Tokyo Buffet, in the big strip mall on Emerson Avenue just north of County Line Road, was an impulse lunch-- we were going to eat at another place there but that wasn't open yet, so we hungrily seized upon the only open restaurant nearby, so I wasn't expecting much-- like most Mexican Restaurants, most Asian buffet places who serve primarily Americans offer pretty much the same dishes prepared the same way. I once stumbled onto a place 'way on the Far North Side awhile back that was alone on a wooded section of road, a mystical apparition like Brigadoon. I know I couldn't find it again today. I went in on a whim and discovered almost all the customers were Asian, and the buffet contained many dishes I didn't recognize, with a number of them composed of only slightly-cooked sea creatures, some of which resembled large insects. I could only bring myself eat a few of the offerings, but I was enchanted with their flavor and the apparent authenticity of the place and the food. Tokyo Buffet leans much more toward the familiar than does that fabled mirage, but TB was nevertheless a welcome surprise. Its dishes are generally the well-known Asian stuff, with some appearing to be Japanese in origin, others Chinese, and still others from Thailand. But get this-- they were all very, very good!
The waitress was very polite and quite sociable despite her lack of fluency in English, which led to some awkward moments a couple times when neither the Little Woman nor I understood her, but she was so darned nice we didn't want to offend her by asking to repeat what she'd just said.... She did correctly fill our drink orders, though. I love any place where you can get a pot of hot Oolong tea, and it was even better than usual because they gave me a tiny little cup with which to drink it (that's Japanese, right? Or is it--I dunno.) I found that although you have to keep refilling the little cup, you get a good whiff of the tea aroma each time AND each sip is hot because you've just poured it from the pot. Brilliant!
There is a sushi bar, too, and the wife cajoled me into trying some kind of combination seafood roll, which has Japanese dressing and rice on the outside surrounding a mix of crab and "other seafood" inside- a term that gavemesomeconcernbutsinceIcouldn'tseewhatitwasIcouldpushthatoutofmindlongenoughtobiteintoit, so it was actually quite good! There were other rolls, some containing eel, but that was more than enough raw goodness for me.... There were some other somewhat different dishes, too, one of which I can only describe as a Japanese Taquito-- something like filo dough wrapped around tempura beef and fried-- it melted in my mouth and instantly blended several different savory flavors. All the other dishes, as I said, were pretty standard fare, but some were maybe the best examples of those dishes I've had in a long while, including the Spicy Thai Chicken, Broccoli Chicken, and the Hot & Sour Soup. It's no Kabuto, of course, but for a fraction of Kabuto's price, TB's buffet at $5.99 for lunch was well worth it. Banzai!
