Charlie Choys Army & Navy - Chelmsford

Visited yesterday, no one in the restaurant at all. Food was HORRIBLE!! Refused to pay after first plate of food, citing the food had been out much longer than the half hour they tried to make out. Also Cocktail tasted disgusting (out of date coconut milk we assume - we had watched four members of staff smell the milk before they used it anyway). Eventually they allowed us to leave without paying.

we have tried over chinese and indian buffets, and this was abysmal right from the start. holes in the ceiling, no toilet paper in any of the toilets and v dirty - just shrugged their shoulders when this was pointed out to the staff - dirty cloths around the bar area, with cleaning fluid clearly displayed next to the buffet food. my children love chinese and indian - however ended up having pizza and chips - hardly any vegetarian options, and literally all indian, not much chinese at all, cold, choices all over the place - desserts awful - at the end of our meal, the manager asked me how our meal was - i told him exactly how awful it was and that we would not be returning or recommending it to anyone - and he didn't say a word to me in response! not a "oh dear, sorry to hear that we will try and improve" - not a single thing - he just stared at me!! do not waste your money here!

Went here on sat night, and it was truely one of the worst meals I have ever eaten. It is over priced, tasteless and cheap food. Very disappointing. The food was all jumbled up with no set area ofr each food type. The stir fry choice was a nice idea, but the ingredients were of poor quality and that came through in taste. We will not be going back!

Ive been there few times now and I must admit they have improved from the first time ive been. I agree with some of the stuff other reviewers have said about the unfinished restaurant; it did seem they opened in a hurry. I happened to ask the manager there about why it looked unfinished he said they were behind couple of months and the builders let them down.

Anyway the food is actually quite good based on the food ive tried. They do have a variety of starters from tikka chicken, rolls, duck meat, bbq chicken corn on cob and chips, etc. They also have a salad section which was nicely presented, a small selection of sushi which I dont eat. The main curry dishes were very nice. I enjoyed the Thai red curry and the tikka masala with pillau rice. You can also get fresh nan bread baked in front of you by asking any of the chefs. What I also liked is the stir-fry section where you pick your own selection of fresh ingredient and get the chef to fry it in front of your eyes - that tasted really good.

Finally, although they did have a few selection of desert I found that they can improve on their selection and quality. But they did have a really cool ice-cream machine with sauce and topping which always had a small queue because it was so popular.

Overall I think my experience was a pleasant one; I enjoyed the variety and the price was reasonable. The restaurant was clean and had a good atmosphere; the staff were very friendly and was keen to take all the dirty plates and glasses as soon as you finished. I would definitely recommend people to check it out specially families with children and if they are under 5 they eat for free!!

Food truly awful.Poor selection of dishes and cheap ingredients.Also for the most part looked totally unappertising.Selection of desserts were dire even the fruit salad only consisted of pineapple and melon. Drinks were over priced.Been to other buffets in the area that are far superior, cheaper, and use quality ingredients not the cheap and nasty stuff we were subjected to. Will definately not return even if it were free!!

Reserve booking online,but had no confirmation ,when mentioned they said it didnt matter, tried to phone for hour and half to check booking no answer, wasnt given a reason why no one answered phone, resturant very cold, no atmosphere, variety of food was poor, indian and chinese dishes in no set order,minimal variety of dishes, very dissapointing and not recommended.

Unfinished dangerous if you take your children beware of all the exposed wiring and unfinished building work. Currently not heated cold atmosphere with HSS halogen heaters to keep you from freezing.

The food is a buffet style advertising Chinese, Thai, Indian and Euro well the Indian food had a skin on where it had been there for ages when I complained they gave it a stir, the Chinese food was cold on the hot plate and the Euro food was a cold calzone pizza that had been looking at me since I arrived or a hard pepperoni pizza.

We complained got nowhere was disgusted by the whole event! We visited on the 10/01/11 evening.