Review: Shin-Nichi Japanese Buffet Restaurant

Yesterday, Pink Elle and I were feeling a little frisky so we decided to have a nice dinner instead of crawling off home for more instant noodles. We were originally headed for Euro-Deli for an Oktoberfest indulgence, but under-estimated the horrendous traffic. Since we found ourselves around the UOA Building, we thought to go to Saisaki Japanese restaurant.

However, after we parked the car, we saw a banner on the outside of Kompleks Antarabangsa, advertising another Japanese Buffet restaurant, called Shin-Nichi. Being curious cats, we went over to investigate.

Shin-Nichi is on the ground floor of Kompleks Antarabangsa, tucked away in a dark little corner. If you access it through the lifts from the parking lot, there is a banner showing the way and this was the entrance.

We tried to see if there was a price for the Japanese buffet but there was none outside. When we asked the waitress who had quickly come out to greet us, she told us it was RM49 per person. Turns out its actually RM49.80++ for dinner.

Anyway, since we were already there, we thought to try it. The spread looked good. There was lots of variety of everything Japanese ranging from sashimi to sushi, simmered food to tempura, fried rice to hot dishes and dessert and soups. Awesome! We thought.

However, I must say that other than the Sushi, everything else more or less tasted the same – salty. The cooked food were so salty it was impossible to eat it on its own. Same goes for the soups even if they had “Sharks Fin Soup” and “Mini Monk Jump Over the Wall”. The cawan-mushi was a great disappointment too – super salty.

Desserts were super duper sweet. So everything was just a huge contrast. Oh, except what was supposed to be guilinggao, which was tasteless.

To top it all off, there was a policy of not allowing customers to take photos of their food. So, food bloggers take note! There were many wait staff around watching everyone like a hawk. The place was relatively empty even if there was a lot of seating available.

I must say the presentation of the food is good because they only displayed very few items at each time but if they are busy, I guess you have to expect a wait. Also, I did not exit the restaurant smelling of oil as I have experienced in some Japanese restaurants due to the cooking.

However, since taste is sorely lacking, I will not be returning.

Rating: 2 thumbs down.

UPDATE JULY 2008: Apparently the restaurant has closed down.

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