Sushi en Masse

Think about the spare, artistically conceived Japanese table. Now think about the phrase “sushi buffet.”

Something about it strikes me as very peculiar. In my mind, good sushi is something like edible jewelry. The idea of just piling up a tray with sushi is anathema.

But a fast-growing chain of Japanese restaurants named Todai begs to differ and is doing so very successfully. The branch located in Studio City packs in the diners every night.

So what’s the attraction? I’m guessing it’s simply value, otherwise known as bang for the buck. Where else can you get unagi (sea eel) sushi, snow crab legs, a credible (if adulterated) version of lobster Thermidor, beautiful desserts that include French pastries cut into squares the size of petits fours and fresh seasonal fruit, all for under $20 per person? This is not your average buffet any more than it’s your average Japanese restaurant.

The Studio City Todai, upstairs in a midsize strip mall, is just huge. The L-shaped dining room takes up most of the mall’s second floor. The front of the restaurant is a tile facade in sea blue and moss green. Inside, it’s a cafeteria where you sit at wooden tables with inlaid stone tops.

A large part of the restaurant is taken up with the massive buffet. I suggest the following plan of attack:

First, get a plate and head for the cold section, which features, among other things, delicious marinated gravlax; fresh crab legs; a decent marinated seafood salad made with bay shrimp, baby scallops and quite a bit of celery; crisp green asparagus spears and a nice remoulade sauce; whole pickled mushrooms; and a wide variety of Japanese vegetables.

Then pick up a new plate and head for the sushi section, where literally thousands of pieces are served every day.

I was quite surprised by how good much of the sushi tasted, considering that it rolls off a mass production line that would make even Mitsubishi proud. The unagi was served on small mounds of rice wrapped in nori seaweed, and the eel was firm and sweet. Mackerel (saba) came in a razor-thin slices and had a nice marine tang.

Most of the hand rolls were also good, such as the California roll and a nice spicy tuna roll with a sneaky hot bite. I would avoid anything that purports to be crab, though. One of the chefs reluctantly confided that the crab is mixed 50-50 with surimi, that imitation crab meat made from processed fish dyed an other-worldly shade of red-orange.

Next there is the hot section, where you can feast on such dishes as teriyaki chicken, fried rice, fried noodles and a variety of baked and sauteed seafoods. Yes, there is tempura, but the fish and vegetable fritters don’t hold their light, crisp texture very well under the buffet table heat lamp.

Baked sea bass, coated with a light crumb crust, was perfectly flaky and moist. As to that lobster Thermidor, baked in a real lobster shell, it certainly looked the part. But what lobster meat there was had been mixed with lots of surimi and mayonnaise, so it emphatically did not have much lobster taste.

The management expects you to follow its rules, and signs are posted throughout the restaurant so that you won’t forget them. One sign you’d never see in Japan asks patrons not to pick the fish off the sushi and discard the rice. In Japan, the rice is an important element; people savor the flavor of rice by itself.

BE THERE

Todai, 11239 Ventura Blvd. Studio City. Lunch Monday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Monday-Thursday 6-9:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday 5:30-10 p.m., Sunday 5-9 p.m. Parking in lot. Beer and wine only. American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Buffet $11.95 for lunch, $19.95 for dinner. (818) 762-8311.