The eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet could become a way of life in its ultimate manifestation in Kitchin at King’s Cross where you can enjoy unlimited food from China, India, Thailand and Italy, all in one sitting.

The Venue
Kitchin is one very large room that can handle up to 300 diners at any one time. It’s in the newer part of King’s Cross, a development between York Way, by the side of the main station, and Caledonian Road, which itself is on its way upmarket with a proliferation of new coffee bars and restaurants. Although Kitchin is basically one big space, there are corners and alcoves where you can feel quite comfortable and even intimate. The tables are placed around a central kitchen and service counter which roughly divides into four, one side for each of the named cuisines. There’s a separate salad bar and dessert station. All you have to do is place your drinks order with the waiting staff, head for the central kitchen, grab a plate and help yourself to whatever takes your fancy. You can mix and match or do one or more cuisines at a time.

The Atmosphere
Helping yourself to whatever you want to eat is a very informal way of dining – there’s nobody to intimidate you about what you can order. Going to the central kitchen is a bit of an ice-breaker, so Kitchin is ideal for party bookings of any size, from the smallest to the largest, and areas of the room can be sectioned off for such bookings. It seems quite a lively atmosphere where you can chat with the chefs who will run up a very acceptable stir-fry meal in next to no time. You can return to any part of the central service station as many times as you like and no one will bat an eyelid.

At £12.95 all in, or £6.95 at lunchtime and £5.95 for children under ten, Kitchin is the obvious place for a family on a budget, and kids will love the excitement of choosing their own food. Go on a Sunday and you can also have a choice of lamb, beef or chicken from the traditional roast (£8.95), as well as all the rest of the other cuisines.

The Food
The actual list of items on the menu is exhaustive. They may not all be on the menu every day, but there will be a good selection to suit all tastes. The salad bar is the first port of call with its choice of salad ingredients to make up your own selection for the perfect appetiser. Then it’s really up to you to begin wherever you fancy first. There are more Indian dishes than anything else and they prove to be of a very high quality, kept hot in huge metal tureens with sliding lids. The selection could include anything from chicken tikka masala, chicken or lamb korma, to lamb rogan josh, butter chicken, lamb pasanda or prawn balti. To accompany these there are side dishes of tarka dall (lentils), aloo gobi (curried cauliflower and potatoes), sag bhaji (spinach) plus naan bread and rice. There’s also a selection of Indian starters including some excellent samosas, tandoori chicken wings, seekh kebab and chicken tikka. The standard of the food is every bit as good as you would find in a regular Indian restaurant. Particular recommendations are the chicken tikka, the lamb bhuna, the aloo chat and pilau rice.

The Chinese side of the menu features vegetable spring rolls, butterfly prawns, sesame king prawn on toast and deep-fried crispy seaweed. Main courses include sweet and sour chicken, beef in black bean sauce, squid in green pepper and black bean sauce, chicken with cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce and broccoli in soy sauce, plus special fried rice. However, the best option might be to create your own stir fry dish at the wok station. You just choose your vegetables from cabbage, bean sprouts, and peppers plus the various soy and chilli sauces and the chefs do the rest. They will even include some chicken strips and noodles to make it more interesting. This is then delivered to your table and very good it is too: hot, fresh and very satisfying.

From the list of Thai dishes, the various curry dishes are good, such as the Thai green curry, jungle curry and red curry, but you can also try a butternut pumpkin curry, spicy mussels and Thai style chicken. From the starters list come chicken satay, Thai fish cakes, vegetarian spring rolls and grilled aubergines. The Italian side offers starters of bruschetta, garlic dough balls, garlic mushrooms, onion rings and calamari. For the main courses there’s always a pasta dish and, naturally enough, plenty of pizza. If you still have room for dessert there’s a lovely sticky chocolate cake or a strawberry gateau, plus a selection of fresh fruits including pineapple and watermelon. Try also the rather pleasant Indian desserts of creamy rice pudding and a sweet made from semolina.

The Drink
The range of bottled beers (£2.95) covers all nationalities represented by the food on offer. So, you can choose Cobra or Kingfisher from India, Tsingtao from China, Singha from Thailand and Peroni from Italy plus others such as Grolsch, Carling and Cobra too on draught at £3.30 a pint. The wines, however, are from France, Italy, Spain, Chile and Australia, with house wines of Chenin Blanc and an Australian Shiraz at £3.50 a glass and £13.95 a bottle. The Pinot Grigo at £14.95 is a wine that goes well with all the multifarious dishes on offer. An Australian Chardonnay is £15.95, a Chilean Sauvignon is £16.95 and the Petit Chablis £18.95. There’s also a range of reds on the same price scale including Chianti at £16.95 and a Saint-Emilion at £18.95.

The rest of the drinks list includes cocktails, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, classic spirits and liqueurs, fruit smoothies and milkshakes, the traditional Indian lassi yoghurt drink, plus soft drinks, tropical juices, mineral waters, coffees and teas, including Indian Masala tea made with herbs and spices.

The Last Word
The huge variety of choice at Kitchin which makes it ideal for family meals. Although the basic prices are very reasonable, there are other offers including a fifty per cent discount, free drinks and there are other special deals from time to time. This must be the best value in town and for buffet food it is of a very high quality indeed. If you are ravenously hungry, then there’s no better place for a really good feed.

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