Makino Chaya

Located at the site of the old King's Bakery in McCully this restaurant seems to be one of the few that changes their menu. Typical buffet consists of cold items such as sushi, poke, kimchee, and shrimp while the hot items include snow crab, dungeoness crab, beef sirloin, and chicken. There's also buffet items that you can order from the menu.

We went here on my birthday I think. What I do know is that I was very impressed by the boldness of this eatery to dare to leave a tray of beef sirloin on the buffet line. The beef was tender, tasty and endless. I swear I made them pay!

Location: The site of the old King's Baker in McCully
Parking: Free parking in the front and back
Theme: Japanese
Price Range: ~$25
Rating: Great
Link: http://www.anytimegrinds.com/information.asp?ID=3320

Tree Tops Restaurant

Located in the back of Manoa this restaurant sits within Paradise Park. The menu is filled with breakfast items such as eggs, bacon & sausage as well as bbq chicken, bbq meat, desserts, etc.

It had been a while since I last dined here but on this particular occasion (a graduation party) I splashed myself with sriracha sauce and was not a happy camper.

Location: Tree Tops Restaurant in Paradise Park
Parking: Free restaurant parking
Theme: Continental/Chinese
Price Range: ~$11
Rating: Good
Link: http://www.restaurantdb.net/restaurants/HI-Honolulu-1067.html

Fook Yuen

Aside from the funny name, this Chinese buffet located just outside of Waikiki offers a nice selection of food. Item highlights include roast chicken, mabo tofu, pigs feet, spicy eggplant, and shrimp canton. Good food at a great price!

We decided to eat here after attending a seminar in Waikiki. It was on data replication and I felt like replicating plates of food into my system.

Location: 2nd Floor of the McCully Shopping Center
Parking: Free at McCully Shopping Center
Theme: Chinese
Price Range: ~$7
Rating: Good
Link: http://www.mccullysc.com/detailpage.php?article_id=34§ion_id=3

Todai

Todai used to be one of my favorite places to pound food. It was a bit pricey but worth it. The typical menu includes a variety of sushi, poke, clams, mussels, chicken, shrimp tempura, and many others. My favorite was bacon wrapped scallops but that has long been pulled from the menu.

We ate here for one of our quarterly luncheons. I was so looking forward to my favorite item but that certainly didn't stop my 5 plate kung-fu.

Location: Waikiki across the Hilton Hawaiian Village
Parking: Free with validation in the parking structure
Theme: Japanese-Seafood
Price Range: ~$15
Rating: Good
Link: http://www.todai.com/locations.php

Buffet 100

Buffet 100 is one of the many eateries in the Ward Centres. It boasts a hundred items including mabo tofu, roast chicken, shrimp, duck, and an ice cream machine. The food is quite tasty.

I hadn't eaten here in almost 5 years but the taste and menu was consistent as ever. Although I must admit that the service did improve a bit!

Location: 2nd Floor of Ward Warehouse
Parking: Free at the Ward Centres
Theme: Chinese
Price Range: ~$10
Rating: Good
Link: http://www.victoriaward.com/Dining/Merchants/Buffet100.html

The Willows

Located in Mo'ilili, this Hawaiian food-themed buffet features prime rib, roast turkey, catch of the day, lau lau, lomi salmon, kalua pork, chicken long rice, and much more. The food is very tasty but the main reason that I like this place is the cooking staff. They always cut me a dish of round onion to eat with my Hawaiian food.

Yet another quarterly pounding took place here. Everyone was in the mood for Hawaiian food. There was lots of silence and eating but at the end of the day I wasn't as impressed as I usually am.

Location: Hidden away in Mo'ilili
Parking: Valet across the restaurant or Park & Pay next door
Theme: Hawaiian
Price Range: ~$20
Rating: Very Good
Link: http://www.willowshawaii.com/

Ho Ho Chinese Cuisine

Kapolei's best lunch buffet is filled with succulent, fatty pork! My favorite!!!!! Tasty highlights include steamed roast pork, ginger chicken, and pepper-salt shrimp. Add around $2 for dinner and get the oh so tasty pepper-salt crab!!

I visited here twice in a week or two. The first was for lunch following a new site that we were setting up. Dinner was the second visit at which point I was already stuffed when I decided to feast on the crab.

Location: Kapolei Marketplace
Parking: Free at Kapolei Marketplace
Theme: Chinese
Price Range: ~$9
Rating: Great
Link: http://www.anytimegrinds.com/restaurantreviews.asp?ID=3107