Onami Seafood Buffet

It is good!!! Price is about right… Service is little below average

This Place sucked don’t eat at onami sucked they do not know the meaning off a buffet. I ask for uni and the chef’s u can only have too pieces

CLOSED?!
Heartbreaking.

I am extremely sad that they have to close again. This place doesn’t deserve it. It was my anniversary and I picked this place to eat. Last year, I did the same. I didn’t want something fancy, all dressed up, and everything. I just wanted a simple ayce meal and would be here.
In the past, I had my boss take the employees here for lunch. And all of them loved it because it fills them up with many good selections. So what if the sushi isn’t top notch? It’s AYCE. You want real sushi, go somewhere else.
SOME PEOPLE COMPLAIN TOO FREAKING MUCH EVEN IN Unilocal BECAUSE I BELIEVE THEY’RE SPOILED. This is not Vegas, vegan, authentic, etc. This is AYCE in Cali. I’ve been to other AYCE IN CALI and most aren’t good (at all) around that price range or cheaper. This place is decent and not the best. So don’t expect the best. People just don’t get it. It really angers me. The people here are really nice, and they work hard for us. The cost of food increased. Running an AYCE or any restaurants is one of the toughest business out there. It’s actually tougher than most type of restaurants and they took the challenge. If you have people you know that does these businesses, you would know. Think about it? You have to make 50+ types of dishes to taste good the whole day instead of single servings. Some people need to be in their shoes!
I couldn’t find real green tea ice cream anywhere, but here. They have a wonderful selection.
One suggestion I would give is:
Maybe have some already scooped ice cream in the freezer so the poor guy doesn’t have to work that hard.
On my anniversary, I ended up going to Glendale’s «Las Vegas» Buffet or whatever they called it. I try to like it, but just can’t. Disappointed, I believe I can’t go there anymore. My sweetie was also disappointed and wanted to go to Onami
Please open soon. I wish them good luck!

–CLOSED– went here on 8/22/12.“Temporarily Closed to create a better atmosphere –opening soon.” Says they will be opening soon again. Anyone know when?
One of the best assortment of seafood buffets! Highly recommended!
Go to there website to get a 15% off coupon!
(coupon expires sept 1^st, Lame…)

Just found two hairs… In two different dishes… And all we got was an, «I’m sorry» and no follow up.
FOLLOW UP: I went back (against my better judgment) last Tuesday night for dinner and found the place closed down. –_–

A-​OK is right! We were treated here by my spousal unit’s cousin for lunch.
The Chinese and Korean foods weren’t too bad but the sushi was pretty tasteless compared to Hawaii’s standards.
However, I believe the desserts and ice cream were probably the best part of the meal.
BTW, don’t do the valet for a $ 1. It’s a rip, there was a stall only a few feet away for free??? What’s up with that?

First of all, sushi and buffet should never be combined in one sentence. I can honestly say I have never been to a good «sushi buffet» and Onami isn’t an exception. Who wants to eat sushi that’s been sitting out (granted its on a refrigerated plate) and been messed with by some people who obviously have a lack of «cleanliness» to say the least. During my visit I saw parents letting their kids grab the food with their hands and another man who sneezed directly onto the sushi. GROSS!!!
Now of course it is a buffet so they do serve non-​sushi items. They have a pretty large selection of hot dishes (sumai, fried rice, baked fish, shrimp bakes etc) and salads. Trust me when I say the hot stuff isn’t any different from the sushi. The food is either greasy, salty, cold, or all of the mentioned. The only thing I think I actually enjoyed was the citrus almond salad and the sumi salad.
I warn you now, think TWICE before considering a «sushi buffet.» For the ridiculous amount of money these buffets charge, you’re much better off getting quality sushi from a legit sushi restaurant.

Well I’m impressed with the amount of vegan friendly options. From salads to kim chee to eggplant to veggie rolls, my plate was full!
As for taste, mediocre. And all I know is that my tummy was aching afterwards. :/

Onami, previously Todai years ago, re-​opened their doors after going through some interior renovations in 2010. They have an array of sushi/​sashimi and hot food items. They have spicy tuna rolls, CA rolls, eel, uni, tako, salmon, and a few other sushi/​sashimi items. They also have shrimp and veggie tempura, udon, fried noodles, clam soup, beef teriyaki, salad, asparagus, crab legs, dumplings, cooked salmon, fried rice, lobster tail with cheese, and a fruit/​dessert section. You can only get half a lobster tail at a time and they only make like 5 whole tails every hour or so. Why be stingy with it if everyone paid the same dinner price? What if every person their stood in line to get their fair share of the lobster tail? They need to control it better.
Weekend dinner price is about $ 26/​pp and drinks are extra. Parking can suck and their valet service is horrible. A couple of times, I had to park my car upon arrival and walked over to my car after eating at Onami. Does that sound like valet service? Their «valet service» is lame dude. Plus homeboy shouldn’t wear cologne. It doesn’t smell nice at all. Also, they need to have better desserts. Their cake is dry and it doesn’t taste fresh. It’s a waste of counter space if you ask me. It looks like they have a grilling station, but I never see anyone there grilling anything. I don’t even see meat next to it. It’s another waste of counter space. Their wait staff is attentive and nice. If it’s your bday, they give you a gift certificate that you can use during your next visit.

It was a great buffet. The seafood quality was much better than the cheaper buffets. In a nutshell, the quality was very much like a Vegas buffet just ten times smaller… actually the selection is probably at least 50 times smaller than a vegas buffet, but the quality was on par.
They had a good selection of sushi, and sashimi. My favorite was a spicy tuna roll with a small slice of jalapeño in it. Super yummy. They had tuna, salmon, mackerel, sea squirt, octopus, and yellowtail (I think) in the sashimi section. All very fresh and delicious.
The crab legs never ran out, and they were meaty and not too salty. Next to the crab legs, they had a plate of beef carpaccio that is also worth trying. I didn’t try any of the salads (why eat salad!)
They didn’t have a huge array of warm dishes. I had the beef teriyaki, and the stuffed shrimp which were both good. I also tried a fried crab (I think it was blue crab) but I didn’t like it. Your taste may vary.
Desserts were okay. Good variety of small cakes, some cookies, and you have to ask the guy behind the counter for the green tea ice cream, which is the perfect way to end a meal.
Overall this place is worth the money. Everything was of good quality and the service was excellent.
Pros:
Used a 15% off coupon from their website with no problem
$ 1 draft beers (Sapporo!) until 7:30.
Great Sashimi
Service
Big crab legs
cons:
Limited selection

ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI & SASHIMI.
Price is around $ 25 and they have a selection of Korean & chinese dishes. Love their dessert options!
I never know how to tip on a buffet since they’re not really ”serving” us. However my Korean parents decided only to leave $ 1 per person. And I was walking out, the lady called me out on it. And yelled in Korean, you can’t leave a small tip like that. I threw another $ 5 on the table and walked out in embarrassment.

My boss and some co-​workers decided to have dinner at Onami for one of our co-​workers, before she leaves on maternity leave. Now, whenever I hear that there’s a sushi buffet, I get a little suspicious because even though the quality of the fish may be fresh, generally speaking, the quality of the taste doesn’t hold up like at a sushi bar.
The restaurant itself is fairly clean, and it’s got quite a bit of dining space, and parking is definitely not an issue. When we went in for dinner, they had just opened in time for dinner. The staff is friendly, and attentive.
So my co-​workers and I went around the buffet to pick up some of our cravings, and to be completely honest, there wasn’t much that I was interested in trying — it just didn’t seem to be too appetizing. The majority of my two buffet plates were filled with the salad mix, with a few pieces of salmon sashimi, a few strips of Korean barbeque (bulgogi), and some fried rice.
They have an entire room of desserts – now, that wasn’t so bad. The thing that wasn’t so attractive to me was everything else – the layout of the mass quantities of the food didn’t look so appetizing…
OK, so to summarize this, I honestly don’t think I’ll EVER be back… even though it’s a cool place to grab some food with friends, it’s just not worth that price to go through a buffet. I’d rather spend a solid $ 25 on a decent meal at a nicer restaurant.
Overall grade: C+ /​B–

It’s a neat buffet with a section of Chinese/​Hawaiian/​etc. food and a section of sushi/​sashimi. The quality is quite good and they make most items really fresh. You can ask the sushi chef to make certain things like handrolls that you don’t see in the line.
Me, I eat what I want and I don’t do rice rolls. I eat the raw fish off the top and leave balls of rice on my plate to be cleaned away while I return to the buffet spread for the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th time. Ah, you’ll learn to ignore the smirking of the chefs behind the counter. Gotta get the money’s worth first.
I especially like the chill atmosphere and the fact that this place is not humongous like Todai or some other seemingly grand buffets. They have a lot of regulars here, so that speaks for itself. Be sure to ask for green tea ice cream to close out your meal.
What I don’t like is they force you to park Valet for 1 $. Like, I don’t wanna! I can park my own fucking car! But no, it is what it is, dammit.

This one-​ups others for presentation and selection! Very good for a buffet, and lots of extras that aren’t found normally. One tidbit, its about twice the price, too! Roughly $ 25 per person.
The food is kept very fresh, with lots of stations manned (or womanned?) to help or serve you. My favorite items here is the stir-​fried garlic eggplant, the bbq’d steak (hot from the grill, along with shrimp, chicken, and pork), and low and behold — ice cream served to you on a cone (usually 2 flavors are available), and perhaps the best item — the little butter cookies. OMG. I think I may be the only person that eats these by the dozens. Well, they are little!
Bonus — they have TV screens all-​around, and usually show sports. Score baby!

I’ve been here many of times in the past 8 years that I’ve lived in Cali and I’m always surprise why this place doesn’t get a higher rating. I mean, it’s pretty good if you know you’re getting sushi from a buffet. And their selection is always pretty wide. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not going to find pieces of uni or toro here but again, it’s not bad.
Service is always friendly as it was last night when we were there.
The only thing I will say on last night’s visit was even though it was getting close to closing time (we walked in an hour before closing), and there were plenty of people still there dining, they pretty much started putting things away 30 minutes before closing time as well as not putting out any more food. I’d ding them a star for that but since I’d been there in the past and things were still pretty good, I’d give them the benefit of the doubt.

Came here for dinner to use our $ 50 gift certificates. They have a private lot for $ 1 valet and self parking. But be careful coz the spaces are tight, so try to park facing out.
Anyway, there are 3 dining rooms so there’s plenty of room for large groups, parties, receptions, etc. The 1^st room has lots of things to choose from, but here’s some to name a few. There’s a grill where they cook «Korean style» galbi, but it’s undercooked (for me) and not to mention super fatty like 75% fat and 25% beef! Eew! They also have king crab legs, shrimp & veggie tempura, soups, salads, fried rice, yakisoba, stuffed baked lobster (yummy, just like baked muscles with mayo) shrimp cocktail and many more.
2^nd room is where all the sushi is premade and just laid out for you to feast on. Plenty of items to choose from, but I can’t name ‘em all for you tho’. Hehe! Although, I have to add that some of their rolls have super crunchy veggies that just ruins the texture for me. I actually had to spit out a roll I ate just to see what the heck it was. Haha!
3^rd room is where all the desserts are. Fresh fruits, white chocolate covered strawberries, and these cute little bite size cakes including cheesecakes, but that’s all they are… cute to look at coz they taste like crap… I mean butter (eew!). But thankfully they also had self serve green tea ice cream which is so good! They even have a wall dispenser of cones right next to it. =)
Overall, I really don’t think this place is worth $ 25.99 per person (plus tax & tip). Their service was fast, friendly and helpful, but it’s still not good enough to come back for. Sorry Onami.

Lunch here is WAY better than dinner in my opinion. O-​Nami is so delicious, and they have such a huge variety of Japanese food. The have three separate bars of food. The first is salads and hot food, including soup, soba, tempura, beef, chicken, fish. The second bar is all sushi, vegetarian and fish alike. The third is dessert including mini cakes, fruit, and green tea ice cream.
The food here is actually pretty good for buffet food, and the sushi is fresh. I recommend coming right when the open for lunch (1130AM), when everything is neat and you are the first to partake in all the goodness. My faves here are the tamago sushi, the green tea ice cream, the dark chocolate cheesecake, the teriyaki chicken, the cabbage salad, the miso soup.
They also offer senior discounts. A really good deal, and everytime I have visited here, I have always had FRESH food.
Yummilicious Factor = B+

Based on lunch only.
Good:
–Variety of items (including hot foods and sushi. Would recommend the tempura and beef teriyaki.)
–Service (Everytime I left for another plate, my old plate was gone. No need to stack the dirty dishes)
Bad:
–Desserts (Most of it isn’t kept under constant refrigeration. As an example my itty bitty bite of strawberry and chocolate cheesecake pieces was at room temperature. It would have tasted better if it was cold.)
–Salads (Like the desserts the salads could have been colder, room temperature at best.)
–Bathroom (Needs a makeover. The door on the women’s left stall didn’t lock. For a restaurant of this size, they should have more stalls.)
–Parking (Street parking is hard. You might want to be prepared for valet service.)
Minor detail:
–Only 1 lobster/​crab cracker per table! Geez… talk about spreading the germs! Even when you’re eating with your own family, everyone deserves their own cracker.
Overall, this place is a decent value for what you get. The desserts are nothing to rave about, the sushi starts to all taste the same after awhile, and some of the hot food could be served hotter. Better than the «Sambi» brunch in Downey.

I came here because I heard that this was a decent sushi buffet, and well what could be better than sushi buffet that tastes good? Well I liked the hot food and desserts more than I liked the sushi actually. They do have a decent selection of food, split up into 3 rooms so it feels bigger.
So first thing I headed for was the sushi. Grabbed some rolls and some sashimi, some nigiri, and got some uni. Also got a salmon skin nigiri, which turned out to be the best piece. I tried to go for the ones that were freshly made, it was a Friday night when I went so food was constantly being replenished. The rolls were okay, just stuffed with regular stuff. Sashimi was not good, very stringy, they used the stringy pieces for the sashimi, the better pieces were on the nigiri. Which werent that good either. The only thing that was decent was the salmon skin and the salmon nigiri. The uni wasn’t good either, very watery and kind of slimyish squishy. The nigiri wasn’t all rice though, so at least that was okay.
I’ve been to better buffets that have sushi, namely chinese buffets. Onami should’ve had better sushi since they are a seafood buffet.
The hot food was actually pretty good. They also had a raw food section (smoked salmon and such). I remember the kalbi (they grill right in front of you) was tastyyyy, the red scallop, the crab legs were flavorful actually, and the mussels. Those basically stood out for me. Other hot food was good too, or just okay. The steamed oyster tasted nasty, actually couldn’t eat it.
The dessert section here was pretty big. Lotsa small little cakes and then a self serve green tea ice cream. I grabbed a buncha of little cakes, and a dish of green tea. The ice cream was really hard to get though, was just in a metal container and you had to scrape the darn thing. Best green tea ice cream i’ve ever had though! Lotsa flavor! And the cakes were yummy, can’t go wrong with cake.
Service was good here. We were promptly seated, and when I asked if they had any uni they gave me some. Also I got butter and a crab cracker right away too. My dirty plate (only had 2 plates) was gone when i came back from my second trip.
So I prolly wouldn’t come back here. I’ve had much better sushi at other buffets that aren’t considered sushi buffets, but their hot food and desserts were good. If only the sushi was better I would come back. I guess I’ll stick to the others, or the ones that you order by waiter.