Alcohol at the buffet

Cuisine Greater Taipei Restaurants
1

Went to lunch with my work mates today and was surprised to see that the buffet included drinks. I had a brandy, a glass of California Red, and a few cups of hot sake. I’ve never seen that before. That must be why they have a two hour time limit on the meal. The place is called Paris International Seafood Buffet and it’s off of Guang Fu North Road. Just north of Nan Jing East Road. www.pariss.com.tw. There’s several others around the island.

The food was not real special. I would say stay away from the pizza. They have a large selection of Sashimi.

2

Paris International Seafood Buffet is a chain of restaurants wholly owned and run by Shinkong-Mitzukoshi. Seems to offer the usual “international” foods plus lots of seafood.

From their internet site I found these details:

Taipei locations:

6F Shinkong-Mitzukoshi Department Store 2, Hsinyi Rd, Taipei

#150 Jian-kang Rd (on the corner of Kuangfu North Rd, one street north of Nanjing East Rd)

Other locations in Taiwan:

4F Shinkong-Mitzukoshi Department Store, Taichung

11F Shinkong-Mitzukoshi Department Store, Kaohsiung

Lunch
Time: 11:10am-2pm (2 hour max)
Cost: $628 Mon-Fri; $658 Sat, Sun, holidays
Plus 10% service charge

Tea Time (same food available as at lunch)
Time: 2:10-4:30pm
Cost: $528 Mon-Fri; $558 Sat, Sun, holidays
Plus 10% service charge

Dinner - no time limit
Time: 5:10-9:30 (M-Thurs)
Time: 5:10-10:30 (Fri, Sat, and the night before any holiday)
Cost: $728 Mon-Thurs; $758 Fri, Sat, night before any holidays
Plus 10% service charge

Full price: Adults, Children/Teens over 120 cm
Half price: Elderly - anyone over 80 years old
Half price: Children 100-120 cm tall
$100: Small children 75-100 cm in height
Free: infants/children under 75cm

[Note: the evening meal hours run a little later at Jian-kang Rd location]

I haven’t been there yet, it is usually packed on weekends. It does seem a little on the pricey side but the Afternoon Tea looks like the most economical way to give this place a try.
.

3

Been to the Japanese buffet at Mitsukoshi opposite of Warner and they also served wine there. Great food though a bit one the expensive side (paid around NT$700 per head).

4

Paris Int’l seafood buffet is a real joke! It is a lousy knockoff of the big hotel buffets. The seafood and meat is exactly what you will find in the frozen section of any supermarket. Cheap Cod and the local red fish. Fine display of Sashimi but that would never justify the price of the buffet. When I was there they had free wine and brandy but naturally the cheapest brands are on offer.

I definitely advise everyone to give this place a miss

5

My gf wanted to go there for a long time because someone at her work had recommended it. We finally went to the one on Guang Fu. What a waste of money. While I, too, got excited initially about the booze on buffet, the food sucked, and I generally like all you can eat Japanese buffets. But there were too few dishes, all were bland (picture an all you can eat Denny’s), it gave me the runs, and even the hoity-toity Paris name, faux sophistication and the guy playing the grand piano didn’t save it from a two thumbs down.

6

Almost three years later, went back to the Pariss International Seafood Buffett last night. It still sucks.

I wouldn’t have gone of my own volition – once was enough to prove to me how unimpressive the place is – but it was the 60th birthday (actually 58 or 59, my wife tells me, but Chinese are afraid of such numbers) party for my nanny, so she invited a whole bunch of us to Pariss and footed the bill. Not only is the name of the place tacky, but everything about it is mediocre and pretentious. The guy crooning tunes such as Song Sung Blue and Moonriver as he plays the grand piano on stage, but upon closer examination one realizes the tune and the vocals are all programmed into the device and the guy’s scrambling to keep up with the moving keys. The massive oysters on the half shell – ordinarily I love oysters on the half shell, but these are the size of your hand and resemble a giant slab of decaying blubber. The open bar – yeehaaa!! – but upon closer examination there’s hardly a recognizable brand. Everything looked good at first but turned out to be disappointing.

Of course I stuffed my face, as I always do at buffets (and seriously regret), but there was not one dish there that I felt was really special, even the fish heads and pig feet.

7

Did you take the GF this time? :laughing:

HG

8

Did you take the GF this time? :laughing:

HG[/quote]

No, just the wife.

Incidentally, while the Pariss buffett is really tacky and mediocre, I’d bet that most people who dine there think it’s pretty special and would recommend it to their friends. Most consumers will eat anything that is fed to them (food, movies, or anything else that is marketed to the public) with no ability to examine, evaluate and make an independent judgment about its merits. Not just in Taiwan either. As P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

9

But MT, since you wrote your initial assessment three years ago and the place is still running, someone clearly is drawing satisfaction and the entity must be making money. Scarry as that is, the model appears to be working.

HG

10

A new buffet is scheduled to open in Tainan - today as a matter of fact - and in the adverts it clearly states that the price, NT$299, includes Taiwan beer. The youngcowboy brought this to my attention and says its all you can drink. He may be exaggerating because he likes buffets and wants to go.
The tai tai had a very unclear comment on the adverts contents. (So its probably true.)