Good buffets under $25

[Kaukura]

me and a couple of friends want to catch up tonight. Looking for suggestions on a BUFFET under $20-25 (does that exist?). Can be American, Korean, Chinese, Japanese.. and in town (honolulu) not out in Hawaii kai, salt lake, kaimuku, though.

What are your fave buffets? am familiar with buffet 100 at ward, makino chaya, and I think thats all. One of the people in group does not want to "cook his own meat" a la certain korean buffets..

[helen]

Re: Good buffets under $25

I think the Pagoda Floating Restaurant would meet the price limitation. It's on Rycroft Street. Decent food range, prime rib, sushi, salad, sides.

[tutusue]

Re: Good buffets under $25

I went with a group of HTers to Todai in Waikiki and thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, it was long ago enough for me not to remember the price and I couldn't find it on their web site. If you find the price please post it here!

[Kaukura]

Re: Good buffets under $25

thank you both!

Pagoda is pretty. Hadn't thought of that.

Tutusue: I think Todai is around $27 or so... These places are usually almost half during lunch.. thanks!

[Pomai]

Re: Good buffets under $25

In the airport area, there's a couple places that come to mind. First there's Chan's Gourmet Buffet in the former location where Sizzler used to be. It's $9 for an A-Y-C lunch buffet, with dinner at $11, which includes more seafood items. Their cuisine is a mix of Chinese and local favorites, similar to Buffet 100, but 100 times better in taste.

A hidden one is the Plaza Restaurant in the Best Western Plaza Hotel (that one and only concrete high-rise hotel in the airport area. We had a buffet lunch there a few years ago for about $13/person, and it was fantastic. Mostly American diner fare like meatloaf, fried chicken, mac' n' cheese, mashed potatoes 'n gravy, apple cobbler... stuffs la'dat. Simple but good! I'm not sure what their current deal is though. Try call.

A coworker of mine tells me that Haleiwa Joe's in the beautiful Haiku Gardens in Kaneohe has an excellent Sunday Brunch for about $20, which includes all the good stuff, including an omelet station and prime rib!

Duke's Waikiki has an A-Y-C breakfast buffet for only $15, which includes a variety of pancakes, french toast, fresh fruits, an omelet station (just to name a few), and of course that priceless Waikiki beach view.

[scrivener]

Re: Good buffets under $25

Chan's in the Airport area is only decent, so if you think it's better than Buffet 100, I'm never going to Buffet 100. Ugh.

I don't know why, but I have a soft spot for Perry's Smorgy in Waikiki. I think dinner's twelve bucks. Good local food and nice ambience. Nothing to write home about, but on those rare occasions when a buffet doesn't gross me out, I'll check it out.

[MixedPlateBroker]

Re: Good buffets under $25

Chan's?! Decent? *scratches head*
Hmm. I think Pomai and scriv are being far too kind ... and that's all I'm gonna say about Chan's.

I'd recommend Kat's Sushi on King St. across from the main 5-0 encampment. It's $20.95 for AYCE and BYOB. And though the place has slipped a notch from when I was a regular back in the '90s, they still serve up the best AYCE sushi in town on Oahu, imho.

[leashlaws]

Re: Good buffets under $25

Haleiwa Joe's is in my neighborhood and I can attest, the Sunday brunch
is very good, lots of fun, relaxing and a nice way to start the day. I do suggest
that you go early when everything is fresh and plentiful! They have a great
deep fried ahi with a lovely sauce.

[Kaukura]

Re: Good buffets under $25

thanks again.

In my experience, I find everyone has a different opinion, and ones opinion is not necessarily "the final one". I like Buffet 100 for what it is. Never tried Chan's but have "heard" it was good. Some just simply do not like buffets at all. One of the people I am going with is extremely picky, and buffets usually tend to have some "bland" or "safe" dishes to appeal to all senses. Wasn't looking for "the best" dining experience for this. just sittng around eating and talking for a bit.

thanks again

[TATTRAT]

Re: Good buffets under $25

I am with tutu. Todai is good, and for 2$ more then what you are looking for, the variety makes up for it...not to mention it is 90% seafood. there is a line there all night. We went for Christmas dinner and I could not believe the crowd...sure it was a lot of tourists, but still, MOBBED! But it was a block from the house and the price is certainly reasonable.

Anywho, I am with Tutu.

[tutusue]

Re: Good buffets under $25

I am with tutu. Todai is good, and for 2$ more then what you are looking for, the variety makes up for it[...]

Honestly, I've never seen so many tables full of so much food in all my life. And the sushi table (in the room at the ewa end of that vast restaurant) was overwhelming. And all those crab legs! Yummmm!

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Good buffets under $25

Hanaki Restaurant at the Manoa Marketplace has tasty local Japanese food in their buffet. Parking isn't a problem because it's at a marketplace.

[Pomai]

Re: Good buffets under $25

Chan's in the Airport area is only decent, so if you think it's better than Buffet 100, I'm never going to Buffet 100. Ugh.

You DO see that I said that as a play off the name "100 x's" (Buffet 100), but don't mean that literally. But unlike Buffet 100, Chans was, from our several visits quite a while back, very good, for whatever that's worth. But I can't speak for them (Chan's or Buffet 100) as of lately.

Still, that was a digressive suggestion, only to fit into the topic' title.

As Helen suggested, Pagoda (I'll second that nomination) sounds like the winning location. Last I checked, it was $25 for dinner, just making par for this course. The live Ulua circling the restaurant's pond, alone, makes it worth the price as a great conversation piece.

Ultimately, for your main purpose of having a quality conversation with people, The Pagoda Restaurant is relatively quiet, making it easy to listen in on what your guests have to say.

Kaukura, where did you end up going?

[cynsaligia]

Re: Good buffets under $25

Chan's?! Decent? *scratches head*
Hmm. I think Pomai and scriv are being far too kind ... and that's all I'm gonna say about Chan's.

poor eric. the only reason he went to chan's last year is bcs my cousin was renovating her home, which made it an unsuitable place to celebrate one of the kid's birthdays, as we normally would. so we all went to chan's.

three words: over-salty, over-greasy, over-cooked. lastly, for what it was, it was over-priced.

it's strange that the chans of chan's buffet are the same who own little village, a restaurant we adore.

todai's is more like $30 if i remember correctly from two years ago. my suggestion to kaukura would be tsukiji's in ala moana center.

buffets in general were covered by HTers here.

[LikaNui]

Re: Good buffets under $25

I haven't followed this whole thread, but I had the Sunday Brunch buffett at Haleiwa Joe's in Kaneohe this morning with some friends. $20 per person, and the food was great.