Tatami Sushi and Seafood Buffet

The ho-ho holidays are a busy time for the family because both mom and pops birthdays fall within the month. For dad's birthday, we went to Tatami Sushi and Seafood Buffet in Cupertino, formerly the location of Todai. He went to redeem his free birthday meal and it was deliciousness! This is my first time here since it changed from Todai to Tatami.

($26 per person for dinner) My buffet strategy is to try a bit of everything first, then come back for what I call the All Star plate of favorite items from every section, finishing off with a dessert plate. First I warmed my palette with a bowl of seafood soup. Then I dove into the sushi bar. Some items to note above are:

1) marinated crab, 2) artic surf clam nigiri, 3) papaya salad that had alot of tamarind taste to it yums, 4) 2 different types of poki salad just meh but interesting.

Then it was over to the hot food section where I got a sampling of hot seafood. 1) shrimp eggroll was just ok, 2) cooked whelk, 3) grilled squid with a sauce very yums, 4) manila clams were very delicious if you ignore the grittyness, 5) tofu soup minus the soup, 6) sea bass, 7) crawfish, the seasoning was not bad but not great.

Let's talk more about this whelk. The whelk is a type of sea snail and I remember Andrew Zimmern loved it in one of his episodes and if he eats it, I will eat it too. I really thought I would enjoy this because as a kid, I loved the tiny snails in this one soup my mom made. But kids are fearless and as an adult, I know better now. Snails are kinda gross unless they're really small, then they're delicious. As you can see above, this snail is not really small and thus it was not delicious. It was too much of one taste and I really think it tastes like this variety of taro root except not good. It's a little slimey, a little starchy, and has no flavor. Not so bad but it was not the snails of my childhood memories.

Afterwards, I hit up the cold and raw seafood bar for 1) cocktail shrimp yummy, can't go wrong with it, 2) King crab legs also yummy but the shell was really soft and hard to peel maybe because it was frozen for longer and not as fresh? 3) raw oysters on the half shell, they were just ok. I'm always fearful of eating raw oysters at a buffet because my sister did get sick before but I was lucky this time. However, they tasted washed out and flavorless. boo.

Not pictured is the All Star plate which contained seaweed salad, papaya salad, and manila clams. Yes, those are the winners of the night. Also, I was full by the time and still wanted dessert which was a small plate of fruit. Somehow it felt like alot of food in my stomach but in pictures, it looks pitiful for a buffet. =( Yes, I do recommend Tatami, especially if you accompany someone for their birthday, the rule is 2 or more people with the birthday person. I don't remember how Todai was so I can't comment on whether Tatami is an improvement but the sushi bar is very good for a buffet and it's worth going just for that.

Tatami on Yelp