All-you-can-eat ('tabehoudai') buffets offer a wide variety of food from sushi to desserts. While the buffet style is prevalent in other countries as well, it is one of Japan's characteristics that restaurants will offer an unlimited number of dishes in one category.
Many foreign visitors to Japan choose all-you-can-eat as one of the things they want to experience during their trip to Japan. In this issue, we asked several foreigners who love Japan what culture shock they experienced when visiting these restaurants in Japan (each comment is the opinion of the respondent).
Amazing, endless food in the same category!
Here are the most common opinions among those interviewed this time. In Japan, people often eat the same category of food at specialty restaurants, such as sushi at a sushi spot and yakiniku at a yakiniku restaurant, but they were surprised by this style.
"All-you-can-eat in Japan is pretty special. I was surprised at first by the all-you-can-eat style, such as all-you-can-eat nabe or all-you-can-eat yakiniku, where you fill up on the same kind of food." (Slovakian/30s/Female)
"I've loved motsu (offal) since coming to Japan, and when I discovered all-you-can-eat motsu nabe, I thought I was in paradise." (American/30s/Male)
In recent years, "all-you-can-eat" has become popular, and like in Japan, you can find buffets and similar styles in many countries. However, many foreigners who came to Japan and experienced all-you-can-eat really raved about the quality of food at these restaurants.
All-You-Can-Eat A5 Wagyu! We Gorged Ourselves at Ginza's Meat-Lovers Paradise
Ramen at All-You-Can-Eat Sushi! Fun with a wide variety of menu items
While there are not many all-you-can-eat high-end sushi restaurants, many all-you-can-eat family-oriented conveyor-belt sushi restaurants offer a wide variety of non-sushi menu items. Our foreign respondents were surprised to find that there are many side dishes offered at these restaurants, like noodles, fried foods, and sweets, just as if they were in a family restaurant.
"When I tried the all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant because I wanted to eat a lot of sushi, I was surprised to find ramen, udon, fried food, and even sweets." (Dutch/40s/Male)
"I was surprised to see so many sweets. We want sushi, but there are only a limited number of sushi items that children can eat, so it's nice to have a lot of side dishes." (Chinese/30s/Female)
I'm all for Japanese delicacies while traveling! However, I think there are few foreigners who don't like raw fish. Some restaurants that offer all-you-can-eat sushi also …
