Todai

I remembered this restaurant. The problem about this restaurant is the buffet is overpriced, but the foods is not special like the other buffets you saw in the Waikiki areas. Food tasted ok, though could have been better. The real problem is the overpricing & that’s why I lower the score to ³⁄₅ stars.

Horrible. Went there today for mothers day. The bathrooms were filthy. The food selection was poor. The «prime rib» was dried out and shredded. It looked like jerky. Someone in our party fiund a shell in the rice. Like a whole damn sea shell. Not just a piece. Beverage cups were empty. Waited over an hour to be seated. Dont go here. Save your money.
Oh and the parking situation is terrible too

Note: I only give out 5 stars to surprisingly EXCEPTIONAL, best-​in-​class establishments.
Upon arrival around 1 PM, we were told that Todai closes at 2 PM even though their website said 3 PM on Sundays. They also remove the food from the buffet area at 1:30 PM, so we didn’t have much time to eat. Perhaps that was a relatively good thing, since the food is barely average in quality. The selection is decent, but it is obvious that Todai’s quality has declined substantially over time. The restaurant itself is quite run down, and the staff generally seems to have a disinterested, lackadaisical mindset. For the money, there are much better choices available in the immediate area. You’re better off going to the nearby Ala Moana shopping center for a better dining experience at almost any of its numerous choices of eateries.

CLOSED AS OF ¹¹⁄₂₄ for not paying rent. Seems like somehow they were still open yesterday, but today we were trying to go for lunch and it has «out of business» signs and someone was there changing the locks.

There’s plenty of good food to be had in Honolulu, but this won’t rank among the best. This is the place to go if you have a large group, diverse tastes, and huge appetites. For $ 28 per adult, it’s not a bad deal for a competitive eater that needs to practice.
If you’re a foodie, steer clear. Rolled sushi is merely serviceable. The other sushi falls in line with mass-​produced pieces that make for calories, not taste. The sushi rice? You can find better quality in a 7 – 11 Spam musubi, which I quite like. The hot foods are plentiful and will fill you up. The roast pork is not bad. You have the makings of a so-​so bento right there, what, with yakisoba and fried rice. There’s even pizza for the shy-​of-​seafood. The dessert offerings are similarly plentiful: cookies, cheesecake, fruits, flan, and small two-​bite pieces of cake. Nothing too imaginative here.
If you have accessibility issues, i.e., in a wheelchair, this place is slightly more difficult to navigate than your usual Ginza district rabbit warren maze. There’s plentiful handicapped stalls in the 1910 building (Canterbury Building) on Ena Street, the back side of Ala Moana, but you have to wheel down a very steep ramp (this is dangerous), then up a narrow, almost hidden ramp to access a door that is locked. You have to knock on the door and hope someone sees you to open the door. Not very welcoming for our wheelchair-​bound citizens. Yes, it meets ADA, but it gets very tiresome being a second class citizen.

Came with my family to eat dinner as visiting Wikiki
The place seemed pretty big and nice looking inside but for the size of the restaurant not a lot of food as expected from a buffet, not only that but nothing looked fresh and appealing. Our food was cold and looked like left overs!
Not recommended but instead use that 30 $ per person and eat else where!!!

This wasn’t bad but for $ 28 for a Saturday night dinner, I’d rather go somewhere else. I sat by the window and the air conditioning was too cool. I got a plate of hot food and got up again to get some sushi. By the time I got back, the hot food was fridge cold. I was confused and realized it was the air conditioning. The only fresh fruit on the available with the crepes were banana. The other topping were fruit jam/​jelly.
On the plus side the servers were good and removed our plate and kept our glasses full. The guy checking us out made a nice attempt to speak to my wife in Japanese. He was also open to me letting him know that in a service environtment he need to refer to her as «customer» and not «you» in Japanese.
Not bad, but just not good. Tempura was crispy, the tonkotsu broth was under seasoned… nothing jumped out at me as worth going up a second time.
If a friend wanted to go here, I’d go again, but I’d rather eat elsewhere.

After eating at Makino in aiea/​pearl ridge, I wish I could get my money back and go there.
I don’t like giving bad reviews, so let’s start of with being nice. It’s very spacious in here. Very nice ac to help keep people cool. Nice layout everything has its own section, salad, hot food, dessert.
The food was mediocre, all you can eat crab but they were cold after I brought them to my table. In fact a lot of the food got cold quick. I would of been happy with a fast food joint like panda express. That’s an insult to panda, sorry panda! Food quality should be better for what you pay for.
Weekend dinner 27.98
Tax 1.32
Total 29.30
Gratuity 15% 4.39
Total 33.69
Save your money folks or use it at Makino

Really not a great experience. I wish I would have checked the Unilocal reviews before I went. There were so many problem areas I don’t even know where to begin.
The food appears to be plentiful and the restaurant is brightly lit, so it seems like it would be a good experience. But the food is mass-​prepared and the entire place has an attitude of just not caring about the customer at all. Even down to the details of the fact that you aren’t given silverware or napkins, you have to get these yourself, and where to find them isn’t obvious! You have to walk around looking for them!
The fried rice and grilled squid were so salty that they weren’t edible. The crab legs were the best thing on the menu, but the lack of napkins and service made it just a difficult dining experience. Just totally unpleasant.
The restaurant was ridiculously cold. I was shivering and just couldn’t wait to get out of there.
And in the end, the bill was over $ 35/​person.
Of all the amazing restaurants in Waikiki, you can definitely do better than this.

Visited Todai for the first time in years a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, the food was not quite as good as we remembered it to be… good selection of rolls and nice looking presentation, but too bad they all tasted exactly the same (actually, they universally didn’t really have any flavour whatsoever…). Same applied for the sushi where the cuts of fish were definitely low-​end «buffet-​quality». For those who enjoy sashimi, note that there is none to be found at this establishment.
Rest of the buffet was ok, selection ranged from mussels to crab legs to beef and duck. All of it was pretty average. Have to say that the pizza was a bit out of place to be honest but hey, it is a buffet! :) Fresh fruit was nice for dessert, as were the crepes that are made on the spot.
The service was basically non-​existent. After declining drinks, our waiter did not reappear for the rest of the evening. Damage came to about $ 60 for two. Can’t recommend Todai and will not be returning in the future.

First time I came here for lunch, thought it was a reasonable price and food was mediocre.
Came here the second time for dinner and ugh… The parking machine for todai sucks! It did not say at all that it does not give out change, came to realize when we asked one of the workers so it practically took half our money. Then on top of that most of all the food tasted cold and stale already, the only thing I enjoyed was the tenpanyaki. The service wasn’t great either, did not refill our water once.
Came to an agreement with my friend that we would never eat here again!

The first time I ate at Todai was in 2007 and I thought this was the best place EVER. Since then, I’ve eaten there probably twice… the most recent being two nights ago.
Food was meh. Most of the food didn’t look fresh and the taste was meh. It’s tolerable and I’ll eat it without much complaints but compared to what the place used to be? :C Sad bear lol. My favorites would have to be the udon and the seafood dynamite. and mashed potatoes but you’d have to be absolutely terrible to mess up mashed potatoes!
I also really enjoyed my crêpe but wished that they’d even ATTEMPT to distribute the filling evenly… Started out with the ice cream + blueberry side of my crêpe… was disgusted when I hit the whip cream and banana side. :| Should’ve thought about it before I dug in hahahaha.
Our server was good. :D Though I may be a little biased because I know him personally. haha.
For about $ 28 per person, I’d assume we’re going to get really nice quality food. Sad to see the crab legs weren’t fresh and are so teeny tiny, it wasn’t even worth breaking into the entire leg.
Everything was just meh.

Their food is not bad, but it’s not that great either… it’s OK. The only thing I really enjoyed here was the peppered steak and of course, the chocolate fountain.
My boyfriend did see a worker near the dessert, cutting fruit. She had eaten something and spit it in her hand to dump into the sink while she had her glove on! She did not bother to change her glove and just decided to rinse it instead! VERY unsanitary.
This is definitely a one and done type of place to eat. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back and have a meal.

The food at Todai isn’t amazing, but it’s not bad either. I think it’s a good value for what you get, especially since there’s all you can eat sushi!
I’ve only been here once for lunch, but I definitely want to come back to check out what they have for dinner. I believe lunch was about $ 17, but I came in a group and I’m not sure if we got the kama’aina price or not. If it’s your birthday and you dine in a group of 4 or more you get a free meal!
Parking is in the building. Lots of stalls. You have to pay the machine and put the receipt on your dash, but keep the other half of the receipt and they’ll refund you with cash at Todai.
Lunch does not have a lot of things they have at dinner, such as the prime rib and snow crab, which is why I want to come back for dinner. For lunch, they had a small salad bar, assorted sushi rolls and negiri (the sushi was pretty decent for all you can eat). Obviously you’re not going to get 5-​star sushi for the price they charge, but it was good enough!
They also had a «teppanyaki» area with things like BBQ pork and teriyaki chicken. Other things they offered were chicken katsu, shrimp tempura (apparently very popular – but I don’t eat tempura), vegetable spring rolls, calamari rings, fried rice, clams/​mussels, imitation crab in real crab shells (that was kinda weird), French fries, and steamed garlic/​ginger fish. Also a noodle station and some pizza.
Their dessert line was pretty impressive, with a chocolate fondue and fruit station, lots of those little rectangular desserts like chocolate mousse cake, mango cake, etc. They also had a made-​to-​order crêpe station with fruit, sauces, and whipped cream! I thought that was pretty cool.
Service was mediocre. Plates started to pile up after a while, and I never got offered a refill on my soda. Whatever.
Overall, I would come back and give it another try. :)

Wow. This place has been going down hill… My expectations weren’t that high, but they still had some decent food… that’s at least what I thought. The food is over salted, over cooked and over fried!!! I thought one of the more redeeming qualities here was the Teppanyaki station but unless you want a heart attack before you leave the restaurant, just pass. The «chef» over salts the food, over cooks it and if you watch him he puts over 3 spoonfuls of butter every time he flips the vegetables over.
We came for the crabs legs. They aren’t too salty but they aren’t too fresh either. The buyer must be buying from the reduced price bin of seafood. The legs are all scrawny and most of them were yellow!
For $ 26.00 per person you be better off at the abc store down the street!

All U can eat crab legs. Tiny crab legs.
This had been my 3^rd visit to todai. EW.
The first time was really good. This was probably 2 – 3 years ago. I went because I had heard a lot of good things about this buffet, people really talked it up, it had a good reputation. I can recall an awesome sushi bar, great and FRESHly prepared. And then (as advertised) steak and such carved right in front of you, the works! I remember leaving satisfied.
The second time I visited, I noticed a slight decline in the quality of food. Less choices to choose from, boring sushi selection. But still, I wouldn’t have complained. I still left full.
This last visit, and I mean LAST visit proved that quality was in fact diminishing. It felt like eating at a school cafeteria. Nothing was good. I walked around the sushi bar twice, which lacked luster, color, and appeal. I decided on sashimi as everything else seriously looked like trash. I didn’t eat it however, once I got to my table and in better light, the fish looked gray. PUKE.
The rest of the hot food was equally disturbing. To say the least, I left an all you can eat buffet hungry.
I hate to say it, but the poor quality of the place reflects directly on the poor staff and management. No one cares. Plates are piled up high on everyones tables, drinks take decades to arrive and are never refilled, you end up bussing your own table and hunting someone down to get a drink. You pay money to do their job.
There are so many of them working at once. they don’t even have to take food orders, or run food… I just dont understand. ??
Save your money.
Food poisoning is just a finger-​lick away.

I’ll cut to the chase on this review.
Parking– They have a private parking lot, really convenient! I totally didn’t see the «diamond head parking signs» all over the place, I totally did not see it, anyway ended up getting a ticket on my car for $ 40.00 for 1 frickin hour that I didn’t know I had to pay for parking. Must be something new? Cause I don’t remember having to pay for parking…
Staff– We sat near the cold buffet side, and was totally grossed out when we saw the 2 ladies working behind the counter grabbing food off the line and popping it into there mouth like it was nothing!!! They weren’t even using gloves, until they had to prepare the food, but even then that’s really disgusting! Our waitress was nice though, she did seem like she was trying to rush us out. None the less she was attentive to our needs and got us everything we asked for on time.
Food– Unlimited crab legs is where it’s at! My husband/​sister/​brother in-​law LOVE the crab legs, they had 3 – 4 plates. Unfortunately I’m allergic lol! But I LOVED the shrimp tempura! It’s pretty much my fav when I’m there. I also love the chocolate fountain & strawberry cake, that’s Ono.
Bill time– We get our bill, & they do give Kamaaina discount which is pretty cool. We go up to pay our separate tabs, the guy takes our payment. My Brother them waited to pay there bill stood in line for about 5 min for someone to notice them (mind you they were right behind us).

Ok…
Food was ok. Not all was great. Of course the dessert was delicious. Glad they still have the find I and Crepes.
The price changed lower which I’m glad.
I went there today with my man and his family and mentioned Todai. I did read everyone else’s review but I decided to give it a benefit of doubt…
Service was ok. Some of the food was great. I had great company at least.
Oh! As for the crab legs, yes. It was small and cold. Some of the supposed to be «hot» food was cold, but still a bit tasty.
Sorry Todai, you guys are losing business if you don’t act up.
SO START!

I don’t know why so many people have bad experiences here.
I come here for a lot of special occasions like birthdays.
Pros: –there’s a variety of food items.
— love the crepes and cheesecake
–customer service was great each time I went
Cons: –fruits like strawberries don’t seem very fresh
–kind of pricy
–sushi doesn’t have much fish on it. But has a lot I variety

Yikes!
I knew Todai was bad, but not this bad! It is so much worse than it was a few years ago. I hate to put down restaurants, but this place needs to clean up its act fast.
First of all, the waitress was R-​U-​D-​E. We tried to get her attention many times to order drinks, clean our plates, and ask questions but she would always look away after we got her attention, roll her eyes, slam drinks on the table… it was never ending bad service.
The food was not so great either. Sushi that was sitting out for a while, lots of fried and oily items, a skimpy salad bar… the dessert station looked the best out of them all. There was also a woman making crepes and at some times there were a few people waiting in line. While I was trying to decide if I wanted a crêpe or not, I was just watching her and seeing what toppings you could choose from. Then she did the grossest thing a person handling food can do – she picked food from the dessert station and ATE IT IN FRONT OF US!!! Then she rudely told another guy working next to her, «I’m tired, you do it now.» I then walked away grossed out after she helped me make my decision not to order a crêpe.
The food and service was not worth my money and time. I wouldn’t have come here on any normal day, but some family from out of town wanted to eat here so we tagged along, but I am sad to say I doubt I will come here again.

30 $ is quite a lot. But its all you can eat with all kinds of japaneese food. Its very decent. The service is really good. I can only recommend it