It’s almost midday on a Wednesday morning, and I’m standing in a queue inside a leisure centre, on an industrial estate. It’s on the outskirts of Narbonne, in south-west France’s Cathar country, a city full of sunshine and more than 2,500 years of history.
But I’m not going swimming today, nor am I here to seek out Roman and medieval antiquities. This is the site of a world-renowned epic feasting restaurant that blows any other festive banquet out of the water.
As I watch another family buy tickets for the ice-skating rink, I wonder: have I been duped?
I must be in the right place though – there are currently about 50 excited people beside me who have also made this unique food pilgrimage.
There’s a couple and his parents from Avignon; a couple from Nimes celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and a family that has made the nearly-900km (560-mile) journey from Asturias in northern Spain, in their caravan. “We’ve planned an entire week’s holiday especially around this lunch,” the older son tells me proudly.
We’re all gathered waiting for the doors to open at Les Grands Buffets, which, since it opened in 1989, has built up a word-of-mouth reputation as the most luxurious all-you-can-eat buffet in the world.
It’s based on the cooking of the legendary 19th century French chef Auguste Escoffier, who created more than 5,000 recipes, among them Béarnaise sauce and peach Melba.
We have all been lured in with feverish tales of a spread worthy of Louis XIV: towers of glistening seafood; tables groaning with choice cuts of meat; a Guinness World Record 111 cheeses and an epic dessert table; which also includes a bijou ice cream parlour. The best bit? You can stuff yourself with all this haute cuisine for four hours and for just £52 (€62.90).
It can take up to a year to get a reservation but by sheer determination of checking back on the restaurant website every day, I noticed one solitary place available within just a few weeks.
So I hastily booked myself a seat on the Eurostar – in the spirit of this gourmet adventure I took the seven-hour train journey from London to Narbonne via Paris on the TGV, so I could stop for another lunch in the capital.
The doors swing open and my jaw drops. It’s like stepping through a portal to a fine-dining Parisian restaurant, 125 years ago. With five opulent dining rooms seating 500 guests per sitting, there are countless crystal chandeliers and immaculate white-linen tables garnished with silver candelabras.
I am shown to my table and handed a map of the buffet stations, which I pore over like a first-timer at Disneyland. After my friendly server, Stella, has taken my drink order (wine is at cellar prices, so I start with a €6.80/£5.60 glass of Moët & Chandon) she informs me that the buffet is now open.
I’m almost shaking with nervous energy as I eye up the silver platters of decadent food in disbelief: surely there has to be a catch? Surprisingly, the atmosphere is respectful, calm almost.
A buffet aficionado, I do a visual sweep of the entire offering first, so I know what to prioritise.
On the furthest wall of the dining room, are local oysters, cooked crabs, crayfish, anchovies and what’s aptly described as “a waterfall” of lobster. It’s not the first time this lunch that I have to stop myself squealing out loud. I load up a heavenly feast – taking care to transfer small portions – that also includes blinis with caviar, as the song “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast plays in my head.
My main strategy is to avoid loading up with carbs, and to tackle lunch like a marathon, not a sprint. There are several cooked-to-order stations: I try the traditional canard à la presse (pressed duck) – for which the duck juices and blood are combined to make a rich jus that is poured onto slices of tender breast – followed by some côte de boeuf.
To the other side of the duck, a group of 10 chefs works over red-hot stoves, with short orders being shouted back with a “Oui, chef!”. I put my order in for a creamy portion of coquilles Saint-Jacques.
Next is a simple but deeply flavoured fish soup – made traditionally from all the seafood leftovers. I’m later told that despite the extravagant buffet offering, there’s actually very little waste – tech-driven data predicts exactly how much the average customer will eat, and the 220-strong staff eats the rest.
Then, it’s time for the record-breaking cheese, which is worth the trip alone. Each has a little name tag. I dig into small slices of a crystalline 30-month aged Comte; as well as slivers of cheese called Abondance, Tomme De Lozere and Le Napoleon, with a little bit of quince jelly. All are divine.
My pace is starting to slow as I start to fill up, but I go to survey the 80 types of dessert. There’s a conspiratorial look of glee between me and the other diners as we pass each other by – it feels like we’re competition winners. We are, really – 2.8 million people apply for 400,000 seats at the restaurant every year.
I select macarons, a chocolate eclair, a mini strawberry tart and a small slice of apple tart. This might be the best day of my life.
I’m now about three hours in, but squeeze in a palate-cleansing green apple sorbet. Like the proverbial potato: stick a fork in me, I’m done.
Owner, Louis Privat, later explains his concept: “Auguste Escoffier is the father of traditional cuisine. He made French cuisine become a global cuisine,” he says. “The project is to offer the public haute cuisine dishes that have traditionally only ever been offered in palaces, but for a low price that’s open for everyone to try.”
He’s certainly achieved that, and over 35 years has made it a cult dining destination that deserves the hype. It’s not long before I’m back on the website scanning for an available seat.
The only downside? Les Grands Buffets has now ruined buffets for me for ever. Sorry, aunt Hilary, I’m never going to be able to look at your Boxing Day spread in the same way again.
How to get there
Eurostar has seats from London St Pancras to Paris from £39 one way. Tickets from Paris to Narbonne on TGV InOui are available from €35 one way.
Where to stay
20 minutes walk from Les Grands Buffets — and five minutes’ walk from the cathedral, pretty canal and old-fashioned food market of Narbonne — is the stylish and luxe Hôtel Le Mosaïque. Doubles from €170, breakfast included.
More information
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