October 2011

I went here with 2 of my cousins we have been here probably 5 times but based in our visit on Sunday 13th October 2011 8pm we were seated to a table once we walked in not much nice salads to choose from love their chowder way better then lonestar no offence.. I liked the ham and beef roast with gravy. Their salads there is not much options, chicken was dry same with the butter chicken the raw fish was gross I spat that out their desert doesn’t have much options pretty dull but I did enjoy their apple crumble and ice cream. Their water is just tap water with ice cubes. Overall it’s all you can eat and prices are reasonably affordable.

by Rebecca
27th September 2011

I really like the buffet king . The food there is actually good . Despite the desert area being plain and boring , what mattered was eating and being full off my face . Really love the butter chicken , none like any other . My first time there was for my nieces FIRST birthday , and it went really well . Although i may mention children are running everywhere which is really irritating . Especially when they are by the ice cream . But overall its a really good place to go as a group or with your partner. Very nice place for a work meeting and having lunch . Kids table would be good for the little ones . Still love it tho .

by James
4th September 2011

Walked in at 7 for father’s day, no service till 7.25pm! Finally approached the counter and ordered drinks which then took 15 mins to get to us. Awful service and very very poor staffing. Food was below average, chicken drumsticks burnt, dry salads, old dry rice, almost empty buffet chafers, barely any salads left. Too much oil.
No atmosphere, no music, disgusting toilet facilities. Above all extremely rude cashier. I’d rather have pizzas. What a rip off! very disappointed. waiters have no training, staff bring bottles of beer not on a tray but hold the bottleneck and walk with 4 in each hand! where is the hygiene? jugs of water have no ice, i am extremely pissed that i spent money here. I’d rather donate it to charity.

by Jane D.
22nd August 2011

Been there a few times..
Great place, great range of food .. Staff are super awesome, very polite..A different range of drinks. Soft drinks didn’t appear flat when we went!

The facilities were very clean which is great!

Definitely go there..

by Vell I.
11th August 2011

My partner & I visited “Buffet King” in Manukau on Monday the 25th of July 2011. We found the hostess to be professional, friendly & welcoming. Although we found the decor a bit dark & uninviting we still felt we should at least try the food first. We found quite a generous selection of items on the menu but also quickly realised that the majority of these foods were of mediocre quality with only the hot ham on the bone, creamy potato bake & battered deep fried fish having the “WOW FACTOR”. When we ordered refreshments, firstly being water, the water tasted like it was tap water with ice in it which we could’ve just had at home. Secondly we ordered a jug of fanta & that tasted strange too but we couldn’t figure that one out. Overall, the restaurant was fairly clean, the dessert selection was a little boring but the highlight of our meal asides the excellent customer service & friendly staff would have to be the price for our lunch being around $14.95 each which is cheaper than any other, “all you can eat” restaurants. Although we may visit again we probably wouldn’t recommend the restaurant to family or friends for special occasions.

by Katherine
3rd August 2011

Went with my partner as a last minute decision. And we were so glad we did. It was a dinner special so only $19.95 each.
The staff are so friendly and really liven the place up.You get to choose where you sit which is always a plus.
The food was very good. I particularly recommend the carved meat and the delicious seafood.
Perfect place for families, big groups, or just a quiet dinner.
Definitely will return again.

by candice
1st August 2011

I had my 21st saturday 30th july private function at Buffet King Manukau and its was fantastic. The staff were marvelous and the food was fantastic, thank you to the staff and chefs and management for making my night, 10 out of 10 to all of you.I will be recommending your restaurant to everyone i know.And thank you again. C & K Marshall

by allan
2nd July 2011

overall, i think the food was quite good.
but a few small things spoiled my experience at the restaurant.
mainly, being there was too many uncontrolled children spoiling the food, if you don’t mind the children eating ice-cream straight from the freezer with the communal spoon, you will fit right in. food and desert should not be so easily assessable to unsupervised children

Comment from Ritesh C. of Buffet King 3/07/2011    Hide »

Hi Allan Thank you for your feedback. I do apologize for last…    More »

Hi Allan

Thank you for your feedback. I do apologize for last night we had a situation where despite our staff telling parents on numerous occasions to supervise their children, the parents just DID NOT CARE. Our dessert area is well sign posted that the management does require an adult supervision.
It’s very difficult to manage a restaurant if parents fail to take responsibility in managing their own children. We are hoping that people reading the reviews do take some responsibility when dining in a restaurant

Ritesh Chhaganlal
Duty Manager

by luke
30th June 2011

I have went to Buffet king last year.And the food was yum the staff were friendly and helpful.Their was a variety of buffet foods,The Desserts were delicious .THANK YOU BUFFET KING YOUR THE BEST BUFFET IN SOUTH AUCKALAND

by Melinda L.
22nd June 2011

I recently just held my sisters 21st birthday at this resturant. What can I say, they are awesome people to work with. My family and Friends enjoyed eatting there for my sisters celbration. Very flexiable and is straight forward with everything they do. Another awesome thing about them is the price ! Such a cheap price but for such a good meal. Chefs are amazing cooks ! and waiters were nothing but lovely to my family and friends. i recommend them if you want to feed a whole heap of people. Never ran outta food.. thanks again buffet kind !!! All the best

by caroline m.
10th June 2011

!st time last night this place was recommended by a sister. Our sister in law from Australia here on a Holiday we thought we try this place out group of us (11 ladies).

It was my money worth, awesome atmosphere, great food service was excellent, it was even good was for the Manger to come out and ask if we were OK, so i would recommend this place to anyone. Looking forward to dinning out again with Buffet King, thank you all the staff for an excellent service we thoroughly enjoy our night.

by Vanessa
5th May 2011

I went with my family to Buffet King 3 May 2011 and it was absolutely amazing. I Highly recommend Buffet King to everyone! The service was great, helpful & professional staff. Lovely atmosphere, and presentation. The highlight is definitely the food. Special mention to the Chef for the beautiful food. Congratulations Buffet King Team for a great Restaurant experience. We will definitely be a long term customer and are more then happy to recommend your company to all our families and friends!!!! Keep up the great work!!!

by Theresa
26th April 2011

Went to Buffet King at Manukau. Okay food, some of the food in the hot plates were dry expecially the fried rice. When I read Cheeseboard on the menu on their website, I thought awesome. What a disappointment when I saw it. I didn’t expect to see thinly and I mean thinly slice cheese, you may want to leave the cheeses on the board for customers to cut themselves. Otherwise staff were friendly and helpful. Cheers!

by Sharon h.
18th April 2011

Have been to buffet king several times..it’s just a great experience everytime you dine there..the price is very reasonable and the selection is vast..the food is so fresh and tasty..from soups to salads to desserts..yummy..the area is very clean and tidy and the staff are super friendly..always ready to help..buffet king is definitely the place if you want value for money and have a nice dinning experience..would highly reccomend it

by Kresha R.
18th March 2011

Having eatten at the old 5 star, now Buffet King I was dissapointed with the choice of food. I had been told and read many reviews of the wonderful food. To my dis-pleasure the choices were non-existant, the food was cold and the salad looked like it was purchased pre-pakaged and was wiltered. Even the jug of water was taken straight out of the tap and ice placed in it, so it had that warmth too it, not what you expect from a resturant. Will not be going back. I am from Manurewa, but if we do have the privaladge of eating out we expect great food.

Comment from Ritesh C. of Buffet King 19/03/2011    Hide »

Thank you for sharing your comments on Menu Mania however since we…    More »

Thank you for sharing your comments on Menu Mania however since we had our menu changed (almost 5 months ago) you are our FIRST customer that didn’t like our menu. Firstly I would like to comment on 5 Star Buffet, a company that went into liquidation in 2009.
5 Star Buffet failed to operate for 3 main reasons; over priced meal, lack of variety and poor Hygiene rating (council rating)
We purchased this business and like our Menu, we started everything from the beginning and focused on 3 main things:
Affordable price, variety of food and a clean, Hygiene dinning experience
For $14.95 lunch per person, you get two types of soups, fresh bread, a chicken dish, beef dish, pork dish, vegetarian dish, steam & roast vegetables, Fried Rice, steam rice, 6 type of sea food (That includes Raw Fish & Marinated Mussels), 9 selection of salads, Carvery, Fish & Chips, selection of cakes, selection of fruit salad, 6 selection of ice cream and Tea & Coffee
I haven’t seen many places in Auckland where you can dine for such a variety of food at an affordable price hence why I’m having difficulties trying to understand your “negative comment”.
There is over 60 years of combined chef experience in our Kitchen and we are working very hard to maintain our standards. We have the capacity to add more variety however since the price of food has increased, people are looking to dine at places that are affordable and can provide a variety of food.
Since we focus on fresh food and have recipes to make each dish including salads none of our dishes are from any “pre-pack” .This enables us to deliver consistency in food quality and enhance customer’s dining experience.

Duty Manager
Buffet King

by Nadia F.
3rd February 2011

I went to buffet king for lunch and dinner Tuesday with my family.The food is excellent and great value for money.Ritesh is fantastic so is this Asian girl who was very helpful and friendly.I was disappointed in an Indian lady who was very rude and tried to make us sit in the most uncomfortable area while insisting the other areas were reserved.Both lunch and dinner we stayed til closing and yes those seats remained empty the whole time.When asked she just shrugged her shoulders.She also forgot or neglected to bring water or drinks to our table so we asked the other helpful staff.Besides this little hiccup we will be back again and again.Try the seafood chowder,raw fish,macaroni cheese oh everything mmm

by Hulufe
15th January 2011

Thoroughly enjoyed and loved every moment at Buffet King last night. Was impressed with the host who greeted us as soon as we walked in and then gave us the option of taking a look around at the food before eating. The restaurant was very clean and a nice themed decor to it. The staff were friendly and always willing to help with a smile and the food was the BEST I’ve had in a long time. Just like mums home cooked food, which I appreciated. Everything was delicious! Before we left we already booked to come back for a birthday during the week. Thanks Buffet King…definitely 5 star quality!

by Chenney T.
12th January 2011

First time dining in with my partner for lunch,friendly staff and awesome menu.Well anyway we both enjoyed our meals inc 2Nd’s and 3rds.Thanks for the enjoyable meal….

by Marjorie K.
14th December 2010

I experienced buffet king a couple of weeks ago….. It was an awesome experience the food was fresh & great but the service was awesome as well…. i had taken my sister there from Australia and she loved the place… thank you so much for the lovely smiles…. keep up the good work guys

by Mapa
4th December 2010

Heard at work about Buffet King beside Telstra Stadium in Manukau. Blown away, 10 out of 10, very well priced, good variety, good service and a clean place. strongly recommend

by Kena
11th November 2010

I’ve been to Buffet King so many times and every time it’s been really good.I love the beef especially and the desserts the jelly is so fresh doesn’t taste like it’s from a box and the pavlova oh my gosh it’s so nice I could eat it all.
The price on top of that is so cheap,and it’s better than some of those restaurants that cost more.Absolutely love it.Highly reccommend it…..

by mike
15th October 2010

I had organised a Birthday Dinner for my wife and was very happy with the service and food at Buffet King. I strongly recommend this place to anyone that’s looking for a good old fashioned chow down within a clean environment, thanks for the awesome time Buffet King and staff, we will definitely be back soon!

by diego21
23rd September 2010

Me and my wife went buffet king yesterday for lunch the meal so nice and tasty we even went for dinner after shopping in manukau mall even though we didn’t book in the manager managed to fit us in their busy restaurant my eyes just popped out when I saw lamb shank on the buffet because we paid $25-00 just for lamb shank some where 2weeks a go and for $19.95 per person we had soup salads sea food mains dessert and hot chocolate it was just great. The place is very clean and tidy. I will defiantly go back to buffet king and will not hastate to recommend it any one, its worth the money

by dave
12th September 2010

I was just there on Saturday night during a break from the conference at Telstra. Although Buffet King was busy they managed to squeeze in my group of 6. We thoroughly enjoyed the buffet and nice hospitality. I found the food fresh and delicious and would highly recommend Buffet King to everyone.

by Lyn
11th September 2010

I have especially taken my time out to express my sincere thanks to the whole team of Buffet King. I went there for my birthday and found the price very reasonable and the staff were helpful and attentive. The food was delicious and the choice of desserts were marvelous. I found the place very elegant, welcoming and clean! Being new in our area, Buffet King is doing an excellent job. Well done guys and I will definitely be coming for seconds

by Nancy
23rd August 2010

I must complement Buffet King for the lovely meal and friendly service we received for our family get together on Sunday ! Food was nice and fresh with a range that suited all ages. Excellent effort and I will recommend my family and friends to Buffet King.It was a perfect dining experience as they said it would be !! So thanks guys !

by ellen
26th July 2010

buffet king was good. food was nice and all. shrimps bit bland but been there four times now for dinner. beautiful place. waitress were good except one lady who was very rude and grumpy. we asked her for a jug of water and waited for half an hour only to observe her chatting away to her colleagues. my husband had to stop everything to asks her again for a jug of water. she finally gave it to us but her face showed us how unhappy she was. besides her the other waitresses were very friendly and good. i wish they had more options for hot drinks but i guess i can’t be that fussy especially with how cheap it is. they should have better group discount thou but buffet king i will give them a A for good food and environment and all except that one rude waitress

by stacy
29th June 2010

Well good to see we have something new in the area and very nice on price.
We dined in for dinner good choice of food and dessert.
Kids loved the food catered for everyone and no time on dining.
Very happy with time we had there will go again.

by kim
24th June 2010

Theres a special on at the moment for 12.95 for lunch so we though we would check it out. Its average meal, ham could have been cooked or glazed a bit better and service could be better also, otherwise if your looking for a cheap meal, with standard food then its just like eating in a takeaway shop except its buffet style. So its average and cheap, you get what you pay for..

Write Review