Todai, All you can eat Japanese Sushi and Seafood Buffet.

When I was in Vegas in January I saw an all you can eat sushi place called Todai.  I thought, "How scary!  All you can eat sushi, and in Vegas, a land locked state.  That's just asking for trouble."  Then I saw their overly cute and creepy mascot and ran away screaming to some other fake restaurant or buffet on the strip.

This weekend, I was running around town with my friends and one suggested we go to this cool Asian buffet place he knew.  So off we went.  We got there and discovered it was gone and replaced with, you guessed it, a Todai buffet.  Apparently the Todai in NYC opened on May 5th, 06, so it is new to the city.  Inside the doorway, with a more traditional Japanese outfit hanging behind it, was the same creepy mascot waving at us. 

We went in and were told that they were open one more hour if we should like to eat lunch there.  After that they were closing to get ready for dinner.  The price on the weekends is $15.95 for lunch, which seemed reasonable, and an hour seemed like plenty of time to get our money's worth. 

Inside Todai is a large dining room with two floors and immense buffet.  The dining room is very clean looking as is the buffet area, so it seems like a safe place to be getting sushi.  If you go, try and sit downstairs unless you like walking up and down stairs, as the buffet is located on the downstairs floor only.  Then again, if you are pigging out at a buffet, a few trips up and down some stairs can't really hurt. 

In one hour we did quite a bit of damage.  We did feel a bit rushed, and would have rather had more time to relax and enjoy the experience.  However, let me say that the sushi and other dishes were not bad.  This is not high quality food, remember it's a buffet and they are cranking it out, but then again, it is no college cafeteria, either.  The sushi is fresh tasting, and produced right in front of you by the chefs who are constantly refilling the small trays of the many different types of Sushi and rolls that are available.  The hot dishes are mostly fresh and tasty.  For a meal of sushi, you definitely get a value meal at $15.95.

However, if you want great sushi, head elsewhere and pay more for it.  And Nobu's hot dishes, at outrageous prices, are better than the ones that are being served here.  But we can't all afford to pay $100 and up every time we eat, so Todai offers a cheap alternative for a nice weekend sushi brunch.

Todai
6 E. 32nd St.
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 725-1333

Lunches range from $12.95 to $16.95 and dinner from $22.95 to $27.95.
Child prices are based on height: 5 feet and under, 4 feet and under, and 3 feet and under.
Seniors 65 and over receive 20% discount for dinner (lunch at some locations).

Lunch
11:30am - 2:30pm (Mon-Fri)
11:30am- 3:00pm (Sat-Sun)
Dinner
6:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon-Thur)
5:30pm - 10:00pm (Fri-Sat)
5:00pm - 9:00pm (Sun & Holidays)

tags: japanese  restaurant  sushi  todai  food  buffet  review  new york  

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