Makino Sushi Seafood Buffet

It was too pricey for defrosted fish, it was not fresh at all. A high 5 for the services but I was there for the food. Desserts were fresh fruits and some kind of pastries weren’t look appetizing at all. The tempura was tripping with oil and the miso soup came out of a machine not from a pot with bits and pieces of tofu and seaweed on the bottom. The crab was probably on a diet because it took a lot of works just to get to the meat I am very generous with a three stars just because the girls were helpful and quick with the refills. Would I go back to this place again? Nah never.

My family and I ate there today for father’s day for the very first time. Wow, it was the BEST sushi and seafood I ever had. By far the freshest ingredients and biggest selection of sushi I have ever seen. Everything was sooo delicious! Clean restaurant and nice service too. Well worth the money we paid. We will be back as this is our new favorite place to eat. We went home and talked about the food all night.

If you are a big sushi and seafood lover, then this is definitely the buffett that will satisfy your cravings. With that being said, the only reason that a rating of 4 stars was given is mainly due to the inconsistencies in quality of the crab legs. Now I have been going to this buffett for the last 3 years or so, as a crab leg lover, only the first batch of crabs are the best. Everything after that becomes so salty as I really don’t know why. Maybe it’s because they don’t want too many customers depleting their inventory of crabs. But even though this is no buffett in Las Vegas, for the price that they charge there should really be no inconsistencies when it comes to any item of the selection.

If you’re in Irvine, you have to go to Makino Japanese Buffet. It offers everything you can think of and it’s great quality. Lots of fresh sushi, hand rolls, sukiyaki is delicious. It’s hard to be able to try everything because there is so much to choose from and I always crave my favorite things every time I go. The tempura, seafood, salads, so much to name. it always sends me in food heaven! My favorite is the sukiyaki. the sauce is just right, the beef melts in your mouth and the noodles, tofu onions, mushrooms. so good!

First time here and I’m in love! Very CLEAN does not not smell like your average buffet when you walk in. The service is great. I came in for lunch today ⁰⁶⁄₂₀ and they were serving crab! 5 stars for that… Although our waitress did say they don’t always serve crab for lunch so I suggest you call before you go for lunch. I’m very happy with my experience here. I will be back.

Whenever I come back to SoCal, I make sure to come here for their AYCE seafood.
By myself, I can eat about ~$ 40 in sushi, with room for dessert and other hot seafood items. for a buffet, their sushi is top knotch, very fresh and delicious. They have your standard California rolls, but they have more, creative rolls out for you to try. They also have a station for tonkatsu, shoyu ramen and udon, a machine for miso soup, and a chocolate fountain. They have tempura, sukiyaki, clams, snow crab legs. There’s something for everyone.
During peak dinner time, parking in front can get bad, but I’m fine with parking a bit further away so it wasn’t as much an issue.

Used Unilocal to search for a restaurant around my hotel and found this place. Very glad I did. Awesome sushi and seafood buffet.
Almost everything I had was really good. The sushi, snow crab legs and chilled shrimp were all really fresh.
The only thing that was just ok was the fried rice and noodles.
Lots of options including several non-​seafood entrees.
Definitely would plan to go back when I’m in Irvine again.

Parking sucks and it gets packed at noon.
Got the lunch special it was $ 17.
The service is great here and the sushi is better than average when you go to a buffet. I really enjoyed the hand rolls the most.

This is NOT one of your typical «Asian» buffets.
DO NOT get it confused.
YOU WON’T BE SORRY.
Now go get your grub on.

They have really stepped things up the younger waitress does a great job so sweet the staff overall were so nice. The restaurant has been really stepping up quality and making dinner well worth it. The older lady with glasses does bad service tho. The others are really good.

Sushi and seafood lovers haven! Good stuff. Very friendly and helpfull staff. It is very clean in here the food setting is easy no traffic despite it being pretty busy. The chef constantly replenish food so eveything is fully stocked. Must go.

I dont come here often but Makino always hits the spot for me and family during lunch. Kids (4&2) enjoy the ramen and fill up on it. Wife and I eat the good enough rolls and sushi.
This place is a great value and its not an all u can eat rice seafood buffet like other AYCE sushi places.
Hot food selection looks good but I usually just stick to the sushi bar.

Decent sushi buffet. A lot better than todai. Not the best quality of sushi but we all know. This is buffet after all.
They have a few different kinds of handrolls. Desserts are not good.
You need to expect long wait.

I’ve eaten here a dozen times. My family meets here periodically because we all like it. I like the fact that their offerings change each time we come. The sushi rolls especially always surprise me. Their chefs outdo themselves in creativity with the rolls.
Fish is always very fresh and there is always a good selection and variety.
There are plenty of cooked offerings too and they are very good. Good selection of salads, all very fresh and they change from visit to visit.
Ok, we always go on a Saturday evening so there is a long line to get in and it is very noisy and crowded inside. We make reservations so no waiting for us. But this is good because fresh food keeps coming out to replace the selections quickly emptied. They also make noodle bowls and hand rolls to order and it is very quick. Service is good, your drinks refilled and used plates removed frequently. Staff are very friendly.
Miso soup though is through a machine. You start with hot water and add kelp and tofu and other toppings. Tastes absolutely horrible. I see a lot of people getting it, however, so I guess it works for some. I make it from scratch at home so I am probably hard to please.
I see others are pleased with the cakes and pastries selection, which also changes, but I don’t do dairy so I’ve never tasted any. The fresh fruit selection is ok, although not always ripe and sweet. I wish they had some non-​dairy selections like sorbets, etc. I’m usually too full from my main course to have any room for anything other than a little watermelon anyway, lol.

It’s definitely the best sushi buffet I’ve ever had. Very fresh and pretty. Why it’s only 3 stars? I went there on a Saturday with party of 8, everybody liked it.
The place is not too big but cozy.
Service is fast and friendly.
There’s not so many choice but sushi is unbeatable.
I tried ramen which is tasty as well as fried rice.
I’ll come back.

Probably one of the more awkward reviews I have ever written. Parking can be tight on weekends, as it was tonight. The customer service here is absolutely horrid– something out of a horror movie. Came here for dinner today with a large party of about ten people. We were not seated right away, and we were asked to wait outside in the meantime while they prepared our tables. When they were ready they sat us down only then to move us to another spot after we were seated (how inconvenient).
They sat us in a high traffic area where waitresses and customers were walking back and forth. I wasn’t too pleased because the first location would have been way nicer and more convenient, as I’ll explain in a little.
Food is really average– sushi is a hit or miss. Most of the food on my plate was cold by the time I sat back down. The food is all buffet style. Their desserts look tasty but in reality is nothing to earn bragging rights about.
What really got to me was not so much the food but the carelessness and aggressiveness of the waitresses. One was walking so fast she bumped into someone and her plates fell right behind me. This also happened a SECOND time, only the waitress had a plate full of disgusting crabs that had already been eaten, and it fell with a loud CRASH. I jumped out of my seat, only to find crab juice all over my designer handbag, shoes, and all over my clothes. I was so appalled and horrified. I got a measly apology from two waitresses as if sorry was going to fix everything, and they were not the ones that even made the mistake! To make matters worse, they didn’t even bother comping a meal or trying to make the situation right on their end.
This is definitely the last time I’m coming here. I didn’t ask to come to a restaurant to get dirty or ruin my designer bag (which it is). For mediocre food, none of it was worth it.

I was invited to dinner here and the food is mediocre. I personally wouldn’t come back unless my friends wants to dine here again. (I think it was too hyped for me).
However my friends, really enjoys this place and comes constantly (so again it’s preference).
It is all you can eat sushi. They have ramen noodles and I believe some other sea food selection.
It is a good experience especially if you like sea food!
The service was good I’d give it a 4 out of 5.

It’s a pretty decent buffet on the lines of Todai or Tomi. They have your basic Chinese and Japanese cooked food, and a few other seafood choices like oysters and crab. It’s not great, but its one of the better buffets on this level.
Actually I’d put it on the same level as Todai. But a bit more expensive. As expected, this is Irvine… so what you would be ok paying $ 19.95 for somewhere else, will be $ 29.95 here… and that’s exactly what you get.
So it’s a bit overpriced, but i say it’s worth a shot. You may find something here that you really like.

I was invited to this buffet for a small company dinner and I have to say, the overall review for this place is spot-​on. It’s definitely a 3-​star place.
The service is attentive but their food is just OK. Considering «sushi» is in their name… The sushi isn’t up to par to my usual sushi digs. The sushi is left out at display for people to come by and grab (as a buffet is supposed to be like) and hand rolls are made-​to-​order (though the fish selection is all sitting in little tubs right in front of you).
I tried a spicy tuna hand roll and it was like finely chopped tuna with a spicy sauce. Didn’t taste creamy like I’m used to. I didn’t like it.
I was pleasantly surprised by the tonkatsu ramen that was available. It was actually one of the better dishes i had that night. I went back for seconds. The meat was very tender (though they only gave me one piece) and it came with bamboo shoots, onions and bean sprouts.
I also enjoyed the kalbi short rib. It was grilled right in front of you and the seasoning was good. Sweet and salty. A solid KBBQ meat.
The veggie tempura was stale when I got it. boo.
The crème brûlée was room temperature. Meh.
The oranges and pineapple slices were freshly cut and ripe. Those were refreshing.
The «do-​it-​yourself» miso soup station was nice. The machine dilutes the miso a bit too much for my taste but it was good. I added tofu, green onions, and seaweed to mine. Came out of the machine nice and hot.
I’m not sure what the price is (since I didn’t pay) but I think it’s around $ 20. Average for a seafood buffet. It’s an OK place all around.

Limited choices for an expensive buffet. Average food, good service.
Wanted to see if there was a good buffet in Irvine and this definitely missed the mark. They do have crab legs and oysters but they were always out. Their food was luke warm for the hot foods as well as the cold foods (oysters) which threw everything off. Small selection of Chinese food, sushi, and desserts.
The chocolate fountain looked like it was suffering from the drought as well.
Service is good with water refill and plate clean up though! We unfortunately will not be returning for this 28 dollar dinner.