Joi Buffet

We ate here tonight, it says £3.50 outside, then £5.50 on the menu and then they charged us £7.50 each for the food with no receipt. Food was a bit cold, but at least it was all vegetarian. Low points were the total lack of labels on the food and the intrusive service. High points were the Chinese beer and nice surroundings.

I eat twice at week at this place, and wanted to recommend it to a colleague today. Seeing that most reviews on various websites are either dithyrambic or murderous, I would say that this place is like Marmite - love it or hate it! If you fancy giving it a try you will get a vast assortment of soy-meat (whose flavours vary day after day, duck / beef / prawn / etc...), tofu, simple vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, celery, bamboo, etc.) originally prepared with some fancy spices, and various hot meals (usually a mix of soy-meat and vegetables - cauliflower, peppers, onions, coriander, etc.). Bearing in mind that this place's core business is a £3.50 takeaway restaurant, the food is good value for money and a nice patchwork of tastes & scents, quite different from similar Chinese / Asian restaurants. The dining room and the toilets are clean and tidy and the service is friendly. The downsize? If you decide to eat in (on an all-you-can-eat £6.50 menu) you will be charged extra for "service", which is quite ironic for a buffet restaurant :) Despite this, I would recommend the place - the best way to make your own opinion about the food is still to give it a try ... !

As featured on last night's BBC programme 'Rogue Restaurants!'

This place is awful. Over-intrusive staff almost stand over you while you're eating and keep hassling you to have the fruit salad even though you've already politely told them that you don't want any. It's a rip-off too with the most untransparent pricing out. The illuminated sign outside proclaims "Thai buffet £3.50" whereas in actual fact after 5pm, it's £6.50. There is also a seemingly non-discretionary 10% service charge added to your bill, despite the fact that it is a self-service buffet. It's not itemised on the bill however, so people are misled into leaving a further tip on top of that. There is no option to not pay the 10% service charge, no matter how atrocious the experience has been. The food is worse than second-rate too, with the previous day's hot dishes served up as cold salads and the current day's hot dishes lukewarm at best, and looking as though they have been sitting there for hours. We definitely won't be going back to this, or any of its sister 'restaurants.'

haha, the above reviews are so blatantly spam.

avoid this 'restaurant' at all costs. it's the worst chinese food you'll ever have - in fact, i'd go as far to say that this was probably the most atrocious dining experience in my entire life!

Every time I am in London I eat here. As a vegetarian there is nothing more exciting to me than the vast amount of food they have available. You can eat there or take away. I love their sesame toast - I wish we had a restaurant like this where I live. It's very good food with a lot of variety to choose from.

FANTASTIC!
As a vegan, I am always pleased to find a restaurant where I can eat everything on the menu, but the greatest indorsement to Joi Buffet is the fact that my carnivorous boyfriend is willing to travel for hours just to eat here.

Joi is a lovely relaxed place to enjoy a meal. Great location just off Tottenham Court Road, friendly service, nice antique furnishing. The food is good and there is a huge choice. Very enjoyable!