Todai- Fairfax, VA

Hi everyone! My close family friends and I went out to a sushi buffet in Fairfax called Todai. It's located in Fair Oaks Mall near the Macy's. It's a really big and nice buffet that is worth the price. There is a free parking garage right in front of the restaurant. The closest metro stop would be Vienna on the orange line.

The outside of the place is so nice and inviting! We were one of the 1st people there, which is why it doesn't look so crowded.

Here is a pic of the interior. There are a lot of tables, and even a small area in the rear in case the front gets too packed. I liked how bright and open the place feels even though it can get crowded. They actually take reservations so feel free to do so for your large group outing.

Unfortunately I was told I couldn't take pictures while in line, so these are from my table. We sat right next to the sushi (yes!).

Cost per adult for dinner: $26.95 (Mon-Thurs) and $28.95 (Fri-Sun). It's pretty expensive for a buffet, however sushi can cost a lot on its own, and there you can eat all you want. The quality and selection of sushi is superb. Over 40 types, including rolls, sashimi, sushi pieces, raw, vegetarian, and cooked. They also have over 15 different hot entrees, huge salad bar and a wide variety of desserts.

All the stations behind this lady is the rest of the hot food that I couldn't take pics of.

Onto my plate! Doesn't everything look so fresh? They had snow crabs legs and raw oysters near the salad bar. 

Oysters were awesome, but the snow crab legs were ok. I think because they were on ice the expirience wasn't what I expected. I'm used to eating hot or room temperature crabs, so it was an issue of freshness or texture. 

I enjoyed the wide variety of sushi offered. Some of them were wrapped in thin slices of cucumber, others had crazy herbs on them, baked with meat, etc. There are descriptions for every type of sushi, so that was helpful.

This was my 2nd plate of the night. I tried more of their sushi, but I really didn't get to try all of them because that would be way to much for me to eat. I think that'd be a cool idea though to eat one of every type =)

I don't remember the name of this item, but I didn't like it at all! It's really pretty though. I appreciated the food presentation at Todai because it makes you want to try everything.

The big seller of the dinner buffet is the lobster and shrimp. Rotating every 30 minutes, either the lobster or shrimp gets served in the hot food section. Only a certain number of lobsters or shrimp are handed to the customers per cycle. They only give one per customer, so get in line. They're both cooked with some sort of white sauce, which makes the seafood a bit sweet. I liked it, the bf didn't care for it and gave me his. 

This was the bf's plate from the hot food section.  I didn't want to fill myself up with non-seafood items. They have Korean BBQ, Chinese dishes, cooked seafood, etc. He said all of the dishes tasted really good. 

There's always food for dessert in my book, so I filled up a whole plate from their large selection. They had different types of ice cream, soooo many (like over 20) tiny little cakes and pastries like tiramisu and cream puffs.

What's also nice is the crepe station. There's a lady that will make you one on the spot. Mine was banana-filled and I poured chocolate syrup on myself. Both the green tea and mango ice cream were really good.

I thought this was the best buffet I've been too in the area. The quality is very high, food  presentation is good, and everything tasted great. It is a more expensive buffet, but if you can eat a lot then its worth it.
There's a promotion where if you dine-in on your birthday, you will receive a free voucher to come back and eat for free.
I don't believe they do the lobster/shrimp thing during lunch, which is why its more $ to eat during dinner.
Also at many other buffets you pay per person as you walk through the door, but here you are billed per table after your meal is done.

Fair Oaks Shopping Center
11717L Fair Oaks Mall
Fairfax, VA 22033
703-273-0120
Website

Lunch 11:30am - 2:30pm (Daily)
Dinner 5:30pm - 9:00pm ( Mon-Thurs)
5:30pm - 10:00pm (Fri-Sat)
5:00pm - 9:00pm (Sun)

India Grill - Rockville, MD

A few weeks ago the bf and I were bored at home and decided to go out somewhere for dinner. Since the economy has been kinda rough on our pockets we decided to try somewhere affordable. We received a local magazine with coupons for restaurants, dry cleaners, etc, and decided to get Indian food since it had been so long.

India Grill is located in Richie Center off Rockville Pike. The closest metro stop would be Rockville on the red line. Since it is in a shopping center there is ample parking, however there are many other restaurants there, so parking can become a bit difficult around dinner time. There's glass surrounding 2 of the 4 walls, so it has a nice open feel. You can see the mini-white fence on the right side, which is an ourdoor patio for dining during nice weather.

What I thought was cool was that there was a glass window into the kitchen so you could see people cooking. Personally I like watching people cook, which is why I can watch food network all day long and not get bored.

This is the dining area which was very packed during dinner time. You are seeing all of the tables in the restaurant, so it is a cozy place. Random, but while we were there a small group of Christmas Carollers came in to sing, which is why there are people standing up in my photo.

When I first walked into the restaurant the aroma of the food was heavenly. If a place smells good there's a very low chance that the food will be horrible.

India Grill offers a regular menu as well as a dinner buffet. We originally were going to order off the menu, but decided on the buffet for the variety and cost. We both paid $11.99 for buffet, but if you were to only get the vegetarian dishes it would be $9.99.

The buffet had around 15 different items. This being my first buffet post, I realize that it's not easy writing about every single item because that'd take forever! So I'm going to post all of the pictures I took, but will comment on those dishes that I found most memorable.

The buffet was very clean, restocked contantly, and smelled great.

Sorry my camera was making the food blurry! It didn't know where to focus, but I figured its better to be able to read the description and remember the color of the dish because that's how I kept track of what I was eating.

The potatoes were very tender in the sauce, and the tomato based curry had gret flavor.

This was another favorite of mine. The broccoli wasn't overcooked, and the sauce was just yummy.

I enjoyed trying the dishes with both the rice and Naan, and really they both taste great. At some Indian restaurants I'm not a huge fan of their rice so I eat everything with their Naan, but I didn't have a problem at this restaurant.

One of the few meat items on the buffet.

The Mint Coriander sauce was so good. It had a nice tangy and fresh taste. I liked to put it on everything.

Onto the dessert type dishes! The rice pudding was good and sweet.

The Gulab Jamun were REALLY good. They were basically donuts in a honey-tasting syrup.

I was so full my dessert plate is tiny! So sad...

Mmmmm...

Here's what the tandoori chicked looked like. I didn't get a chance or try any, but my bf said it was a bit dry.

The bf's full plate! He likes to make the most out of a buffet.

I on the other hand can't eat that much, but I do like to taste a lot of things.

I don't know why I put the Gulab Jamun on my plate but I wanted to try it ASAP. As you can tell, I put the Mint and Coriander sauce on everything.

The restaurant was kind enough to give us some 'Saag Paneer' which is cubes of homemade cheese cooked with spinach, spices and herbs. I loved it. The spinach was very mild for those who don't like that kind of flavor, and the cheese complimented the dish with it's texture and mild flavor as well. The spices was what gave the dish great flavor.

I had a great expirience at India Grill. I noticed that the place has a lot of regulars because the manager was speaking to everyone like he had known them for years. It was a pleasure to meet the manager Mr. Luis Gomez, and if you all have been following my blog, you know that good service is a MUST in my book.

The food was flavorful and afforable, and there was much variety. I'd recommend this place for a casual night out in a cozy room that smells wonderful.

Here is the monthly magazine I found India Grill in.

We were going to use one of the coupons but decided on the buffet at the last minute and it can't be used on any buffets.

785 Rockville Pike, Suite K
Rockville, MD 20852
301-279-7700

Sunday thru Thursday:
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Friday and Saturday:
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Website