Tokyo Seafood Buffet is Ichiban!

Tokyo Seafood Buffet Hibachi Grill & Sushi
Security Square Mall
6901 #B Security Blvd.
Windsor Mill, MD 21244
(410) 277-8822

There's a new kid in town as far as all-you-can-eat buffets go: Tokyo Seafood Buffet at Security Mall. My omnivorous girlfriend Amy Linthicum and I checked it out last Friday on our way back from Catonsville's Trax on Wax record store - where Amy once again scored some primo vinyl discoveries (three XTC 12-inch EPs that she, the XTC Completist, had never seen, plus an XTC B-sides compilation) and got a CD burn of Paul McCartney's younger brother Mike McGear's out-of-print McGear LP (an LP that pleased 10cc Completist Amy to no end as it was recorded at 10cc's Strawberry Studios and features backing vocals by Lol and Creme; Amy the Beatles Completist was also pleased by the Macca connection, as Sir Paul wrote and produced the record with musical backing by Wings!).


McGear (1974)

But I digress...Exhausted by literally thumbing through every record bin at Trax on Wax, we plunked down our $8.49 (not as cheap at Hibachi Grill's $6.99 buffet price, but cheaper than Ruby's on Joppa Road) and partook of the plethora of pan-Asian and seafood delicacies on hand in this huge space that I think formerly housed Teppanyaki Grill & Seafood Buffet. I can now report that this is our favorite new Asian buffet! I limited myself strictly to seafood, while Amy's "I am curious carnivorous" nature insured that she added the transcendent delight that was the Korean-style beef ribs as well.


"The beef ribs are to DIE for!" says Amy in between chomps

Everything was grand, with the worth-making-the-trip-solely-for-this standouts being: the cooked mussels in black bean sauce, coconut shrimp, garlic spinach, ribs, and the cilantro and pork dumplings. And I almost forget the tasty kimchi! (There's a decidely Korean bent to the selections on hand here, despite the "Tokyo" in the restaurant's name; never be fooled by the alleged national origins of Baltimore's Asian restaurants, I've learned, especially after years of frequenting Towson's dearly missed Korean eatery "Tokyo Express," whose owner was the former chef at Joung Kak down on 20th Street. Most eateries around town are run by Koreans but often employ Japanese or Chinese names because their cuisine is more familiar to or popular with local non-Asian yokels.)


Tokyo Seafood Buffet's impressive external edifice looks like a North Korean Government Building


Call me easy, but I feel welcome at Tokyo Seafood Buffet!


Inside we saw many Asians queuing up - always a good sign!


All this - for me???


All Asian buffets have a surplus of cute waitresses (who are not included in buffet cover price)


My half-eaten plate: Dim sum, garlic spinach, stringbeans, mussels in black bean sauce and coconut shrimp. Who could ask for anything more?


"I swear this is not my third trip back to the buffet!" lies Amy


"OK, it's my fifth plate - but now I'm taking SMALL portions" admits Amy

Besides the usual soup, salad bar and ice cream buffet selections, Tokyo also boasts an open kitchen which includes a sushi bar and a hibachi (or is it teppanyaki?) grill where you can watch the chefs prepare your Korean BBQ, yakitori beef and chicken, Peking Duck, soups, prime rib, oyster, salmon and other delicacies. We plan to go back to try EVERYTHING because, well, Amy is also an Asian Buffet Completist!