Shiver Your Timbers and Tickle Your Tastebuds at This Zany Wangjing Pirate Themed Buffet

Your childhood memories of listening to Sebastian, the musically-inclined crab from The Little Mermaid, sing about living under the sea are about to be revived.

Toughly translated as Pirate's Pavilion, this new restaurant at Wangjing International Commercial Center takes the notion of a themed restaurant to the next level (or should we say depth) by outfitting itself with endless nautical decorations that include a 3D screen showing clips of surfers and sailors, mermaid statues, walls lined with fake coral, and staff members decked out in pirate costumes.

The aesthetic is undeniably goofy and bound to leave uppity foodies with upturned noses, but those of us with open minds and an appetite for ridiculous and offbeat spots will agree that there's fun to be had here. Set to be a new concept chain from the already established restaurant brand Origus, Pirate Pavilion's first Beijing branch clearly hopes to offer patrons a big bounty of dining options.

The massive buffet features salmon sashimi and several sushi options, a wide range of Chinese stir-fries (which should be skipped, for the most part, because they are bland), a grill that serves up huge skewers of Mongolian lamb (which is surprisingly quite delicious despite not being farmed anywhere near the ocean), a pizza oven, and swaths of drink options like warm sake and several domestic beers. There's also a big dessert counter filled with donuts, cakes, and cookies.

The RMB 129 all-you-can-eat per person dinner price tag is a pretty good bargain (RMB 119 will get you the same at lunch time), considering the eclectic eats on offer. That and the gleefully silly decor make Pirate's Pavilion a good choice for families hankering brunch or tipsy, peckish young adults looking for a zany, aquatic backdrop for their feast.

Pirate's Pavilion
Daily 11am-2pm 5pm-10pm. 4/F, Block C, Wangjing International Commercial Center (5903 5980)
这家叫海盗5号馆: 望京国际商业街4层

Photos courtesy of Pirate's Pavilion