CLOSED - One World Buffet (International)

Update 2015-Oct-31: One World has been closed for ten days for no given reason. The only notification was a single post on its Facebook page. Employees are indicating they've picked up their ROEs and it won't be reopening but I'll hold off until the official word; still if you have any plans there best to change them. Such a shame, but it was a big place for small city like Oshawa (and one that already has a Mandarin.)

Update 2015-Dec-28: Still no "official" update, but it's been closed for over two months, others have found a bankruptcy notification and the location is for sale. It appears to be permanently closed. We later found out the reason why: the owner (Peter) was paying a lease of thirty grand a month for the premises! (Was he misled into this? I can hardly imagine agreeing to it otherwise.) No wonder he couldn't keep up the payments. I knew it was going to fail when we left one day and he was sitting by the front, beside a man with a laptop pointing out something on the screen, with his head in his hands with a look of shock... I hope he and his family are OK. The restaurant business is not an easy one and the hard-working people who keep us fat and happy occasionally risk it all and lose everything in the process.

One World Buffet is located in Oshawa just south of downtown, at 200 John St. W. in the Midtown Mall. The location was formerly a pool hall, and it's one of the largest AYCE's I've ever been to. It's a stone's throw from my family's home in Oshawa and when visiting them I passed by it while it was under construction and could barely wait until it opened; I happened to meet the owner (Peter) onsite and he gave me a tour of the place. It did open in early 2015 and I was there shortly thereafter and a couple of more times since but for some unknown reason it's taken me months to get around to writing it up.

One World not only one of the largest but also has a very interesting interior: the "aquarium" kitchen allows the chefs to be seen doing their preparations, there's a five-station carvery, numerous steam tables, and some interesting decor. One World features 550 seats and still some weekends it's almost full. As well as standard lunch and dinner buffets, on weekends brunch is offered from 11h00-14h30.

I tried to sample as many of the items as I could, as I usually do, though this is difficult in one visit even with my appetite! My first outing was for weekday dinner shortly after One World opened. I didn't find as much sushi as I expected; there is only one small area with rolls although they are good. Soy sauce is bagged Wing's instead of loose Kikkoman or equivalent, so sushi definitely isn't a house priority. However there is smoked salmon which is a nice stand-in for sashimi.

Greek potatoes originally were reminiscent of chips and delicious; I had several helpings. However they seem to have changed the recipe over time and it's not as interesting now. Pork souvlaki and chicken filet were both very good with hints of rosemary and oregano. Chicken teriyaki was oddly served with mushrooms but still very nice. The first time we tried the lemon chicken, mom found pieces of bone in it. We advised the waitress and it went all the way up to Peter who ended up giving mom a free dinner (which was exceptionally nice) and the problem was resolved the next time and never reoccurred (teething pains I called it.)

The lasagna, cabbage rolls and jalapeno cheese sticks were good; the latter is jalapeno flavored versus being a cheese-covered pepper. Mamarosa was spicy and tasty. I didn't care much for the BBQ chicken; it was rather dry and needed a little flavour lacking any BBQ smokiness. Seafood casserole was savoury and flavourful but a little salty but I still enjoyed it. Dill salmon was cooked well but could have been a bit more "dilly". Vegetable cream soup was excellent as was General Tao chicken, whose sauce has a little heat but this improved it. Chicken balls were a bit doughy though. Bacon pizza was excellent. Greek pork was good though I am not into the tomato sauce this dish requires.

Beef bourguignon (a first for ever seeing this neo-haute-cuisine French dish at an AYCE) wasn't bad but was a bit too generic (read: not enough wine); still, a welcome inclusion! Vegetable fried rice was excellent with much savour and without being too salty. Wonton soup was excellent with aromatic, savoury broth and firm wontons. Madagascar salmon was well-done but the sauce could have used a bit more flavour. The only complete letdown on the first visit was the vegetable soup which was almost flavourless; I didn't see this on return so I'm unsure if it's still being made but I suggest giving it a pass if unimproved.

The extensive carvery features numerous gravies as well as meats. Roast beef was fantastic: tender and flavourful, and peppercorn gravy just made it all the better. Montreal smoked meat was also excellent and went well with mushroom gravy. The leg of lamb was tasty, however dry. Turkey and pork roast were also both dry, although on a second visit this had improved. Ham was good and not dry at all.

Brunch, of course, features breakfast items not found during the dinner course. Everyone's favourite including Mishy's was a steam tray filled with AYCE eggs benedict, and they were actually quite good. Of course, there was also an entire steam tray filled with the Fifth Food Group: bacon. It wasn't crispy however, and there are some (including at my table) who won't eat it otherwise, so if it was up to me I would have two trays or a split tray for both limp and crisp. Southwestern omelette was another of my favourites, however the scrambled eggs were too homogenous to have anything but powdered eggs as their source. The condiments area is in need of two of my staples for morning fare: Worcestershire and Tabasco or Red-Hot or equivalent.

Finally, we come to dessert. There are only four flavours of ice cream which led to some griping at our table, but one of them, ironically intended as the children's flavour, is a delightful meld of grape, possibly candy floss and other flavours that just somehow works perfectly and is one of my favourite ice creams ever... thus no griping from me. There are some large trays of pudding, cakes and cheesecakes which were very good, and of course fresh fruit which I skip as that is not my reason for AYCE! Just thinking about it makes me want to go back there...

It's difficult to come up with a meaningful rating for One World. Some of the offerings are superb, most are quite good to excellent, there's nothing really bad, but a few "meh"s and some shortcomings. It's also difficult to factor in the cost as it's so variable, running the gamut from the very overpriced $26.99 on Saturday night to an extreme deal $12.99 weekday lunch that does not get jacked up if the weekday happens to be a holiday. Weekend brunch is $17.99, but it's until late enough and there are enough dinner items that I'm full until the next day. So, I'd say that the prices are good with the caveats to avoid when they are not. One World seems like a family-run place as well, and I admire the risk-taking to go into that large of a venture in the hopes that it will have lasting appeal. So, I have to simply rate it on how much I am looking forward to my next outing there, which my enthusiasm for proves that the lasting appeal is certainly there.

Rating: 8.5-9/10.