Last year, one of my favourite shops, Orientex, decided it would branch out into the restaurant business. The left hand side of the shop was emptied of its stock and the large space was refurbished (badly behind schedule, as it happened, which must have cost them a bit) into a large open plan dining area, which has a long self-serving area for an Oriental buffet. In this respect the set-up seemed to be closely resembling Tropical Taste, at the bottom of the High Street (though not putting Indian or Japanese cuisine into the restaurant mix) or the China Ocean Buffer Restaurant.

I should have been champing at the bit to write this post. However, I have to be honest. The fact is that I could have done it weeks ago but I have been dreading it. I have found several reasons to put it off, including those mentioned in my post about the Kemer restaurant - self-justifications that I think it best to wait until initial teething troubles have been sorted out and the shape of things becomes clear. But mainly, I have put it off because I am so disappointed about Orientex's restaurant venture. So I delayed, but sadly, the delay has not improved the initial information (I am, nothing, if not nosey) and impressions that had began to filter back to me shortly after it opened.

So here goes: "Don't".

There are a number of reasons for this, the first being that I have it on pretty good authority that the food they offer in their buffets is not always cooked by professional chefs but is often prepared by the manager of the supermarket, who fired the two chefs he'd brought in at the start up of the restaurant. There has also been a turn-over of other staff which has been noticeable.

The food is therefore very much based on the level of the manager's misplaced engagement in a busines which it turns out he does not understand as well as he does the retail trade. It is "awful". It seems to reflect the manager's obsession with the bottom line and a limited level of cooking ability. This apparently does not extend, in this context, much further than opening convenience packets from the supermarket next door and the liberal use of cooking oil to fry it in.

The process by which these items are selected for inclusion in the buffet has been a subject of some speculation by sources close to me, none of which, unfortunately, I am in a position to verify, so I will avoid legal liability and protect the innocent by merely suggesting that brave patrons should consider asking. They may or may not get a very straightforward response. As indeed, they may or may not get if they ask for full and accurate information as to the exact time (or day) when the cooking of all the items on offer in the buffet they are being encouraged to serve themselves at actually occurred.

This is all very disappointing, as I said. Orientex is actually a great shop, providing a great service to lovers of oriental cuisine. There are some fabulous dishes in the Filipino canon. Sadly, the boss has gone into a catering venture which does no justice to the wonderful foods which could be on offer. It is, however his business.

The cost of the buffet varies from £5.90 on Monday to Fridays and £6.90 on Saturdays (Children are charged £1.00 less). The truth is suposed to set us free, but sometimes it hurts. I just can't recommend it. I hope very much that one day I will be able to, but not now, by a long chalk.