Review Great Taste Buffet Restaurant - Dunedin

I seldom write reviews here but I must do it this time. Great Taste is totally underrated and indeed it is a gem in town. $13 for a buffet lunch with free tea. The food is of course nothing fancy but is practical enough. As a HK Chinese, I know what Chinese food is. Two dishes of vegetables with meat, two dishes of fried chicken (two ways of cooking), fried wontons, fish & chips, spring rolls, chicken nuggets, two different sauces (sweet & sour included) and two types of soup (corn & miso). Fried rice and fried noodles are there too. The environment is nice too, clean and big. Instead of Chinese songs, they played relaxing English songs and that made my dinning experience very enjoyable. Staff is friendly and I saw a waiter (the boss?) bring a dish of vegetables (directly from the kitchen) to a customer as there weren’t a lot available on the buffet table). I went to a noodle shop another day and it was $21 (one bowl of noodle & a pot of small tea). That ‘s why I went to Great Taste again before I head to my next stop. They don’t serve salad and dessert anymore but it is not a big deal vindy they charge $13 only.

Dropped by for dinner ($22 buffet) and the food was tasty and plentiful. The chef was friendly and came to our table to discuss the food. I think this is a bargain dinner in a very nice environment. The $13 lunch is fantastic value. The fish and roast potatoes were very nice and the vegetables fresh and crisp. Recommended.

Wow, just blown away, me and my partner thought we would try something different for our anniversary and it payed off, $22 for all you can eat buffet, what more could you ask for, food was brilliant, and our tummy’s were full, loved it.

Really great service and generally good food. It's a smorgasbord so not going to be high quality fare. However lots of nice little touches eg fresh fruit and roasted peanuts in the salad. Also nachos and lovely bean sauce.

Really good lunch buffet. Items are different from many other places. Good services as well.

$15 for lunch, really worth the price, And tastes great as the name. I’m so full

Excellent deal for a budget buffet of below $20. Good ambience. Friendly staff.

Saw a few bad reviews for this place but I actually enjoyed my experience. I went on a very quiet afternoon and the lady kept topping up food only for me and my friend. Thank you for your effort of trying to please your customers. And the ice cream machine works beautifully unlike the one at Meridian Burger King which is always ''broken''.

Wonderful restaurant with tasty food.... lavish buffet @ $15 only... enjoyed lunch with friends...

Wasn't going to go because of.the reviews. Yes food was low but when asked to be topped up it was done. Food was tender and very tasty. Same as getting Chinese anywhere tbh. Only let down was the ice cream machine ran out. Will definitely be going back.

This place gets so many bad reviews but I think people need to manage their expectations and take a reality check. I've only ever been for lunch so can't comment about the dinner service but it has undoubtedly got to be the best value lunch in town. No, the food isn't flash. It's like getting takeaways but for the price you can't expect more. Plus you get to have dessert and tea /coffee. Every time I've been it's been clean. Can't complain at all and I always walk away with a full tummy.

all-you-can-eat chinese food for $13 and it was so good! you can’t get this kind of deal anywhere. i highly recommend this restaurant

Good family restaurant with all your chinese cravings. Buffet was just right with all the right options for both kids and adults. Super friendly staff. We enjoyed it here.

Quite average food. The staff weren't really around, just clearing dishes every now and then. I wouldn't go back again because of the lacking food quality. It was tidy throughout though, which was good.

I went here for my step brothers birthday and it was fantastic I loved it here they had so much food to choose from it was great I ate so much and still had room to have desert its one place I would definitely go again best place ive been in a long time

4 of us went to eat here 5 hours later we all suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting, went to chemist who said it almost certainly was food poisoning and to let it take its course. BE VERY CAREFUL EATING HERE!

My wife & I popped in to Great Taste on impulse on what appeared to be a "steady" night, having not read any reviews prior to going. What we found was inviting, pleasant service and good & plentiful offerings. Wine was suggested and turned out to be a good choice and inexpensive too, so all in all a most enjoyable & affordable time. We'll be back...

I used to come here all the time back in 2010 but I only come here about a few times a year. The selection of foods gets old after you have been here more than a few times a year and you get what you pay for. The last time I was dining here I went to get another plate of food and the waiter thought I had left and took away my glass. I think they should update the foods in their buffet because its almost the same as when I started going here in 2010. I always eat till I am stuffed

Went to a birthday dinner at Great Taste last week, haven't been there in years because I always disliked it. They've put their price up since I was last there to $19 - that still doesn't sound like bad value for buffet dinner but the food is barely edible.

Dined tonight at Great Taste Restaurant Dunedin, food was not very nice but Wine was undrinkable, our table had two whites and one red which was horrific, tasted like turps........replacement was even worse and asked for refund for the second wine, they didn't want to know....don't know where they get it from, must be mass produced somewhere underground, absolutely yuk!!!!!!! Couldn't drink it at all.<br/>Not Recommended.

Went here with the family because the 9 years old had been before. The food was so disgusting it was funny. It is cheap but what is the point if it is inedible. Stale looking salads, curried sausages, and other durge coloured messes.<br/><br/>Lots of children tucking in however so maybe it was a bad night for them.

Greate taste is our only buffet restaurant that I know of. It's great for families and has some stars on the menu. I make fish and chip buttys with the rolls. The addition of the fruit salad is excellent. When there are bananas I make a banana split. Being able to mix and match like this is excellent. I really liked the ribs when you did them but they haven't been on menu for months when I been there. I know families have favourites but need fresh menu ideas as well

service great, good food, selection not as much as Christchurch buffets but is very well priced.

Myself and my brother now reside in Rarotonga, we were born in Dunedin and have been away from Dunedin for more than 10 years. Upon our trip back to Dunedin we had family who were just raving about this place.<br/>Honestly I preferred everything about the Great Taste, value for money, the cleanliness and the music even, my brother and I both work in the Hospitality industry and we couldn't find a fault.<br/>We have both bragged about the place when we got back to the Cook Islands and now are planning a 21st birthday.<br/>Great Taste, Great Food, Great Service.

What a great restaurant has a fantistic vibe, is great for kids and famlies and im not going to complain about the food its great especially when you get a night of cooking for the family. lots of variety, and reasonable prices especially when your not rich. The dessert is great especially when it takes kids into consideration what kid doesn't like jelly and ice cream with lots of toppings. Service was excellent with polite and professional staff and quick service. Good on you great taste, keep up the great work. I know I will be coming to eat there heaps!

Great Taste, maybe if you like a deep fried hair!<br/>First and last time dining at this restaurant.<br/>I thought I would try some deep fried sushi, when I cut a bit off and went to put it in my mouth I noticed a long hair hanging from it. At a closer look I saw it was stuck in the batter, I took it to the waitress still on my fork pointed out what was wrong, she said not their fault they buy the sushi in but would go and tell the manager, about 10 minutes later this guy came out and said he was the Manager and there was nothing he could do, it had been dropped buy a customer. Hello how does a piece of customers hair get into the batter on sushi, he was very rude, offered no apology or nothing. I was very disappointed and annoyed so had taken a photo and am now taking it further. Watch this space

FOOD QUALITY: 1/5<br/>PORTION SIZE: 3/5<br/>SERVICE &amp; AMBIENT: 2/5<br/>VALUE FOR MONEY: 2/5<br/>OVERALL: 2/5<br/><br/>Food was quite terrible. There was hardly any versatility, nothing to choose from really. There were tacos but no dips. Apart from chicken that didn't taste like chicken at all, they only had fried fish. There were lots of sides to choose from (spaghetti, plain rice, risotto, mashed potato, fries) but again, no warm sauces to add some taste to the food (there were cold sauces though but not what I would want as a warm meal). The choice of salads was poor and they didn't look fresh.<br/>However, leek-potato soup was tasty and apple crumble with ice cream was terrific. <br/><br/>Portion size was limited but the fact that there was hardly any choice - ended up having fish'n'chips practically - makes it poor.<br/><br/>Staff was friendly, a bit slow with removing dirty plates though. The ambient wasn't too enjoyable due to people bringing little children and letting them scream and go trough food with sticky fingers - not very pleasant to see.<br/><br/>Overall food quality and selection make this restaurant below average, for $9 lunch it was an interesting experience, but will not be going back.

FOOD QUALITY: 1/5<br/>PORTION SIZE: Not applicable<br/>SERVICE &amp; AMBIENT: 1/5<br/>VALUE FOR MONEY: 2/5<br/>OVERALL: 1/5<br/><br/>Don't be deceived by the name, that's all I can say. Major disappointment, and a certain rip-off. Went there for an afternoon buffet, which seemed like it could be worth the $9 - turns out it wasn't at all.<br/><br/>There were lots of fat mommies with screaming babies putting their fingers everywhere they don't belong, including jelly and cream that other people eat later on. Disgusting.<br/><br/>The buffet was promising to be limited by the looks of their website, but imagine my horror when it was actually missing half the food advertised on the website. I asked where is their beef and pork of the day, and they said it's for dinner only. What should I eat for lunch then?<br/><br/>Seeing that nothing looked particularly appetising, I decided to try everything. Here's what they had:<br/><br/>Pumpkin soup (smelled awful, but my partner said it was edible)<br/>Leek &amp; potato soup (tasteless goo)<br/>Mashed potatoes (not really, it was the worst powder potato sludge of all time, it tasted like minced socks)<br/>Steamed/Fried rice (edible, barely)<br/>Seafood chips (adipose)<br/>Fried chicken (what? that's no chicken, the dark meat even looked like a rat)<br/>Fish &amp; Chips (I swear I've tasted better in all budget Fish &amp; Chips places around town)<br/>10+ choice of salads (mostly inedible apart from carrot and coleslaw with italian dressing)<br/>Bolognese and mixed bean sauce (right, or if they just put a tomato sauce flask there, wouldn't be any different).<br/><br/>Did you see me mention any meat? No, because there was no meat in a buffet restaurant. What a rip-off.<br/><br/>The only positive I can say were the banana cakes (quite tasty) and the apple crumble (mediocre) with their icecream from the noisy icecream machine. The icecream was actually better than in McDonalds, but that still doesn't mean it was good.<br/><br/>Bottom line, I think such restaurants should be closed down. Avoid like a plague, I tell you, go order something in Meridian Mall, at least it'll be edible.

This place used to be good, but not anymore. I 'treated' myself to a nice dinner out recently and left disappointed. There wasn't a thing that tasted decent except perhaps the pudding. Dry mashed potato, awful tasting meat, hard undercooked vegetables. The place was full of screaming children at the time which didn't help. Overall my experience was positively ghastly and I shan't go back again.

Appalling. Do not eat here. Slimy fish. Revolting salads. Doughy fried chicken. Filthy bathrooms. The service was good, but could hardly compensate for the disgraceful food. Not to mention that the soft-serve machine is busted. Kids weren't happy.

My son (11) went to your restaurant with a Boys Brigade group while he was at camp with them. He commented on your restaurant as "fantastic and so yummy!!! and the people were really friendly and nice he said. Thanks heaps for a great meal" From Jaymee

This is my best restraunt in dunedin cause it is an all you can eat bar and you can just eat as much as you can until you get sick. for my kid it's about 7 dollors and he's 11.

I didn't rate the quality of the food here. Also the salad bar stacks there salads three back so the ones at the front are constantly getting reached over/things falling in them.<br/>I think next time I will try the new steakhouse across the road!

So there's places like this scattered in various parts of the country - some do it very well, such as the Garden Hotel restaurant in Christchurch which has a huge selection of really good quality good value food ... but this isn't about them.<br/><br/>Keeping in mind that I have probably been spoiled by the fact that I have been up and down the country and seen lots of restaurants get it right and lots get it wrong - in whatever their chosen cuisine style.<br/><br/>Great Taste unfortunately has a really misleading name - and it took me a second time of eating there just to make sure.<br/><br/>Overall the environment is good. Some of the tables however are a bit odd because the chairs don't quite match up leaving you banging your knees on the underside of the table.<br/><br/>The food selection is severely limited. I have paid similar and eaten in similar places where they have whole roasts out to choose from - or wide selections of seafood. Essentially you get a choice of pasta, a couple of hot Asian dishes, rice and deep fried foods. Dessert is as limited as your mains.<br/><br/>The dishes themselves are a bit ... well, ick ... that's about the only way I can describe it. Oil ridden Asian fare - the satay was the most visually interesting because the satay sauce looked more like brown lumpy gravy.<br/><br/>I wont be making my way back to try a third time lucky.

Great meals and great service at great prices - they live up to their name.<br/>Have dined there on several occasions and have always been satisfied with the food &amp; service.<br/>Would not hesitate to dine there again in fact we intend to this weekend.

Really nice atmosphere for a buffet restaurant, friendly staff too.

What a great place, good selection great prices we will be returning, my son ate loads and he is really fussy!!!

Great taste, great menu, great price!! What more can you ask for. I took my 8 &amp; 6 years old fussy eaters along on Saturday and they both thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my mum, sister and I. Something to suit everybody and cheaper than MacDonald's. Very nice staff as well. We will be visiting again next time we are in Dunedin. Keep up the good work!!

Great value for money, easy place to choose when you have a family and want somewhere that everyone gets to eat what they want. Well worth it and great concept. No other in Dunedin

This is a very great restraunt one of the best I have eaten at a wide range of meals friendly service and very reasonable prices