Tops Restaurant - Manchester's Most Extravagant?

Is it just Chinese fayre?

I'm not answering on the grounds that I'd like you to read it Cor Ona and discover the answer for yourself. Otherwise I'd feel my efforts are fruitless.

Sorry, words aren't my strong point. Nice pics though...

I'll bet the Trafford Centre are jealous...

Giant crab must be Vegas

was there today food was nice but cold

We visited today, and agree with Derek Smith's comments above, with some dishes that we tried a little on the cool side.
I was also keen to try some of the dishes that were cooked to order on the tapenyaki station, but got fed up of waiting after around five minutes or so, there was only one chef working that station who only seemed capable of cooking one item at a time and then at a relaxed pace. I can only hope they have more than one chef working that station at busier times. My eldest daughter did endure the wait however, and the food that she had was good and tasty.
The staff were very friendly and attentive, and even allowed eldest daughter who was a couple of cm's over the maximum height to eat half price.

I'd be interested to revisit in a couple of months or so once they have settled in and found there feet. But a tentative thumbs up so far.

AnonymousJune 24th 2012.

oh! I was over the moon to get a big lobster claw but to my disgust I found it raw inside! I called the waiter and they replaced it, again it was tough like hide.
food wise? it was definitely not at 'right' temperature. Yes, you do queue up to have A scallop! yes only ONE and takes over 10 minutes. so if you got food on your plate, you better eat it before you go there.
Desserts? well, first time I experienced a WARM mousse and trifle. Yep, it was running due to high temperature. Simply left it. The chocolate fountains? well, look closely, you find other attractives bits included in the fountain that is swimming around! I certainly didn't fancy 'extra' bits added.

Cold food, the curse of the buffet restaurant. Let's hope these are teething problems.

We went yesterday for a Father's Day meal, 4 hungry men and one greedy girl. For £15 a head the choice and standard of food was incredible. Amazing choice in sushi, dim sum, starters, mains, something for everyone. Curry station wasn't the hottest temperature wise, but as said above, minor teething trouble. Pudding wall TO DIE FOR! Well worth a visit.

JJune 19th 2012.

:)

I'm thinking of paying a visit this week but I'm not having much look finding a phone number or even a website. Not a great start.

paulJune 18th 2012.

Me too Can you Book ???

JJune 19th 2012.

http://www.tops-restaurants.co.uk
0161 237 1000

In the Tops 045 photo, is that someone checking a home pregnancy test?

AnonymousJune 19th 2012.

It's an iPhone you fool. Admittedly it's a rather old one...

AnonymousJuly 4th 2012.

Anon if you are going to call somebody a fool. At least get it right yourself. It's a galaxy S III, YOU FOOL!

Good idea not to review it. There's always teething problems with places like this, best to give it a few weeks.

Went for fathers day and the place looked good staff were friendly and food was spot on ! The milky squid was amazing ! Overall ild give this place a 9 / 10 !

Is there a time limit on how long you can stay in there stuffing your face? presumably an hour?

do you have contact details for this restaurant?

Johno at SpiceJune 19th 2012.

found it on onionring www.onionring.co.uk/websiteholder.asp…

not impressed by photo 045 - no-one should be allowed to lean over food with or without the phone in hand. Impressed though that some chefs have masks on.

John ThompsonJune 21st 2012.

I didnt like the fact that they had masks on. Why? Have they all got a cold, if so they shouldnt be working anyway, or does the food smell so bad they need to wear a mask.

Went last night, very impressive, but spoiled by cold food and cold plates. As usuall overpriced drinks make up for reasonable meal charge. I would go again if I knew the food temperature had been addressed. Mark for last night 5/10.

Visited this place on Monday night and was initially impressed until I got home and began the worst bout of food poisoning I have ever encountered. AVOID unless you want to be sat between the toilet and sink for the next 3 days.

AnonymousJuly 19th 2012.

It's very rare that you get food poisoning on the same day as the food you've eaten, it's more likely that you were ill from something eaten a day or two before.

Ben GarlandAugust 2nd 2012.

That's not strictly true though is it.

So now there's Taps and Tops in the city centre, I look to forward to Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecote renaming itself appropriately when it drops the beef steaks to offer steaks from male sheep (with a green salad of course).

i went tuesday to Tops the food is out of this world its so much better the the red hot buffet make u book or u will have to wait bit like red hot buffet

tel no for Tops 0161 2371000

I went to this restaurant on Monday and I must say the food was to die for. All the quality of the dishes were great, it had a great atmosphere and the staff were all very helpful and attentive a very big thumbs up from me and gets a 10/10 from us, a must go!!!!!!!!

Mark GarnerJune 22nd 2012.

Jonathan, if Mr Roddy isn't working for the PR company, I'll shag a lamppost. Let's check the IP address eh?

Mark GarnerJune 22nd 2012.

And Rose Henry...

AnonymousJuly 19th 2012.

Indeed, don't want any PR companies getting a cut of the Gordo's back-handers

I visited this restaurant on both Sunday and Monday and I was not happy with the temperature of the dishes, after sitting down to eat and found it was cold. I then gave them another chance after I voiced my concerns about the temperature of the food and they reassured me it was a slight technical hitch. I am pleased to say that this has been rectified and the temperature of the food has increased by a mile, a must go restaurant.

Went last night. Nice place, great selection of food, the quality of which I would put a bit above Red Hot World Buffet. As mentioned in previous posts, food was luke warm in most cases, which was exacerbated by the fact that the air con seemed to be on full blast. Favourite was Thai, sushi and dim sum, which on its own elsewhere would cost the entry fee (there is a weird payment system, you pay on your way into the place). Probably won't go back, buts its worth a visit to see the place.

I been on Tuesday night and me and my wife think this place is best buffet in the world. It beat any glamorous Hong Kong buffet hands down. Other inferior Manchester buffet not even worthy of being mention in same breath as my place. This place. The food is good quality and just like the authentic food served in my home town of Guang Dong province. You should all come down.

Mark GarnerJune 23rd 2012.

Jonathan, the PR strikes again...

Teffub SpotJune 23rd 2012.

Except this was a very subtle (perhaps too subtle) piss take. Read the posters' name backwards Garner...

Hero

GordoJune 23rd 2012.

Very, very funny Andy!

MaggieAugust 1st 2013.

Pphew that's a relief Gord, you won't have to shag that lamp post

Booked for Sunday thanks to men review giving phone number

I went last night with my friend for 6pm booking. So first thing when you step in Restaurant. You have to pay first, then you get a ticket and get seated on table. Then you have to buy your drinks separately at the bar.
So we went to the starters bit, they have conveyor belt of Sushi, mini sized on little plates. The Starters selection was not inspiring and think they could do with more choice. We tried the noodle dept and I asked for noodle soup. So you literally get noodles and soup with a Cherry tomato and a piece of broccoli. The soup was bland. Don't get fooled with how much seafood there is, you only allowed 2 pieces each. I got given a Lobster head and I said no thanks!!
If you like dessert, you will be in dessert Heaven as there are so many cakes, fruit, ice cream, choc fountains. I give it 6/10.

paulJune 23rd 2012.

I am worried now two bis of fish ...Its a restricted Buffet ?

SpennerJune 24th 2012.

The part of the buffet where they cook the food fresh in front of you is restricted to two items per person I believe. I got two langoustines and two skewered land kebabs at the same time !! Lucky me !

SpennerJune 24th 2012.

Lamb kebabs that should have said.

visited this place today, waited for half and hour to get served at tapenyaki station. portions were very small and allow to get two at a time. got fed up queuing the second time.

they served lobster, but by the time i got there, there were all gone so i asked if there were more coming out, the cook told me its finish. then after half an hour i saw the same cook took one big portions of lobster especially to a table which looked like his friend or family.

the customer service was extremely poor, no one smiled. the person at the sushi bar didnt have gloves on making sushi and i asked him for sashimi but he didnt understand english. there's tuna on the menu but they dont have.

they dont provide you knife when u have lamb chops and sirlion steak. it was ann absolute dissapointment.

I went there yesterday and all i can stay it stay away from the place as the customer service is appalling for a new restaurant. We booked and were supposed to get the 241 deal but they wouldn't allow us to have it even though I booked the week before the restaurant opened as supposedly the deal was booked up for that day even though there were only 4 table with people on them. We tried to reason with the staff and manager but they just basically called us liars which is very bad customer service and I have never been treated so badly in a restaurant before the Red Hot Buffet was so much better when I have been there twice before the staff can't help you enough and if there's a problem they sort it out for you. All I can say is I hope Tops change their ways or they won't be open very long.

ZoeJune 26th 2012.

Went for dinner yesterday with 241 deals. Best buffet restaurant in Manchester I never have. Excellent customer service and good qaulity food. A must try restaurant.

Isn't the chocolate fountain a singularly depressing invention to have to look at.

Had a nice meal on Sunday didnt do the chicken tika that I like at red hot the crispy Beef was not crispy I dont think it Keeps The salt and pepper prawns were a bit bland But in general I thought it good value

Went for lunch today. All chicken and beef is halal and so much choice. Best buffet in Manchester. Super friendly staff and excellent food. Going back thursday to try dishes I was too full too attempt today. A must try restaurant.

went last night with my sister and food was awful. Never again!!
Starters: usual chinese food, spring rolls and samosas were empty. Crispy duck was neither crispy or tasted of duck.
Mains: luke warm and not nice. Pad thai was just bland noodles and chicken and cashew nuts had no nuts!!
Dim sum/grill station: Leave emergency contact numbers with loved ones if you dare to go here as they'll think you've gone home. you will queue for an hour to receive what will amount to a cold plate of food which you won't be able to eat. \one useless chef who cannot cook more than one thing at a time, the result being one lamb chop which was OK and one 50p sized see through piece of beef which was over seasoned.
Desserts: watery ice cream and minuscule puds.

Had I paid full price and not on the 241 offer I would have been really really upset. Pease avoid this place if you like good food.

Can Manchester Confidential actually bother to delete the comments that are very clearly from the PR company or staff/management of the restaurant?

The vast majority of real people who have commented above have advised the place is poor. Engrish (sic) replies saying how great everything is whilst knocking the competition are just pathetic and irritating.

And to the management - Instead of creating fake reviews why don't you address the issues and apologise for your poor service? There are a few excellent buffet restaurants in the city so you have plenty of competition!

Can Manchester Confidential actually bother to delete the comments that are very clearly from the PR company or staff/management of the restaurant?

The vast majority of real people who have commented above have advised the place is poor. Engrish (sic) replies saying how great everything is whilst knocking the competition are just pathetic and irritating.

And to the management - Instead of creating fake reviews why don't you address the issues and apologise for your poor service? There are a few excellent buffet restaurants in the city so you have plenty of competition!

Frankly I find the ridiculous comments from the various PR hilarious and for them self-defeating.

Can Manchester Confidential actually bother to delete the comments that are very clearly from the PR company or staff/management of the restaurant?

The vast majority of real people who have commented above have advised the place is poor. Engrish (sic) replies saying how great everything is whilst knocking the competition are just pathetic and irritating.

And to the management - Instead of creating fake reviews why don't you address the issues and apologise for your poor service? There are a few excellent buffet restaurants in the city so you have plenty of competition!

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Poor little Manchester Confidential are repeatedly deleting my comment above! Can they not take a bit of honest and constructive criticism? Of course they can't but we all knew that already didn't we!

Jonathan SchofieldJuly 4th 2012.

Anonymous your eloquence has been on display all the time, above my comment. We never remove rants unless they are grotesque, obscene, illegal, far too personal or utterly stupid. As far as I'm aware we are the most liberal media in the North with regards to moderating the rants. We even keep ones which attack us up on the rant boards - although some people seem to find it odd when we defend ourselves. Anyway Anon, my advice is calm down a little before you add vicious little paragraphs such as the last one above.

We went about 2 weeks ago on a Saturday, which is when they charge full price. Selection was good except the sushi was as disappointing as Red Hot. There was maybe one dish of Salmon on a whole belt per hour (no Tuna at all, even Red Hot had Tuna). The other food generally was fresher and better quality than Red Hot, and so is the Dessert section which has more cakes & fruit.
On a lunch day however, they cordon off everything and you are left with a pitiful buffet where it would be better if you hopped across the road to Buffet City.
The staff were all friendly, BUT the chef who did our steak and scallops attitude was absolutely rotten. He glared at you and dosen't even acknowledge your order. All my friends said the same after I recommended the place so I regretted having done so afterwards.
If they're trying to sell their "live cooking stations" as a feast for the eyes from their website, then they're doing quite a laughable job if they're making people afraid to step up to them and beg for their 2 pieces of meat.

I personally can't believe the level of some peoples' expectation for under £15! Fair enough, you don't expect food poisoning wherever you go but to be complaining that the sushi selection isn't great for example.....

MuncherAugust 3rd 2012.

Do you know the kind of sushi you can get for £15 from Wasabi or yo Sushi? Obviosuly I know what Im talking about. Yes there's a lot of selection but your stomach can only hold so much, you have to judge on the quality individually.

Hello there,
First of all can I thank everyone for their comments, positive or otherwise, we take every one of these on board to try and improve out service.

In regards to issues surrounding the general temperature of the dishes, we will be having all of our buffet counters serviced/upgraded in the next few days in response this problem.

There were also complaints about the amount of time it takes to be served at the teppanyaki section. This is due to the fact that only the centre of a teppanyaki section is of a high enough temperature to cook the foods, meaning that only one person can be served at a time. To fix this problem, we are having another cooking station built for a second chef, with hopes to improve on this.

There has also been a bit of confusion regarding the rules surrounding our seafood section. Currently we say that you are allowed 2 pieces from this section at a time, this is not to put a limit on anyone as you are allowed to return to the section as many times as you like, it is simply to make sure that it doesn’t run out too quickly, leaving other customers disappointed.

I would finally like to mention that we have been open a mere 4 weeks and the majority of feedback we have received has been good. We are working hard to make
this a great experience for anyone that enters our restaurant, and we will continue to do this in the years to come!
TOPS!

Hello there,
First of all can I thank everyone for their comments, positive or otherwise, we take every one of these on board to try and improve out service.

In regards to issues surrounding the general temperature of the dishes, we will be having all of our buffet counters serviced/upgraded in the next few days in response this problem.

There were also complaints about the amount of time it takes to be served at the teppanyaki section. This is due to the fact that only the centre of a teppanyaki section is of a high enough temperature to cook the foods, meaning that only one person can be served at a time. To fix this problem, we are having another cooking station built for a second chef, with hopes to improve on this.

There has also been a bit of confusion regarding the rules surrounding our seafood section. Currently we say that you are allowed 2 pieces from this section at a time, this is not to put a limit on anyone as you are allowed to return to the section as many times as you like, it is simply to make sure that it doesn’t run out too quickly, leaving other customers disappointed.

I would finally like to mention that we have been open a mere 4 weeks and the majority of feedback we have received has been good. We are working hard to make
this a great experience for anyone that enters our restaurant, and we will continue to do this in the years to come!
TOPS!

ForgetfulJuly 29th 2012.

Yeah experience of Queing up for ages for a piece of meat!!!

Well done Tops in replying like this, it takes guts to do so. I think readers should see if the changes you mention make a difference and then react to them.

MuncherAugust 3rd 2012.

I do agree and will be revisiting soon to see if Ive changed my mind at all.

wheres my comments gone.....got deleted cos it was bad comments!!!
rubbish...bet ur eating for free all the time!!!

AnonymousAugust 1st 2013.

How silly do you look now Yiu. both your comments are there for all to see, not that they are worth seeing!

I went Saturday with a part of 10, thought it was excellent, the food was very good, loved the choice and the desserts were amazing. The service was really good too cant understand some of the bad comments. Would go again.

Revisited tonight friday, and must say I have changed my mind, and might make this a favourtie place lol. The quality dosent seem to have deteriorated and actually improved.
My friends actually commented that the thing they liked about it was that the food was hot unlike other places, and that food quality was fresher and better cooked than other buffet places.
I noticed moody chef was replaced by a cheery one doing the steak and the line seemed to move a Revisited tonight friday, and must say I have changed my mind, and might make this a favourtie place lol. The quality dosent seem to have deteriorated and actually improved.
My friends actually commented that the thing they liked about it was that the food was hot unlike other places, and that food quality was fresher and better cooked than other buffet places.
I noticed moody chef was replaced by a cheery one doing the steak and the line seemed to move a bit faster.
All in all I saw many little but significant improvements that have been taken on board from previous complaints. Will definately go again and introduce more people to it.bit faster.
All in all I saw many little but significant improvements that have been taken on board from previous complaints. Will definately go again and int

MuncherAugust 18th 2012.

Sorry, my post got botched up a bit there. No way to fix it....

Muncher are u sure the Tepanyaki grill.. the steak>> has been improved to a quicker pace and a more cheerful chef...??? the last time I went the que was so slow and the chef...just like ignorant!!!

I have just got of the phone to tops restaurant, that was my 3rd call today, the 1st time my call was answered & the line went dead, these things happen calls for the 2nd time a lady answered not sure but think her name is jessica, before I even spoke the lady told me they were to busy & to call back in an hour, managed to explained I was making query & could she help me to which she replied no we're call back, I asked to speak to a manager & was told she was the manager & the phone was put down on me, by now I'm not a happy a person, phones again got thru to a man, who tells me the manager is called Andy but he's not there, I asked him the name of the lady on the reception & he said Jessica, at which time the lady "jessica" same person who hung up on me came on the line, I asked her name just to clarify she refused, I asked to speak to the manager she told me she was the manager, refused to tell me who was over her, because I dont tell the truth, & the she put the phone to side rather than speak, so I've bin hung up on more than once, called a liar & then had the phone put on 1 side & all I wanted was to make a query for my mums 80 birthday, top advertisement 4 a top restaurant I think not

Lisa YauSeptember 17th 2012.

Going tonight on a buy one get one free offer!!!

ForgetfulSeptember 21st 2012.

well anonymous... u havent missed much...and good job u didnt get to talk to anyone...their attitude there is terrible..
maybe they can get someone whio can speak "english" would be helpful too...its just the same inside...

Well Lisa i dont think u would have enjoyed it..
I went on Monday 10th on the BOGOF and it was rubbish!!
Greeted at the door after waiting in a que outside in the rain by a Englisman whos attitude is...how many is it for? have u booked? what do u expect? its free???... well must say it wasnt free, I still had to pay. Then the food was dirty and horrible..
It has a Enviromental Hygiene number 5 , but no way was it hygienic at all.....it was like a sewage place..so dirty!!
Food was bad as well... Another customer asked if there was anymore roast duck and they pointed out to her the5 or 6 very small fatty bits left on a plate at the carvery to her!!!
The wait at the Teppanyaki was long...gosh it was all just rubbish..and I think that is the attitude of the staff here...ran by China people!! with their China attitude!!

AnonymousAugust 1st 2013.

do you work for red hot buffet by any chance?

What I despise most is people who want "happy" and "cheery" servants. Its one thing for a person to be good at their job, but being a menial food preparation slave in a tyrannical economy shouldnt please anyone.

Anyone smiling as they work in this system is necessarily either a retard to thinking theres anything to smile about, or has been bullied into smiling.

With things getting financially tighter, demanding friendly servants leads to people not only being bullied into menial work by a government intent on engineering complete abject submission of the population to finance. But also beingbullied into smiling while they do it.

I cant think of anything more offensive than financial slaves (and yes - with new regulations, you ARE a slave - take a look at the welfare reform act 2012 and Mandatory work activity regs) being bullied into menial tasks within an economy designed to serve war criminals, and THEN being told they should be happy about it.

Id apologise for being a killjoy. But right now, killing the joy of those tolerating or even supporting the systematic oppression is actually a noble cause.

MaggieAugust 1st 2013.

If I had my way, we'd all live in Utopia, where everything was free and nobody had to work! Hang on, if nobody has to work, who is going to wipe my arse for me, I know, lets get all the war criminals to wipe...............sorry lost the will to live after reading the post above

Wished the staff were more helpful and not to be tight when serving. Why be a buffet restaurant if you can't afford to serve what you advertised??

Terrible... Not improved at all.. will even say its gone downhill.. went 2 weeks ago and there was less choice of food than before and some of it was cold,, ie the Hot and Sour Soup...nvm..
Will think about it b4 I visit again, only went again because got invited by a friend and cos I not been since September and was told it had improved!!

I really enjoyed the atmosphere, wide variety of food, but cold plates made all my food cold too.
You would think this is any easy fix?

Thanks for providing helpful information about restaurant. www.thebullatbroughton.com/…

was there for xmas and things could not be better. food was hot and all food was the best that good back tomorrow with family .my no 1 place to eat in manchester