THINK all-you-can-eat and you probably think of a basement free-for-all with luke-warm dishes that all taste strangely similar. You probably don't think of a funky-eclectic restaurant with a nice vibe to it. Or of just-cooked, sizzling-hot, flavoursome food.
Chefs in their whites create dishes just for you, as you watch
Peachy Keens, the new multi-cuisine buffet in The Printworks will change how you see the A-Y-C-E experience. It's here to make the buffet a more acceptable form of dining, not just reserved for stag dos and party nights.
The design has a retro-edge with a vintage rickshaw, neon signs, and colourful seating against dark wood floors and tables.
There's Buena Vista-style music in the background and your fellow diners range from college kids to couples to business folk.
The staff are on-the-ball and friendly, making for a more relaxing atmosphere than at some all-you-can-eaters.
And the food is a level above what you'd expect – fresh, hot, and without the worn-around-the-edges look.
This is a world buffet so it doesn't limit itself to one cuisine, or even one continent. Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Indian, Thai and British dishes are all there for you to dine on, as well as salads, sushi, and a particularly enticing dessert table complete with a chocolate fountain and an array of dainty little cakes.
There's a vast range to choose from at the help-yourself sections but the 'live stations' are what sets Peachy Keens apart. Here chefs in their whites create dishes just for you, as you watch.
You can tell them how spicy you want your curry, or to hold the peppers in your noodles, or to add more tomato to your pasta sauce. They like you to get involved.
The live stations create a bit of theatre – steam rising, meat sizzling, knives chopping – and it means no flavour or form is lost.
You can have a naan bread cooked in front of you, or a steak done just how you like it. And the chef will present it nicely for you, rather than plonking it on your plate like a school dinner lady.
When we went we were particularly impressed with the Indian and Chinese live station dishes. We're also planning a return visit just to devour everything at the dessert station.
We only tried a tiny selection of the food on offer – you need to go yourself to get a sense of how vast and enticing this food feast is.
Lunch at Peachy Keens is £7.95-£9.95, and dinner is £13.95-£14.95.
Confidential has a £5 lunch deal and a £10 dinner deal available at Peachy Keens for two weeks until 24 November.
