It’s 7:30pm on a Thursday evening in Norwich and Cosmo is surprisingly busy already. There are workmates, fresh from the office, young families and couples on dates and perhaps the reason for its sustained popularity is that there is literally something for everyone.
The first Cosmo restaurant was opened over 20 years ago in Eastbourne and they currently have 26 of them in the UK, so I am sure you know the concept by now – There is food from Indian, Asia, sushi to noodles to shu mai, together with British cuisine, roasts huge salads and all kinds of desserts, not to mention the famous chocolate fountain. All of which is presented in a buffet type experience, together with a live cooking station serving fish prawns, steaks, salmon and squid all made fresh to order.
We travel up the escalator and we’re shown to our seats. After the waitress takes our drinks order (Mojito for me, there is a great cocktail menu by the way) we head to the counters to assess the options available. There are a lot!
Actually the best feature of Cosmo is also actually the worst part too. There is so much choice it’s very easy to wander aimlessly from station to station and deciding on which things to put on your plate can be a major problem, especially if like me you eat everything.
Luckily I think I have figured it out now. My first tip is to, 1: go (very) hungry, the abundance of food is too hard to resist, so go hungry and at least give yourself plenty of room for indulgence.
My second piece of advice for the best way to approach Cosmo is to see it as a visit to eg, an Indian, or Chinese/Fusion restaurant and just stick to one kind of cuisine. I mean if you think about it when was the last time you had spicy noodles with roast beef and pizza all on the same plate at home?
You see if you stay within one region it has a number of benefits. Firstly there’s the time factor, you’ve come to Cosmo to spend time with friends and family, if your wandering around the self service area all the time that means less time spent with them. Secondly you’ll lose all the odd combination on your plate and feel all the better for it.
I went for fusion which covered me for sushi, prawn dumplings and I had some really awesome fried squid and teriyaki prawns fresh from the live food station while my dining partner had an excellent steak that was cooked with due care and attention.
That’s just my advice anyway, but often it is the exception that proves the rule, so when it comes to desserts anything goes! Mix cheesecake with Tirimisu, with chocolate brownies and don’t forget to dip something in the chocolate fountain too.
The food is always freash and good and for around £20 per head you are guaranteed to leave full of stomach and happy of mind. The staff are genuinely friendly and helpful and there is even a patrolling droid type robot patrolling the restaurant in search of birthday parties in with to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ while delivering cake to the guests.
There are often special promotions going on so it’s worth signing up to their loyalty app and if you’ve yet to try it give it a go. We will be back again!
For more info visit www.cosmo-restaurants.co.uk/restaurants/norwich