Gifted Meal
All you can eat buffets are a funny thing I think; you either love them or hate them. I've had mixed feelings about them through previous bad experiences and the thought of them can also conjure up images of the basic, beige food that was available in hotels abroad in years gone by but thankfully my experience at Cosmo restaurant in Sheffield was far from beige.
Cosmo promises to offer a 'world kitchen' for food with dishes from around the globe; everything from Chinese, Indian and Japanese to a pizza, pasta and a good old English carvery - I do think you'd have to be a hugely fussy eater not to be able to find something that tickles your fancy. They also have live cooking stations with teppanyaki chefs ready to take your order and cook it fresh in front of you. And not forgetting the huge selection of desserts and ice creams.
We were greeted by friendly staff at the door and shown to a booth (which I have to admit, I do prefer to the seats in the middle of the room) - service was swift and we were soon brought our drinks of choice: a Mojito for Kev and an empty glass for me to fill up with a soft drink of my choice from the self-service refill station. I much prefer self service drinks because I do tend to drink a fair bit with my meal so it's much more convenient for me to just go and get it myself.
The next decision I had to make was where to start - the choice is slightly overwhelming so I decided to have a walk round first without a plate just to see what there was (there's nothing more gutting than filling up on the food you've seen without exploring first and then realising you haven't got any room for a hidden gem thats at the other side of the buffet!). What struck me was how clean everything was kept, and anything that was empty was swiftly replaced - they also had a very visible hand washing station which is encouraging. One thing I did notice, though, was that it was incredibly difficult to get any good photos of what was on offer because ultimately, food has to be stored on a hot buffet in a way that maintains heat so the aesthetics do go out of the window to some extent. In person, however, everything looks and smells delicious - it just doesn't photograph well!
I did try and get round as much of the food as I could and I think I did quite well - I managed to polish off around 4/5 plates. Although I have to admit, I don't pile my plate high because I prefer to keep things separate.
I started off with duck pancakes and other Chinese starters (anyone else much prefer Chinese starters to the main courses?! The duck was plentiful and I managed to restrain myself to 3 pancakes but I could have definitely polished off some more - I did have to wait a few minutes for some fresh cucumber and spring onion but the empty bowls were soon replaced. I tried a few other bits from that area like prawn toast and squid rings and I put a little bit of sweet and sour chicken on my plate as well.
Yep, that second plate is pretty much a plate full of fried food. If you can't eat like that at an all you can eat and not feel guilty about it - when can you? I then moved on to the Indian curry section and tried a little bit of Tikka Masala and a little bit of Korma - I avoided the rice so as not to load up on carbs (the prospect of desserts was in the back of my mind) but I did have a few small pieces of naan bread. I thoroughly enjoyed the Korma because it's not something I order a full meal of due to it being quite rich and creamy but I loved just being able to have a little bit. The only thing I was slightly disappointed by in this case was the Tikka Masala - it was quite spicy compared to what I expected it to be; I even went back to check that it definitely was what I thought because it had such a bite to it.
My fourth and final visit to the savoury counters was to grab a slice of pizza - I was approaching my limit but the pepperoni pizza looked too good to miss. It was probably one of the most popular and therefore constantly replenished dishes on offer and I can totally understand why - the base was perfect with just enough crunch and the cheese to base ratio was just right!
I had a few minutes in the booth and went back for desserts. Again, there's loads of choice of different desserts: hot puddings with custard, to popcorn, ice cream, profiteroles, cheesecake and a chocolate fountain. As much as I do feel slightly weird about the chocolate fountain and the prospect of people sticking their fingers in it - I did try some with marshmallows on a stick and it was delicious. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed by the other desserts; yes there's a huge choice but they are not as tasty as I'd hoped - lots of cream on most things which gets a bit much when you've overdone it a bit on the savoury side!
Overall, I did thoroughly enjoy the meal, especially the savoury course(s). I would definitely recommend Cosmo if you're looking for a filling, casual dining experience and you love to try little bits of different things. There's no danger of plate envy at Cosmo because you can just go and get some on your next visit to the buffet!
If you do fancy visiting in Sheffield, you can find the restaurant in the City Lofts Towers on St Paul's Place - basically right in the centre of the city which makes it perfect for a lunch break when shopping or some sustenance before a night out. Also, if you're travelling by car, park in the Q Park right near it on Charles Street and you get a 25% discount!
Have you tried Cosmo?
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