Todai is also the name of a
chain of
Japanese buffet style
restaurants. The premises sounds something like
Old Country Buffet meets Conveyer Belt
Sushi but in practice it is well worth the price of admission. They bill themselves as an “
upscale all-you-can-eat Japanese Seafood Buffet” and they are not far from the
truth.
The price of
admission is around 12.95$ for lunch and 28.95$ for
dinner. What you are
entitled to is an all you can eat
frenzy of fairly
fresh sushi,
tempura,
hot dishes mostly of the
fried or
baked variety,
fruits, hand maid
crepes and for the dinner price
lobster and
crab.
The
sushi runs the
gamut form
bland to great. It all depends on when your getting it. Always watch the
army of knife wielding
Iron Chef wanabes behind the counter. When a new
tray goes out, pounce. The
hot foods tend to be on the over
saucy side. For the price I am not expecting
5 star finesse nor am I expecting
chop suey slop. The reality is somewhere in between with a gentle wavering towards the better. The thing is its all you can eat, so load up on the
good stuff and leave the
dregs to the
tourists.
This is a great
place to take
people who still have not tried
sushi. They can get more
traditional dishes and you can slide them a piece or two of your
Philadelphia roll to start their
addiction.
Some
tidbits I picked up about
Todai on my many visits...
Todai mean "Light House" in Japanese,
Uni is only served at dinner time
The first Todai opened in California around 1985
The crepes can have more than one filling, just ask them.
They are open 365 days a year
The cute Todai mascot makes a cool gift for the kiddies
They now have 14 restaurants in the chain
Knives and forks are available as well as chop sticks.
Each restaurant averages about 1000 customers a day.