COSMO Aberdeen

Last weekend, we visited COSMO Aberdeen, which has recently celebrated its 10th Birthday! 

This is such a significant achievement, especially in the current climate so we send our congratulations to the Union Square team! It feels as though we are hearing endless bouts of doom and gloom when it comes to businesses on the British High Street, so it’s always lovely to share some positives as well.

If you didn’t know (although, I imagine the majority do!), COSMO is an all-you-can-eat World Buffet restaurant, which makes it the perfect dining location for the young, the fussy, the indecisive and those with big or small appetites. Whoever or whatever your preferences, there are over 150 dishes to choose from! 

With so many choices, I refuse to believe that there isn’t something for everyone!

There are options for Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Thai and Mexican foods. I think that many people associate COSMO with only serving Chinese food but there are many other cuisine styles to pick from. Oh, and did you know that they offer a carvery? So you can enjoy a Sunday roast with all the trimmings on any night of the week!

This is a particularly good location for those children who may love to dine on pizza and/or pasta with chips because I find that the novelty and excitement of an all-you-can-eat is a real treat for everyone, but it also provides the opportunity to sample new foods without fear of ‘ordering the wrong thing’ or something that you may not like. 

And of course, I have no judgement on the pizza/pasta/chips combo because we adults feel exactly the same about it, and with good reason. It’s a winning combo! There is absolutely no denying or downplaying that the majority of us also like to indulge in a good pizza or curry and sides when we get the option, it’s just that the young’uns among us often tend to enjoy something familiar.

We chose to visit COSMO on a weeknight because it is a very popular restaurant in Aberdeen and I suspect a Saturday night would have been even busier after a day’s shopping, a cinema trip or simply for a weekend treat if nothing else.

Hungry after a hard day’s work, but that makes it worth the wait don’t you think? I do anyway. I certainly eat less during the day in order to ‘save space’ to eat more later! Yes, I know, I’m sure it doesn’t actually work that way but I think we’ve all been guilty of these little mind games at one point or another!

Where to find Cosmo Aberdeen?

Anyway, after a long day’s work, we made our way to COSMO which can be found in the Union Square shopping centre in Aberdeen, near the bus station. 

On arrival, we received a lovely and warm welcome before being taken to our table.

The restaurant is really big, much bigger than it appears from the outside and it is bustling with people of all ages. As you are guided to your table, you feel a real sense of being in a culinary treasure trove as you watch people eagerly searching for the next best thing. 

We sat at a booth towards the back of the restaurant. This actually suited us perfectly and gave us the opportunity to settle in, relax and really consider our options. We both like very different foods, just as we do many of the same foods but when visiting somewhere like COSMO, allows us to really branch out and enjoy some of the foods that we typically wouldn’t eat together.

For me, that’s sushi, Teppanyaki and more of the freshly cooked food stations where it’s all done in front of you. Peter, definitely errs towards your typical takeaway dishes of noodles, rice, meats and sauce. Whether it’s a curry or Chinese food, those styles are definitely his preference yes, I might also eat a little of those too, but I have a smaller appetite for sure.

Safe to say, I tend to enjoy a little of many dishes as opposed to a lot of fewer dishes.

The Meal

For drinks, I ordered a strawberry daiquiri while Peter ordered a cider. We are not big drinkers but on occasion, I do like to enjoy a drink. In hindsight, I wish that this had been a frozen daiquiri but I that was down to my reading, or lack of reading, the menu. I thought it was nice but very sweet and I ordered a soft drink (no less sweet, I know) but much easier to drink alongside a meal.

When it came to the main event, we went our separate ways. He searched for curries while I went to find myself some sushi.

For starters, Peter came back with some chicken wings, pork ribs and a few spring rolls.

I really enjoyed the sushi, I picked a mixture of vegetable and some seafood options. Of course, with some dipping soy sauce on the side. As I went for a nosey around the other food sections, I spotted some custard steamed buns in the Chinese area and I decided to try one of those.

Was the custard steamed bun more of a dessert choice? Well, yes. Perhaps a bit early in the meal but, I think when you visit an all-you-can-eat, you can shuffle your courses. This was my first time trying one and I didn’t know what to expect from it but I really enjoyed it.

Warm, doughy, creamy, sweet, vanilla. I couldn’t eat too many but it was delicious.

Next, I enjoyed some Teppanyaki and for this, the food is cooked in front of you. You pick your meat or seafood, a sauce and whether you would like Yakisoba (fried noodles) alongside it. 

Teppanyaki is typically grilled food. I picked some prawns with a sticky sauce as the main component and honestly, I couldn’t believe the number of prawns that I received. They were a good size and there were plenty of them which leads me to wonder, did they really go over and above on the amount of meat/seafood offered or… Does everyone else scrimp when you order seafood?

Needless to say, I was thrilled and I will tell everyone from now on to visit the Teppanyaki station and enjoy it to your heart’s content! Because this is not a one-time thing, you can visit as often as your heart desires and I would highly recommend trialling many of the meats and sauces on offer.

Peter opted for an Indian course first of Tikka Masala, Saag Aloo, Pilau Rice and some Samosas which were all excellent, followed by a course of Chinese food which he definitely didn’t think was as good as the Indian offering.

We both enjoyed bits and pieces of other foods but to me, these were the standout options.

For dessert, if you can fit it in, there is a chocolate fountain and an ice cream machine that are both very popular. You can pick a multitude of different jellies and cheesecake bites or fruits and cakes. Myself, I really wanted a lot of watermelon! Watermelon is one of these things that I instantly crave as soon as I see it so my mind was set from that moment.

Along with the watermelon, I had some Eton mess. An interesting combination, I’d agree. But delicious nonetheless!

Peter definitely took a few more bits and pieces and thoroughly enjoyed them.

There are so many options to choose from, I often consider the need to think of my eating plan strategically in order to get both your money’s worth as well as try a little bit of everything and I think that we did quite well this time having not been to a buffet for years.

Overall we really enjoyed our visit to Cosmo and will definitely be looking to return at some point in the near future as we’ve heard that there’s also a Sunday Carvery option which would be amazing.

Have you been to Cosmo before or are you considering visiting?

Let us know.

Cosmo Aberdeen Booking

You can book a table at Cosmo Aberdeen at the following link

How much is Cosmo Aberdeen?

Prices vary depending on the time and the day that you go.

Lunch

Mon – Fri : £15.99
Saturday : £16.99
Sunday & Bank Holidays : £20.50

Dinner

Mon – Thurs : £18.50
Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays : £20.50