For the true sushi lover, I'm sure the idea of "all-you-can-eat discount sushi" sends chills up and down their spine. I number myself in that crowd (minus the chills) so I was interested in trying Oishi, especially since they claimed to have Thai food and other dishes on the menu as well.
It seemed to me that Oishi had three problems:
I don't have anything against Oishi: I just don't feel that I can recommend that you go eat average sushi, even if you can get all that you want. If that's your cup of tea, though, the issue is between you and your diet.
Sushi seems to be among the items least suited to buffet treatment. Usually when an Asian restaurant offers sushi as part of its dinner buffet, you get some malformed California rolls tossed onto a tray at the end of the line as an afterthought (such is the case with both Buffet Palace and China Star. However imperfectly, Oishi seems to aim for higher things.
But there's a lot more on the buffet than sushi. For example, there are some rather good steamed crab legs (alas, paired with what seemed to be inferior drawn butter), though do avoid the fried crab clusters (and the Salmon terriyaki, which only makes sense, since you know they're going to use the good salmon for the sushi). Also good were the lobster balls, the dumplings, some nice boiled shrimp, and several items I forgot to remember in my pass through the buffet line.
And the sushi itself? Actually, pretty reasonable. It wasn't up there with truly first rate sushi, but it was much better, and had more variety, than your average sushi buffet offerings They had credible salmon, tuna, and unagi (among others), and some plentiful supplies of quite potent wasabi. Service was also very good, with dirty trays swept away promptly.
Drawbacks: The soft serve ice cream machine sputtered and died while we were there, and the salad bar just seemed sad. There seemed to be the traditional buffet "nickel and dime you to death" approach, with Andrew "Must Hydrate!" Wimsatt getting charged for his lemonade refill (though he did say it was very good). And lets face it: the sushi isn't as good as you would get at Mikado or Umi.
On the other hand, at some $20 a head, we ended up paying a lot less than we would at a sushi place as well. In terms of quality (if not quite in variety of dishes), I think Oishi does a better job in the Asian buffet department than China Star does, albeit you do pay somewhat more. And it was pleasantly uncrowded when we went. Worth a try.
A surprisingly good non-chain steakhouse, that serves a huge appetizer tray (probably enough to feed five or six people who are ordering dinner, which makes it one of the best bargains in town), quite reasonable steaks and prime rib, good warm bread, and just okay salads. This might be a place to try if you want steak but are tired of Outback or Texas Land and Cattle.
JC's was a shocking dining experience. The shock was that it was so good.
After all, JC's suffered from a number bad signs right from the start. First of all, this building used to house Bombay Bicycle Club, which sucked. Not only is it situated between no less than three chain motels, but is along the same general strip of I-35 upon which Baby Acapulco's is exploring brave new frontiers in TexMex suckage. And it has a logo which all but screams "chain restaurant blandness."
However, hearty souls faring on despite these ill omens will discover a steakhouse that bests the two chain offerings in the area, Outback and the local Texas Land & Cattle Company (though, to be fair, I haven't visited the I-35 TL&CC in a few years, and the other locations seem to have improved quite a bit over the last couple of years), and for my money, actually does a better job than Austin Land and Cattle Company and Sullivan's.
Things started out right with us being seated quickly and having our drink orders taken (and delivered) in short order. Our waiter returned as we were ready to order appetizers--bearing a another glass of Diet Dr Pepper to supplement my not-quite-drained one. Note to all aspiring restauranteurs and waiters: Anticipating your customer's needs is one of the hallmarks of great service. Learn from this example.
We started out with the JC's Appetizer Platter. Frankly, we were somewhat skeptical that there would be $22.95 worth of appetizers on the plate. Shockingly, there was; it was a huge spread of food, including some excellent prime rib quesadillas, very tasty bacon-wrapped shrimp, a reasonably generous portion of hot-wings, potato skins considerably tastier than we've had in recent memory, merely adequate nachos (perhaps because we asked them to leave the black beans off), and a generous portion of fried mushrooms. Also, while the cup of duck and sausage gumbo I had on the side was small, it was also rich, zesty, and filled with meat; all in all, the best I've had since our last trip to Yoli's Jambalaya. And the rolls passed the Dwight test with flying colors; they were quite good and served warm (though white enough that they might have profitably browned for another minute or two). The prime rib I had was very tasty. The fries were merely adequate, but I was full enough that I couldn't have finished them if I had wanted to.
As for weaknesses, there were damned few. The salads were unimaginative, and their arrival saw the only lapse in the otherwise exemplary service: they forgot to take the tomatoes off Chuck's salad. Though very flavorful, the bite I had of Andrew's steak seemed to be just short of USDA Prime.
Despite it's manifest virtues, I would still have to rank JC's slightly lower than Ruth's Chris or Fleming's. (I should note that JC's offers dinners other than red meat (Chuck got chicken alfredo), but that does seem their speciality.) However, its also about $20 cheaper per person, and I'm not sure there's $20 worth of difference between them. Upsize the steaks, move to USDA Prime, spiff up the bathrooms, put a little imaginations into the salads, and widen the dessert choice, and BAM! JC's would be far and away the place to beat, Frankly, they're damn pretty close now. (And if they offered some cheese fries, we might never go back to Outback again.) So far, along with Smitty's, JC's is the most pleasant SDC dining discovery of the year.
Note: While I've also seen them referred to as "JC's Steakhouse" (which is also more accurate, IMHO), I'm going with the name on their website.
Okay TexMex, especially if you go for one of the larger platters that you can split three or four ways. Generally, the stuff that's heavy on meat (like fajitas or grilled quail) is pretty good: the other stuff is disposable. Not really a place I'm in the mood to go to a lot, since it seems to work best with shared entrees.
Much like our last visit, I like it. Though the Fiesta and Loco platters (IIRC) have risen in price, there are still a pretty reasonable deal for a lot of food, though I did find their chicken fajitas a good deal less interesting than the beef. As far as the choice between this and Antonio's, I would say it's a tossup depending on your tolerance for crowds (Pappasito's tends to be packed), and whether you want a a group platter of meat (Pappasito's), or a hearty combination plate (Antonio's).
No conspiracy. Move along, nothing to see here. These are not the conspirators you're looking for.
See the logs for July of 2003.