nichi etsu japanese restaurant
日悅極尚日式放題 (English name: Nichi Etsu Japanese Restaurant) is new and it's part of the Tack Hsin restaurant chain. Yes, you heard right. The Chinese all you can eat hot pot restaurant has secretly been expanding into the Japanese all you can eat market. First they did Tokuoki Beef Shabu, an all you can eat Japanese shabu shabu. But it was still hot pot. So, they opened Tokuya Yakiniku, Japanese all you can eat grill. But now Nichi Etsu is their latest venture and it's all you can eat Japanese.
I'm a huge fan of Tack Hsin. I think they are value for money. Cheap prices for all you can eat and food is decent enough for me to roll out happy. So, when I saw this was a new all you can eat they are venturing forth, boyfriend and I had to go try it out.
Located in Tsim Sha Tsui East, it's actually right next to Tack Hsin. Like many all you can eat places, they charge you for the time slot you enter. Weekends and public holidays cost a bit more and they appear to have lunch prices. You have two and half hours to pig out. And if you go in a group of four or more, you get a whole fish. We weren't sure what that was, but then we saw people with whole sashimi fish, so I assume that is what they mean.
Apparently, you get a cake if it's your birthday and a roast suckling pig according to how many people are in your group. Roast suckling pig? Yes, people ... I was about to find out this was no ordinary Japanese all you can eat.
Inside it was HUGE. I have never been in an all you can eat Japanese restaurant that is so big in size. They even have this cute area for kids to play.
There was a center area where it's a buffet area that houses salad, cold shelled seafood, appetizers, dessert, soup and drinks. Most are labeled in English and Chinese unless they don't know how to translate it, then it's only in Chinese. They had fruit detox drinks, sake and plum wine. They had shelled seafood. And they had canned drinks that was a fairly good selection. But Hong Kong brands and Korean drinks could be found. But most notably, they had Hoegaarden beer. They also had Haagen Dazs ice cream with a lot of flavors. And if you don't like Haagen Dazs, they also have Movenpick.
The all you can eat menu is in two books. One is for hot cooked items and the other is for raw items. Everything is in English and Chinese. Selection is extensive including some called creative sushi. They even have crab congee as well but we were too full to order that. Though we ordered a lot of things, I'll just note what I thought was worth a mention. We ordered a bunch of sashimi and it appeared in a big bowl with ice and they added some dry ice for a fun effect. But fun aside, the quality of the sashimi was pretty decent. The sashimi was also cut to a thick cut and not thin strips. Surprising was the size of the sweet shrimp. It was huge and the same size as the red shrimp. We ordered some hand rolls. The nori was crisp. Notable mention was the flying fish roe. We had a few grilled sushi items. Notable mention was the grilled short rib with herbs.
I had a grilled lamb chop. It was fantastic. Moist and tender, it was grilled to a medium rare.
The sauteed beef tongue in mushroom sauce was really excellent, too. The beef tongue was moist and tender and packed with flavor.
The clams in spicy wine sauce was yes ... spicy. But the clams were a large size and the meat was fresh and firm. I think most just give you tiny little clams with next to no meat.
Boyfriend ordered a bunch of fried stuff. These were a bit average with some a bit soggy. But the sesame chicken wings were superb. The meat was moist and tender. The coating was flavorful and fried to perfection.
I warn you on the grilled scallop. Yes, these were huge. The scallops were big. But the topping? It was grilled mayonnaise. I guess if you love mayonnaise ... definitely for you. I think it was a bit too much and only ate the scallop part.
Dessert was ok. They had various cakes and puddings. Notable mention to the osmanthus jelly. Back away from the mint cake. It was really minty.
Then while we were enjoying our ice cream, a waiter walked around ringing a bell to announce that roast suckling pig is available. Roast suckling pig? A bunch of people got up and a line formed so we grabbed it, too.
Yes, here you go. Roast suckling pig. And it was hot! Really crispy skin. Thick moist meat. Yes, people ... where someJapanese all you can eat do a live fish fillet demonstration, this place has someone chop up roast suckling pig right before your eyes!
Two and a half hours is more than enough time to eat without feeling rushed. The food was good and lots of choices, Seating was spacious and comfortable. Buffet items were refilled. And what we ordered arrived. No item was missed. And the fun part? You get roast suckling pig. With places like this, why do people keep going to those horrible all you can eat places where it's cramped, where food never arrives or you get poor portions and quality. Service was good as well. Even the lady who was cleaning the washroom chatted with me while I was washing my hands. Yeah ... I'll be back.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Nichi Etsu Japanese Restaurant
Address: 2/F, Peninsula Centre, 67 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Website: http://tackhsin.com.hk
Service Charge: Yes
English Menu: Yes