There's not much "new" about New No Da Ji. A waitress informs me that "No Da Ji" means gold mine in Korean, but the Korean/Chinese/Japanese eatery has been at this location for about 15 years. The menu looks like an original -- but I pay it no mind. I'm here for the lunch buffet.
I have high hopes that this trip will differ from recent forays into Asian buffetdom. You know the routine -- sodas in plastic cups, tiny California rolls with imitation crab, tasteless versions of typical takeout offerings and lots of sweet and sour something-or-others.
When I arrive, New No Da Ji is almost empty. There is a dimly lit dining room adjacent to the sushi bar and buffet spread, and a Japanese game show whistles and dings on the television.
The first thing I notice at the buffet is a handwritten note that reads: Kimchi helps fight against Avian Influenza "Bird Flu."
Ick! Bird Flu is not what I want to think about while lunching at an Asian buffet. I take some of the powerful kimchi just to be safe. I also grab a small mound of seaweed salad. The bi bim naeng myun, buckwheat noodles with hot sauce, looks pretty good, and the barbecue spareribs and chicken also look good. I also greedily scoop galbi jim, a beef dish, on to my plate.
I pass the dessert section, its fried apples and bananas mere calorie-wasters, and grab a tempura sushi roll.
Silver servers hold four types of soup: miso, udon, seaweed and hot and spicy -- with all sorts of toppings. I drop udon noodles and puor miso soup into a bowl, adding tofu and dried seaweed. Then, I head for the real mother lode: sushi.
I am excited to see large pieces of nigiri-sushi, including salmon, tuna and white tuna. There are five or six types of rolls: California, shrimp salad, spicy tuna, grilled salmon skin, mackerel and so on.
Once seated, I dive into my first plate. The kimchi is OK, but the seaweed salad isn't very fresh -- think canned string beans. Galbi jim: delicious. Orange chicken: passable. Oddly, the tempura sushi tastes like a doughnut with a sushi-filled hole. The miso soup, though, is interesting. Dried seaweed definitely adds something there, and the udon noodles remind me of fat, long versions of the noodles in Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.
After that I tackle some more sushi. The nigiri-sushi is excellent -- big, fleshy slices of fish on fingers of moist rice. Wasabi adds the perfect nip. Let me just say, all the sushi tastes fresh. The rolls range from good to really good, my favorite being the spicy tuna. In fact, this all-you-can-eat sushi ranks right up there with some of the best sushi I've ever had.
Since I didn't bring anyone with me for conversation, and since the pinging noise and sing-song chatter from the Japanese game show was old after about 30 seconds, I amuse myself by reading the placemat. It boasts a stylish gray and black ad for "Bek Se Ju," a Korean ginseng wine. The placemat reads: The meaning of BEKSEJU character is that two people have BEKSEJU together with friends, lovers, family and other relationship, which use PICASSO's cubist technique with Asiatic arts. Clearly something was lost in translation.
Dish: New No Da Ji's buffet offers mainly Korean dishes -- primarily, noodles and barbecue, but most of them are good. There are four types of soup with fixings. And then, there is the sushi: three types of generously sliced nigiri-sushi plus a collection of interesting rolls. Oh, don't forget the complimentary green tea or cinnamon ginger drink.
Damage: The lunch buffet is $9.95, which comes to $10.45 with tax. Students and cops get the buffet for $7.95, Tuesday through Thursday.
Note: A sign posted over the sushi warns that there is a $1 charge for each piece of nigiri-sushi left on your plate without the fish -- so eat your rice!
Decision: Overall, New No Da Ji's buffet was impressive and the service was friendly. There are a couple of entrees I'd skip next time, but it's definitely worth the price. The only other way I know to get this much good sushi for under $10 is to steal it.
I have high hopes that this trip will differ from recent forays into Asian buffetdom. You know the routine -- sodas in plastic cups, tiny California rolls with imitation crab, tasteless versions of typical takeout offerings and lots of sweet and sour something-or-others.
When I arrive, New No Da Ji is almost empty. There is a dimly lit dining room adjacent to the sushi bar and buffet spread, and a Japanese game show whistles and dings on the television.
The first thing I notice at the buffet is a handwritten note that reads: Kimchi helps fight against Avian Influenza "Bird Flu."
Ick! Bird Flu is not what I want to think about while lunching at an Asian buffet. I take some of the powerful kimchi just to be safe. I also grab a small mound of seaweed salad. The bi bim naeng myun, buckwheat noodles with hot sauce, looks pretty good, and the barbecue spareribs and chicken also look good. I also greedily scoop galbi jim, a beef dish, on to my plate.
I pass the dessert section, its fried apples and bananas mere calorie-wasters, and grab a tempura sushi roll.
Silver servers hold four types of soup: miso, udon, seaweed and hot and spicy -- with all sorts of toppings. I drop udon noodles and puor miso soup into a bowl, adding tofu and dried seaweed. Then, I head for the real mother lode: sushi.
I am excited to see large pieces of nigiri-sushi, including salmon, tuna and white tuna. There are five or six types of rolls: California, shrimp salad, spicy tuna, grilled salmon skin, mackerel and so on.
Once seated, I dive into my first plate. The kimchi is OK, but the seaweed salad isn't very fresh -- think canned string beans. Galbi jim: delicious. Orange chicken: passable. Oddly, the tempura sushi tastes like a doughnut with a sushi-filled hole. The miso soup, though, is interesting. Dried seaweed definitely adds something there, and the udon noodles remind me of fat, long versions of the noodles in Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.
After that I tackle some more sushi. The nigiri-sushi is excellent -- big, fleshy slices of fish on fingers of moist rice. Wasabi adds the perfect nip. Let me just say, all the sushi tastes fresh. The rolls range from good to really good, my favorite being the spicy tuna. In fact, this all-you-can-eat sushi ranks right up there with some of the best sushi I've ever had.
Since I didn't bring anyone with me for conversation, and since the pinging noise and sing-song chatter from the Japanese game show was old after about 30 seconds, I amuse myself by reading the placemat. It boasts a stylish gray and black ad for "Bek Se Ju," a Korean ginseng wine. The placemat reads: The meaning of BEKSEJU character is that two people have BEKSEJU together with friends, lovers, family and other relationship, which use PICASSO's cubist technique with Asiatic arts. Clearly something was lost in translation.
Dish: New No Da Ji's buffet offers mainly Korean dishes -- primarily, noodles and barbecue, but most of them are good. There are four types of soup with fixings. And then, there is the sushi: three types of generously sliced nigiri-sushi plus a collection of interesting rolls. Oh, don't forget the complimentary green tea or cinnamon ginger drink.
Damage: The lunch buffet is $9.95, which comes to $10.45 with tax. Students and cops get the buffet for $7.95, Tuesday through Thursday.
Note: A sign posted over the sushi warns that there is a $1 charge for each piece of nigiri-sushi left on your plate without the fish -- so eat your rice!
Decision: Overall, New No Da Ji's buffet was impressive and the service was friendly. There are a couple of entrees I'd skip next time, but it's definitely worth the price. The only other way I know to get this much good sushi for under $10 is to steal it.
