Variety is the spice of life but I'm a little bit bored now... (Jimmy Chung's Bar and Chinese Buffet (Scotland))

Member Name: Renza_e

Product:	Jimmy Chung's Bar and Chinese Buffet (Scotland)
Date:	02/04/09 (336 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great variety, good value, good service and nice ambience

Disadvantages: The water situation, the menus haven't really changed much, not the best chinese food out there

Jimmy Chungs is largely a Scottish chain of Chinese buffet restaurants found as far north as Inverness and as far south as Edinburgh, although should you ever decide to hop across the Irish Sea, there's one at Dublin too. It's probably not doing wonders for the supposed Scottish obesity epidemic but many Scots love this place and it's fairly light on my wallet...

*~Chungs is Cheap~*

I've been to two restaurants, the Stirling one and the Edinburgh Grindlay street one. You can pretty much waltz in to one of these restaurants on a weekday lunchtime and consume your own body weight for as little as £5.49 per person (Some include Sundays in this pricing and usually exclude Fridays and its £3.49 for the smaller 11 year and under gannets amongst us). The prices do get steeper at dinnertime (after 5pm) and increase to £11.99 (£4.99 for under 11s) on a Friday and Saturday. I also would recommend that should you venture to Edinburgh you visit the Grindlay street one instead of the Waverley one - The Waverley one is usually very busy, is slightly more expensive on every day but Friday and Saturday and the Grindlay street one is only about a 15-20 minutes walk away. However, even at the somewhat more expensive prices, Jimmy Chungs is definitely cheap for what you get. Just make sure you're hungry!

*~Great Variety~*

Unlike a lot of Scots who visit this place I am not inclined to join the obesity parade and will do whatever is in my power to keep fit and healthy. However, I LOVE the variety which oriental buffets offer. I find this restaurant is an absolute adventure for your taste buds and love to pick and choose and try little bits of everything. I have went into the restaurant on one or two lunchtimes and decided -'Well I'm broke, I'm gonna' eat enough to power me for the next two days' (so long as I don't puke it up after) but I don't usually like to eat that much. I like to savour each bite rather than pummel a whole load of food down my gullet.

Jimmy Chungs has lots on offer but I won't go into it too much as their menu can be found on their website. I absolutely love their noodles, chicken and black bean, their sweet and sour chicken and their Chicken Satay, amongst other things. You get a selection of food that can make up a starter (including soup), a main course and dessert along with sides like prawn crackers. In addition, if you do pay more in the evening you usually get slightly more choice which makes the greater expense a little more appealing.

*~Great customer service but what's with the swimming pool water?~*

The customer service is excellent even if a bit impersonal. Staff are always at hand to take you to your table, to take away your plates and get you more drinks. They also seem to keep the food fresh, changing it often so it doesn't do that disgusting crusty thing that food left out for too long seems to do. It tastes hot and if something runs out you don't have to wait long before they bring out more of it. Absolutely excellent service but I do have one qualm with the water situation. In the Stirling restaurant I was given a glass of water that tasted just awful. I didn't quite understand why because I know myself that the tap water around this area is pretty decent. It was almost as if they'd dissolved a chlorine tablet in it (Ok so some exaggeration. That would of course knock you dead). On a recent trip to the Edinburgh Grindlay street restaurant I spent an age just waiting to get my water till I had to go badger another waiter. Jimmy Chungs seem to make a lot of money on drinks alone so it seems almost to be an insult if your thirst beckons for some a bland glass of HO2 - Other than that, the staff seem great.

*~Pleasant Ambience~*

I think that the restaurants are very pleasantly designed - Everything is very modern with pretty lights and the Stirling one even has a fish tank at the front. The music can be pretty good, usually mainstream but not too loud. I think the only thing that might get on your nerves a bit is if there are a lot of birthdays happening. They like to play a cheesy little birthday track as they bring out the cake and you sit there and smile a little as some blushing randomer is stared at by the whole restaurant. On one occasion there was three in one night - Kind of annoying but humorous to watch the poor little person cringe as most of the attention is directed to them.

*~So why am I being stingy with the stars?~*

Ok, so it's cheap, the food tastes pretty good but I've been going to Jimmy Chung's since it launched in 2003 and nothing has really changed. Even when I 'spiced' it up a bit by visiting the Edinburgh restaurant the food seemed exactly the same and I'm getting a bit bored of it - when I go there I know exactly what I want and there is hardly ever anything new to try and both the Edinburgh and the Stirling restaurants seem to use the exact same recipes. The only semi-exciting discovery I made in the Edinburgh one was that they have those amazing icecream machines (Y'know the ones where you pull the lever and out comes some icecream van style stuff? Scrummy!) It's lost its initial sparkle. On top of that, I was introduced to Yang Sing which can be found in Camelon near Falkirk. It just seemed superior in so many respects in terms of choice and taste.
On top of this, the quality is decent enough but it's easy to forget that food shouldn't always be about quantity and about quality. I find it hard to believe that anyone who visited the place doesn't recognize that you could get an even tastier version of the dish you're eating a la carte at another restaurant. I suppose it depends on your mood and well...your wallet and your appetite. I just think that if you sit down and really concentrate on every mouthful, it is tasty but somehow it seemed I'd tried it all before and probably tried an even better version somewhere else.

*~In conclusion...~*

I've had a lot of experience with Chinese buffets, some atrociously bad and some absolutely amazing and I can say that Jimmy Chungs is definitely worth the visit, particularly if you haven't been before. I adored the place when it first launched and no doubt would have given it a full five stars had I reviewed it a few years back. However, I have gotten bored with the food there and appreciate that whilst it is good, you can get better Chinese food out there. On the other hand, I do think it's a great place for birthday nights out and just generally for a night out with friends especially if you've got a big enough group. I will probably never stop going to Jimmy Chungs. It may not have the best Chinese food but there's great variety and its excellent value.

*~Thanks for reading~* :) x

*~Also found on ciao under 'Renza' - April 2009.

Summary: A good value place to stuff face and hang out with friends