Aku Eats Oahu

Buffets, page 2

The Willows. 901 Hausten St. in McCully/Moiliili. 952-9200. Lunch and dinner daily, Sunday brunch.. Valet parking across street from restaurant. Prices: $$$. Map.You may be surprised at how such a large facility can look so unassuming from the outside. It is nestled deep inside of a residential district, and boasts 30,000 square feet of property, lined with koi ponds, fountains, tropical foliage, and several different dining rooms, which are mostly booked for large parties, weddings, business meetings, and other such events. The food is a mix of Hawaiian, local, and American, featuring such items as chicken long rice, snow crab legs (a bit on the small side), seafood curry, fire-roasted Portobello mushrooms, and baby-backed ribs, as well as a rotating menu of various items like furikake miso salmon, seared lamb chops, teri chicken karaage, and chicken katsu. There is live local/Hawaiian music on Friday evenings from 6:30pm-8:30pm and Sundays from 11am-1pm. Special events held on an intermittent basis are also very popular, featuring mini-festivals for micro-brewed beers and wine pairings. Call for schedules.

Palm Terrace. 57-091 Kamehameha Hwy. at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore. 293-6000. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. Parking at hotel. Prices: $$$. Map.As the finest resort (the only resort, actually) on the North Shore, Turtle Bay has a decent buffet, with rotating dinner specials on any given night, such as a Mexican theme on Monday, Hawaiian on Friday, prime rib and seafood on Saturday, and Italian on Sundays. Ordering off the menu is also an option any day for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The large, open dining room is island-style comfortable with great views of the North Shore coastline and the entire pool area.
 
ho ho's crab legs If you can find more economical legs, do let me know!

Ho Ho’s. 590 Farrington Hwy. at the Kapolei Marketplace in Kapolei. 692-9880. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. Along with sister restaurant Chin's in Kahala (listed in the Chinese food section), these two spots are probably the cheapest place anywhere to get all-you-can-eat crab legs (about $15 Monday-Thursdays and $18 Friday-Sundays; lunches are even better, but no crab legs), which are the specialty here. With dungeness, snow, and sometimes even king crab available, it’s definitely worth the trip. As soon as the new batch of legs, which are flash-fried and sautéed in a mix of salt, garlic, green onion, and chili flakes, clears the kitchen, hungry diners pop up on their feet from all corners of the restaurant, clamouring for the largest, juiciest pieces. If possible, plan on strategically placing yourself close to the buffet line so you can beat them to the punch. There are also lots of other Chinese dishes like pork tofu, choi sum greens, sweet-sour pork, and crispy won tons, which take on a local flavor with their imitation crab/cream cheese fillings.

Buffet 100. 2 locations: 1050 Ala Moana Blvd. at the Ward Warehouse, 591-8199 (map shown); and 19-150 Kaonohi St. across from the Pearl Ridge S.C., 488-8181. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in center lots. Prices: $$. Map.As the name indicates, there are at least 100 different items arrayed everywhere, which makes it much larger than any of the other Chinese buffets and quite popular. Food is so-so, but prices are great for a buffet.

Chan’s Gourmet Buffet. 3131 N. Nimitz Hwy. near the airport. 833-3366. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map.Another inexpensive Chinese buffet with a few local twists, serving things like kalua pig and chicken long rice alongside kau yuk, lemon chicken, and beef broccoli.

Yakiniku Camellia. 3 locations: 2494 S. Beretania St. (map shown), 944-0449, and 930 McCully st., 951-0511, in McCully/Moiliili; and 98-199 Kamehameha hwy. at the Pearl Kai S.C. in Pearl City, 484-2868. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside both stores. Prices: $$. Map.Yakiniku Camellia is a Korean yakiniku buffet. The buffet line hosts many varieties of Korean meats raw, except for various side dishes, which are then cooked yourself on a table-top grill. The food here is not of the quality standards of better yakiniku and finer Korean restaurants, but it is a buffet with tasty meats and very good prices. It is one of the older, more established Korean restaurants on the island and popular with locals.

Perry’s Smorgy. 2380 Kuhio Ave. in Waikiki. 922-1907. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking on street. Prices: $$. Map. This very simple, very cheap buffet has been a Waikiki mainstay for generations. Don’t come if you are looking for fine-dining or good service, because you’ll get none of either, but if you want fill up quickly for about $11 per head, and even cheaper for lunch or breakfast, you’ll be fine. At that price, you just can’t complain! You’ll find such items as mahi-mahi, round of beef, fried chicken, turkey w/gravy, simple salads, fruits, and desserts.

Country Inn at the Helemano Plantation. 64-1510 Kamehameha Hwy. in Wahiawa. 622-3929. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside facility. Prices: $. Map.Helemano plantation is a facility that houses and helps adults with disabilities, offering an outlet to develop real-life work skills through the buffet restaurant, catering services, bake shop, grocery store, and gift store. The buffet, amazingly, is under $10, and offers mostly Chinese food, but often has other items like spaghetti, teriyaki chicken, and sandwiches. As someone who formerly worked with individuals with disabilities, I can appreciate the cause, and the food really is fine for the price! Stop by before or after visiting the Dole Pineapple facility next door and be sure to mingle with the workers!
 
 
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