Kitsho: Eat-All-You-Can Japanese Buffet at Traders Hotel

Earlier this year, I got to visit Kitsho Restaurant and Sake Bar at the Traders Hotel for a leisurely weekday lunch. And after almost five months, I got to step foot into its dining space once again, but for a gastronomic eat-all-you-can Japanese buffet this time.

Kitsho Restaurant and Sake Bar doesn't regularly offer eat-all-you-can as it specializes in serving traditional Japanese dishes a la carte. However, the restaurant started offering lunch buffet dining available every Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays for P748++. The price for the eat-all-you-can Japanese buffet isn't really steep, considering this is hotel dining, but I got luckier to have spotted a voucher over at Metrodeal selling for P599, service charge and VAT-inclusive, and with free unlimited iced tea or chilled juices.

Undisclosed Note

When I called up to reserve a table for two, I was told that they have a time frame system for voucher holders. There are fixed seating times with an hour and thirty minutes each, and since most of the slots were already filled, we were placed on the 11AM to 12:30PM time slot which was their first seating. (Wish they've mentioned this on the deal though.)

The Food

The date and I arrived at Kitsho a few minutes before 12PM because of some unfortunate events. Luckily, the attendant told us that we can have a 15-minute extension so we can enjoy our stay. And so folks, this is why I don't have photos of our plates. We grabbed almost every dish on the buffet spread and immediately gobbled them down.

However, before leaving the restaurant, I made sure to snap some shots to share with you Kitsho Restaurant and Sake Bar's eat-all-you-can Japanese buffet offerings.

For some meal starters, they had a Vegetable Salad with three kinds of dressings, a Potato Salad and a Horenso no Gomae (Spinach in Miso-Sesame Sauce) which tasted absolutely delicious that even the meat-loving and vegetable-hating beau loved it.

There were also slices of sashimis, Tamago (Egg), Maguro (Tuna), Shake (Salmon), Ika (Cuttlefish), and even Uni (Sea Urchin). Out of all the Japanese buffet offerings in Kitsho, these freshly-prepped pieces of beauty are my favorites. And now that I think about it, I still can't believe that I've consumed over 20 pieces of sashimi in one seating.

Of course, if there's sashimi, there are also pieces of nigiri sushi. In this case, they were the Maguro Sushi (Tuna Sushi) and the Saba Sushi (Mackerel Sushi) both of which tasted fresh and looked picture-perfect. And while I appreciate these beautiful hand-formed sushi, I didn't get as much of these as I did with the sashimi.

Aside from nigiri sushi, there were also some rolled sushi, the ever-famous and buffet-staple California Maki, and then some Kappa Maki (Cucumber Roll) and Mango Maki. While I generally love sushi, I didn't get any among these three since they looked quite ordinary and dull compared to the other buffet offerings.

For heartier items, there's the freshly-cooked U.S. Beef Sukiyaki which was sweet, savory and simply lovely. Then there are also some hot dishes such as the Tempura Moriawase (Mixed Tempura), Tori Kara-age (Japanese Fried Chicken) and Japanese Curry which can go well with Crispy Noodles, Chahan (Fried Rice) or plain rice.

For the meal ender, I only saw this tray of fresh fruit slices. There was another tray, but it was empty so I can't really tell what that was. It also didn't help that the dessert selections don't have labels. Let's just assume that it was another plateful of fruit slices.

Aside from these dishes, the lunch buffet offering at Kitsho Restaurant and Sake Bar is also inclusive of a complimentary bowl of Miso Soup which was perfect to begin the meal with. Beverage selection during our visit was either Iced Tea or Pineapple Juice, but I think you can opt for hot tea as well like we did.

THE VERDICT

Although the selection for Kitsho's eat-all-you-can buffet may seem limited, I found the number of dishes sufficient as everything we had, from the sashimi, sukiyaki and even to the other hot items like the tempura and kara-age, was of great quality. Service and ambiance were also excellent as expected from a hotel restaurant. So overall, we were pretty happy with our dining experience. I guess my only qualm was they didn't mention on Metrodeal that they'll be implementing a time frame system for voucher holders. Other than that, I'm sure Japanese food lovers can feast on Kitsho's Japanese buffet.

If you're not too fond of sashimi, maybe you can opt to try Kitsho's a la carte dishes.

Taste - 4.5/5
Ambiance - 4.5/5
Service - 4/5
Deal Price - 4/5
Original Price - 3.5/5
Overall Value - 4/5
(Note: Overall Value rating is for the discounted voucher amount we paid.)

Buffet Rates:
Voucher Amount - P599
Saturday, Sunday and Holiday Lunch - P748++


Kitsho Restaurant and Sake Bar, Traders Hotel Manila
Traders Hotel, 3001 Roxas Blvd.,
Pasay City, Metro Manila
Philippines
(02) 523-7011 loc. 2918
Official Website
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