Review of Pearl River, King's Lynn: All you can eat Chinese buffet offered extensive menu and dishes full of flavour

I’m a big Chinese takeaway fan but had never actually been to a restaurant that offers the cuisine, so when the Lynn News decided to start doing weekly food reviews, this was a must.

I have driven past Pearl River many times and every time I eye it up as a place I want to go to, so it was the perfect excuse to visit.

As you walk in the door, there is a bar to the right with a little seating area in front and a large fish tank as a wall feature. It felt quite relaxed and welcoming, with cool lighting and Chinese-style décor throughout.

A waiter greeted my partner and I and we were politely asked to take a seat in the little bar waiting area while our table was being cleaned.

The bar attendant asked if we wanted to get a drink to put onto our tab while we waited, so we both grabbed a Coke (£3.30), which I think is a little pricey.

After waiting about five minutes, we were shown to our table which had two bowls of complimentary prawn crackers on it, which was lovely.

We visited at 8pm on a Saturday, and it was really busy, with every table occupied. There was a big group of people for a birthday sat behind us, and we got the impression it was a popular restaurant.

The price per person was £25.50 for all you can eat off the starter and mains menu, with all the dishes then put into the middle of the table to share among you.

There was a good choice of 23 starters, including soups and a range of vegetarian and vegan options. Brandon and I chose salt and pepper prawns, satay chicken skewers, smoked chicken, seaweed and he also had spring rolls.

We both fully enjoyed the starters, the prawns particularly surprising me as they were so nice and I don’t normally like them.

We were brought an entrée course of duck with wraps, sauce, cucumber and spring onion slices, while we were choosing from the main menu.

There were 88 mains to choose from including beef, chicken, pork dishes, vegetarian and seafood dishes, noodles, rice and chips.

We both chose sweet and sour chicken balls, chicken chow mein, salt and pepper chips and I had beef curry to myself.

We both really enjoyed the main. The dishes were full of flavours and we both thought they tasted nicer than a takeaway. The only fault I could say is that the chicken balls were a little too oily.

When we finished the mains, the waiter brought over two warm wet wipes to clean our hands.

Pearl River is open 5pm-10.30pm, Wednesday to Monday. There is a buffet menu, gluten-free buffet menu and a takeaway service.

Out of five:

Food: Presented nicely and very tasty. ****

Drink: We just had Cokes, nothing too exciting but can’t go wrong and a good variety on the menu. ***

Decor: Quite subtle and not overpowering, it was quite nice with the fish tank as you walk in and little fairy lights in the corner. ****

Staff: The man who greeted us on arrival was polite, and all the other staff who saw to us were friendly too. ****

Price: £60.90 for all you can eat starters, all you can eat mains and three drinks represents good value. ****