JRC Global Buffet (Ilford) is some sort of food theme park and here's why

JRC Global Buffet in Ilford is bonkers - it's like a food theme park in there.

The place is big - very big - and possibly one of the largest restaurants I've been to.  It's no wonder why; there are food stations from 12 different different countries.  Like Asian food?  There's Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese (including live teppanyaki grill).  You can also get Spanish food, Italian pizza, pasta, salads and a variety of tasty-looking desserts.

As far as buffets go, this one is pretty good.  It's obviously not fine dining, but choice is good, food tasted fresh on my visit and the owners have made an effort at presentation, the latter of which you can't normally say for other buffets.

Check out some of the pics I took below.  (Sorry I wasn't able to get more snaps of the food stations; the restaurant was pretty full and it was not easy to take that many photos!)

Part of the dessert station.  There was a LOT more on offer!

Meats and seafood for the teppanyaki grill.  Pick a maximum of two items per visit.

Grilled scallops were good - and big!

Dim sum station.

Various meatballs, seafood balls and crab.

So if you live nearby and are pretty hungry, then consider JRC.  At £15.99 per person on Sunday, it's not bad value if you have an appetite.

And don't forget to print your discount voucher from their website!

  
Nearest station: Ilford

Authentic Sichuan (Szechuan) Chinese food in South London

I recently went to Crystal China along Tower Bridge Road in south London. They specialise in spicy Sichuan (Szechuan) food and, judging by the amount of Chinese people in there (over 80 per cent of the diners appeared to be young Chinese people), it must have been authentic. Two of my fellow diners, both from mainland China, also thought the same and recommended it to me.

We ordered a hot pot and we could have whatever ingredients we wanted from a menu. We went for king prawns, lotus root, ham, fish balls, broccoli, tofu and beef. The base of the dish is basically a very spicy broth with lots of dried chilli and peppercorns, which bring a nice tingling and slightly numb feeling to the mouth (rather than the intense burn of some powerful chilli). The sesame dips and the rice we ordered helped counter some of the spiciness!

It was a great experience and so wonderfully different from most Chinese restaurants in the UK, which are mainly based on Cantonese food. 

Not sure about spicy food? They have a 'normal' menu too, judging by their online take away menu.

Address: 78-80 Tower Bridge Road, SE1 4TP

Nearest Tube: Elephant & Castle, Borough, Bermondsey