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Restaurant review: Cosmo

By Jon Nurse
August 03, 2012

I’d like to think I’m a pretty cosmopolitan chap.

My signature brown bag is faded from its thousands of miles of travel, with a Sri Lankan stain on the strap and remnants of an Australian beach in its pouch.

It must be my gap year garb that got me the nod to try out Cosmo, a new restaurant lighting up Friar Street with a range of delicacies and delights from across the globe.

Then again, it could be those four magic words – all you can eat. I could do with gaining a few pounds, sure.

I took the hint and armed with hungry weather forecaster friend Wardy I marched into town ready for a feast.

I’ve sampled my fair share of all you can eat venues in my time, mostly in the student streets of Sheffield.

And bearing that last sentence in mind, let me tell you – Cosmo Reading is simply in a class of its own.

There’s style, substance and hoi sin sauce – what more could you ask for?

Considering style first, the large unit in the heart of the town centre offers a sleek setting.

The interior design feels modern and à la mode without trying to be too flash.

The rows of buffet counters go on and on, leaving you wondering if you will ever reach the end.

Which brings us to substance. It’s nice having enough food on display to feed a small army, but is it any good?

It is. Such quantity can come at a cost for quality but it doesn’t at Cosmo. I went for the Chinese range and was cheered by its full flavours.

There are more than 150 dishes to choose from on a comprehensive tour of Asian cuisine, taking you across China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Mongolia, Singapore, Vietnam and India as well as having Italian and English selections.

Several dishes have ‘Chef’s Special’ labels to help any indecisive customers, such as me, and they all earned the marked status.

Having cleared my Far East feast I went up for more and wondered whether you could sensibly follow a Chinese with a curry.

For Wardy the answer was a resounding ‘Yes’ and he soon piled his new plate. I was not about to be outeaten by a weather forecaster and took my second helping, trying some more of the Chinese range.

Duck pancakes, forever my favourite, can be a bit too pricey on a takeaway menu so I was pleased to discover a counter featuring a deep tray of crispy aromatic duck, piles of pancakes and stacks of that beautiful brown sauce.

Just think of recent shots of scientists punching the air at the finding of a new subatomic particle, only replace the Higgs Boson with hoi sin sauce. Feigning a finish to his meal Wardy said he thought he was almost done, and then he stood up for a third time for “a couple of bits”.

To my horror, he returned with a full third plate. How was he doing this? I couldn’t lose!

In desperation I went for a third plate and had the indignity of watching him clear his as I ground to a halt halfway through mine.

Outeaten by Wardy the weatherman. Oh, the shame. Today’s pride forecast is gloomy with a chance of despair. I still managed a trip to the dessert counters, after all it is a well-known fact that no matter how full you are there is always space in your dessert stomach.

Presented before us was another boastful selection, with an array of fresh fruit, creamy gateaux, cakes, mousses, trifles and a chocolate fountain – which we eventually worked out how to use.

Wardy savoured a victory cake. We had a good experience at Cosmo, a worthy new entrant to Reading’s thriving restaurant scene – and good for hungry bellies.

*Unlimited food and soft drinks at lunchtime is £7.99 from Monday to Friday and £8.99 on Saturdays, with dinner £13.99 from Monday to Thursday, £14.99 on Fridays and Saturdays, and £13.99 on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Contact Details

Website: cosmo-restaurants.co.uk
Address:
Cosmo
35-38 Friar Street
Reading RG1 1DX

0118 959 5588

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Most recent user comments 5 of 5

I knew about Cosmo after visiting the one in Swindon. I have visited the Reading one 6 or 7 times already! I also came out the first visit with a bad belly, as did my partner but it hasnt stopped us going again.

There is plenty to choose from, if you're a big group and some would prefur chinese, some indian, some pizza, then here suits everyone. Dont expect the best food ever but i have been to many worse and everything is topped up well!

But to say the drinks are exorbitant at £2.20 is a bit stupid! How much is a pepsi/7 Up in any other indian or chinese food venues you go to? Probably the same or even dearer and are not unlimited!

But altogether apart from one bad visit, we're pleased Cosmo has moved to Reading!

Evans1871, Reading
09/08/2012 at 11:01

I went here last Sunday for a 50th birthday loved the food at the time but come 5am next morning I had vomiting and diarrhoea for 7 days including a period of hospitalisation, Cosmos vehemently denied I contracted it from them, even though other members of my party were ill, I contacted environmental health who said its difficult to pinpoint the exact food that made me ill, It was confirmed through tests that I had contracted food poisoning and I shall be pursuing a claim against Cosmos!!! eat here at your peril...

Truth
07/08/2012 at 22:43

Dear Jon, we really don't care about your bag, your gap-year, your mate, your stain from Sri Lanka or the grit from Australia - is this a 'restaurant review' or a reminiscence of your formative years?

The plates in your photo (or is it a stock photo?) look weird and we'd much rather have seen your plate of food and a shot of the inside of the place - what's it like? Seating good? Was the food any good? You tell us what you and your mate had to eat but was it any good? Over cooked / undercooked? Dry? Moist? Seasoning right? Too much of this or too little of that?

Unlimited top-ups of fizzy pop seems massively exorbitant at £2.20 a go - we can get 2L of Cola at the Exotic Supermarket down the Oxford Road for less than two quid and we couldn't drink the whole 2 litres in one hit.

We think this is a lazy (and we suspect cheap) "Restaurant Review" and doesn't even get a "pffft" from us.

MauriceM, West Reading
07/08/2012 at 17:44

This one is for our Hils - she'll be tickled at this:

The Hundred Best Places to Eat in the World - http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/05/101-best-places-to-eat-europe.html

If you look under Italy - you'll see the PORCHETTA FOOD TRUCK recommended by Heather Terhune

MauriceM, West Reading
07/08/2012 at 17:30

I have to disagree with the reviewer in this article. I myself am a big fan of all-you-can-eat restaurants, also frequenting them at uni and ever since. And by frequenting, I actually mean at least once per week, so have a great deal of buffet experience(!).

I had big hopes for this restaurant, branded as a more upmarket and higher quality buffet restaurant. However, I was hugely disappointed, visiting on the opening week. Service was poor - admittedly this was probably as the staff were all new so can be forgiven. However, alot of the food offerings are mere token gestures - the 'Italian' offering consisting of pizzas which would be outdone by those 99p oven offerings, and spaghetti bolognese with hardly any seasoning or meat. Indian curries are exactly what you would find in a jar of uncle bens sauce, and the Chinese food doesn't even match the average Chinese buffet. The much lauded free soft drinks are cheap alternatives - don't go expecting unlimited Coca-cola / Pepsi / 7-up.

My advice - if you really want a buffet - go to one of the many specialised buffet restaurants you can find in the area. If you fancy Indian, nearly every restaurant seems to do this on a Sunday. Chinese buffets are all over the place and have far better Chinese food. If someone in your party really wanted Italian / Mexican / English, they certainly would be disappointed with the offering here. Just think - for £15, you could pretty much have all you can eat at most decent restaurants, unless you have an especially large appetite (admittedly that includes me) or a tooth for finer dining (in which case you generally wouldn't want to go to a buffet anyway).