Forecast for Todai Is Sunny

So many Californians are eating sushi these days, it was inevitable that a chain such as Todai would show up. The only thing that might be surprising is how fast it’s growing.

All the branches serve an enormous buffet featuring dozens of popular Japanese dishes, including sushi. But selection varies by branch. The Huntington Beach Todai, in an area with a large Asian population, serves many dishes the chain doesn’t venture in other neighborhoods, and it’s one impressive spread.

Still, piling up a plate with a bunch of different sushis does feel strange. In Japan--or at most American sushi restaurants--the morsels of rice with toppings are served one after another.

But nobody seems to have any problem with that here. This Todai draws a wide clientele, so chances are you’ll hear a variety of languages at neighboring tables.

What’s the attraction? Probably bang for the buck. Where else can you eat sea eel (unagi), snow crab legs and myriad other fresh seafoods, plus beautiful desserts that include fresh seasonal fruit and terrific pastries, for less than $20 a person?

The Huntington Beach Todai is next to a 14-story office building, so it’s hard to get a table at lunch. You won’t be able to get sashimi, snow crab legs or any of those huge prawns that star on the dinner buffet, but at $10.95 (weekdays), who cares? This is one of the county’s best and freshest lunch bargains.

The place is one huge room with tile-topped tables on both sides of the enormous buffet area. It’s casual dining. A hostess leads you to your table, a waitress takes your drink order and then you’re on your own.

Head for the cold section, which has, among other things, delicious marinated gravlax, fresh crab legs, cold poached salmon, a decent marinated seafood salad (with bay shrimp, baby scallops and quite a bit of celery), whole pickled mushrooms and a variety of Japanese vegetables, two of the best being baby bok choy and spicy marinated white radish.

Then pick up a bowl and try the cold noodles (somen) with hot or cold Japanese broth. There are five or six toppings, such as green onion and chopped hard-boiled eggs. On a hot day, you’ll find them refreshing; they really cool you down.

Now head for the sushi section, where, they tell me, thousands of pieces are processed and eaten every day. The choices are listed on a slat board; the chefs slide slats in or out as availability changes.

I was surprised by how good a lot of the sushi was, considering that it rolls off a mass production line that Mitsubishi might envy. The unagi, served on small mounds of rice wrapped up by nori seaweed, was firm and sweet. Mackerel (saba) came in a razor-thin slices and had a nice marine tang. Best of all, there was akagai, topped with red clam meat that positively glistened with freshness.

Most of the hand rolls were quite good, such as the California roll and a nice spicy tuna roll with a sneaky hot bite. I would avoid most of the rolls that purport to contain crab, though. One of the chefs reluctantly confided that it’s mixed 50-50 with surimi, that imitation crab made from processed fish. But there was a nice sushi of fresh crab with avocado, and I grabbed two before they vanished.

Save room for the hot section, where you can get teriyaki chicken, fried rice, fried noodles and a variety of baked and sauteed seafoods. I like the fried rice, laden with bits of egg, chicken and pork, especially when it’s fresh from the kitchen. The tempura doesn’t stand up to this kind of industrial service; the batter on the fish and vegetables loses its light, crisp texture under the buffet’s heat lamp and becomes heavy.

I’d call the deep-fried Chilean eel just OK--it doesn’t have the delicate, sweet flavor of the unagi at the sushi bar. The teriyaki beef (a dish you don’t find in Japan) is quite tender, though a bit on the sweet side. For the adventurous, there is oden, a soy-flavored soup brimming with tofu, vegetables and colorful geometrically shaped fish cakes.

Todai doesn’t lack for sweets, so if your resolve is weak, watch out. I loved the tiny apple pie--about the size of a silver dollar--made from puff pastry, and the chunks of frozen banana enrobed in chocolate, and the bite-sized cream puffs filled with chocolate whipped cream.

There are also some less familiar sweet dishes. Coffee zeri is strange, squiggly rectangles of coffee-flavored gelatin in a bath of sweetened condensed milk. Even more Japanese is azuki: sweet red beans in syrup, served with pingpong-sized balls of sticky rice.

Me, I’m sticking to apple pie, but Todai clearly has something for everybody.

Todai is moderately priced. Buffet lunch: $10.95 Monday-Friday, $12.95 Saturday-Sunday. Buffet dinner: $18.95 Monday-Thursday, $19.95 Friday-Sunday.

BE THERE

Todai, 17041 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach. (714) 375-0390. Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily; dinner 5:30-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5:30-9:30 p.m. Friday, 5-9:30 p.m. Saturday, 5-9 p.m. Sunday. American Express, MasterCard and Visa.