User-Agent: MacSOUP/2.4 Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu ba.food:35275 > I got a flyer for this place in my mailbox. They advertise an all you > can eat Japanese seafood buffet ("The Mother of All Seafood Buffets") > for $12 at lunch, $20 at dinner. 40 kinds of sushi, lobster thermidor, > chilean sea bass, snow crab legs, tempura, dessert, etc. I've heard good things too, but don't try going there on a Friday, Sat, or Sunday night - the lines are super long!
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Todai Japanese seafood buffet
Jo M. wrote: >I got a flyer for this place in my mailbox. They advertise an all you >can eat Japanese seafood buffet ("The Mother of All Seafood Buffets") >for $12 at lunch, $20 at dinner. 40 kinds of sushi, lobster thermidor, >chilean sea bass, snow crab legs, tempura, dessert, etc. The lobster and crab legs are only at dinner btw. >It is a Southern California chain that has now opened a branch in the >Eastridge Mall. This gives it two strikes against from the get-go (S. >Cal, in a mall), but I thought I'd ask the eminent scarfers on this >list about it, hoping against hope that it's worth a trip. Yep. I'd heard good things about it from friends in SoCal and have tried it. I'd say it's definitely a cut above the other all you can eat sushi places in the Bay Area, and the fish seems of good quality and freshness, with a good variety of the standard sushi suspects. tyg [email removed]
On 18 Dec 1998 18:21:15 GMT, Jo Ann Malina wrote: >I got a flyer for this place in my mailbox. They advertise an all you >can eat Japanese seafood buffet ("The Mother of All Seafood Buffets") >for $12 at lunch, $20 at dinner. 40 kinds of sushi, lobster thermidor, >chilean sea bass, snow crab legs, tempura, dessert, etc. > >It is a Southern California chain that has now opened a branch in the >Eastridge Mall. This gives it two strikes against from the get-go (S. >Cal, in a mall), but I thought I'd ask the eminent scarfers on this >list about it, hoping against hope that it's worth a trip. > Perhaps I needn't bother to comment after the disparaging remark about So.Ca. but, on the off chance some readers might entertain a "southern" opinion... Item - Todai is a chain but the various locations are not identical in the selection or quality. I've been to two in the Los Angeles area, and I think the Torrance location is the "better". Item - The big attraction is "perception of value" not absolute quality. It is amazing how many people will queue up for an "all-you-can-eat" place who are otherwise quite discriminating. I've was hauled to a Todai by someone with whom I've had some really fine meals! Item - The secondary attraction is variety. They put out a lot of stuff, from sushi (not really terrific) to tempura, to salad, to..... so everybody finds something to like. Great for a low budget office outing where the tastes are divergent. Item - Elmer Dills is a So. Cal food critic who has faded a bit from the scene of late. Although I've attended some of his organized restaurant outings (and they were interesting), I've never relied on his reviews. I think our criteria must be on different wave lengths... Finally I think there are better "all-you-can-eat" sushi places than Todai -- at least in Southern California, I must qualify! Again, the difference in my mind is perception of value. You really can snarf up gobs of food at a Todai. Most of the more conventional "all-you-can-eat" sushi places (again, I admit, in So. Cal.) impose a time limit, or leave it to the sushi cutter to pace the customers. But the fish is better quality than at Todai. So,,, you pays your money and you takes your sushi. >Hmmm, the whole back page of the flyer is a rave review by someone named >Elmer Dills -- although reading it more closely now, I see he simply >lists the various dishes, never saying whether they're any good or not. >The major adjectives are "large," "various," "huge," and "endless." I >think I've answered my own question, but has anyone tried it? > >-- >Jo Ann Malina, make spamthis best to find my address >"Thin people are beautiful but fat people are adorable." Jackie Gleason --------- (To reply, delete the ".no_unsolicited" from the return address).