I heard Todai is coming to Boston. Does anyone know where it is going to be & when they will open the store?
coffee1004
Jan 29, 2007 10:59PM
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Oh my goodness...if this is the same Todai that I experienced in Honolulu (all you can eat asian with excellent sushi), then my prayers have been answered.
DETAILS! I NEED DETAILS!
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What is a Todai? I thought it was a typo........ now i'm curious!
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all you can eat sushi, chinese food, salads, cakes, jello, etc. for $20
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Todai is an experience in an of itself - all you can eat sushi, king crab legs, desserts (including made to order crepes), and other Asian food. It's the seafood buffet for kings and queens. The price per person differs from Todai to Todai but averages $25/person. I have sat for 3 to 4 hours each time, just eating and eating. Needless to say, I always emerge painfully full but very satisfied. My goal is to eat in as many Todai locations as possible. So far I have eaten in Todai in VA, IL, NV,and CA.
http://www.todai.com/
My mouth is watering at the thought...
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I was just looking at going to the one in the Bay area and started looking at reviews...general consensus is that they are second rate, not high quality fish and are essentially on par with casino buffets. Boston has such great seafood that a buffet can't possible hold a candle to most of the local places around here, I'm thinking.
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Not to prejudge a place sight unseen, but all-you-can-eat is not a concept I love. I'm more in the sensible-portions-of-high-quality-food camp.
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I've heard of Todai but never tried it myself. For those who've dined at both chains, any comparisons to Minado? Similar, better or worse? I know locations can vary so I'll take any opinions with that caveat of course.
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It is a notch above Minado. The variety in the Honolulu one is breathtaking. It was also full of Japanese tourists. I am not sure whether that speaks to its authenticity or the reluctance of the tourists to venture beyond what they are accustomed to.
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i've been to the one in houston and i thought it was wretched. the nigiri and maki were subpar - had that supermarket, sittting-in-a-refridgerator-all-day quality to it. weak miso soups. king crab legs were standard vegas buffet quality. the sushi at shino express on newbury is way better than todai probably because the sushi is still prepared to order and, while very inexpensive, doesn't taste "cheap".
all-you-can-eat buffets, particularly seafood buffets, rarely have anything of high quality or taste to them. while all-you-can-eat sushi sounds like a great deal, you really get what you pay for.
maybe the one in honolulu is an exception. i found that it was hard to get poor quality fish when i was in hawaii, whether it was in a restaurant or grocery store.
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I will admit to having been to 6 or so different Todai locations ranging from Hawaii, California, and Chicago. It's a fun place to go to with family, but definitely not for a nice date. They vary a LOT. The best being in Honolulu and worst being in Chicago. This probably isn't surprising considering proximity to the ocean and patronage by Japanese clientele.
Some locations are on par with Minado, but others are much better. I would welcome a Todai in Boston. That said, their website has stated "opening in Boston" for years now. Last time I checked was at least 2 years ago.
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So does anyone know if Todai will be opening in Boston?
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Try Minado in Natick. Not quite TODAI but pretty close !
SR
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From the looks of the web site, Todai is indeed coming to Boston!
http://www.todai.com/locations.php
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I went to Minado in Manhattan and Todai in the same location when they took over the closing Minado. Nothing was different except for the name...lol. They served the exact same dishes and they were even located in the exact same place. On a 10 scale I would rate them about a 7. Funny, the Minado in Natick is a bit better than either of those two.
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According to its website, Todai franchises its restaurants. That may explain the uneven quality between various locations. We will just have to wait and see what we get.
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I ate at the Todai in Las Vegas a few years ago and have eaten at the Minado in Natick at least 5 times and I thought the food at the Todai in Vegas was of a much higher quality food than the food at Minado. I still sometimes enjoy Minado for what it is, but if the Todai that comes to Boston is anything like the Vegas one, I think people will see a noticeable difference in quality. I wonder if they have picked a location yet and if so, where. They are going to need a pretty good sized space.
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