IF my son was asked to name his favourite place to eat, nine times out of ten it will be Days, the all you can eat Oriental-style buffet restaurant in Bournemouth.

Situated below TK Maxx in the St Peter’s Quarter, it’s modern and well laid out with a choice of around 250 dishes and almost every kind of dessert you can imagine.

It’s been a while since we went as a family, and the place looked brighter and more colourful than I remembered, which was partly due to the festive decorations and the fact that the chairs are now covered in bright gold crushed velvet.

And it was surprisingly busy, bearing in mind it was early on a Sunday evening.

You pay in advance – £14.99 for adults and £7.50 for children.

Drinks are paid for separately and are reasonably priced.

You then find a table, grab a plate and start to work your way round the vast selection of Asian cuisine including Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, sushi and Indian.

Considering the sheer volume of food, most of the dishes are good quality and it is an opportunity to try new dishes you wouldn’t usually order.

My son, 13, discovered he loves squid, which is cooked fresh to order on a hot grill.

You can also have steak and prawns cooked in the same way.

The staff seemed more attentive than I remembered.

As soon as you stop for a breather, your plate is whipped away so you can get up and start all over again.

Nothing ever runs out. If a dish is running low, the details are tapped into a wall-mounted computer screen and within a few minutes it is topped up.

If you have a sweet tooth you will love the puddings.

You can dip in and out of the white and milk chocolate fountains, help yourself to ice cream, pick and mix fruits and sweets or you can have a pancake or waffle cooked to order.

It’s certainly not for the calorie conscious or for fine diners, but it remains the best all-you-can-eat restaurant in the area.