I wanted to tell you a quick tale today about the perils of booking and planning ahead. It went like this , we wanted to try out a new restaurant, JRC Global Buffet Express in Watford that had opened up in the town. Friends had been raving about it and always keen to try new things out myself I thought that we would give it a try.
As it was a weekend, we figured it was going to be busy so I had the foresight to book ahead.
Things have changed and it is straight online to book a table with the fancy online booking system. Click, click and all done — simple. Thanks to the Digital World.
When we arrived at the restaurant there was a rope with two queues at the entrance.
One side was for those who had booked and the other side was for those who had not booked.
Simple right?
So we joined the long queue of people who had the foresight and booked a table.
That’ s when it all went wrong.
A family came in who hadn’ t booked and walked right to empty side and to the reception. They were taken right into the restaurant.
I stood there with disbelieve.
It seems that when you haven’ t booked and there is a table already free you get priority and are given that table.
When you book your table starts at a certain time ie ours was for 7pm but we had arrived 15 minutes early.
Our table, because we booked, was not going to be ready until 7pm.
So if you book don’ t arrive early or you will see people going in before you who haven’ t had the foresight to book go straight in.
I have to say it did make me feel a bit miffed before we had even gone inside.
We had to wait .
But I ask, surely if someone arrives and they have booked you will think may be just maybe I should give them a table that is already free and anyone who walks in without a booking should have to wait?
Isn’ t that how it works usually?
Anyway eventually at 7pm we are allowed to move forward in the queue and pay. You are handed a ticket and walk all of one foot to hand your ticket in to a lady who then tells you to wait a bit more for someone to take you to your table.
So if you can get through all the waiting around I have to say the food at JRC Global Buffet Express was well worth it.
It is a buffet and normally you find the food has been sitting and not of great quality. But I have to say wait or no wait the food and the décor of the place was impressive.
There are several food points, Teriyaki, Chinese, Indian, Mediterranean, Salads, Fish. A selection of starters which seemed to be American/English based and fried and oily — avoid those or if you have little ones you will probably need to head here first.
Next you need to strategically plan this operation after all you are not a cow with four stomachs and you are not even Homer Simpson who would have thought he died and went to heaven with all the food on offer.
You are probably going to have to decide which food areas you or more importantly your stomach will focus on.
I can recommend the Teriyaki and had the fresh prawns and calamari cooked by the skilled chef — a bit of a long wait but well worth it.
The Thai food was authentic and tasty.
The Indian meals had a variety and there was enough for vegetarians as well.
What I thought was excellent was that each individual cuisine had its own chef and preparation area and they constantly checked and kept the food at a decent level and hot.
You can self-serve all your drinks and ask for chinese tea at the bar. Refill and refill but don’ t fill up too much on the slushes as you will want to keep some room for the desserts.
I stood next to a man who was standing in front of the dessert section and I asked him what was wrong. He said his dilemma was which ones to take and how much space he still had to fit in as it all looked so good. I understood his pain.
So what is my rating for the JRC Global Buffet Express 8/10
It fell short due to the waiting times at the start and the poor system of getting customers into the place on a busy evening.
The food at JRC Global Buffet Express was excellent and I hope that the standards will remain as they are and they are not waiting to slip once they have a clientele of people who enjoy the experience.
Lets spread the world about the Digital World
Images : FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Photo by koratmember. Published on 15 April 2011
Stock photo – Image ID: 10037816
