Sushi rolls: Buffet vs high end restaurants

[JEDI]

buffet place is $15/person.
high end sushi restaurant charges $15 for a Dragon roll.

the buffet place also had dragon rolls.

I didn't notice a diff even w/o soy sauce.
and I definitely didn't taste a diff with soy sauce and wasabi.

sushi buffet FTW!

How about you?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

It would be one thing if we were talking about sashimi or like "actual" sushi.

But dragon rolls and stuff? yeah...

High end restaraunts tend to have MUCH better sashimi/classic sushi. Ever have legit tuna sushi? Good god.

 

[Eug]

The best Japanese restaurants have vastly superior sushi including sushi rolls.

However, a lot of more expensive but not exactly top end restaurants don't have top tier sushi. Maybe a bit above average.

As for buffets, there are some really bad ones, and some good ones, and if it's a good one it can be as good as a non-buffet restaurant, esp. if you get the stuff right after it's made. However, usually the selection sucks, and the expensive features won't be offered, and it will never be as good as a top tier Japanese restaurant. Unfortunately, top tier Japanese restaurants are $$$$.

BTW, the uber high end Japanese restaurants don't even give you wasabi. I know most of the restaurants give it to you, but it's actually considered a bit of an insult if you automatically put wasabi on everything including nigiri sushi. You're telling them it's not flavoured correctly, even though they already have wasabi on them.

It sort of like pepper. Some uber high end restaurants often don't give you pepper or salt on the table. The food is supposed to have been seasoned correctly, so if you add pepper or salt without even tasting the food first, that means you know the chef can't season food properly.

 

[Hacp]

I went to a few different Sushi Buffets last week. The thing about these buffets is that unless you can eat an ungodly amount of sushi, they will end up costing 50 cents each.

 

[Insomniator]

At a good Japanese buffet with a lot of turnover the sushi and rolls can be OK for the price.

At your average chinese buffet with a sushi station in the corner, they will be terrible.

Neither compare to an actual sushi restaurant, especially a korean one.

 

[Capt Caveman]

YARJT. Quality of the fish will usually be vastly superior in a good sushi place to any buffet.

 

[dawheat]

Does a dragon roll even have any raw fish? I haven't had one in ages but last I remember it was mostly cooked eel, avocado, cucumber and rice.

Not sure it's the best comparison to make regarding quality. Cooked eel is easy to make mediocre since the sweet sauce masks poor quality or cooking.

 

[Captante]

Depends on the buffet ... a good one is about equal to most mid-range Japanese restaurants.

Unfortunately most sushi-buffets are not very good. There are several in my area but only one is acceptable quality. (of course I'm a picky bastard)

 

[JEDI]

It would be one thing if we were talking about sashimi or like "actual" sushi.

But dragon rolls and stuff? yeah...

High end restaraunts tend to have MUCH better sashimi/classic sushi. Ever have legit tuna sushi? Good god.

i agree for sashimi

 

[Markbnj]

Well, at one level there is no question that even the best buffet can't hold a candle to a really good sushi restaurant. But on another level a lot of people don't have access to a really good sushi restaurant, and some buffets can be as good as the best sushi restaurants in a given area. We visit a high-end buffet called Minado in Denville, NJ from time to time. The weekend cost for the buffet is $35, but everything is extremely good.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Minado is the shit. Pretty good medium level sushi.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I went to a few different Sushi Buffets last week. The thing about these buffets is that unless you can eat an ungodly amount of sushi, they will end up costing 50 cents each.

50 cents each is dirt cheap for nigiri and not bad for rolls.

Only time I had all you can eat sushi that was good (but not amazing) was when a japanese steakhouse had a night were they offered it and the deal was you got like 3 rolls and 3 sets of nigiri in the first round and then if you got more you had to finish it or be charged extra (so you weren't charged for not finishing the initial amount)

For chinese buffets that also have sushi, I've seen ones that were decent and ones that were god awful most are somewhere in between. I find it very hard to believe people can't tell the difference between buffet and restaurant sushi unless they've also been going to very shitty restaurants (even nice looking ones can have sushi that isn't fresh and such). Either that or they just don't care how food tastes at all.

 

[NetWareHead]

Well, at one level there is no question that even the best buffet can't hold a candle to a really good sushi restaurant. But on another level a lot of people don't have access to a really good sushi restaurant, and some buffets can be as good as the best sushi restaurants in a given area. We visit a high-end buffet called Minado in Denville, NJ from time to time. The weekend cost for the buffet is $35, but everything is extremely good.

There is another Minado in Little Ferry NJ that we have gone to for years. Yes it is an expensive buffet but the sushi is worth it. Only sushi buffet that serves Uni which is Japanese Sea Urchin. If you slip the fish carver a tip, he will give you all the Uni you want. Agreed that it is probably the best buffet sushi around that competes with actual good sushi restaurants. There is another Minado I found in Framingham Mass that is also good like this.

 

[Markbnj]

Minado is the shit. Pretty good medium level sushi.

Not to mention the other two thirds of the buffet . The worst thing about Minado is that you arrive, you're eating in like two minutes, and in thirty you're stuffed. It's like Asian food hyperdrive.

 

[HumblePie]

Rolls are seaweed, rice, a few veggies, and possibly a little strip of meat. Most buffets can handle that very well for the average rolls. Imitation crab, basic tuna, basic salmon, and and tempura shrimp are all simple enough to do to make a good roll.

Sushi rolls are cheap and easy to make. Most places charge way too much for them. At least for the cheaper style rolls. There are more expensive rolls that can be made from more expensive ingredients, but again the price on those go up proportionally.

Anyone claiming that rolls made at a high end restaurant of the same type of roll is better than a fresh made roll from somewhere else just has post purchase bias in regards to inflating the worth of the pricier sushi roll just because it was more expensive in the first place.

Sashimi is a bit different than sushi rolls, and you don't see buffet places typically do pure sashimi platters for that reason.

I go to high end japanese sushi restaurant for good sashimi and rolls I can't get at other places when the mood strikes me. I don't go to a high end japanese restaurant for a California roll that costs $15 when I can get the same thing from a many other places for much cheaper.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

50 cents each is dirt cheap for nigiri and not bad for rolls.

Only time I had all you can eat sushi that was good (but not amazing) was when a japanese steakhouse had a night were they offered it and the deal was you got like 3 rolls and 3 sets of nigiri in the first round and then if you got more you had to finish it or be charged extra (so you weren't charged for not finishing the initial amount)

For chinese buffets that also have sushi, I've seen ones that were decent and ones that were god awful most are somewhere in between. I find it very hard to believe people can't tell the difference between buffet and restaurant sushi unless they've also been going to very shitty restaurants (even nice looking ones can have sushi that isn't fresh and such). Either that or they just don't care how food tastes at all.

lol for christs sake theres even a difference between freakin egg rolls at a buffet and a real restaurant

 

[Markbnj]

Sashimi is a bit different than sushi rolls, and you don't see buffet places typically do pure sashimi platters for that reason.

Minado does, and it's excellent. I agree with you, though. As far as most fancier rolls go as long as the ingredients are fresh and the roll is well made they're going to taste about the same. Not true for nigiri, though.

 

[smackababy]

Lol, I've been to sushi places that don't have "rolls", they have bites. And it is miles better than any buffet I've been to. But, it did cost a lot more.

 

[HumblePie]

lol for christs sake theres even a difference between freakin egg rolls at a buffet and a real restaurant

If the omelet part is made right and the rice is right, it will taste the same regardless of where it is made and served. Some places don't do omelets right though. Which is why I stick with phili rolls myself. Hard to screw up cream cheese, avocado, rice, seaweed, and imitation crab or tuna. Seriously it is the same regardless of the price or where you get it. I go to a chinese buffet with sushi and go for rolls like phili rolls. Or things that have nothing but veggies or shrimp or such. They are dam near impossible to screw up unless the person making them doesnt' know how to cook at all. Which means all the food there is going to be bad. That has happened in some places. I've been to BAD chinese buffet places and I leave quickly. Those places also tend to go under very quickly as most people don't like eating at places that serve bad food regardless of the price.

I enjoy cheap sushi rolls and expensive sashimi slices. At different places of course. I don't order phili rolls at expensive places for a reason. When ever I try them I feel like I got ripped off.

 

[Scarpozzi]

It all depends on the buffet place. They may have a really good sushi chef with fresh ingredients that knows what he's doing. Around here in asian buffet restaurants, I've seen mexicans working in the kitchen and making the sushi...it's really screwed up.

I wouldn't eat Sashimi or Nigiri at most buffets simply because the quality of the fish would be low. If you ever get top quality tuna vs whatever supermarket grade they buy for the buffets, you'd know what I mean. I don't mind paying $3-4 per piece for some of it if the quality is there...even more so when I'm not paying for the meal.

As for rolls, anything tempura on the buffet gets cold...things made to order are best if you like americanized sushi selections. I'm a sucker for the spicy tuna/spicy crab/spicy salmon rolls....once you find someone who makes it the way you like it, you don't like to go anywhere else. No one makes that exactly the same.

 

[rsutoratosu]

Minado is the shit. Pretty good medium level sushi.

some of their stuff is pretty awesome

 

[Markbnj]

I've seen mexicans working in the kitchen and making the sushi...it's really screwed up.

You don't think Mexicans can learn to make sushi?

 

[Ns1]

Rolls don't exist in high end sushi. Sorry. Occasional hand roll exception.

BTW, the uber high end Japanese restaurants don't even give you wasabi. I know most of the restaurants give it to you, but it's actually considered a bit of an insult if you automatically put wasabi on everything including nigiri sushi. You're telling them it's not flavoured correctly, even though they already have wasabi on them.

Uber high end japanese restaurants will grate fresh wasabi using their shark skin wasabi grater to order.

although agreed, it is not meant to be put on everything (same with soy sauce)

 

[ponyo]

Minado sushi is crap. It about grade above supermarket sushi. It just shows people have never eaten good sushi. If all you ever had is terrible sushi, I guess it can be good.

 

[ponyo]

There is no such thing as good sushi buffet. It doesn't exist.