Minado – Norristown, PA

Let’s face it, a Japanese buffet is not very common. Typically, an Asian food buffet is chock full of Won Ton soup, General Tsos chicken and egg rolls. But, Minado is quite different.

AS you walk in to the expansive dining room, you are quickly whisked away to a seat and asked for drink order from the wait staff. Kim and I ordered drinks and immediately went to take a walk around the immense buffet tables.

There is a section for Japanese grill, a large spread of tempura seafood and vegetables, a seafood section full of Blue Claw crabs, King Crab legs, oysters on the half shell and pick-n-peel shrimp. The next set of tables featured fresh salads, seafood combinations and various cold dishes.

Lastly, the sashimi, sushi and maki rolls tables featured about 3-4 different types of sashimi (no rice), about 10 different types of sushi (with rice) and about 20 types of maki rolls. All of the sushi was fresh, tasted great and offered lots of different variety; it was not all tuna and salmon. One of the benefits of a sushi buffet is that you can taste different types of fish that you would not normally try. Items like clam, eel, octopus etc are probably not popular with you are forced to purchase an entire roll. But, since you are not locked into anything particular at Minado, you can sample till you are blue in the face.

Overall, we had a great meal at Minado. The service was fast and friendly, the food was tasty, fresh and varied and we left quite full, something not often experienced with a Japanese sushi meal.

My only complaints would be the price of the meal, $27 a person on the Friday night we went and the overall decor of the restaurant. It felt more like a large hall then an intimate restaurant. This may be more a reflection of the buffet style, where people are inclined to eat longer so you need more tables, but who knows.