Lotus Lounge - Chinese - Ashley Cross - Poole

I'm generally not a fan of the Chinese all you can eat buffet as the food tends to be a bit indistinct and you're never quite sure how long it has been sitting there.

The Lotus Lounge in Ashley Cross takes the buffet approach but served at your table, so you don't need to either pile your plate or stand in a queue. Basically you order from the items on the menu and if you would like some more then you just ask.

The courses are split into starters, duck and pancakes, soup, mains and deserts. You can have as much as you want from each and then let the serving staff know you are ready to move on to the next course. 

From a quantity point of view its all very good value and if like me your are a fan of duck, pancakes and hoisin sauce then you can really feast on the bits you like.

There are no great surprises on the menu and the food is generally good. The point being you can choose the bits you like.

My personal favourites were the very meaty spare ribs, duck and pancakes and the crispy chilli beef for a main. If you are still hungry by the end (highly unlikely) you can have ice cream on its own, with fritters or lychees.

Its a great place to go as a big group as we were there for a birthday and that seemed to go for most of the people in the restaurant. This was Friday night and we have also been in the week when there seems to be more individual tables.

The service was very quick. Possibly slightly over attentive, but that is a lot better than having to constantly get attention. The staff were also excellent on keeping multiple drinks tabs which made dividing up the bill at the end a breeze. So all you can eat and a few drinks, plus tip about £30 a head.

There are slightly cheaper all you can eat Chinese to go to, but for the area, ambience and food this is currently my favourite.

99 Commercial Road

BH14 0JD Poole

Dorset

Telephone - 01202 731511

Email - lotusloungerestaurant@gmail.com

Having been a bit spoilt for choice while living in London, I am yet to find for really good non-buffet Chinese in the area and also one that does Dim Sum. On this point I have had various recommendations for the Ocean City in Bournemouth, so watch this space for the forthcoming review.