I don’t recall ever hearing so many people rave about a buffet, but the word on the street is that The Journey Sushi & Seafood Buffet (formerly known as The Journal Buffet & Grill) is legit. After about 18 months since its opening, I finally checked it out. While the restaurant has some good qualities–like a large sushi selection–it’s not much different than any other Chinese buffet.
Let’s look at the sushi first. It was pleasing to see sushi other than California rolls. Here, you can find Dragon rolls, Alaskan rolls and salmon nigri, among a selection of about a dozen, depending on the time and day. I was fond of the seaweed and rice stuffed inside fried tofu for its combination of tastes and textures as well as its uniqueness. For buffet sushi, Journey’s was good and worth the price of the meal ($8.45 lunch, $12.95 dinner).
Similar to World Buffet, Journey has a large selection, including the standard items–pepper steak, hot & sour soup, lo mein (I’m happy that it wasn’t overloaded with vegetables) and potstickers. Although I’m a fan of General Tso’s chicken, Journey’s version is so heavily breaded that it’s hard to taste any chicken. Otherwise, there weren’t many other disappointments (though there wasn’t much to rave about, either).
Some items not generally found elsewhere include full fish fillets (tender and flaky), kimchi (not too spicy or sour), chicken balls (tasted just like a pork meatball) and stuffed crab shells (unfortunately, stuffed with imitation crab). There’s also a carving station and stir fry station. I appreciated that there was an employee on a radio regularly updating the kitchen on what needed to be refilled.
One last thing to mention: the layout was better than other buffets. It didn’t seem like there were any seats too far or disconnected from the centrally located buffet.
The Journey Sushi & Seafood Buffet is open every day for lunch, dinner and even carryout (pay per pound).
Parties
At least the Applewood bacon and smoked cheddar burger was done right. Big pieces of bacon and a wish-I-had-more smoked paprika aioli topped a fresh-off-the grill patty. I just wished the accompanying fries weren’t so blah.
Doolittles has a huge, four-sided bar in the center of the restaurant that indicates it could be a good place for happy hour. TVs are placed in the upper corners of the ceiling to steer away from being a sports bar. Just beware of the high drink prices. A screwdriver, for example, was $7, and that’s after the $2 discount.
