Todai

This was the first and last restaurant that I had eaten at while in beautiful Oahu. Actually this is my first time eating at Todai! Crazy huh??

When the BF and I first got to Waikiki, we were hungry and 2 friends were already eating at Todai so we decided to join them. There's a parking structure there and you get validation, so that's a plus since parking isn't a good point of the city. Plus it was super close to our hotel, so it was very convenient.

The food was good. The first dining experience was lunch and the last was dinner so we got to see the "difference" for both. Mmmmm all you can eat shrimp and vegetable tempura!!! I think that's what I loved the most. I get allergic reactions on and off to shellfish and since I didn't break out into massive hives.... 4 stars!! haha

Okay just kidding. Not entirely 4 stars because of that. It's still pricey though. $15.99 for lunch. $30ish for dinner??? However, I guess what makes up for that both times is that we were hungry and we didn't have to wait for our food to come out. So during these times, I'm am very thankful to buffets ;P

Dinner selection is pretty huge. They have king crab legs, which was fresh, very yummy beef short ribs, and the sushi was fresh. We were early before they opened for dinner and I guess you put your name down to be seated. So first come first serve! We made it just in time as our name was being called (we went to kill some time at Starbucks).

Oh yeah they also offer breakfast. I don't know what that entails, but hey... it might be worth a try.

I remember when Todai first opened. Oh MAN the wait was looooong and this place was ALWAYS packed.

Now, not so much. Todai is a Japanese buffet in Honolulu (adjacent to the Hilton) and parallel to Wailana Coffee House. They do have a private garage that you can park it... the ramp going up is TIGHT as are the turns to go to the next section of parking. There is an attendant do help direct you on where to park (most of the time) and of course to give/receive your ticket when you enter/leave. Parking is validated by the restaurant if you dine inside.

The restaurant itself is okay. A little dated on some sections. My family prefers to sit near the "sushi" line... it's nicely ventilated, the tables have a little more room between each other, and it just looks cleaner/nicer. The bathrooms need some work. A little dingy, but they get the job done. They could also use an air freshener as well.

Onto the food. Sushi line has a variety of different sushi... I don't eat raw fish so it's hard for me to explain the different varieties available. The selection is large (quality wise I can't say). They also have a "hand roll station", which is where I get my california roll from. They also have poke, seaweed, and other items here.

The hot line has a large variety of items that varies. I recall white rice, fried rice, noodles, garlic chicken, mixed vegetables, prawns, mussels, kal bi, mini scallops, ginger fish, and the list goes on and on. There is a teppanyaki station that will cook raw beef/scallops/shrimp for you as well, and this is at the end of the hot line. Nothing was really really delicious off the hot line. Everything was "okay".

The next section serves shrimp tempura, vegetable tempura, saimin, and udon noodles. They also have a "carving" station where you can get prime rib and a few other types of meats (that I can't remember)... my Daddy likes this section as well as the teppanyaki section. The saimin is pretty good! The shrimp tempura is okay... I usually peel off the batter because it's so heavy and just eat the shrimp! My BF likes the udon!

The cold line offers a variety of salads (lettuce, pasta, etc), shrimp cocktail, chilled snow crab, jello, and other items. I usually don't have the patience to crack open the snow crab and I'd prefer it hot so the only thing I eat from this section is the shrimp cocktail.

Finally, the desserts. Small cakes/cheesecakes/pies/tarts/cookies as well as a crepe station, chocolate fountain, and ice cream available. I'm not a big fan of crepes but I'll usually take a bite of my BF's crepe... not bad! Other desserts are okay.. nothing too exciting. The chocolate fountain is cool!

If you're dining on your birthday, your meal is free, SO LONG as you have another guest with you who is PAYING for their meal. Dinner is roughly $31.

Staff: I tend to notice that the BUSSERS are more friendly and helpful than the SERVERS. I slipped my busser an extra tip because he was THAT awesome.

Reservations available if you have a party of 6 or more.

Not the BEST buffet out there, but by no means not the WORST either. A-OK...

The food at Todai isn't amazing, but it's not bad either. I think it's a good value for what you get, especially since there's all you can eat sushi!

I've only been here once for lunch, but I definitely want to come back to check out what they have for dinner. I believe lunch was about $17, but I came in a group and I'm not sure if we got the kama'aina price or not. If it's your birthday and you dine in a group of 4 or more you get a free meal!

Parking is in the building. Lots of stalls. You have to pay the machine and put the receipt on your dash, but keep the other half of the receipt and they'll refund you with cash at Todai.

Lunch does not have a lot of things they have at dinner, such as the prime rib and snow crab, which is why I want to come back for dinner. For lunch, they had a small salad bar, assorted sushi rolls and negiri (the sushi was pretty decent for all you can eat). Obviously you're not going to get 5-star sushi for the price they charge, but it was good enough!

They also had a "teppanyaki" area with things like BBQ pork and teriyaki chicken. Other things they offered were chicken katsu, shrimp tempura (apparently very popular--but I don't eat tempura), vegetable spring rolls, calamari rings, fried rice, clams/mussels, imitation crab in real crab shells (that was kinda weird), French fries, and steamed garlic/ginger fish. Also a noodle station and some pizza.

Their dessert line was pretty impressive, with a chocolate fondue and fruit station, lots of those little rectangular desserts like chocolate mousse cake, mango cake, etc. They also had a made-to-order crepe station with fruit, sauces, and whipped cream! I thought that was pretty cool.

Service was mediocre. Plates started to pile up after a while, and I never got offered a refill on my soda. Whatever.

Overall, I would come back and give it another try. :)

It might just be because I love sushi and buffets that contain all-you-can-eat sushi, but Todai is probably one of my favorite restaurants in HI. I feel like the quality is pretty good for a buffet. The sushi has a wide variety, and there is a nice selection at the main buffet table. I believe the all you can eat crab is just for dinner, but they have other pretty good seafood choices at lunch!

This is a great place for a family outting/celebration. It has a nice ambiance and plenty to enjoy!

Ah man, I should have known something was up when we called, like, every buffet in Waikiki and only this one had seats open! I really wanted a Japanese buffet, just one more, before heading back to CA. How silly of me to think I could recreate a buffet experience I had earlier in my trip.

The sushi rolls are, for the most part, fine if you like them fried with a ton of mayo. I don't. The fish on the nigiri was uncomfortably cold. Frozen? The sashimi platter looked great...questionable freshness. Couldn't eat most of it.

Oddly enough, the only thing worth reviewing was their poke...something we had a lot of throughout our trip. Their tuna poke was kind of great. Don't tell anyone I said that!

The rest of the buffet was mostly Chinese...a bit of Korean. All bland, fried, mayo-ey...not my idea of appetizing.

This place was a very depressing stop-off before heading home.

Highly disappointed. My fiancé usually only come here maybe once or twice every year for our birthdays. Found out the have a new owner....everything just went downhill...
So my fiancé and I went for dinner on August 10 for his birthday. Dinner price- $29.95(per adult), "Kamaaina deal"- $1 off...wtf? A couple days ago the Kamaaina deal was $24.95 -.- we JUST missed the deadline. The entire experience this time...was horrible.

FOOD:
Sushi Section-
-there is a 2 nigiri sushi limit per a person now
-LOTS OF ICE COLD frozen SHRIMP with overly spicy cocktail sauce

Hot food section-
-prime rib: PRE-CUT..sits under a heater for hours..overly dry.
-shrimp tempura..for some reason is super sweet :(
-SNOW CRAB LEGS.....Have a very weird taste since they are pre cooked and frozen :( just...no.
-giant crab legs are cooked in a broth which makes them overly salty....
-the best things...grilled shrimp and butter squid.

Desert section-THE BEST SECTION OF THE ENTIRE PLACE!!
Lots of FRESH fruit, yummy cakes, chocolate fountain, crepe station, and all the ice cream you can eat :D

So overall, food was mehh besides the desert section. OUR WAITRESS WENT MISSING AFTER SHE GAVE US WATER....ONCE! No refills were given :( and our dirty plates sat on our table for more than 15 minutes after we finished eating. Todai...what the fuck?? Hired more capable people and push up your quality instead of quantity for the price you are charging!!!

The first time I ate at Todai was in 2007 and I thought this was the best place EVER. Since then, I've eaten there probably twice... the most recent being two nights ago.

Food was meh. Most of the food didn't look fresh and the taste was meh. It's tolerable and I'll eat it without much complaints but compared to what the place used to be? :C Sad bear lol. My favorites would have to be the udon and the seafood dynamite.. and mashed potatoes but you'd have to be absolutely terrible to mess up mashed potatoes!

I also really enjoyed my crepe but wished that they'd even ATTEMPT to distribute the filling evenly... Started out with the ice cream + blueberry side of my crepe... was disgusted when I hit the whip cream and banana side. :| Should've thought about it before I dug in hahahaha.

Our server was good. :D Though I may be a little biased because I know him personally.. haha.

For about $28 per person, I'd assume we're going to get really nice quality food. Sad to see the crab legs weren't fresh and are so teeny tiny, it wasn't even worth breaking into the entire leg.

Everything was just meh.

Something to go for if you can eat a lot. Buffet is not my thing because I don't eat a lot and I don't plan to. Theres alot of choices there especially the sushi. There's a lot of options. If I could eat a lot I would love to go there again. It's fun to be around in a big buffet place.

Last time I went was when it was my sister's birthday. Birthday special is they get to eat for free. I thought they were going to give a cake, but I guess not.

It's pretty pricey. Around $30 a few years ago. I don't know how much it is now.

Wow. This place has been going down hill... My expectations weren't that high,but they still had some decent food...that's at least what I thought. The food is over salted, over cooked and over fried!!! I thought one of the more redeeming qualities here was the Teppanyaki station but unless you want a heart attack before you leave the restaurant, just pass. The "chef" over salts the food, over cooks it and if you watch him he puts over 3 spoonfuls of butter every time he flips the vegetables over.

We came for the crabs legs. They aren't too salty but they aren't too fresh either. The buyer must be buying from the reduced price bin of seafood. The legs are all scrawny and most of them were yellow!


For $26.00 per person you be better off at the abc store down the street!!

I was a little nervous coming here after reading all the negative reviews, but we wanted sushi for lunch, and for $15 per person, AYCE, I figured we'd at least get our money's worth. I was pleasantly surprised! The sushi was pretty good - not the best, but certainly not the worst that I've had. No sashimi (I guess that's only during dinner) but dozens of rolls and nigiri. My favs were the spicy tuna rolls, eel rolls, and salmon nigiri. The green tea soba noodles were good too, nicely chilled. I usually just stick with sushi at buffets, so I can't review the hot food items. They have your usual Asian buffet items - fried rice, teriyaki chicken, tempura, Korean short ribs, beef and broccoli,- and there's a noodle bar where you can make your own ramen or udon soup. Surprisingly, the fruit was not good at all. We're in Hawaii! How hard is it to get fresh, sweet fruit? The crepe bar was limited in choices, but still good. Freshly made crepes with your choice of fruit and strawberry ice cream.

I didn't have any problems with the service. We went on the earlier side for lunch, 11-ish, so it wasn't crowded. Everyone was really friendly, and the host even asked me if I was a local (they have a discount). They have free parking too, which is hard to find in Hawaii. Dinner may not be worth it, but lunch was definitely a good deal.