Location: 4536 Browns Hill Road, Squirrel Hill. 412-421-1422
Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Prices: Lunch: $9; dinner: $16; children half price
Fare: Chinese and Japanese buffet
Atmosphere: Noisy and bustling
Liquor: BYOB
No two words in the English language strike more dread in the heart of a foodie than “steam table.” That, among other reasons, is why we have always tended to avoid those Chinese buffets that raise their red lanterns (or neon signs, as the case may be) over seemingly every well-traveled suburban artery. The only thing worse than indifferently prepared, MSG-laden, Americanized Chinese food is that same food kept over a steam table for hours on end. At least, that’s how we see it.
But when we passed Hokkaido Seafood Buffet on Browns Hill Road, en route to the Homestead High Level Bridge, we made a mental note to check it out. The Japanese part of its name suggested a different twist on the same old stir-fries, while the word “seafood” seemed to promise a specialty, or at last something more special than warmed-over lo mein.
Not that lo mein isn’t on offer. It is, along with an array of the standard Chinese-American dishes. The Chinese section is one among many — soups, salads, dumplings, hibachi, carving station, sushi, desserts and more — that line the buffet along the periphery of Hokkaido, whose large interior is closely packed with tables — and diners.
With no carpet on the floor to absorb the noise, the restaurant rings with the din of tableware and conversation. People are constantly flowing to and from the buffet while an army of servers bustles after them, clearing plates as they are used, giving Hokkaido the perpetual-motion ambience of an airport. In a strange way, it could be the most intimate restaurant in Pittsburgh: You could romance your paramour or lay plans for a heist, and no one could possibly overhear.
From the bounty of Hokkaido’s buffet, we sampled liberally. Our first happy surprise was that the three Chinese dishes we tried — pepper beef, shredded pork and salty green beans — were fresh-tasting and satisfactorily seasoned; they would have been above-average at a full-service Chinese restaurant. In addition, a roasted-pork bun was light, with a nice proportion of flavorful, tender meat. Crab Rangoon had that savory balance of crispy wrapper and creamy filling that kept Angelique going back for more.
Roast Peking duck, available with pancake, duck sauce and scallions, featured crisp skin and moist, rich flesh. Crab legs were succulent and sweet, but best unadorned by “Golden Sauce.” Hokkaido’s most novel item, frog legs, was also excellent. Yes, they tasted like chicken, but like moist and tender chicken, with just enough breading for texture. Jason also tried the Western-style roast pork loin and found it moist, meaty and crusty, but with too much salt in the luscious fat cap.
What about the Japanese food, you ask? Sushi was, if not exactly sushi-lover’s sushi, competent. The tuna, despite its deep rosy coloring, betrayed a watery flavor from freezing, but the rice was surprisingly dense, soft and well seasoned for something not prepared to order. Some of the rolls, the crispy salmon skin in particular, could hold their own at a lunchtime sushi bar.
If hibachi-style Japanese fare is more your speed, fear not: Hokkaido spares none of the traditional showmanship. Once you load your plate with raw ingredients, you pass it to the chef, who chops, tosses, flambées and douses the two-foot fireball with a flourish, using a squeeze-bottle shaped like a little boy. The end result was more like a stir-fry than the steak-or-shrimp-with-grilled-veggies that typifies Japanese steakhouse fare. It was also, of course, the one spot in the place where we were guaranteed to get freshly cooked food.
As with every buffet, there were hits and misses, but we encountered only a couple of outright failures. Beautiful, thin asparagus were overcooked and under-seasoned, and the “baby lobster” — actually, crawfish — were practically devoid of flavor as well. But the successes far outnumbered the disappointments, and the great thing about a buffet is not being stuck with a bad order, but being able to glut oneself on one’s favorite morsels.
Overall, we were pleased, even impressed, with Hokkaido. It should not be mistaken for a Japanese restaurant, but neither is it a run-of-the-mill Asian buffet. Hokkaido rises above the scourge of the steam table to offer some true gems among its panoply of East Asian offerings.
JR:
AB:
This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2009.
We are full aware that when you go eat somewhere if the food is bad or the product not supplied is as the following explanation most reputable restaurants will send a responsible person to at least apologize but i like to share our experience at this restaurant with bullet points 1. First of all the is a buffet style all you can eat which is typical with oriental restaurants which most people has visited at least once in their life 2. this is no cheap at least $20 per person however a small sign at entrance not visible hand written says anything over 7 crab legs charge is $1 per leg please notice that the crab legs are the smallest and thinnest we you have ever seen. 3. we like crab legs and shrimp that’s why this place was selected we figured high price probably equals to good product and service 4. Went to get crab legs to our surprise just about 4-5 thin legs buried in hot water was there had to wait 10-15 minutes 5. Upon getting the 7 LEGS returned to the table to find out there is no meat in it, yes just a flimsy skinny leg but absolutely Zero meat we said well lets get the waitress, which came over with disbelieve has all the unbroken empty shells including pincers ( if that is what they are called) are empty, she say go get some more, well there very little out so another wait in the meanwhile ate some peel and eat shrimp so my family the same. 6. finally more crab legs are out went through he same procedure with same results no meat in it at all, now they call the person supposedly to be in charge ironically same guy the greeted at door, very hard to understand but the issues was that he would not let us leave without more tries of the crab legs so we were in a way sequestrated in the place, i nicely asked him three time but than he says come to desk speak to manager so I went. 7. Everyone there was speaking what i think was Chinese and did not really explained what was going on made me feel uncomfortable as i think some other individuals under same situation would be, the customer service experience was bad to say at least, the manager looked at me with a smirk on his face and said quote “just eat rest of food its ok and pay” !! at that point i got upset but i kept my cool i asked the 3 waitresses which witness the crab leg but all sudden couldn’t speak any more English but the entire outcome was what I think Chinese language, the waitresses were dismissed and left with head down. 8. Now the greeter and this other oriental lady said go back to your table quote” we cook a batch of crab legs just for you” please note we are a family of 5 and the rest have picked a couple things but I asked for them to stop eating until we sort this out 9. new batch came in steaming hot with hot water pouring out still, for all of you that have had crab legs before you know now its like bending a piece of rubber same results and situation getting worse, i told them that i just wanted to leave greeter guy said quote ” just stay we give discount” how much you want off? We didn’t wear our best clothing that night but certainly wasn’t looking for a freebie or discount, by this time most people would flipped out but i was there for a fun night and didnt want to set bad example 10. Now as a matter of principal I told the Mgr to call the police and make a record of the incident, there are many other details pertinent to this but in any event the Police came and after explained what happened they said that its not the first time that they have been there. 11. My Bill was over $100 but they gave me $15 off since my son did not eat at all So I paid and tipped the waitress but I just wanted to share with everyone what happened and the very poor care of this people that work there with no quality control of what they serve as they made us feel that was or fault and they have no responsibility as stated by them of the frozen crab legs that come in, we would never ever go back there as if there is no way to check the food coming in im we are deeply worried about what can happen next, I would be aware as crab legs with no meat must be a cause of something going wrong never again