Fun for the family!
I recently went to Todai for a celebration dinner. I had heard many things from my friends about how fun it was to eat there, so I figured it be a good experience. Initially, though, I was a little wary since it was a buffet and sometimes buffet food isn't great.

Overall, Todai met (and sometimes exceeded) my expectations. My first impression came from the sheer size of the restaurant, it was like a huge cafeteria. The decor was light, but simple, and when I went (on a Saturday night make sure you have reservations), it was absolutely packed! I found that I had to skirt around many tables in order to get to the food stands.

Speaking of the food, Todai has 2 main food bars (one for sushi and another for hot entrees) and 3 free-standing bars (dessert, salad/appetizers, and a fruit/seafood table). The sushi is passable ... if you are an advanced sushi eater, you will not be very impressed, but if you're not picky, then it's fine. Todai offers the basic California rolls, futo maki, spider rolls, shrimp tempura rolls, etc., as well as a few choices in nigiri and sashimi. Assortments are always being prepared and constantly changed, so when you go up the first time, you may find tai (red snapper), and when you come back for more, you might see the tai replaced with hamachi (yellowtail). The fish itself is more or less good quality ... sometimes a little bland but always fresh.

The hot entree area serves up some more recognizable dishes: teriyaki chicken, assorted tempura, dungeness crab, green mussels, etc. I was most impressed by the soup area, where you can get a choice of miso (self-serve), or udon or ramen (which you have to wait to have someone make for you). Also, the teriyaki chicken was pretty good. :)

The salad and dessert were small but varied. I was pleased to note they had seaweed salad as well as (cold) edamame. Some of the desserts were also quite good: green tea cheesecake, fruit tarts, creme brulee (which had always been one of my favorite desserts), tiramisu. The fruit/seafood stand had cold melons along with cocktail shrimp and crab legs (they were either king or snow).

The only thing that was NOT self-serve were the beverages. You have something of a waiter who will come by and get you a drink (they offer alcoholic beverages too), and will check up on you every now and then to see how you're doing. My waiter was pretty busy since there were so many people, and a lot of the tables were big families, but he was very nice whenever he did show up.

Overall, I had a positive experience at Todai. It is not fine dining by any means. Nothing is absolutely mind-blowing, but it's a great place to go if you're looking for somewhere fun to eat/are REALLY hungry. Recommended for larger groups.    [22 Jan 2007 10:04:55]

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