Kobe Buffet

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good review. will go on a lunch date with my wife this week. she actually prefers Makino but I insist on trying this joint. will provide review (although lunch selection will be less than dinner, I assume)

ps9 said:
$20 on weekends, $1.25 per year for kids.  It was better than expected but we probably won't be going back.  Started with the teppan.  Got some steak and shrimp for my daughter, no marination, just salt and some sort of light teriyaki sauce on top.  Shrimps ok since it tastes fresh and has a nice snap.  The cook manning the station is pretty loud, can use some more guidance instead of just repeating "pick anything you want."  They also have lamb chops, some sort of sliced beef, and chicken as other protein choices.  Veggies are bean sprouts, green squash, onions and broccoli.  Needs more selections, maybe cabbage or spinach? 

Got some sashimi next, wife mentioned the yellowtail was decent and I definitely agree.  Had almost the entire fish myself.  Crab legs were also pretty good, not overly salted like most Vegas buffet's.  Shrimp cocktail was also of above average quality for buffet's.  Their hot food section is kinda sad looking.  Walked past the orange chicken/broccoli beef/Panda Express section.  The steamed clams with ginger and peppers and sea cucumber dish were the only memorable dishes.  Frog legs was weird.  Don't like the curry seasoning on them and the big old frog veins was kinda stomach turning.  The steamed dim sum section is also worth skipping.  It's tastes like the frozen dimsum you can buy at 99 ranch.  Yuck.  Turnover was slow for the hot trays and not enough worker disturbance to churn the film that forms on the heavily sauced dishes.  Not appetizing.  Super disappointed with the squid with a sickening sweet teriyaki sauce.  Wow, that really ruined my taste buds.  Back to the cold dishes. 

We called ahead and was told no lobster today, not sure if it was just today though.  The chocolate fountain was the highlight of the trip out to Lake Forest, kid downed 4 marshmellows, 3 strawberries, and 1 tummy ache later.  Never seen her skip to her food (chocolate fountain) like that before. 

Seems like there are more workers than customers.  Hostess sat people randomly over the big restaurant, it was less than half full.  Workers were just standing around and chatting/goofing off with each other.  They cleared the dishes well but need to be more professional.
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I wouldn't waste your time on this place, the owner is cheap and it shows.  I'm starting to wonder if it's the same one at Azusa years ago.  This restaurant is like walking into a brand new model home with high expectations, but instead you get IKEA furniture.
 
I just got back from a brunch date at Kobe Buffet. Yes, brunch. I know it's about 2 o'clock now. I have stopped writhing in pain just long enough to make this post. They should have a bowl of Tums in the dessert section. We were planning to go somewhere else together afterwards but both of us wanted to call it a day instead because we weren't feeling very well after eating there.

Pros:

- Clean
- Attentive service. They are good about refilling your drink and removing plates.
- Friendly staff
- A pretty big selection
- Free drink refills
- You won't feel out of place no matter who you are. I was kind of hesitant about this, thinking I would be the only one who is not Chinese. There were a lot of Chinese there. And a lot of everybody else you can think of, too. It was actually pretty busy, especially for a Thursday morning. Quite a few people came in for their lunch break as we were leaving.


Cons:

- They will not remove your silverware with your plate. They make you re-use it. I'm serious. If you leave it on the plate, they will ask you to take it off! I've never seen this before.
- Need more food labels. I grabbed several unidentified things. When I tried asking the server what it was, we couldn't communicate. I had to figure it out on my own. Which brings me to my next point.
- Need at least 1 person who speaks English well.
- The labels that are there, are not organized very well in some areas. For example, where the buns(?) are. I still have no clue what I ate.
- The food is not outstanding. Most of it tastes like something out of a bag from the frozen food section at Ralph's.
- The sushi is average grocery store deli quality. I've had better sushi at hole in the wall sushi places. Yelp said they have shrimp crunch rolls. I looked everywhere. Nope. Not there. Also could not find the egg flower soup. Also could not find the frog legs I've read about.
- The Americanized(?) Chinese food... you will get better quality at Panda Express. Their orange chicken is soggy and bland. The fried rice was terrible, sorry. I couldn't even eat it. The noodles were alright. But will I go back just for the noodles? Nope.
- The desserts are not good. I have a sweet tooth but even I could not find one dessert I liked. Closest thing would be the banana halves covered in strawberry sauce but that's so basic. The cheesecakes are so mushy. The chocolate mousse is bad.
- Need a sign for the restroom with the universal symbols of a man and woman. Or an English sign. All the signs near the bathroom were in Chinese only. We were confused if that was the right way or if that was an employee-only area.
- They couldn't even spring for seedless grapes. Weird. It's been a while since I've seen grapes with seeds like that. They must have gotten a deal.


I had a small taste of a lot of things but most of it was not good enough to have another bite of except for a few boring items which you can get anywhere. Most of the food on my plates went uneaten, although he ate everything on his. I left feeling sick and unsatisfied.

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SoCal said:
- They will not remove your silverware with your plate. They make you re-use it. I'm serious. If you leave it on the plate, they will ask you to take it off! I've never seen this before.
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Hehe... from what I recall, many buffets do this... even the Vegas ones.
 
I actually make sure my gorging utensils are not taken away at a buffet, every single second needs to be devoted to shoving food in mouth, don't have time to look for another fork!
 
Oh, something funny. I remember reading on TI that one of you guys went to a sales office to look at model homes. I can't remember who it was but one of you said you are Asian and that you and your wife happened to walk in behind an older Asian couple. They gave the elderly couple a brochure but not you. The staff just assumed you were with them - but you weren't! And then whoever posted said something like - what? Do we all look alike to you?! Well guess what, haha. An elderly white couple was making their way to the door after us but they weren't even close to us. The hostess asked us how many. I said "2". She asked, "Two? Only two??", looked at the old people. Looked at us. Looked at the old people, who, by the way, looked nothing like us.  ;) Looked at us. "Just two?" "Yes. Two." Hahaha! Do we all look the same to you or what.  :P :D It was hilarious.
 
A general question - Should I half the tip at buffet restaurants? You are doing almost 50% of the work already, are you not?
 
WillJoy said:
A general question - Should I half the tip at buffet restaurants? You are doing almost 50% of the work already, are you not?
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That's a dilemma I face every time I go to a buffet. It really varies but I don't think I've ever tipped more than 15% at a buffet.
I tip more at a Vegas buffet than I do at like a Souplantation.
 
WillJoy said:
A general question - Should I half the tip at buffet restaurants? You are doing almost 50% of the work already, are you not?
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He tipped 20% at Kobe Buffet today because they were very attentive to clearing plates and offering refills. Almost too attentive. At some other buffets, however, you have to fetch your own drinks and for service, your mileage may vary.
 
SoCal said:
WillJoy said:
A general question - Should I half the tip at buffet restaurants? You are doing almost 50% of the work already, are you not?
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He tipped 20% at Kobe Buffet today because they were very attentive to clearing plates and offering refills. Almost too attentive. At some other buffets, however, you have to fetch your own drinks and for service, your mileage may vary.
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Attention Kobe Buffet Owners:

White people are big tippers so it would be good idea to have English restroom signs.  Not a good idea to have big tippers "hold it" because they can't read the sign.

 
WillJoy said:
A general question - Should I half the tip at buffet restaurants? You are doing almost 50% of the work already, are you not?
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I tip 15% if the server is white, 20% if Mexican, because Mexicans work harder.

A related question, should I tip when I order to go?
 
Happiness said:
I tip 15% if the server is white, 20% if Mexican, because Mexicans work harder.
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And 10% if the server is Asian, they're just so rude.  :P

I've seem in a lot of Chinese restaurants that they pool all the tip money together and split among all the workers at the end.  No one will earn more from being extra nice.  >:(




 
lnc said:
Happiness said:
I tip 15% if the server is white, 20% if Mexican, because Mexicans work harder.
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And 10% if the server is Asian, they're just so rude.  :P

I've seem in a lot of Chinese restaurants that they pool all the tip money together and split among all the workers at the end.  No one will earn more from being extra nice.  >:(
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Most restaurant do this...it rewards back of the staff workers as well as prevent wait staff from fighting for tables.
 
When you pick up food to go at full service restaurants (Olive Garden, BJs, Islands, etc) they always give you that cc slip to sign that allows for addition of tip and give you a dirty look if you don't add tip.  I mean c'mon if I wanted to pay tip I'd eat there so they could serve me.

I learned my lesson a long time ago and always pay cash now when picking up from full service restaurants.  This tip crazy society is out of control.
 
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