Red Hot World Buffet and Bar

Red hot world buffet. I have been here three times and each visit was more disappointing than the last.
The disappointment was not the high price but for the lack of love in the food. After eating here many times I have tried almost everything available however all dishes tasted processed and boring. The sweet and sour pork tasted like vinegar and the sushi was almost tasteless. The pizza was so thin and cut into selfish pieces. The ice cream tasted good but only given half a scoop of the choice of 2 flavours. Saying that, the tomatoe soup was probably the best thing I have tasted. It was sweet and delicious unfortunately it has only ever been available once out of the three times I have been there.
The staff are amazing! Always asking if I needed anything and if I wanted a drink.
I had left my scarf there and went back as soon as I realised I had forgotten it. When I went back I was greeted with a smile and my scarf was returned to me.
Lovely staff… Not so much food.
I can’t help but share my experience regarding the ‘live station’ August 2014 I was celebrating my brothers birthday. On reaching the station I started to fill my lonely plate with prawns, chicken, noodles and veg but little did I realise that it was raw. I happily trotted along to our designated table when a waitress stopped me and explained that I was about to make myself very very Ill. Since then I am glad to see clear signs explaining that the food isn’t cooked and you must hand over to the live chef.
Thank you for reading. I hope this has given you a taster of what Red Hot Buffet is all about!

Mediocre food, I’ve been used to eat at better buffets, and it was cheaper! The food was really not what I was expecting
Also, it was very cold in the restaurant, even people around me were wearing their jacket while eating. I had never seen such a thing.

After a few more visits to Red Hot, I’m happy to bump my review up to 3 stars.
~ Customer Service:
Referencing my original review, the main problem I had with Red Hot is that there seemed to be absolutely no efficiency when it came to service. Namely, drinks that get ordered take a century to arrive. After a few more visits, drinks still take ages but it wasn’t as ridiculous as the first time, I’m happy to report.
It really depends on which server you get. Some employees completely dawdle whereas others are very efficient when it comes to making your dining experience as great as possible.
~ Food:
What can I say? It’s buffet food. But it’s great for a really filling meal. There’s a wide variety of options at Red Hot ranging from Indian, Thai, Chinese, to even Western food for the less adventurous people. There’s also a huge dessert section for an after-​meal treat.
—
If Red Hot improves their customer service efficiency just a tad more (to a consistently good level) they’ll easily get a 4 stars from me.

mediocre food. their sweet and sour pork was too hard and had a strong smell of vinegar. the rest of the oriental food selection was not impressive. the salmon was decent. the curries are edible but nothing stands out, really. for the price and for the amount of food one could possibly eat in one sitting, I’d rather spend my money at a nando’s.

Awful evening, was supposed to be a treat for my son’s birthday and we were really disappointed. Food quality was terrible. Cosmo in Bay is much better and cheaper. No way worth £15, you can get a decent meal in a nice restaurant. Wish I d asked for a refund.

My first reaction was ‘Urgh, a buffet :-(‘ when it was suggested we went here. I was in Cardiff for work, was being taken out for dins with some colleagues and I had been hoping for something awesome I could Unilocal about. I hate buffets with a passion — the food is usually rank, been sitting too long and is rarely good for gluten free diets but I was mistaken here on so many levels.
Red Hot sits in behind the St David’s Shopping Centre. Luckily the work gang knew where it was and I surprised to see it was, well, huge, with all sorts of appetizing ‘fake’ food displays at the windows. We were seated easily, but even it being a rainy Tuesday night, it was busy.
It is modern, high ceilings, dark lighting, chrome and leather — seating on one half of the restaurant and the rest of the place is dedicated to the buffet — no queues and bumping into folk here as the section and space is massive and nothing like I’ve seen before.
Lots of food to chose from — Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Thai, European, Italian, Traditional, Salads, Seafood and Sushi but to name a few. I aimed for things that are naturally gluten free but the little tags saying what everything was (I noticed this later) stated about different dietary requirements which I was impressed with.
My food was lovely — dosas at the Indian section were made to order. My colleague arrived back at the table and I had dosa envy, having went up first time, started taking food randomly and then decided to go with ‘starters’ first, then main. It is probably better to have a strategy like this as it is all a bit overwhelming and you can go a bit mad at all the choice on offer. I ordered a dosa as part of my main course selection and it was yummy (my first dosa). Even if you have food envy — just go up and get your own next course!
Great range of desserts — cakes type desserts but also crème brûlée’s, Kulfi, mousse’s and then the ice cream bar which offers lots of different flavours.
Top tip — go very hungry as you can really eat your fill here really reasonably. Four of us, multiple courses, soft drinks & tea’s was under £80 so about £20 per head which we thought was fantastic for the quality of the food (and the amount!). So why not 5*‘s? Service was patchy — staff cleared plates away quick enough but trying to order drinks and actually get them took way longer than it should have and this is not good when you are ordering spicy food when you need something cooler before venturing for the next round of food…
So, if I’m in Cardiff, I would go back to Red Hot again. I’ve never seen anywhere like this before, although I noted they are a chain — so maybe buffet’s aren’t so bad after all…

Nice buffet restaurant. Plenty of places to sit around and can accomodate big groups. Lots of desert choices. my Kids love this place.

My other half took me for my birthday after us both being worried about it being rubbish after all the reviews we had read but we both loved it we never ate all day especially and ig was defo worth it i honestly don’t no whats to moan about we loved it and cant think of a bad thing to say about it defo worth going to

Red Hot World Buffet does exactly what it says on the tin! It is a world cuisine buffet. It has a similar feel to Cosmo’s in the Bay if you have been there yet. Although it has more choice than Cosmo to me it is of a lower quality. But I think if you are going to a buffet of this price (around £13) you can’t expect amazing quality food. This place is huge! It has a shiny new interior, but it could be discribed as a little claustraphobic as there is a split level seating to allow an extra floor of sitting above. It all looks very nice and glitzy, but again the quality of the chairs and tables is a little basic (think ikea furniture). My husband actually said he finds the food area a little harsh on the eyes as the main food dishes are spaeced in an up and down way around the room and all in seperate lidded dishes, so you need to keep opening them. Food ranges from chinese, indian and sushi to pizza, risotto and english cuisine, and a lovely salad type area at the start. There is a italian station, making fresh pasta and risotto, a stirfry station, an icecream station and a few other little things. Plus a huge dessert area. The food is lovely but nothing majorly special. It would be a great venue for a party or large group as everyone is bound to find something they like. I have been on 3 occassions now and it has always been full, be advised you do need to book for any evening or risk being turned away or having to wait 30mins-​1hr to be seated. The day time is a little quieter but as with Cosmo, the selection of food is only about 50% of the evening

Red Hot World Buffet does exactly what it says on the tin! It is a world cuisine buffet. It has a similar feel to Cosmo’s in the Bay if you have been there yet. Although it has more choice than Cosmo to me it is of a lower quality. But I think if you are going to a buffet of this price (around £13) you can’t expect amazing quality food.
For a full review you will find it here