AYCE again!!! 任食怕怕。

The first buffet that I have ever been to (or that I can remember) was in the late 80’s or early 90’s. One day, my parents brought me to a really nice restaurant in Kowloon (Can’t remember exactly where, but I remember we had to walk uphill…). Even now, I can still remember the feeling that I had that day. The word, buffet, to me was so foreign. I couldn’t believe there was a place where you could eat whatever you want and how much you want. I even doubted how the restaurant could make any profit out of it. (Of couse, now I know I just over-estimated the capacity of my stomach.)

Yummm…
On that same day, I also had my first fresh raw oyster. Looking at all the oysters-in-shells lying on the ice, I could not help picking up one. I love oysters, but all I have had until that day were cooked oysters. Picked up one and saw how other people squeezed lemon juice onto it, I had a weird feeling… afterall this was raw stuff!!! It was alive!!! Oh gosh… but I ate it anyway. You know, marz always have the courage to try all kinds of food.

Yea, that was my first time.

I think AYCE Japanese food is just a lucrative business, otherwise, there won’t be so many AYCE Japanese restaurants in Toronto. If I have to choose, usually I avoid going to AYCE because of the quality and the size of my stomach. Don’t know since when my stomach has become smaller. I used to eat A LOT! If I’m not eating that much, and I’m paying $20+, that’s really a waste of $$. So, I’d rather go for some better quality a la carte instead.

However, sometimes you just can’t avoid AYCE.

Sushi Hut 1 Monday night. Went to Metro Square. Originally, I was going to Asian Legend, but I felt that I have been to Asian Legend too often these days. Walking around the mall, I saw a new sushi place opened up where the “Guo Hua” store was originally located. Sushi Hut – $15.99 AYCE promotion. Sounds like a good deal eh! If we go to Asian Legend, it may be over $15.99/person anyway… So, we went in and tried this new sushi restaurant. To tell you the truth, this restaurant was really not attractive at the first sight… but I/we just didn’t want to drive around to find another place to eat. So, Sushi Hut it is.

At around 7:30p.m. there were not a lot of customers. There were a few tables of westerners. Background music was some fast Mandarin songs and some dance music (which was not really appetizing nor good for digestion). Looking at the menu, obviously it was not an authentic Japanese restaurant. Since my dad does not eat sashimi, we ordered some hot dishes such as the beef rice in hot pot, and some other sushi with cooked stuffs in it. Overall, the taste was not as bad as expected. Service was not bad either. The price also included the pops. If you like fried banana, you can also get it there. (Another place I know that has fried banana is Sushi on 7). Around 8-8:30pm. more customers came in… the restaurant was doing pretty well consider it was Monday.

Sushi Hut 2
Beef rice in hot pot – caution – it’s really HOT!

Sushi Hut 3
Miso mussels – so-so…

Sushi Hut 4
Katsudon… The donburi’s portion is HUGE!!!


Maison du Japon 1Wednesday night. AYCE again. The occasion was a reunion… and farewell dinner. Around 8p.m. we came to this Japanese restaurant, Maison du Japon, near John and Woodbine. Well… I could see a lot of customers from outside. So, I told myself, this better be a good one! There were quite a lot of western/westernized Asian patrons that night. The deco was definitely better than the one I went to on Monday night. Looking at the menu… haha actually I looked but not read… Once everyone arrived, my friends placed the order in a swift and the food was also delivered in a timely manner.


Maison du Japon 2
The first dish of the night – translated from Chinese
– “North pole snow roll”… Quite special!

Maison du Japon 3
Tempura Mushroom

Maison du Japon 4
Steak – quite tender…

Maison du Japon 5
Sashimi – I found the sashimi there wasn’t as good as its hot dishes

Maison du Japon 6
Lots of FOOD!!!

Maison du Japon 7
Finally, green tea pudding

The overall experience was quite good. $18.99 AYCE weeknights. Not bad. The hot dishes are tasty, sashimi’s texture wasn’t too good. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve been there. If you haven’t been there and would like to try a new Japanese AYCE place, I’ll say… try this.

FYI:
Sushi Hut (元太)
3636 Steeles Ave. E. Unite 123-123A, Markham
Tel: 905-513-9889

Maison du Japon Japanese Cuisine (瀛風)
7500 Woodbine Ave., Markham, ON L3R 1A8
Tel: 905-415-8233

4 thoughts on “AYCE again!!! 任食怕怕。

  1. Stumbled into your blog while I searched for a late night korean place late one night a few weeks ago…and was impressed by your eloquent and very well-written blogs/restaurant reviews. I saved the link on my desktop, and today, out of boredom, finally decided to take a look. You have been to MANY of the restaurants myself, and probably most of the chinese people in the GTA have been to, so I could really relate to many of your reviews. Aside from that, both your chinese and english entries are entertaining and a pleasure to read. You sound like you have quite the cultured/colorful personality! Keep up the good work, and keep the reviews-a commin’!

  2. Thanks for visiting my blog and your compliment! From time to time there’re moments when I got tired of blogging, but everytime I go to a restaurant, I just have a strong erge to share the experience with other people. I hope the information here will come in handy when someone try to search for a restaurant on the net someday.

    Thanks again and hope you’ll have a great Lunar New Year!

  3. Nice website. I enjoy food and I enjoy pondering the relationship food has to the living of life. That’s probably why I enjoy reading your posts which intersperse your restaurant reviews with articles suggestive of your views about life.

    Anyhow, my wife and I dined at La Maison du Japon a couple weeks ago, and I thought I’d drop you a line to give you some feedback. Overall, the experience was good. The sashimi was fresh and tasty, and the selection was about what you’d expect from a Japanese buffet restaurant. We found the cooked foods to be a little lacking though–okay, but nothing to write home about.

    If you are in the mood for some very good, authentic Japanese cookery of the home-cooking or everyday-cooking kind, I would recommend these two places: Konichi-wa Restaurant on Baldwin St. and Tokyo Grill at Yonge and Wellesley. Konichi-wa has the best ramen noodles in Toronto, and Tokyo Grill is great all-around with amazing udon and donburi. If you happen to go and like them, drop me a line.

    Keep up the good work and continue to share your good experiences on the net!

  4. Ya! I’ve heard of those two restaurants! With your recommendations, I will go check them out sometimes 🙂

    I enjoy reading your blog too!!!

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