A World of flavour at this Peterborough buffet restaurant

Or you do know – but the rest of the family want something different?

2020 World Buffet, which opened last year just days before the first lockdown, in Peterborough city centre’s New Road, was made for just those days.

Now buffets aren’t my favourite dining concept but here, the offering – and to be fair the price – far outweigh any great desire to have my lunch (in this case) served to me at a table.

And the “offering” referred to covers Chinese, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Japanese and Turkish, with a couple of traditionally British options.

It was our first visit and we were greeted by a friendly member of staff who showed us to a table and ran through what we needed to know: order drinks from her and help yourself to the food – and there is a lot of it.

My daughter was like the proverbial kid in a sweet shop– albeit a very well behaved one.

And so the dining began...

A small helping of boiled rice with (her favourite) chicken tikka masala and some nibbles for Jasmine; rice and lamb rogan josh with some tandoori chicken bites for me.

The meat was all warm enough, nice and soft, and the sauces packed plenty of heat and flavour.

Any fears of help-yourself bland dishes were well and truly out of the window.

Indian ticked off the list (although the young one did have a second helping later) and we tried the Chinese. More rice with sweet and sour chicken was enjoyed across the table while I had chilli chicken, a crisp spring roll and some shredded duck with pancakes.

Once again,plenty of flavour on show here and spice heat to go with it, which was nice.

A little salmon maki and salmon urumaki from the sushi station (which was being regularly topped up) had lunch turning Japanese for a few moments although I did give the tapanyaki grill a miss on the occasion. A splash of soy sauce and wasabi; lovely.

The pepperoni pizza (just one slice) was OK, the lamb chops from the British (not Turkish which is also available) grill with some rice and salad were cooked to order – beautifully I might add– and very, very tasty.

I even found room for a little pilau rice and Thai green curry – a slightly off-putting vivid green but the unmistakable taste of lemongrass made it a winner for me.

Finally desserts, and what eight-year-old could resist a chocolate fountain with marshmallows? Apparently it went well with a chocolate brownie and cheesecake.

Who knew?

And then we discovered gulab jamun, little dough-like balls in a very sweet syrup. Moreish in the extreme and a great way to end lunch, where the service was very good – empty plates disappeared as soon as we went for the next selection – and the atmosphere , helped by a huge wedding party that stopped in, was enjoyable.

Brad Barnes dines at 2020 World Buffet New Road, Peterborough city centre (www.2020buffet.co.uk)

Dining all day on Sunday costs £14.99. Friday and Saturday dinner costs £16.99, midweek lunch £10.99, Friday and Saturday lunch £12.99. For children aged five to nine it is half price (children four and younger it is free.)