I’m guessing that by now every sushi lover in the area has heard about Nikko’s all-you-can-eat buffet, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a good portion of that group has tried it out. After all, while all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants aren’t a particularly novel concept, Nikko does stand as the genre’s first foray into the New York Capitol Region.
I’ve been to Nikko (commonly misstated as Nikko’s) twice now – once shortly after it opened on a dead weeknight, and again a month later on an extremely busy weeknight. My feelings were similar each time and the views expressed here are a conglomeration of those two experiences. For those that haven’t been, I’ll let you know what to expect.
The nice glass mural which greets you upon entry to Nikko
Nikko is basically one big room, with a 4-sided buffet island in the middle and seating to either side of it … okay, that’s somewhat of an oversimplification and Nikko does have the appearance of a respectable restaurant, but that’s getting off the point. At any given time, anywhere from one to four chefs will be tending to the buffet from a kitchen / prep area in the middle of the Buffet Island. One side is the “raw” side – oysters and clams, little bowls with small dollops of tobiko (and, one time I was there, uni), and a few boats of sashimi. The second side is the “sushi” side, which has a selection of maki and a healthy selection of nigiri, as well as dumplings and a small section of cooked items at one end. The third side is the dessert section, and the fourth is cooked dishes (mostly seafood-based) and fruit. Separated from the island is a little table for soup. All in all, raw fish in its various forms occupies roughly 30% of the sizable center island.
The much-hyped sushi and seafood buffet at Nikko
As is protocol here, I’m only going to be reviewing things more or less directly related to raw fish. They do have a fair variety of it. In my ventures there, they had 3 different types of sashimi (both visits it was the same – Tuna, Salmon, and Mackerel), 3 different tobikos, uni, about 7 different maki rolls (mostly the same both times), and about 6 different types of nigiri (again, both times it was the same – Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail, Squid, Mackerel, and Red Snapper). I may have accidentally left out a nigiri. The quality though…
The first time I showed up, the Tuna was on the verge of turning brown. In general, both times I was there, the sashimi looked like someone unsuccessfully tried to force it through a paper shredder. It is also cut very thin, although that doesn’t particularly matter since you can take as much as you want. As might be expected, the nigiri sometimes has a bit too much rice and a bit too little fish – not surprising for an AYCE place, and I can understand why they skimp a little, but they still skimp a little and it shows. The maki rolls are also sliced thin (again, not really mattering since you can help yourself to as much as you like) and can tend to be a little heavy on the fillers – notable is the addition of cream cheese to multiple rolls, which is just short of heresy in my book especially since the portions of it are often too large. The mackerel was somewhat fishy and the squid was a little tough, rubbery, and flavorless.
Not to say that it’s all bad. The uni was, surprisingly to me, of respectable quality. The salmon there was on par with most actual restaurants and they weren’t afraid to be somewhat liberal with it. Some of the rolls are pretty good – there was a pink lady roll one of my two times there that had three different types of fish with solid portions of each, no rice, and pink rice paper wrapping. Unfortunately the good comes less often than the good, but it can be found.
(for those who may be interested in the rest of the food served at the buffet, let’s just say that to my taste it more or less matches the sushi – it’s bad more often than it’s good, but you can find a few good things. Note that this does NOT apply to the hibachi which I have admittedly not tried. If you are interested in the Hibachi, you can get a plate of hibachi along with the buffet for just an extra $5. Considering that they have the legendary hibachi master Dannio working there, that’s not a bad deal in the slightest. Just be sure to request him.)
La pièce maîtresse
To put this all in perspective, an all-you-can-eat sushi dinner at Nikko does cost a paltry $22 (+ tax and tip). That’s not much at all, especially if you can eat as much as I can and you consider that, however mediocre it may be, you’re still dining on sushi. While the price is right, the food just isn’t, and if you’re like me and you’re more about quality than quantity, or just don’t mind spending more on food that’s genuinely good, I’m afraid to say that there’s not a whole lot of reasons to go more than once. I hate to say it, because I love the concept, but I won’t be rushing to go back. On the other hand, if you’re all about quantity, and you just want to stuff you face with sushi, then this is certainly the place to knock yourself out with gluttony.
Rating: 2.0 / 5
/CH
Nikko All-You-Can-Eat Sushi and Seafood Buffet
1893 Central Ave., Albany, NY, 12205
Tel: (518) 869-9888
No website
Eat-In only
Hours:
Mon – Sun: 11am – 10pm
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