Todai
340 SW Morrison St # 4305 (Pioneer Place, 3rd floor)
Portland OR 97204
503-294-0007

Disclaimer: All reviews and original content Copyright © Mike Blackwell [remove "nospam." or it won't work] of Oregon Sushi -- All Rights Reserved.

Food Quality: A to C, depending on the dish.
Portion Sizes: Typical (mostly irrelevant, since it's a buffet)
Overall value for the dollar: B

Todai bills itself as the largest Japanese seafood restaurant in Portland, and rightly so. Its 160-foot buffet wraps around a fully-exposed kitchen and boasts so many different items that even a glutton such as myself cannot down one of each in a single sitting (though I usually try :). Lunch is served from 11:30 to 2:30, 7 days a week, for $12.95 on weekdays and $14.95 on weekends. Dinner is served from 5:30 to 8:45 pm Monday through Thursday, 5:15 to 9:30 pm on Friday & Saturday, and 5:15 to 8:45 pm on Sundays and holidays. Dinner prices are $22.95 Monday through Thursday, and $23.95 Friday through Sunday and on holidays. Beverages (including coffee, tea, soda, beer, wine and sake) are not included in the buffet price. Non-alcoholic drinks are bottomless, however.

The restaurant is divided into several distinct "stations," listed below as they appear from the back of the restaurant to the front. Exact menus vary by season and time of day (e.g., sashimi, unagi, lobster and crab legs are only available at dinner), but the following items are usually available year-round.

Hot Soups and Noodles. They serve a good Miso soup here, with large chunks of tofu and plenty of kombu: it's not just broth. They also have udon noodles, cooked with the ingredients you choose, though I've yet to try it: when I'm at a buffet, I tend to avoid dishes which may be rather filling.

Hot Dishes. These include fried rice; fried noodles; tempura; gyoza; teriyaki chicken, salmon & beef; BBQ ribs; salmon; red snapper; halibut; oysters; scallops; small lobsters; and my friend's favorite, crab legs big enough to be straight out of an H.R. Giger nightmare. He can get his $24 worth of crab legs and call the sushi a bonus.

Appetizers (mostly cold): Cucumber w/vinegar (sunomono), edamame, mushroom salad, cold salmon, cold beef, seaweed salad, seafood salad, spicy calamari salad, and salmon wrapped around palm hearts.

Temaki (hand rolls). This isn't really a "section," but rather a sign with little plastic models of the hand-rolls you can custom-order. So far, I've only had the negi-hama temaki, which was good.

Maki-zushi (sushi rolls). No need to list them individually: they have all the standards and a number of rarities, including rainbow rolls. [Note: in 2005, the Portland outlet changed ownership, and one of the first things the new manager did was soup up the sushi rolls. I can attest that the rolls (many of which are now served with special sauces or garnished with various spices or bonito flakes) are noticeably better than before, and are now the first thing I head for when I dine here.]

Sashimi. Their sashimi is a mixed bag. Sake (salmon) and maguro (red tuna) are always available, and sometimes tai (red snapper), but is not always as fresh or as high-quality as I've had elsewhere. Of course, it's a buffet, so I'm happy that it's even offered. Besides that, even though the hot food is on the opposite side of the kitchen, tables are distributed evenly throughout the restaurant, so the taste and smell of the sashimi can be influenced by the aromas from the hot side unless one's table is on the sushi side. That's why most sushi bars separate their hot and cold kitchens with a screen. I like to be able to appreciate the different flavors of the raw fish by themselves, but at Todai I need the soy sauce to bring them out.

Nigiri-zushi. Again, they have all the standards here, and occasionally (though rarely) even uni. Nigiri is best immediately after they're prepared, so keep an eye out as the platters are replenished. Unlike the newly-improved rolls, nigiri here is usually only average (your best bets are classicstuna, salmon, red snapper, etc.), and the unagi (freshwater eel) usually disappoints. Unagi really shouldn't sit under a heat lamp. :/

Desserts. Todai's hidden jewel. Gem-sized desserts, small enough to compensate for diners' eyes being bigger than their stomachs. Cream puffs, tiramisu, several kinds of cheesecake, various tarts and cookies, and a delightful creme brulee in a mini-ramekin.

Overall, presentation is remarkable for a buffet, with trays and their contents arranged with almost mathematic precision (especially the desserts). I wish I could sit next to the sushi kitchen and watch them work, but like most buffets, they have to leave room for the diners to move freely around the serving area.

My advice is to arrive early (opening time is good: you get to watch their opening ceremony), ask for a seat near the dessert bar (away from the hot foods) and start with the sashimi and nigiri-zushi while it's fresh and before the hot kitchen aromas influence the flavors too much. Then go for the rest, and make sure to save room for dessert.

Avoid filling up fast: it's very unlikely you can have everything on your first visit, so expect to come back another day for what you missed. Use the small plates and make several trips: you'll enjoy it more, and you'll need the exercise. Plus, since everything's clearly labeled, smaller plates will allow you to remember what you ordered so you can make notes of what you like best.

UPDATE: Friday, June 20, 2003

I'm definitely getting jaded. I've had to downgrade Todai from B+ to B, because I'm getting pickier about the quality of my sushi. Todai still wins points for being the only true sushi buffet I've found in Oregon (except Sada's in Newport, which offers an anniversary buffet on July 1st). But all-you-can-eat mediocre sushi just doesn't thrill me much.

Do I still enjoy eating here? Absolutely. There's enough here that *IS* good to make it worth the money. But very little of it "moves" me. As I've said before, good sushi "speaks" to you. Todai's sushi mostly mumbles. Most of the rolls are pretty good [especially under the new management], but the sashimi is unreliable, most of the nigiri are only average, and the things that should be delicacies, like unagi, uni, ikura, etc. are inconsistent from visit to visit or are simply sub-par, period.

I know, I know: it's a buffet, and buffets (of any cuisine, not just sushi) cannot be expected to compare favorably to a dedicated restaurant. I agree, and perhaps I'm being too harsh. But the fact remains that I've been to enough *good* sushi bars to recognize that getting more (mediocrity) for your money isn't always the best plan. I'll still go to Todai if I'm in the neighborhood, but my expectations will be lower.

UPDATE: Friday, January 6, 2006

Came here for dinner again; checking through my receipts, looks like I've been here for dinner at least eight times since my last review in June 2003. Didn't realize it'd been that often.

UPDATE: Saturday, January 28, 2006

I went here for lunch today, which is $15 on weekends. This is only the second time I've been to Todai for lunch; the other time was with my boss a few years ago.

The only differences I could see on the lunch menu (versus dinner) were the absence of sashimi, unagi, ikura, crab legs, lobster, and creme brulee. The rolls, as stated earlier, have improved since new management took over in 2005, but the nigiri are still only average (though the tuna and salmon were pretty good today).

It should be noted that Todai is a great place to go on your birthday: dinner is free if you bring one or more paying guests. Be prepared to show your ID, and if you're lucky (or unlucky), the staff may bring you a cupcake with a candle and sing to you. My best friend and I have come here on our birthdays for at least four years now, maybe longer. So far, we've usually managed to miss out on the cupcake thing. :)

Also, in previous reviews, I forgot to mention that on the hot side, next to the soup station, you can order crepes with a variety of fillings. I haven't tried them yet (I imagine they'd be rather filling, which is something I tend to avoid when I'm at a buffet), but I'm told they're very good. Maybe next time. :)