KINGDOM Restaurant

First Floor, The Hub, Haymarket Metro Station, Haymarket, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7FF. Tel: 0191 261 1618

OK, this is run by some connected relatives, as is most of Newcastle to be fair!

You can find it literally above Haymarket Metro Station. The entrance however, is not inside the station, it is on the far side of the big round building near the main road. It is a buffet place so you pay on entry and pay for your drinks at the bar, takes the pain out of splitting bills at the end of the night.

I'm sure we've all been to all-you-can eat buffet places of varying quality. This one seems better than most.

The highlights for me were the sushi. OK, it is never going to be premium grade but they had things like squid and surf clam as well as the usual crab stick and vegetable ones. Even the wasabi paste was pungent as opposed to a tasteless bland green mush.

They also had dim sum steaming away. That was something new that I hadn't seen before. You cold also get Chinese roast meats like char sui, roast duck and crispy pork.

The main dishes had a decent enough selection, for me anyway as squid and prawns was all I needed.

This isn't just Chinese food, it is supposed to be a world buffet type of place. On the night we went, the pizza station and the British station of Yorkshire pudding, pigs in blankets and so on was a bit sad.

I wasn't fond of the desserts on offer but the Mr Whippy ice cream was good enough to finish on.

There were many other choices on offer including steaks to order, curries and stews for example.

As with many of these places, you end up a bit bloated as you want to try a whole range of stuff, and to get your monies worth so not for everyday eating. We paid £15.99 on a Saturday night which is around the price of one steak at some restaurant so can't complain.

Go on, give it a go.