Encouraged To Be Greedy (The Emerald Cantonese Restaurant (Birmingham))

Member Name: CheekyCharlie08

Product:	The Emerald Cantonese Restaurant (Birmingham)
Date:	16/09/09 (124 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious food; Eat as much as you like; Good prices

Disadvantages: None

When it was my sister's birthday in March she got to choose where we went for her birthday dinner, she loves Chinese food so we went to The Emerald Chinese buffet restaurant which is in South Birmingham.

The food was that nice that when I was given the choice last week about where to go for Sunday dinner because our cooker was broke I immediately chose to go back there.

There's loads of choice about what to eat and I was glad it was a buffet so I could keep going back again and again and filling my plate. I'm not a massive eater but stuffed my face until I was nearly sick on Sunday because everything is so good.

They set the food out with starters and nibbles on one side. There is a wicked choice on this bit and I ended up trying everything I reckon. I loved the hoi sin duck pancakes because you could help yourself to the stuff and that was good for me because I like loads of hoi sin sauce on the duck so I made them exactly how I like them.

There's also stuff like crispy pork, chicken wings, mini spring rolls, crispy seaweed and spare ribs and loads more. Everything I tried was brill and as good as any Chinese food I've had in a non buffet restaurant but one of the best things is the prawn toasts because they are thick with prawns and have got so many sesame seeds on them that it makes the toast wickedly crunchy.

The main meals part is great as well with food like curries, chow mein, noodles, Cantonese battered pork as well as loads of different rices and saucy wet meals. There was one that I can't remember the name of but it had massive prawns in a spicy tomato sauce and that was to die for and I'd love to know what it was so I could order it from the Chinese.

They have a soup as well and it has been chicken and sweetcorn both times I've been and I don't like that soup so haven't tried it but my mum loves it and had bowls of it on Sunday with prawn crackers broke up into it.

There are some puddings in the fridge by the food and they are nice. It's mainly cakes that have been brought but they're nice and you can help yourself to as much as you like. They have some fruit selections and jelly as well but by the time I'd eaten all my main courses I didn't have a lot of room left for pudding but I did force some banana fritters down which were the best I've had in ages.

As well as the buffet you can order from the menu like in any Chinese and they do a few different English meals as well so that if someone you go with doesn't like Chinese they can still join in the fun. They are licensed but the bar doesn't stock a lot of the most popular drinks so you're stuck with all the standard lagers and Smirnoff and stuff like that.

The prices are quite good. At lunchtime the buffet is about £5.50 and at night and on Sunday it's £8.00 but when it's dearer there is more choice and they set loads of different dishes out. I reckon it's worth it because just one Chinese meal and starter comes to about £8.00 in my local Chinese take away and in The Emerald you get loads more food for your money.

Summary: Delish Chinese Food Where You Can Eat Whatever You Fancy