Stayed at the Pagoda hotel for a few days. Ate breakfast here. For all hotel guests they give a $5 off breakfast ticket, so food for the most park only costs about $5-$8 per head. Got the fried rice with Portuguese sausage and eggs. And for a $5 meal, it was pretty solid. I'd come here again for the price! Plus their guava juice is amazing and comes with the meal as well! read more

Pagoda Floating Restaurant - Fried rice with Portuguese sausage - Hawaiian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

The food was great. The view was amazing! Get a window seat for sure! Would go again when in Vegas.

The prime rib was amazing! The crab was sooo good! Service was great and the ambiance was very cool. Love the water outside with all the fish. It's a unique experience. I recommend this place. The bathrooms are outside discinnnected over a bridge. Experience it's one of a kind charm. Everything was clean. read more

Pagoda Floating Restaurant - Outside - Hawaiian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I guess you can't turn back time. Our Ohana recently visited the Pagoda (2026) and it wasn't what I remembered it was. Food was so-so, ambiance? Well if you like eating in back conference room with pop up tables / folding chairs. Then , however, the only stars I can give was for the service.. Disappointed, dakine never recovered after close. Just brought back shell as a restaurant.. read more

We haven't been there for awhile now since the last time we did..the Food wasn't Hot and wasn't the same as before!

"The best kept secret" Pagoda restaurant has gone through a lot of changes since the pandemic. Gone is the floating restaurant replaced by a Korean dining option. They primarily now do catering type offerings except that for breakfast, they offer dining service where the International ball room on the ground floor is located. They have been offering a great breakfast special to diners and appears to be on a month to month basis. Nothing fancy, but if you are in the area, the price can't be beat. $7.50 for 2eggs, rice or toast and port. Sausage. Served in a clean and friendly environment, this is a great deal. Limited offerings for the special but enough variety to satisfy most. read more

Pagoda Floating Restaurant - The $7.50 special- scrambled eggs, toast and a port. sausage. Coffee $3 extra. - Hawaiian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

You know there is a first time for everything... When you're from Hawai'i everyone knows the Pagoda Floating Restaurant and Hotel. Stayed here during fumigations and has been a key roll in entertaining us and who hasn't taken visiting friends here at the buffet and celebrate that yakudoshi with photo ops back at the koi pond...but I've never attended a function at the banquet hall. That buffet space is now Sorabol Korean Restaurant though the layout is all still the same they found a home here from being displaced at their former location and I'm happy for both restaurant and hotel. All this reshuffling I was confused of where to park and apparently you still can park in the parking structure shared with Ross the sign has Pagoda crossed off so I thought the agreement was no longer valid and finding street parking here is next to impossible...or was it? It took a bit of touring the neighborhood but I got free parking woohoo!! I was given an extra ticket to the "Taste of Okinawa" event which was held at the East International Ballroom by WUB Hawai'i and with a bunch of vendors from Pagoda Hotel, Asato, Aloha Tofu, Kona Abalone, Highway Inn, Sun Noodle, Sunrise Restaurant, Potama serving up some amazing dishes! Everything from the classic Goya Champuru and Okinawa Soba to our beloved nishime and okara to current finds of Jimami Tofu which is an Okinawan Peanut Tofu served with a sweet soy sauce...omg yummy! We were given 10 tickets to redeem at any vendor for bites and gosh it went really fast! Many sold out Highway Inn and Potama thankfully I know the perfection they serve but what a night of celebration and I'm so blessed and thankful for the experience! Thank you! read more

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The change over has made the quality unlike they had been in the past. Totally a different setup. Not called Pagoda Floating Restaurant anymore. It's nice if you don't have any expectations of what they were for literally decades, but they are probably okay for newbies to Oahu. My college grad party was here, but that Pagoda is totally gone now. They cater to tourists more than ever. read more

I always enjoyed Pagoda's buffet. Not too fancy, good food and a great price. But didn't Pagoda turn into Sorabol a while ago? read more

This place seen better days for sure. Back in the day, this place to go for crabs and amazing food. I called the restaurant the day of to make a reservation around 7:00pm and was told it was set. Arrived at the reservation time to find out that there was no reservation listed. The restaurant was barely half full of patrons which set a really bad tone for the night. The food was just below average; at that time, staff would be the ones serving you on what you would like from the buffet lines. There wasn't much of a selection but given the pandemic situation, it was understandable that the restaurant was operating on a limited menu. It was so limited infact, that they don't offer snow crab; if you want snow crab, it is an additional cost to the buffet. For $30.00, you can get a "platter" of snow crab. Unfortunately, the platter was not worth the price (2-3 clusters). Service wasn't the greatest either. It took a while for us to get served for drinks and to flag them to order crab. Overall, this place definitely needs a makeover. The location is perfect but it definitely needs some TLC on everything. read more

Pagoda Floating Restaurant - $30 platter of snow crabs - Hawaiian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Five Stars for the New Year's Prime Rib meal to go. Ordered online at Pagoda Floating Restaurant's website, the New Year's Prime Rib meal to go. The meal cost about $225 for a five pound prime rib, baked potatoes, yams, Au jus, a package of Punaluu sweet bread dinner rolls, kuromame New Years beans, nishime, sour cream, gobo, horseradish, and many additional condiments well worth the price paid. The prime rib was succulent and delicious, also a large portion, allowing for numerous leftover meals, as well as all the additional sides. Picking the meal up was easy and fast on Rycroft Street. The service was friendly too. All in all, Pagoda improved tremendously over the years. Really enjoy it now. Bravo Pagoda, Bravo read more

Service was okay good was great and the price was a plus for staying at the pagoda hotel. Definitely doing it again. Only down is the restaurant could use a remodel. read more

10-17-2020 Hubs found the Pagoda ad in the newspaper. He asked if I was interested in having it for my birthday. Secretly I had another place in mind but consented so he called in the order yesterday for tonight's birthday meal. Our daughter helped him input the order on line for a 4 p.m. pick up and she also generously footed the bill. Big thanks!!! So generous. We ordered for 4 people and based on the choices we selected prime rib, garlic mashed and sautéed vegetables. There were 4 styrofoam containers each for the tossed salad, entree, and dessert. There were tiny containers for the horse radish and au jus. One smaller container had crab legs. A foiled pan contained the clam bake with corn on the cobb, clams, mussels, sausage and crab legs. The prime rib was SO yummingly tender and the mashed potatoes flavorful. The portion was just right. The crab claw meat was sweet and juicy. We didn't cut the Punaluu loaf and 2 of us need to take a breather before we try the bread pudding. Hubs already downed his and asked when are we having the cake. The one missing star was only based on whoever packed our feast. We were not given our crab legs. We also didn't get The deal advertised: for spending $100 you get additional Kalua pig and 2 pounds of additional prime rib. The employee had to go back inside. They also gave us stew although the receipt listed what was pre- ordered . Hubs decided to settle for the stew instead of another switch by the employee. Just have to reiterate the prime rib was super delicious in every way! You will be in for a treat. What a wonderful birthday dinner. Keep safe everyone. Take care. read more

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Tori and the experienced staff here are extremely sweet and accommodating. They offer a large variety of delicious local and traditional Asian food. We had a group of five, and all expectations were exceeded. Gotta mention the most famous feature - the EPIC koi fish channel wrapping around the restaurant. The fish here are astoundingly well kept and plentiful (seems like an understatement). There are little bags of fish food so you can feed them over the railing. They swim over to you - quite a massive SCALE of a TAIL! read more

This is regards to their Thanksgiving $300 takeout meal. Some places had just a turkey for around $100-$120. After deciding, I thought this was the best option for their 9 items. It was so disappointing when we saw the portion sizes of the stuffing and mashed potatoes. It was unbelievable. The stuffing and mashed wasn't even a small size pan! Lucky I had 3 boxes of Stove Top Stuffing. Thinking back basically, we paid about $180 for Stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams (not sure where the marshmallows were), a Costco pumpkin pie, 12 buns, cranberry relish (size of a 1/2 pd poke container), 8 half size corn-on-the-cobb and 2 tall size containers (which was way more then needed because didn't have enough stuffing to use it). We basically paid $180, see photo of the size portions. The stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams was in a low size container slightly larger than my small regular size iphone (it's not even a pro max). I was shocked to realize the small size for stuffing and mashed potatoes, which is in the inexpensive side to receive that portion that was NOT even for 6-8 ppl, maybe stretching it at 3 ppl. It really ruined the main traditional dishes. I had to apologize and announce after prayer to the family, saying sorry I didn't realize this meal was this small, so if we can be considerate and take a small portion so everyone can get a piece of the tradition and after that, they can go back and get more. Lucky in Hawaii, we have a lot of local main dishes...I will never do this again and be lazy and cook everything next year. I'm sure others felt the same when they opened the close box to see the sizes of the stuffing and mashed potatoes. Omg. This is so sad. Never again. Sad, sad, sad. So deceiving. I bet next year, they won't have returned customers. If the stuffing and mashed potatoes was at least un a small pan, I could see this being a better deal for it's price because no ways was this worth $300. Sorry rambling, but I needed to let ppl know. read more

Pagoda Floating Restaurant - Hawaiian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Disclaimer... this review is about the breakfast attached to the hotel. The staff did hustle. The place was clean, like the hotel itself, it's old and outdated. Shrugs, I'm neutral on that. They could try to make it nicer, but then they'd have to charge more. That's about where the positive notes end. That leads me to my main gripe. Their pricing bait and switch... If you stay at the hotel, they offer a voucher/coupon for a $5 breakfast. Nice. Then, when you browse the menu, you start to notice all the upcharges. Still, I had no problem with that... if you want a bowl of fried rice instead of toast +3$. Okay, fine. However, charging +$2 for egg whites (and not telling me when I ordered) when two eggs come with the meal??? Over easy, over hard, scrambled, no problem. Remove the egg whites before cooking, two dollars. -__- Yeah, yeah... inflation, stuff is more expensive, fine. Raise your prices. Making the coupon $6 will not turn anyone away and will generate better cash flow AND create a more enjoyable dining experience than sneaking in $1 here $2 there. Don't pass on your price increases all sneaky style! So, trying to gouge me $2 cost you and your staff a repeat visit. Do better. read more

This review is of the new location inside the International Ballroom of the Pagoda Hotel. It pains me to write this, given the many golden memories I have of the Pagoda Floating Restaurant in its long-time historic and picturesque location next door. But I am soundly disappointed in the greatly diminished new operation. Maybe if they'd just called it "Fish Neighbor Cafe," they'd get a star back. It doesn't feel like a restaurant, because it's not -- it's tables in a former hotel ballroom supported with a catering kitchen. But that would be fine if the food was good. But it's not. You know how an attentive server comes by to ask how things are going, and you just nod and make affirmative noises because no one really cares? This time, my family regretfully shared its litany of complaints with the poor employee. The rice was dry and hard. How do you get white rice wrong in Hawaii? The mahi was tasteless and dry. The oxtail soup was not "fall off the bone," it was "gnaw off the bone." The basic breakfast plate was just okay. Nobody in our party of four finished what they were served, and nobody wanted to bring anything home. I greatly miss the Pagoda restaurant. The name probably should have died with the venue. Maybe the food wasn't that great in the old location, but the location made up for a lot. read more

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First time here and service was good. I got the $5 coupon for breakfast was a good deal and can feed 2 person. I liked their pancakes very fluffy. read more

Beautiful surroundings and excellent service. We had the lunch buffet which included a build your own pho station, although I didn't get to try it. I would rate the quality of the food as three stars but there was a good variety. I liked the Chinese-style steamed fish the best. Dessert included a variety of cakes and pies and ice cream in wrappers, such as drumsticks and ice cream sandwiches. Good place for small parties and get-togethers. read more

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Wow, yet another long standing place I've been frequenting for years that I've never left a review! Reopened and refreshed from a Covid-break, they've had time to take the stickiness off of everything coz the last time I came here- back in 2017,- tables, floors and windows had a nice film of time and grease on it. So everything is really clean feeling now which is a big thumbs up. What hasn't changed is the kitschy cuteness, old school vibe attentive service and tasty, affordable AYCE buffet that local families and senior citizens love. It's really a fabulous place to get your prime rib on for a great price. Food portions are served to you through a plexiglass barrier but it's no problem really and I actually prefer this than open air but it does limit the offerings....but the modest offerings are still very good. Although not changed but maybe because it's been over 3 years since I've been here is that it seems they either added more koi to the pond or those buggahs grew! It was unreal how many they had! Tip: if can- do not sit in the same room as the buffet food as that prime rib line can get long and snake around your table. So not cool. Also the outside gazebos are open for reservation as well. Social distancing at its finest! read more

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I love this place. I had All You Can Eat Buffet for breakfast, not only good food but also excellent service. Very old fashion but their service is always the same as before, very very friendly and always cares about customers. No wonder always so many people come here to eat consistently. I was sitting by the window the lady came to me and asked me if the sun is too bright, then she closed the shade for me to cover. How nice of her!! I was so impressed by their services. I will definitely come back again. I love French toast here. read more

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Go here for breakfast! They have Excellent Punalu'u French Toast! The servers are very friendly, and they make up for the crumbling surroundings of yesteryear. I used to go here with my family as a kid, so there is so much nostalgia in these walls. Of course, gone are the days of elegance and bustling nightlife, but it's still cranking out excellent breakfast like always! Fast service, great flavor, and friendly staff! You can't ask for anything more. Oh! Did I mention, it's a great value. Not expensive at all. read more

I haven't been here since our last division Christmas Party in 2007. We had our division Christmas party with a total of 38 people that includes current employees, former and retired employees, and a spouse of an employee. Our party was in the room where the buffet is shared with other customers in restaurants. The hosts of our Christmas Party had lucky number drawings from raffle ticket numbers and 2 games. There was variety of foods that included dessert table. My favorites was poke, clams, and mussels but especially desserts. Who knows maybe my office will have our Christmas party here so there are not too many restaurants have buffet and private room. read more

Yay it's been ages since I've been here! I would say maybe almost over 30 years! This place is dear to my heart because my mom had her lovely baby shower here when I was in her tummy. This place is nostalgic and a must visit place! Super cool floating restaurant with koi fish pond right outside. I ordered their yummy loco moco which was delish that came with bok choy and I chose with a sunny side egg. I also bought to go Punaluu taro dinner rolls. Come on a Sunday because you will find free street parking! read more

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# g r a t e f u l This restaurant is so amazing. Esa and Kelvin were so helpful and conscientious. It is a full 360 degree window restaurant surrounded by a koi fish pond with at least 10,000,000 koi, last i counted. The loco moco was dope. They sell local bread from da big island and they serve it before breakfast with homemade papaya and pineapple jam. They have fresh squeezed OJ, which is really great. Hopefully the buffet will come back soon. If you come before 9am you can see the koi be fed, which is crazy! Such a unique experience. read more

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They've moved into a smaller venue but you still have access to the gardens & fish ponds. The offerings are not as robust as it used to be and we ordered off a menu rather than a buffet. Seems like it's still a local favorite. We'll continue to go! read more

Pagoda Floating Restaurant - Feeding the koi - Hawaiian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Went here with my man when visiting Oahu for vacation by recommendation of a friend. The service was pretty good! I ordered their locomoco. It was an upscale version, they added a little too much shoyu sauce to the rice, which I hate. My man ordered the hash, he said he liked it but it was a little bland. The food wasn't anything to write home about, but it wasn't bad. The real draw here is the koi pond. I've never seen so many at one time! A little upset we didn't get any fish food to feed them after our meal read more

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This restaurant is a diamond in the rough. However, I do not believe that it actually floats. It is surrounded by a koi pond with tons of huge goldfish fish that you can feed. There are also some private pagodas that you can dine in. The main restaurant has a large dining area and you can make reservations to unsure that you can get in. This place has a very calming/romantic vibe. It would be a good date night spot. They have a full bar with delicious signature cocktails. I had a mojito.....mmmmmm. They have a large assortment of buffet food, including burgers, poke, salmon, chicken, salad, pie, ice cream, noodles.....The food was pretty good for buffet food. I like that they had traditional Hawaiian food that you can sample before getting it as a full meal. I tried one of the pokes, but could not get the courage to try the other. This place was awesome. You get an assortment of good food in a tranquil and peaceful environment. You can't beat that. read more

For the price of the buffet I don't think it's worth it. Not too much variety to choose from and majority of the food were dry. But what got me was the desserts. I'm a dessert person and when the ice cream has frost bite and is very soggy then Its a problem with me. The cake and pies was bland too. They even ran outta custard pie and it's even a buffet. Service was also bad. They hardly came around. I had to grab a water pitcher from another table because they took forevers. Not bad if they was busy but it was a slow night. Also they ran outta custard pie. They even took long refilling dishes at the buffet line. All in all it was an average buffet place but with slow service and not too many dishes. Not what I thought it woulda been for that price and location. read more

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Service was very prompt. You have to ask for water (water conservation thing). Eggs, bacon, and potatoes were very good. Another time had poi French toast which was very sweet and heavy (looks like a gray block). There are several other traditional breakfast choices. Coffee was good but creamer was little disposable cups. read more

Pagoda reopened for dine-in 2 weeks ago and is currently offering a Prime Rib dinner special for two that includes a 1lb cluster of crab legs for $44.95 until 7/31/20. The prime rib and fixins are delicious and crab legs tender and juicy. That also offer the all you can eat option for $29.95/person. You order 4 items at a time and they bring to your table in individual servings. Your temperature is checked upon entrance. Tables are distanced more than 6 feet apart. I felt very safe dining in and saw that staff are thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing the seating areas between guest seatings. read more

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Calvin and his staff did an outstanding job at the Pagoda restaurant last night! The food was great and the snow crab legs were delicious. Not over salted or saturated. Warmed just right, tender, and flavorful. Staff was polite, professional, and responsive. Despite the usual large crowd his staff always keeps on their toes constantly checking tables, refilling drinks, and tending to their guests. Our family will continue to visit this 'Ohana friendly place that always welcomes us like they appreciate our patronage. Thanks Again Calvin! Doug read more

Pagoda Floating Restaurant - Snow crab legs and butter, California maki, ahi maki, tiramisu, coco puff, bread pudding - Hawaiian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Miss going here for all the crabs we can eat. We would go here often. Been going here for years... over 30 years!!!

Didn't meet our expectations :-( Seeing the recommendations and the awards our expectations were much higher for the dinner buffet. Food choices were very limited with little variation of options. Would give it 2 star for quality, options vs price. The interior and the surrounding was nice and definitely deserves 4 star. Service is just about average, 3 star. read more

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This restaurant has not changed since I was last there (10 years ago or more???). The good thing - it has that "old Hawaii" charm with a casual ambiance and friendly Hawaiian hospitality. The bad thing - it needs some renovation and updating. The buffet was always impressive and it appears to still attract a lot of local families celebrating special occasions and a good number of seniors who likely remember it's charm and still enjoy the old style local dishes. I found the taste of the food just okay - nothing special. The variety was good with everything from prime rib to shrimp tempura and sushi. I've come to realize that I am not a big buffet fan to begin with and restaurants with buffets probably adore me as I keep their cogs down. I liked the variety of salad items and enjoyed a huge plate of mixed greens, ceasar salad, a variety of poke and sashimi. The hot entree items did not appeal to me - the tempura was not light and crisp, the chicken was similar to what you might get on a plate lunch and the roast beef and gravy was quite bland. For whatever reason, I probably would enjoy coming back if someone invited me for a dinner celebration (but I would not book it myself). read more

Pagoda Floating Restaurant - Feeding time - Hawaiian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

OAHU EATERIES MEMORIALIZED Pagoda Floating Restaurant In 1964 Herbert Takami (H.T.) Hayashi had a vision to build a hotel and restaurant that was centrally located near popular kamaaina attractions and would be a unique and beautiful dining experience for locals and visitors alike. The Pagoda Floating Restaurant and upstairs Lotus Room were designed with a 180 degree view of a beautiful and expansive Japanese garden, with a tranquil waterfall that flowed into a well maintained fishpond stocked with large and colorful Japanese koi, giant ulua and turtles. The waterfall, garden and pond made this the most beautiful dining setting, not bordering the Pacific Ocean, on Oahu. The Pagoda Floating Restaurant website states that their mission was to provide guests with the local flavors of Hawaii, through our warm hospitality, beautiful surroundings and a taste of their local flavors. BREAKING NEWS!! Sorabol Korean Restaurant has relocated from their Keeaumoku location and taken over the Pagoda Floating Restaurant; and the Pagoda Floating Restaurant has relocated to the Pagoda International Banquet Hall, AKA the old C'est Si Bon which is located on the Diamond Head side of the waterfall and pond. I'm hoping this Pagoda Floating Restaurant move to the Pagoda International Banquet Hall is only temporary because from a "beautiful surroundings" point of view, mission failed. In my opinion, this new back alley location will cause this highly acclaimed floating restaurant to sink like the Titanic. This makes more sense to me. I propose the owner's of the Pagoda Floating Restaurant build an elevator between their Rycroft Street parking structure and the side entrance to the now Sorabol Korean Restaurant to give wheelchair access to the second floor of the old Lotus Room/LaSalle Restaurant (which is directly above the Sorabol Korean Restaurant) and make this the permanent location of the Pagoda Floating Restaurant. The Pagoda Floating Restaurant would again have the view of the Japanese garden, waterfall and koi pond, from the second floor; and the Pagoda Floating Restaurant would again have the "beautiful surroundings" described on their website. All I can say is don't wait too long, otherwise the Pagoda Floating Restaurant will be added to the list of Oahu Eateries Memorialized on https://tastyislandhawaii.com/2013/03/23/oahu-eateries-memorialized/ P.S. I like the Sorabol Korean Restaurant and hope they succeed in this very special location. I just want the Pagoda Floating Restaurant to succeed too. read more

Just read that the restaurant has moved to the ballroom in the hotel. My family has been going to this restaurant for decades. Four generations of my family has eaten there. I'm angry and hurt they're not in the floating restaurant any longer. I WILL NEVER EAT AT WHATEVER RESTAURANT IS NOW LOCATED THERE! This feels like the end of the Pagoda Floating Restaurant. read more

It's been years since my last visit to Pagoda. So, I was weary about coming here even though I have enjoyed the food at past visits. First, buffets aren't my first choice only because of that bit of fear of food sitting out too long. Second, Pagoda has been around so long I had already had it in my mind that the plates, utensils, and everything else won't be the cleanest (due to normal wear and tear). As we get seated, I'm surprised by how well kept the place is. The food, at first glance, did not look good but I was proven wrong. The food tasted amazing! I am not ashamed to say that I went for not seconds, but for thirds! Service was on it and price is just right. Kids also get a kick out of feeding the Koi fishes. If you're looking for a place that won't completely break your wallet but also satisfy every family member's tummy, Pagoda is your place. read more

Fire! Foods good, taste clean , very good ambiance and the service is .. Korean ladies so cute too beef intestine (soup) is heaven! For me! read more

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It's been about 2 years since my first review, we decided to try pagoda again since they offer birthday person for free if you buy 3 other adult meals. Kids from 3 to 8 are half price. The food is still limited, but with the prices raising for a plate lunch, $20 is reasonable for a regular buffet. It's $35 each person if you want the all you can eat crab, but we decided to order the $20 Buffet and a pound of crab for $15 extra since we weren't going to eat that much crab. The crab was cold and a little salty, and they bring it to your table instead of leaving it in the buffet line. The 2 ahi poke dishes were fresh and tasty this time as well as the hot food items, and there were a little more salad choices than the last time I went. The dessert was hit or miss. I didn't care for the dobash cake nor the azuki bean mochi, but the bread pudding, teramisu and pies were delicious. Some other desserts as well as the icecream were store bought. They no longer have their self serve icecream anymore. The service was great. My son was happy because he got to eat crab on his birthday and even got a special large cupcake with a lit candle to blow and the staff singing with us a happy birthday. The only downside is the restaurant looks run down from the outside because it has been there since my hanabata days, and the tables are a little too close to each other because while we were eating we smelled sulfer (or rotten egg) for a few minutes, but it wasn't coming from the restaurant or pond surrounding us, we realized it was from someone sitting right in back of us. Thank you peeps for the heads up on having to pay for parking in the lot since they don't own it anymore. I would've missed a lucky spot right in front of the restaurant if i bypassed it to drive into their parking lot since the meters are free after 6pm, but with your reviews, I was able to grab that open spot. read more

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