Minado: Restaurant Review

Minado defies the typical buffet downfalls and offers a variety of freshly prepared, delicious options ranging from sushi and salads to udon and tempura. The clean, well-stocked Japanese buffet can easily satisfy a variety of guests with diverse dining needs, including vegetarians and health-concious diners.

Typically, I'm not a fan of buffets -- the food tends to be overly sauced and sits in steamers getting old, but Minado has restored my hope. Minado offers over 20 different types of sushi, including a variety of nigiri and maki. While the fish is not the very best I've had, it's fresh and tasty, and satisfies a sushi craving. On a recent lunch visit, nigiri included red snapper, salmon, tomago, shrimp and eel. They feature a wide array of creative maki, which include many vegetarian items (including Garlic Rolls with cream cheese, spinach, and pepper), as well as Philadelphia and California rolls. Udon is prepared to order, featuring thick, tender noodles in a spicy (if you choose) broth. From spicy sashimi salad and hijiki to mushroom and Asian chicken salads, all the salads are fresh and distinct -- avoiding the "everything tastes the same" buffet downfall. Highlights of the hot buffet included barbecued pork, beef teriyaki, and shrimp tempura. The dessert station included a variety of small cakes, as well as fresh fruit.

The buffet is kept impeccably clean and the food is consistently fresh and re-stocked often. One reason for the quality and freshness of this buffet is the fact that Minado is consistently busy, which means little food sits on the buffet for very long. There aren't lots of empty trays along the buffet either -- the buffet lines one wall of the restaurant, behind which many cooks can be seen busily preparing food and restocking diminishing dishes.