So my office mates decided they wanted good Japanese food for lunch and somehow I got corralled into coming here. I knew from my Markham experience that this place can be more miss than hit. Compared to the other large Asian buffet alternative that rhymes with 'nandarin', this place actually was about the same.... mediocre selection, mediocre quality, and mediocre value. The only redeeming item might be the slightly better atmosphere compared to most aging ' rhymes with nandarin' restaurant.
So the buffet quality is not great. We arrived maybe 10 minutes before noon and the buffet was filled completely so I thought that might be a good sign of freshness. I was wrong. Most things there have been sitting untouched for a while. The supposedly 'crispy' items were limp from sitting in the steam bath too long. The veggies weren't crunchy and they were really soggy. Teriyaki was really salty... it was as if they dumped an entire bottle of soya sauce in it. The udon noodles were really too chewy. The only thing that wasn't horrible was the salad items but that is no way to get good value as a customer.
As for the sushi area, it's definitely not as good as some AYCE places in Mississauga and that's saying something! The sushi and maki is all about rice fillers and just haphazardly put together. The sashimi didn't taste right and I stopped eating it after a bite. It was way too mushy for a salmon sashimi piece. It was either defrosted in a microwave or it's too old.
The only reason why this place doesn't get a total 1 star is because of the service. Our server seemed a bit overwhelmed as she took care of many tables just clearing dishes and she seemed to be the only one. I felt bad for her as she was constantly doing that while trying to appease a crowd of people demanding drinks.
Definitely avoid this place!