Chiso Zanmai

I was invited for a pig-out evening by the 8March Girls (三八妇女）at Chizo Zanmai and I'm glad I made it there... The location of the entrance is pretty tricky to find, though there are 2 entrances, it is not obvious yet if you know where it is, its convenient from the train stations or Bus Stop and to the restrooms. The main entrance is situated outside the building just next to CHILLIs, and pretty near to the busstop however it is at the direction towards the river bank. There you find a good display of all the buffet items available, prices and opening hours... take the escalator to the second level and a glass double door meets you with a huge array of buffet favourites.... The other entrance is via the corridor to the restroom on level 2... You just have to press on past the rest room and you will find a side entrance to the left.

As you enter you will see a cashier to the left, you are to pay first before you eat... which is good because that way, they cannot charge you for wastage.. Ooopss.... but with the food so delicious, I don't think we would waste any... The beauty of going for a buffet is to be able to savour the delicious display before your eyes, taste various types of food and gorge yourself silly with the ones you like best... Always take for yourself only as your friends wants to take the dishes they like too and not have to try to finish the food you take that they don't like.

Its true... they do have more than 100 items though i find the selection for the sashimi and sushi lacking, however the other stuffs are great. I also find many unique dishes available like Hina-Chirashi Sushi which is salmon sashimi with other fresh ingredients on a square bowl of sushi rice. The portion is not big and its lovely to look at and extremely yummy.. I've had 2 of these. The Radish and Oyster Hot pot is a mix of thick musky soup with many oysters in a great pot. You could pick up a smaller pot with the heater candle at the bottom and fill it up with the items you like for the huge pot. They also have interesting stuffs like the crab tofu which taste so crabby and matcha tofu which have a unque tea taste which i couldn't really put a finger to it. The tempura counter is also filled with different types of deep fried stuffs like the regular prawn, chicken, squid and also tako balls, seafood pancakes and some really interesting japanese fried noodles.

The Salmon counter is interesting too with various type of salmon dishes like raw, smoked, sliced and mixed into a salad... They have also traditional stir fried japanese dishes like braised pork, gyoza, chawamushi, miso soup.... However I was so intense on the salad, salmon & tempura counter.. I hadn't had much of the stir-fry counter... All I had was some gyoza and Miso soup.. which i find tasty and gyoza yummy... the gyoza filling is pretty crabby/prawny and substantial.

I love the varieties of desserts available... delectable to the eye and memorable to taste... As such, I left half my tummy for this.... I've tried almost 80% of all the dessert available.

Macha Jelly in a cup: Yummy and green tea-ie.. with droplets of red beans to sweeten the deal.

Coffee Jelly in a cup: Extremely bitter... but unique

Panna Cotta (Soya): LOVE IT... milky, creamy, tasty and have a great texture

Green Tea Tiramisu: Creamy, balanced, good sweetness and could taste the main flavours.

Strawberry roll: Dry and Sloppish... Normal cake

Chocolate Cake: Creamy and normal

Self-served vanilla ice-cream - Good range of toppings available.. ice cream is of a good sweetness and strong vanilla scent. Good creamy texture and easy to dispense.

The price is pretty reasonable for weekday dinner.. It cost me less than $36 per pax... for this huge array of buffet spread including free-flow drinks (6 types of juices, soft drinks, hot green tea and 5 selection on the coffee machine). They have many tables and seats available, love the huge glass windows where we can see the traffic below, high ceiling makes it airy and comfortable for chit-chat and some promotions for students and senior citizens above 60....

Its a great place and very worth the amount spent for a better than normal food quality and ambiance with a large spread of dishes in a scenic location... This is one of the few buffet places that after one visit, I will want to go again shortly.... Great experience :)