Wasabi Grand Buffet

永次 and I went to a Japanese buffet back in 四月 (shigatsu, April) on a whim. It was recommended to us a while back by Eiji’s father, but we assumed (on the name “Wasabi” (山葵) alone) that it would be a very North American restaurant with not authentic food, so we hadn’t really gone out of our way to try this place. I was also under the impression is was just a sushi buffet. JUST a sushi buffet it is not! And I’m happily mistaken! It was a Japanese buffet. For those of you that don’t know, I spent some time in Japan as a little girl, and have been whining about the lack of Japanese selection on the menus of “Asian cuisine” restaurants for the last decade. So, to put it mildly, I was really happy to be dining here.

Everything was in both languages, and 永次 and I could identify three of those kanji! (At the time, of course now I can identify them all, but boy were we excited!)

Salt, pepper, and soy sauce. The necessities, you know.

All you can eat sushi, no joke. And it was GOOD.

Most of these were labeled in Japanese and I could identify a little bit.

Vegetarian spring rolls, some type of yakisoba, and honey pork. There is bbq eel in the bowl with rice and a pickled something, I suspect.



Fresh fruit in a cup with fruit sauce. And REAL Japanese ice cream. The difference is incredible.

永次 and I both find North American cake too heavy and rich and the frosting is full of sugar and thick in my mouth (I hate frosting) – so I avoid it all costs. We were the kids that had birthday pie instead of cake. We even had wedding pies instead of cake. And actually, it’s not just cake, most sweets are too rich and heavy, but the Japanese counterparts are light and fluffy and don’t leave me feeling like I was punched in the stomach with a bag of sugar.

And the ice cream is really something else. Ah, a taste of home. It was a good day.