Hokkaido vs. Onami

For us SoCal’ers, we’ve all been to Todai, but for $29, I wanted to shed light on alternative seafood buffet options in the area.

Chinese Food

Or as the restaurants call it, “hot entrees.” Or as my friends call it, “food you don’t waste your stomach on so you can gorge on as much sushi as possible.”

Hokkaido: I’ve yet to find a place where the food is near inedible. Todai is no different. Hokkaido is among the worst. Their roast beef and ribs = yuck. Made to order = Mongolian BBQ.
Onami: The best food you’ll find at a seafood buffet. If I only ate this, it would still be a good meal. Enough of a difference to make it the best seafood buffet, but I’ll go on. Made to order = kalbi.

Sushi

Hokkaido: Bread and butter rolls. Items offered: 13.
Onami: I’ll admit their Spicy Tuna Rolls–with that carrot and asparagus some places use–is kind of bunk, but the Philadelphia Roll and the adequate selection more than makes up for it. Some items offered here you can’t find at Hokkaido include the Salmon Skin Roll, Philadelphia Roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll, Spicy Scallop, Albacore Tuna and Yellow Tail. Items offered: 52.

Dessert

Hokkaido: You would think having a chocolate fountain makes it unmatchable, but the rest of the dessert bar is skippable.
Onami: A handful of bite-sized cakes you would find at Todai or even a Las Vegas buffet, topped off with three ice cream flavors on a cone–including Green Tea–makes you forget about that chocolate fountain.

Prices (weekend)

Hokkaido:
Lunch: $17.99
Dinner: $17.99
Onami:
Lunch: $17.95
Dinner: $26.95

You get what you pay for, but more so, I’m not paying $18 for a subpar meal. Hokkaido’s $11 lunch on Mon. thru Fri. is something to consider though.

Locations

Hokkaido: Three, including in Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Todai: Three in CA, including in Orange, Westminster and Arcadia.
Onami: One, in Torrance.

Rating

Hokkaido: 2 stars out of 5

Todai: 3 stars out of 5

Onami: 5 stars out of 5

A few misses to keep Onami from being flawless, but the best seafood buffet I’ve had by far.

BJ