Ilaichi Kitchen and Bar, Hatfield : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Ilaichi is a new all you can eat buffet restaurant that is based in Hatfield in the Galleria shopping centre.

The restaurant has a "world" theme and serves foods ranging from Chinese and Indian to Italian and Mexican. To be honest, besides these 4 main types of food, I can't say I have ever really noticed any food from other regions, but then, I am far from a food connoisseur and may well just be incorrect as to where some of the foods are from.

The restaurant it's self is located at the rear car park entrance to the Galleria and has a lovely big glass wall that faces the car park, so you can watch the world go by. The entrance to the actual restaurant is just inside the double doors.

When you enter the restaurant you are seated and given a drinks menu. From here you are informed of how the buffet works and told to get stuck in.

The staff has always been attentive when I have visited and drinks are brought over quite promptly, this can be affected by how busy it is and the number of other customers, but generally it is only a few minutes. The drink prices are slightly steep for what I would usually be happy to pay, but I suppose being a buffet, this is the only way they are going to make a real profit as a business. A large (pint) Diet Pepsi from the draught taps will set you back about £3. They do serve a whole host of wines, beers and alcoholic drinks as well as various soft and fizzy drinks.

The table layout of the restaurant is slightly annoying. It has large booths at the back for bigger groups wishing to dine then an assortment of 2, 4 and 5 seater tables dotted all over the place. I don't take issue with this in itself but they are laid out really quite randomly and due to the difference in shape between the round 5 seaters and the square 2 and 4 seaters, it leaves the whole place looking very cluttered. I would say if they took out a quarter of the tables, it would be a lot better. Being a help yourself buffet, it makes the whole experience slightly more challenging when you have to manoeuvre through a maze of tables and squeeze past people who are eating.

The food itself is topped up very frequently, with the chefs visibly working away behind the main serving area. They get requests from people who are ordering off menu rather than having the buffet and they are constantly cooking to refill the dishes on offer. I think it works quite well because they are cooking little and often, there is no food left out going cold and the food is fresh and hot and you will never have to wait more than a few minutes if something runs out, before it's refilled.

They have the food laid out in 4 main areas, the first section is largely finger foods; slices of pizza, chicken wings, spare ribs, spring rolls, mini taco's, nachos, onion bhaji's, squid rings and fries are regularly in this section, but they do change frequently and there are many more items I have left out.

Next along the buffet is the salad bar which has a range of salads including rice, pasta and potato salads also. All of the sauces are kept in this area too, which have all the usual favourites like ketchup and mayonnaise, but also various mustards, chilli and BBQ ones also.

The largest section is the big middle section that has most of the "main meal" dishes. There tends to be 8 or so large pots, 1 or 2 will have a variety of rice in them and the rest will have curries or stew type dishes, at least 2 of these will be vegetarian. There are Indian curries here which are always tasty and fresh, along with Chinese dishes like sweet and sour chicken or beef in black bean sauce. Thai dishes are available too and I'm sure a lot of hotpots and stews from various places that I just don't know the origin of.

Lastly we have the dessert kart which is to the far right of the restaurant which usually has an average of 5 or 6 options and then an ice cream machine with lots of sauce choices. I have seen all sorts from black forest gateau, cheesecakes, fudge cake, fruit assortments and brownies here and they always look lovely. I tend not to have dessert but if I do, I'll have the ice cream which you can help yourself to from the whippy machine and have either in a cone or bowl. I think this must be great fun for any children visiting as they get to play ice cream man for a while.

Overall I would definitely give Ilaichi 4 stars. The food is of a constant high standard and always fresh and with lots of variety on offer, there is certainly something for everyone. The staff are always attentive and any plates are cleared while you are at the buffet so you will always come back to a clean table and drinks are offered as soon as you have finished your first.

It would benefit from the table layout being changed, to make it more comfortable for the customers rather than squeezing as many in as possible for more business.

Price wise, the cost will change depending on which day you visit. The cheapest is during the week when the evening buffet is £10.95 and weekend prices are different for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Saturdays are the most expensive at £14.50 a head; which I would still consider a good deal. Considering you are getting at least a 3 course meal or a lot more if you wish, this is a great price. Add the price of a few drinks each and you are looking at about £20 a head. Not bad at all for a family night out and one you can easily budget for, as it will not ever cost more than that.