Visited this place for lunch as I've always been interested in their semi lunch buffet concept. Prior to visiting, I had no expectations of this restaurant as I've heard mixed reviews, mainly negative but still decided to come and verify myself.
Upon arriving, getting seated was a breeze. Decor was fair and the staff were friendly. I decided to order the deluxe wild 7 kinds sashimi selection while my two guests ordered the miso grilled cod and terriyaki beef set.
On with the buffet section. The selection was a little lacking. There were about 10 items to choose from(excluding dessert and fruits) and salads took up 3 already. I definitely saw some items I dont normally see in a buffet like takoyaki and ramen. There were other standard items like teppanyaki fish, tempura and sushi. The quality of the items were between subpar and fair(very difficult to mess up salad). There was nothing done particularly well, though there were a few dishes that were really not good. The ramen was horrible. They have little cups of ramen noodles with some condiments inside and you just had to pour the soup in which was kept warm in a chafing dish. The key word to look out for is warm. It was just a little warmer than body temperature and the texture of the noodle was horrible. The noodle would fall apart with very little pressure applied, there was no biting texture to it unlike some of the other items which I will get into shortly. The tempura fish cake was done poorly too. The batter is still wet in the middle.
On with the main course. Presentation was good. The steak was done well. No complaints the flavor and the meat were quite good. The flavoring of the cod was done ok, however it didnt feel very fresh. The texture was tough.
Now my Deluxe wild 7 kinds sashimi selection... horrible. I do not expect quality of this kind from a restaurant like this.. or any restaurant as a matter of fact. It was not fresh at all. All the fish I had were quite fishy. I could get better quality from any chain conveyor belt restaurant. The sashimi was served way too chilled, in some of the items it felt like the middle of it was a bit icy, like chewing on a slushie. Texture of the items... now as I was saying previously about the ramen texture, the fish were quite the opposite. The texture was like chewing on rubber, no kidding. The uni, luckily wasnt bitter, but thats about it. There was no taste to it, it could have been anything. The scallop, was very interesting. This may be the first time I've had scallop that had texture to it. It wasn't soft and when I bit into it, it was a little tough. Now the best part, fatty tuna. It wasn't soft, it didnt melt in my mouth, I had to bite into it and the flavor? Missing. It should have been called Tuna fat instead. The shrimp was probably the least unsatisfactory and I would give it an OK only. It was botan shrimp but not sweet at all. It was lacking in flavor which would have been good if it was applied to the fish sashimi which many tasted VERY fishy. The amberjack and what I suspected as saury were as I mentioned, very rubbery and fishy in taste, to the point I felt sick. Finishing it was very difficult and I had to beg my other two guests to take some of my items from me, which they did, unwillingly.
What came with the set was steamed egg and miso soup. Miso soup very standard nothing to talk about while the egg didnt taste like anything.
Service from the manager there was very good. He came to ask us how things were and made sure we were tended to. However, the person serving our table was not very good. He seemed lost and seems to not know what his job is. The manager on many occasions had to tell him to pick up the finished plates on our table and to give us more tea.
Overall, I do not recommend this restaurant. I should have listened my friends who suggested against it. Much better Japanese food can be found at ANY price point around the area so look else where if you want to have an at least decent lunch. I will not be visiting this place again.
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