Todai

If you have a craving for a stomach ache, this is the place. This restaurant has a record of vermin problems (rats?) and several epidemiology investigations (people getting sick from tainted food — probably rotten fish or vermin feces in the food, but who knows… see or taste for yourself). It’s a bit pricey even for big eaters. The crème brûlée and the crepes are really good for the conclusion, however — they really screwed up my blueberry crêpe on Thanksgiving. I’m not sure what happened, but all I know is that it didn’t look like anything she made for everybody else. The serving staff are awesome, but the management sucks. You don’t really notice the management, but when they are eating and drinking behind the cash register… just makes me wonder (it’s not professional). I don’t know if one could trust that kind of management with that much food. The parking around the corner is free, but this restaurant takes up the slack by charging you an arm and a leg. If you want some place where you can get really good food, go check out Moonstar at the corner of Hickey and Westborough (the old Peppermill). I would call for a city-​wide boycott of this place because it’s not worth it… your car could use the gas money. Check out the county public health website. They’re making enough money to pay the recent inspectors off, but look what happened in the past:
…
I am so glad that this place closed. It’s not about rating a place that is not a wine-​and-​dine standard, but rating a restaurant based on service and quality of food. This place was good until I experienced the bad. You can have whatever great opinion about a place like Todai, but when people are hurt because of a public health hazard — that’s reality.

This place is closed?! PRAISE BABY JESUS!!! I have NEVER shat so much in my entire life, and would never wish that kind of bowel movement on my worst enemy. (Sorry for those offended by poop) … But what else can I say that hasn’t already been said about this deathtrap? The sushi was definitely nowhere near fresh. I wonder if what I ate was even fish? .And I remember some kind of disgusting, salty, grungy juice spraying out of the crab legs I tried to eat. UGH.
Freshness, presentation, quality, taste– EVERYTHING was beyond sub par, which resulted in the explosion of my insides. I would much rather pay a pretty penny for some quality sushi than put my life at risk like this ever again.

IT’S Gone… As of this past Monday, they took down all the Todai stuff, plates included and changed the name to MC Grill /​Skewer… The furniture is the same and the holes in the wall where the old Todai art hung…
The food is actually a little better. The sushi rolls now are compatible to a neighborhoon sushi joint like shimo’s, but you get more here for the money…
During the meal, I thought I was in a Brazillian bb-​q /​meat house. The staff started making rounds with different meats on a spit skewer. The beef options were quite tasty. Tritip and bottom sirloin.
Good change. The most annoying thing though was the psuedo table clothes that were basic sheets of poster paper to hide the todai markings on the table. The veiled attempt to add class to the placve made it look cheap and cumbersome. I would rather they put down newspaper and add some fresh crab and mallets for the crab shack feel…
It’s worth trying and they have not raised the prices yet… No more ramen, but the they still have the udon and not also have Phở’.

I’m not *that* picky when it comes to buffets, but BLEHHHHGHHH!
Overpriced and the food here sucks!

When rating a buffet restaurant, I think the key here is to not focus on the high standard of food, but rather whether the environment and its food variety. And with that, I think Todai’s not bad when compared to other buffets. I particularly enjoyed the grilled lamb chop, and some scallop on the shell thingie for the hot side. As for sashimi, they’ll cut you some awful pieces that shouldn’t be served normally, but it tastes fresh enough. And the yellow tail and tuna seem legit. Can’t usually complain on the dessert, a good variety and quite tasty actually.
But for its price, it’s just wayyy too much ($ 26.95 for weekend dinner). Are they trying to start some fine dining buffet movement? Buffet is suppose to be a cheap alternative so everyone can find something they like.

I’ve visited Todai a couple of times. It never seems to stick in my mind when thinking of a place to eat. For a buffet, I think Todai’s OK. It’s pretty standard except for the spaciousness and food selection. The quality isn’t that great and below my expectations even for being buffet. The parking garages are convenient.

Two years ago, the review would have been five stars for this buffet chain. If you’re looking for dungeness crab during crab season, this is THE place. It’s also excellent for big groups. Make sure you call for reservations.
This time, the stickler was that the mass-​produced sushi was «just taken out of the fridge». I guess that’s why one pays for sushi at a real sushi joint because the Japanese chef massages the fish strategically to set the raw fish in room temperature.
I don’t advice the sushi here. Stay with the sashimi, cold dungeness crab, Korean spare ribs, pad thai (newly added), mongolian beef and cold lobster claws. Don’t forget the crème brûlée and cream puff desserts and stay away from any giant shrimp with cheese, It’s CRAP.

I came here for dinner a few days ago and there was a vast improvement from how it was before. Included with dinner are a lobster tail and complimentary drink (soda/​tea). They use to charge for drinks separately, business must be wavering. Our server was very helpful — she came around and picked up our dirty plates at least 10 times throughout the night. She automatically re-​filled my drink without me having to ask.
The sushi buffet has improved with more variety of cooked sushi rolls which include: Caterpillar roll, the Spider roll, Unagi (eel) with avocado, fresh crab meat California roll, a cooked salmon roll, and a fried shrimp tempura roll. I hardly touched the cooked food section except for the broccoli and teriyaki chicken. I grabbed some soup dumplings from the steamer and the skin was tough and the buns had very little filling.
My favorite parts of the meal are the crepes, udon noodles and the dessert buffet. I scarfed down a bowl of udon noodles which had seaweed, a slice of tofu, and a slice of pink egg. The dessert buffet had chocolate covered strawberries, 3 different kinds of cookies, small bite sized cakes, a white chocolate candy in a miniature cup, Crme Brule, and a softie ice cream. The softie ice cream was watery and didn’t have much flavor. I liked the crepes the most. I had a banana crêpe with whip cream and ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup. I had so much to eat that I couldn’t shovel down another crêpe.
Dinner was on the expensive side — $ 27/​person. You get a free meal on your birthday if you bring along another paying adult. To sum it up in one sentence — there was enough space on the table for all the plates we had, service was good, and the food was decent.

I’ve been here exactly 3 times~
My most recent time was with my boyfriend & it was his birthday. If you love sashimi (preferably salmon & tuna), then Todai should be good. The price range is alright. The food is better than a lot of buffets, however, it is STILL a buffet. What can you expect, right? Their desserts are yummmyyy (: Mosdef their crème brûlée is my favorite; only if they don’t burn it though =(
One thing that I HATE about Todai’s is their crepes–
it’s not the stuff you get at Japantown .
It’s literally wet when you get it; reminds me of mucus– disgusting .
& their toppings (strawberry, peach, etc) is just jam .
Todai’s is most definitely worth it if you love sushi, sashimi, & if you can eat a lot. Also, it’s best if you come on birthdays where it’s just you & the other person .
$ 30 for two people: buffet !!~ Hella worth it.

I live about two miles from Daly City Todai and have eaten there perhaps ten times a year for the last three or four years.
Growing up in Appalachia, I knew little about Japanese cuisine beyond tempura, and Todai was my introduction to a lot of what I consider basic food nowadays. At this point in my culinary lifetime I think of Todai as a place to get all-​you-​can-​eat above-​average Japanese food, good variety, well prepared, very fresh; their handrolls are particularly good. It’s not the best sushi or sashimi I’ve ever had. But it’s easily the best I’ve had in its price range. It’s easy access, friendly to groups and kids, free meal if it’s your BD, good beer specials. Easy walk/​waddle, even for the full, to Daly City BART.
You want fancier, better, more chi-​chi Japanese food? Minako. Or on the Peninsula, Higuma. You want better Japanese food for this much money? Please post if you find it.
Like, say, Kaiser Permanente or Fry’s, you have to know what you want and manage your own deal. Unlike such examples, though, Todai is open about that, and tries to help you manage your own deal. As a result, they find you a table, make your initial drink order, and leave you to gather what food you will. You should not expect normal wait-​person-​type service. It’s a buffet; they bring you drinks, e.g. beer, at the beginning, and once or twice more during the meal. Then they leave you the bill. Service is streamlined, thus people like me, who live with food-​service folks and would normally begin calculating tips at 20%, begin at 10% for Todai. Of course your mileage may vary.
Basically you don’t go to Todai for elegance, or to hire servants for the evening. You go to Todai to eat ungodly amounts of very good sushi, sashimi, seafood, tempura, gyoza, topped off by finger-​food amounts of a couple dozen different desserts. With good beer specials. Often specials on prime rib or lobster on Sundays, holidays, etc.
Overall: if you’re a nibbler, it’s expensive. If you’re hungry, you won’t be when you leave Todai. To maximize caloric intake, time your arrival with respect to the lunch/​dinner shifts. Personally I’m a big fan of the spicy-​tuna handrolls, gyoza by the half-​dozen, hamachi of course, and salmon in its various incarnations. Desserts, I’m shameless: pumpkin, strawberry-​mousse cheesecake, chocolate, lemon-​meringue: what the hell, it’s one bite a piece.

I had heard so much hype about this place, I was really looking forward to the experience. It was disappointing. The food was not that good. I much prefer Moonstar.
There really wasn’t anything that appealed to me as I went through the different food areas — fighting the crowd that doesn’t adhere to buffet etiquette. I mean, everyone is moving along in a line, what makes it OK for you to just mush into the middle to get what you want? And then stay in the line at that point? And then they’re yelling across the restaurant to their table, from the line!
The sushi was bland. I never use soy sauce with my sushi, but this time I had to. Everything else did not stand out, so I don’t even remember much of what they had. I do remember that the tempura was so greasy, I ended up peeling off the batter. The only two things I did like were the halved prawns with broiled cheese on top. I mainly ate those for my meal. And the desserts were good. I liked the crepes made to order.
I’ve only been here twice. The second time was only because someone was having a birthday party there — so I had no choice.
I give 2 stars because the service was good. There was no shortage of food (from what I could tell). If I did want something, there was plenty of it. I kept watching them refill the trays of food. Clean up of the tables was pretty speedy too. And the servers were friendly and they smiled.
Still, I haven’t been back since.

So this is definitely another bad buffet spot. Came here for a surprise birthday dinner for my friend and when I heard this is where we were going, my appetite was just not there. I’m not a buffet kinda person! They wouldn’t put all 20 of us together so we had to sit separately, –1 star!
Started with drinks and got food. Nothing looked interesting at all. I got like 5 different sushi, tuna sashima, a fried tempura roll, cocktail shrimp, and a banana crêpe. All the sushi were just yuck. I couldn’t even finish a piece of sushi. Once I took a bite out of the tuna sashimi, it just tasted icy in the middle. EwwW! –1 star. Crêpe batter had no taste to it so you would need lots of whipped cream and fruit for it but they only give you a dab of whipped cream and use not fresh fruit, but jam. –1 star. The only thing I like was the fried tempura roll, maybe because it’s deep fried.
The price was way too high for what they serve! $ 26.95? –1 star.
I’m never eating at another buffet place…

I take all my internet first dates here on their birthdays. Great way to meet them for the first time, plus they get to eat free. If it’s a bad date, I’ll make them pay half the bill even if theirs was on the house .
When I have to come here with friends, I only stick to the sushi. The selection is always the same. Some of the rolls are pretty nasty. I have no idea why do they use sooooo much dressing in them. Knowing that, I still eat it because there’s nothing else to eat. Last week, I was surprised to find long neck clam nigiri. Unfortunately they were frozen and tasteless, but was lucky to find one or two that were ok. The seared tuna and some of the sahimi pieces are ok, but they’re not too consistent on each of the batch that they replenish with.
I’ve been shot at, knifed, bitten by crazy ass dogs weighing more than any asian girls, stabbed at, BUT nothing scares me more than the Chinese food selection that they have. I stay away from it but the brothers and pinays seem to enjoy it though.
The only thing good from the dessert is the crème brûlée. I like the lady making the crepes but they should not pre — cut the bananas and let them sit, causing them to turn brown
I have to give them 3 stars because I’ve been to worst. There are always interesting looking girls eating and working here. Plus I need this place to stay around because those skinny ass HK asian girls that I meet can eat like there’s no tomorrow!!!
stinky tofu

Yesterday afternoon was our 2^nd time going to this Todai location, and we love it! They close for lunch at 3PM, so we got there around 2PM just enough to grab everything we wanted to eat and still pay the lunch rate — yeah!
I love the salad bar (cucumber salad with seaweed rocks!), the sushi bar (the poki is the best, plus anything raw, rolls), the hot buffet bar (fried chicken, teriyaki chicken, fish), noodle bar (udon — yum!) and the desserts (chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake assortment). Oh and don’t forget the edamame!
Even though it’s a buffet bar — you can still manage to eat healthy and eat a lot of it! We will definitely be back a 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, etc. time!

[More like 2.5 stars]
OK. I’m an ABC (American Born Chinese) and have been dragged around to so many Chinese restaurants that I remember that as a kid I wanted to order Hamburgers and Sweetened iced tea (GASP!) at these places (if i could) just to piss off my parents.
So why would I need to go to a chain like Todai again? Well for one, my Mom is crazy about anything she can eat that is FREE or stuff in her purse and get away with it. :-S. And so this brings us to FREE meals on your Birthday here at the Todai Grand Plaza where everything ranges from great to dried out and why-isn’t-this-in-the-trash-already?
It IS possible to eat at Todai for a reasonable price if you are one of the two people at a birthday party lunch. Hence, my wide-​eyed grinning Mom and I were there to grant her gastronomic wish of a pig-​out at Todai.
The best bets are the fresh seafood – sashimi was an especially a nice surprise for a chain (I’ve eaten at this and other Todais a few times and have dodged the poisoning so far – knock on wood – I guess I like to live on the edge), and the sushi roll selection is pretty large, including a make your own sushi cone (of dried seaweed that you fill up). The stand-​out salad for me is the jade-​green sesame seaweed (I really love how they do this crunchy, and roasted sesame oil flavored dish of seaweed – a rarity for me)
The tempura can be good if gotten hot and fresh outta the cooker, but the shrimp grilled in a half shell is a WASTE of good jumbo SHRIMP – all dry and chalky – somebody should tell them to just not waste their time. Most of the other grilled on a half-​shell themed food is made worse by the heat-​lamps they are stored under.
Prime rib can be good, as can the cold steamed shrimp in shell, but the choices are so many here that there are bound to be hits and misses. I’d say ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ between the two.
It’s unfortunate that you have to pay so much for a crap shoot when there are better restaurants to get sushi and many other food items without the risk.

Why do people eat here? Even if it’s your birthday and you can eat for free it still isn’t worth it. I took one of my bizarre exboyfriends there for his birthday because he really wanted to try their food for free. I can tell you he was beyond disappointed. LOL! He was even disgusted by his previously frozen b-​day cake that they gave him. I being the cruel woman that I can be made him eat it.
Let’s answer the age old question of if it sucks why are there so many? Maybe because most humans tolerate bad food in exchange for copious servings.

I find it very hard to believe that you can have super good food when a restaurant makes it in mass production and with this place my theory is proven correct. It’s not horrible but it’s not knock you out of your socks great either. It works.
I think it’s about $ 25 a person for all you can eat buffet. Children are half price, but on birthdays the birthday person is free, and on Mondays children are free if accompanied by a paying adult.
Buffet consists of tons of options, I will say this: they really try hard. Lots of salad options, soup options, fruits, sushi, udon noodles, rice, chow mien, meat entrees like ribs, prime rib, terriyaki chicken, crab, lobster, several offerings of dim sum, seafood such as oysters, clams, shrimp, and calamari, and even a crêpe station next to the dessert area.
I know originally the place was known as all you can eat sushi but I think in an effort to appeal to that one person who hates sushi in every group, (for instance my boyfriend) they expanded to all the seafood, meats and noodles, which though great for appealing to the masses, was bad for my tummy.
I ate 3.5 plates FULL of food, not including dessert. I have been on Weight Watchers and tonight: didn’t even want to dare open that notebook to record what I ate, because I know that I just used several weeks worth of «allowance» points.
Again, not the best food you’ll ever have, but definitely edible and decent. Even if it wasn’t the best, I found myself going up for seconds on the spare ribs, pumpkin cake, seafood salad, and frozen yogurt.
Service wise– super cheery people when you walk in. A waiter takes your drink order, brings the drinks and then you are on your own in terms of serving yourself. In terms of clearing our used plates, great at that, they were on top of it. Also great at refilling my sprite for me every 5 minutes as I slurped it down with the food.
Worth $ 25? Probably not in terms of quality, but definitely in terms of quantity. Still I know people complain about the place yet every time I go here, I know others are also doing the same thing… coming back again for more.

So I reluctantly write this review with full realization that I may lose all of my Unilocaling credibility. But I love this place. Not because the food is great, because it really isn’t, but it’s totally decent and trust me when I say I can get my money’s worth. The oysters are good and I can easily suck down three dozen of those while I’m still making my way around the ¼ mile long buffet. A half ton of crabs legs, also good, and I’d say I got my $ 25 dollars worth. But wait, it’s my birthday so I didn’t pay a dime!
I wouldn’t necessarily choose Todai for my real birthday, but if it lands on a Monday night and no one’s coming out to play anyway, I recommend it. Especially because it’s decorated like a Japanese cartoon so you feel like a kid at Chucky Cheese all over again.
What else? Oh, go early because you’ll want plenty of time to digest your food between laps around the buffet. I met some kids one table over that had been in there for over 3 hours. You’ll also be thankful if you remember to wear your stretchy-​waist pants. Ah, America the glutenous!

Beginner’s Sushi.
Typical Buffet with chicken terriyaki and jello.
But if you like your sushi from chains then go for it.
I’ll meet you at Cold Stone next door.

Todai is where flavor comes to die.
After it’s been beaten down by the intensity of heat lamps
Crushed under the weight of aluminum chafing dishes
Burned and sauteed beyond recognition
Suffocated by dry, crusty nori
Mashed to an unfamiliar pulp
Moshi Moshi?
More like mushy, mushy.