Friday, April 20, 2007

All-You-Can-Eat / Tabe-Hodai 食べ放題

This seems to be a big thing in Tokyo. Lunch buffets abound, some even for less than ¥1000! Of course, those would more likely be quantity over quality of food. In Japan, buffets are also known as "baikingu" (Viking, or their way of saying smorgasbord, I guess).

http://ikuko.ciao.jp/page3.htm (This is a great site listing someone's reviews of many buffets, listed by area, cuisine type and budget. You can see it's a tremendous labour of love from its extensiveness. Sorry, it's in Japanese but you can make out some stuff or run it via a translator)
http://smt.blogs.com/mari_diary/2005/03/lets_eat_as_muc.html
http://www.bento.com/r-buff.html
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~qt2h-nkjm/tabeho/ikebukur.htm (in Japanese, but run it through a translator for a general clue)
Here's the Shinjuku page, already translated (well, looks like translation only goes halfway)

Carne Station (Hanamasa) - all you can eat BBQ+sushi+desserts+drinks: lunch ¥1,000 yen, dinner ¥3,000 yen. Ginza Gnavi page here. There's a 90-minute time limit but they don't really enforce it. At Ginza and Asakusa (even cheaper!). Beers on tap, wine, sake. Grill at your own table. Appetizers and even fruit (we know how expensive these are in Tokyo!). Downstairs in Ginza 9 Building 8-5 Ginza. Closest station is JR Yurakucho or the Ginza subway on Ginza line (transfer at Shimbashi). Near the Hakuhinkan Toy store, one of Tokyo's largest and best toy stores.

Ocean Dining
Has great view of rainbow bridge and Mediterranean eats. Hotel is just at Daiba Station on the Yurikamome line.
Hotel Nikko Tokyo (Odaiba) 3rd floor
Lunch buffet ¥3360 (weekdays)
03-5500-5642
http://www.hnt.co.jp/eng/rest/index.html
http://redglowh.blogspot.com/2007/07/ocean-dining.html

Hina Sushi
(B1, Shinjuku I-land Tower, 6-5-1 West Shinjuku):
About 40 types of sushi to choose from in this buffet dinner for the price of ¥5000 (S$63). It's a lot of money. Check out their menu here...

Tamazushi / Tamasushi
(2min walk from Shinjuku Stn, South Exit, branches also at Shibuya etc). A cheaper alternative, with group/gender pricing.
In general females ¥3150 (S$40); males ¥4200 (S$54). Doubtful of coming here since hubby won't eat much of the raw stuff.

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About Me

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Catherine Ling is the founder of the award-winning blog Camemberu.com and has been covering food and travel in Asia since 2007. Her blog has led to opportunities writing for CNN Travel, NineMSN, Yahoo Makanation and Makansutra. She has appeared on various TV food programs, like Food Wars Asia, On The Red Dot, Ch8 Tuesday Report. Catherine also held a radio spot on Foodie Lunch Pick on 93.8LIVE from 2010-2014.