DINING SCENE
Fresh, authentic dishes set Buffet 100 apart
Buffet 100
- 19-150 Ka'onohi St., 'Aiea
- 488-8181
- Weekday lunch buffet, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ($7.95 adults, $5.95 children).
- Dinner buffet, 5-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, ($12.95 adults, $7.95 children).
- Seafood buffet, 5-10 p.m. Fridays-Sundays ($14.95 adults, $8.95 children).
- Brunch buffet, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays ($10.95 adults, $6.95 children).
- 1050 Ala Moana, Ward Warehouse, second floor
- 591-8199
- Weekday lunch buffet, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. ($7.95 adults, $5.95 children)
- All other buffets — dinner, seafood, brunch — are same hours and prices as above.
- Note: Children are defined as 3 to 10 years old; younger eat free.
By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
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| Buffet 100 at Ward Warehouse, like its sister restaurant in 'Aiea, has managed to avoid the mistakes that plague many other buffets, such as leaving food to sit too long or serving it at the wrong temperature. The Ward site, on the second floor, also offers a pleasant view of Kewalo Basin.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
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The Ward location is more visually pleasing, looking out onto Kewalo Basin. This location also has a nicer interior; however, the 'Aiea restaurant's food is every bit as good.
Let's begin with salads. I saw mixed green lettuces, shrimp salad, tomatoes, red and savoy cabbage mix, cucumber kim chee, carrot-raisin salad, baby corn, black and green olives, bean sprouts, and broccoli — cold and crisp, and offered with French, Thousand Island and at least one other dressing.
Appetizer offerings included small, breaded fried shrimp, crispy spring rolls, steamed dumplings (at least two kinds), shrimp chips, deep-fried chicken drumsticks, cool chicken with the addictive ginger and green onion sauce, roast pork, Cantonese roast duck and many others.
Three soups were nearby: hot and sour, tofu with sweet corn, and egg blossom with minced beef. These all had a pleasing richness.
The entrées were very good. Orange chicken and sweet and sour pork will satisfy those who like sweeter dishes. Chicken was offered kung-pao style and with a spicy black-bean sauce. Ma-po tofu is a saucy and spicy dish, and beef broccoli included tender beef strips and crunchy broccoli.
There was a yummy Szechuan-style eggplant with shredded pork, a stir-fried squid and vegetable combination, meaty pork spareribs, egg foo yong, chicken with straw mushroom, fried rice with lots of meat and veggies, and fried noodles with shredded pork and bean sprouts.
On the seafood dinner buffet, served Friday through Sunday, there was a great scallop dish, plump mussels in a savory dark sauce, fresh Dungeness crab, sauteed shrimp, salt and pepper shrimp in the shell, and a great fish dish made with some type of either cod or halibut. Wowee!
The restaurants plan their dishes according to what's fresh, but the array is quite dazzling.
The dessert area offers fresh fruit, almond tofu with fruit cocktail, tapioca in coconut milk, and a bunch of different gelatin flavors.
An ice-milk machine is also at your service, along with toppings such as crumbled cookies, Cap'n Crunch cereal, chocolate cereal, gummy candies, fruit chewy candies, sprinkles, nuts and more.
Buffet 100 is convenient, tasty and affordable, and can be enjoyed by the entire family.
Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.
