Todai Restaurant

Just so you guys know. Todai closed on January 17th its employes had found out THE DAY OF at the end of the night everyone was told that Todai was closing. It was bound to happen I guess, not for the quality of food or anything but for the matter that it was a SUSHI AND SEAFOOD BUFFET. BUFFET. this meaning you could have all you wanted to eat and some customers would load up, and I mean LOAD UP on JUST crab legs and jumbo shrimp. The cost of seafood has gone up A LOT in recent years and Todai has had to try and keep up witht he market leading to the higher prices and lower amounts of food. So for everyone who wants to make rude comments might I remind you of this bad economy. Also think about the location INSIDE, PIONEER PLACE MALL. in DOWNTOWN. That rent bill was going to be crazy expensive. So yes... the day Todai closed employees were asked to pick up their last Paychecks then they literally just shut the doors and have returned to do some removing of things or selling of others. Perhaps you should all consider the 65 employees who have lost their jobs, in this economy it may be months before they find another. I will miss Todai, great food, great people, great atmosphere... sad to see this place go.... o and fyi. 2 Todais closed in Washington and a few in the south... so its not just this was... 10 years ago when the Economy was booming it was a great Idea for a sushi seafood buffet... but now... after everything our economy has put us thru, it made it hard... think about it and A LOT of buffets are going out of business....\r \r more

All the negative reviews I've read are right on! I've never writen a review, however, I feel very strongly about warning folks about the really poor quality, not fresh or even warm, tasteless food. The article about not being clean and getting ill the next day happened to members of our group also. The only Japanese person I saw was the manager! When I went to pay the bill I felt very strongly about refusing to pay! I should have, but instead decided to share my experience with others. I'm sure they won't be in business much longer! (At least I hope not) more

If I could give this place 0 starts, I would. I have been there twice now and the second time was as I remembered it...not much food at all and what was there was poor quality. Definitely not worth the price and they don't even validate for parking after charging you an insane amount. On a side note, we went there right when it opened and the bathroom was FILTHY...how do you not clean a bathroom right before you open? The only good food there was the orange chicken. I went with several people who ate the sushi and they said it was terrible or had no flavor at all. One person likened it to licking a clamshell right out of the ocean. I would not recommend this place for ANYTHING--go to the food court in Pioneer Square before you come here! more

I had been here about 4 years ago and a few times prior and enjoyed it. I recently moved back to the area and wanted to go to Todai because I remember liking it. Well... it was nothing like I remember it. The sushi was dry... really dry. The other food wasn't exceptional either. I tried it again a little more recently to give them the benefit of the doubt... maybe it was just a bad day... NOPE... still not good. I'm very disappointed. I used to love this place and now I will never go back.\r \r I've paid a lot less for better. Pros: friendly service Cons: food more

This is quite possibly the worst place I have ever eaten. Most of the food was unappealing and the sushi looked like the throw-away parts from another sushi restaurant. If you are brave and want to go try it out ask to go look (closely) at the offerings before getting seat. Then run! Go Spend about the same amount and get a fair amount of fantastic sushi at Sinju in Bridgeport Village in Tigard. Itadakimasu! Pros: Large dining area, easy to get seating Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE! more

I'll start off by saying that I woke up sick the next morning and lost a few pounds the hard way.\r \r We should have trusted our instincts about the poor quality of food but we were hungry and it was very expensive so we wanted to feel like we were getting our money's worth. Unfortunately I got more than my money's worth.\r \r I have spent a lot of time in China and Todai replicates the food quality you would find there. Real chinese/japanese food means they use every part of the animal and cook it in tons of grease. Todai doesn't use white meat chicken breast because its more expensive than the dark meat. For what you pay at this place you are getting robbed.\r \r Two days later (and 3 hours in Urgent Care) and I am finally starting to feel better. Pros: Good wait staff - promp and courteous Cons: Very poor quality food more

DO NOT go there for Sushi. PERIOD. ITS Garbage BIG TIME. Lots and lots of mediocre food for $30 buck a pop. NONE of its good. Pros: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm NONE Cons: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Worst food in Portland more

I went to have a birthday dinner with my family and we traveled 2 hours to get there. I was very disappointment with the buffet. The hot entrees all tasted the same, yuck. The sushi was all mushed together and had no taste. The only thing that was good there was the water I drank and the udon. Its really hard to mess up udon. I do not recommend this restaurant to anyone. The price was sky high for the low quality grade food. The clown there was scary. Pros: good service Cons: low grade quality food more

Todai isn't all that great.\r The food Is good.\r But not Really Really Great.\r For the quality of food you get, it's pretty expensive.\r It is good for families and birthday gatherings.\r But all in all - there are plenty of better restaurants.\r Maybe not all in one place..\r still.. Pros: Location, Parking, food is okay Cons: price, food isn't all that great more

Every time I go to Todai, I regret going to a buffet (eating too much), but I find myself going at least once a month. Great selection of food and great for the family. I recommend Todai to everyone. more

Our family enjoys the different deals they offer. The free meal on your birthday is good but we usually go on Thursdays when our kids eat free... the sign says they also are free on Tuesdays but we have never been. The kids like the sushi and different cakes for dessert. Some days there is a clown who makes balloon animals! My wife and I like the crab (endless amounts!) and we also like to have a bowl of the soup they make for you. We always love the food and the waiters are always friendly as well. There is a large crowd which means it can be kind of noisy. We try to go early to avoid the crowd. The restaurant is easy to find inside Pioneer mall and don't forget... they validate your parking at Smart park! Pros: Great for families, lots of different yummy food Cons: Can be loud and busy at times more

Let me say that my husband and I used to looove this place. However, it has really lost it's appeal! We dined there tonight for a free birthday dinner and we left VERY disappointed.We arrived at the restaraunt at 8:50 and they closed at 9:30 we figured we would have enough time to eat and enjoy our meal. We were rushed the entire time, they wanted to cash out our bill @ 9:00 and started pulling food and cleaning up at 9:20. We had to ask repeatedly for them to restock sushi and crab. They never ended up stocking the sushi because it ""got too late."" We never saw our waitor/waitress (who were busy cleaning and refilling soy sauce containers) and we ended up filling up our own water refills. \r \r The quality of the food was mediocre. The sushi was mushy and loosely wrapped. There was not much variety. The hot food was barely warm and everything tasted chewy and old. \r \r We will not be going there again...even for a free birthday dinner. Next time we'd rather go to Sushiville or Sushi Land instead! Pros: validate parking, free birthday dinner Cons: lousy service, little sushi variety, more

This place used to be great... well me and my Husband went there recently on his birthday for dinner and it was a joke. The sushi seemed to be okay but the rest of the food seemed over cooked and greasy. Years past experience the food was fresher and didn't have that over cooked heat lamp look. I used to love their tempura, but this time it was all mushy and looked as if it was cooked in very old oil. \r \r Even with the birthday ""discount"" our dinner still ended being $42.00 not to mention he got seriously sick afterward about 1:00am after dinner he was really sick. I called the restaruant just to let Manager know that my husband had came down getting sick after eatting some of the food that I didn't eat and he (Steve) totally acted unconcerned, unsympathic and tried to brush me off with free dinner comp tickets. \r \r (BLECH!! NO THANKS) Pros: free parking vaildation Cons: bad food, WAY over priced more

The perk of this place is that you get a free dinner in your actual birthday, and free is a good thing. Yes, the food selection is large, but not large in a tasty way. A LOT of the food looks and tastes as though it has been sunbathing under the heat lamps for a while. The crab and shrinp island is pretty good. The crab is pretty big but often times a bit dry. There is a ridiculously small selection of actual sushi and it is nothing spectactlar in my opinion. Nothing that bursts in your mouth and does the grasshoppah hah-cha. The ""hot side"" where all the hot food is kept, is a cornacopia of greasy fried fish, oily noodles, gelatinous sauce-covered ""things"" and a scant amount of actual vegitarian options. Kudos to the crape station though. Lots of yummy selections. The dessert section is rather wierd. When is jello an Asian dessert?? The best is the creme brule....which of course is usually always completely depleted. The little petite cakey things are flavorful, but they do have an odd ""gel"" quality that makes you wonder if you will need a but of fiber afterwards. Thank goodness they serve beer and wine here. Asian plum wine is potent and helps you get this stuff down. All in all, I dont really think the dinner prices are worth the quality of food they serve. Pros: Large variety. Booze. Cons: Old greasy tasting food. Pricey. more

If you want bad food and high prices this is your place. They say that they have 40 different types of sushi, well that?s a lie. I went there this Saturday for a friend?s birthday, and I will never go back. I read some of the reviews on here before I went and I thought, well I will try it, it can?t be that bad. I like to consider myself an almost expert on sushi, so I figured it was most likely people who had not done a lot of sushi before, Boy was I wrong. The only good thing about this place was that the service people were fairly nice. The soda tasted old, and the sushi was not fresh. I love mackerel, but the mackerel here was very dry. The only good thing they had to eat there was the tempura shrimp. The prime rib was dry and old, and the crab legs were not very good at all. And the dessert was a little odd. The bottoms of all the cakes were made out of some sponge material. Needless to say if they only cost like $8.00 for dinner instead of $27.00 I still would not go back. Pros: Service staff were friendly. Cons: everything else. more

My boyfriend and I went to todai for Valentines day, excited to eat some sushi. I've been here couple times before, and never found a problem with the restaurant until today. We made reservations a while back, but when we came, they stuck us in a crappy place. Someone came and took our drink order, gave us drink and we never saw the server again. They were out of a lot of food, the crab tasted like awful (like crumbling apart because it was so dry), ran out of creme brulee early on and did not get more. We asked another server for a refill, never saw her again either. I understand that it's a buffet and that great service should not be expected, however, I was appalled that no one even came to clean up our plates or ask how we were doing. I don't understand why they expect to be tipped if they give such horrible \r service. I will never go there again. ALSO, they charged a ""holiday"" price for valentines day, and didn't even bother telling anyone... Umm, since when is valentines day a ""holiday?"" Pros: easy to make reservations Cons: everything else ex: service, quality of food, cleaning plates, etc more

I went to Todai 5 years ago with my family who are seafood eaters. They enjoyed the variety and freshness of the food. This year that was not the case. Contrary to what is listed on their website, Todai no longer serves lobster and a variety of other items. This was the only reason our family drove to Downtown, Portland and payed for $5 at the parking garage. They did not have the selection you would expect and the non-seafood dishes were borderline 'gross.' We tried a few things but were so disgusted that we stopped mid-bite. The food they did have looked unappetizing and my family was forced to sit and eat because of how much we were paying. The price is ridiculous compared to what you're getting. Unless you like sushi and dessert, don't go here. I would suggest you take your $20 and treat yourself and a friend at either Beaverton or Hillsboro's China Moon. Now that's a buffet. Pros: Free meal on your birthday Cons: Noisy, very expensive and poor selection more

I have been going to Todai for 3 years. The service has been consistently good and the food is always tasty. As a business owner I have found this to be a wonderful place to take clients. It offers a variety of Japanese sushi to sample and other asian foods. Although this is not a place I would recommend for ambience, the variety is wonderful for a large group that may have different food preferences. I recommend this restaurant to any seafood lover! I taken many clients, friends and family to this restaruant and every single on has loved it and returned for more. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Pros: Excellent for Families and large groups, Food, Variety and Service Cons: Ambience, Noisy more

The first time I went there three years ago, the sushi was excellent. The second time a few months later, it was frozen solid. And subsequent visits over the last few years have been anywhere between sub-par to just ok. I had a particular fondness for the creme brulee dessert cups, but the last time I went, the cups were replaced with a large pan that you were supposed to just scoop your portion out of (and it fell apart and made a big runny mess). Like the reviewer before me stated, this place is definitely quantity over quality, and over the past few years, I haven't been impressed with the changes. It's disappointing for me because the Todai near Chicago is excellent, so I know just how good this place can be. Sadly, the Portland location seems to be going steadily downhill and I haven't returned since my last and probably final visit last August. Pros: Lots of choices, all you can eat sushi Cons: Quantity over quality, and the quality seems to change with every visit more

Having just gone there yesterday I have to say that the food was decent but this place failed to shine in any other respect. It is expensive, the atmosphere is poor (mall), the service was fair (friendly but sparse). Just generally not worthwhile, particularly at over $25 per person for dinner.\r \r This is the place to go if you want to gorge on seafood but I've had far better meals in this town for way less money in more interesting locations. Basically this is the place that goes for quantity over all else but even as a big eater I didn't feel like I got my moneys worth from the meal. Having not gone to an all you can eat buffet since being a teen ager the joys of gluttony are no longer as apparent to me. If you want to eat until bursting with little thought on anything else great but otherwise forget it. \r \r As for the the food it was decent. The crepes where fun, some of the salads were good. The seafood was acceptable quality. The fruit and desserts were lack luster and not worth eating. I had some tasty mushroom fried rice but I've had good fried rice meals for $10-12 else where that were better, and served in more interesting locations.\r \r The fact they don't validate parking in the malls ramp only added insult to injury, they do validate for smart park but you have no way of knowing this before hand. The staff apoligized for this and blamed the management who did nothing. I guess they think all you can eat is enough of a virtue, and for some dinners well into their 3rd or 4th plate it may be but for others, look elsewhere.\r \r So on the whole just don't bother. It wasn't that the experience was terrible it was just at the end of the meal I felt like ""what? I paid for this? why?"" I didn't find the food as offensive as some have but this place is a poor value, go to the sushi-go-round and escape for about half the price with a similar quality meal. And you get to avoid the mall... Pros: lots of different food, eat as much as you want Cons: poor value, sterile mall like location, average food for too much money more