suminoya japanese

the suminoyabuffetis one of our old favourites when it comes to a satisfying japanese yakiniku bbq smorgasbord for group catch ups, so i was glad to find out that they had added a few new items onto the menu when we visited for dinner recently. the restaurant is tucked away in a lane way near martin place and for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of trying the suminoyabuffetbefore – the set up is essentially that you choose the level of menu you’d like to order from, 60 minutes to order whatever you’d like off that menu (via their handy ipad ordering system) and then 90 minutes to eat your meal. each table is equipped with tabletop bbqs for you to cook your chosen meats and huge extractor fans so you don’t end up smelling too much like your food at the end of it all.

hidden delight. when dee suggested suminoya for lunch, i could not resist the proposal. although hidden in hoskings place not far from the corner of martin place and pitt street, the set up offered a wood colour ambience, with an emphasis on grills, varying seating places and abuffetwith good repute. what struck me first when i saw my bento lunch box a (with nigri sushi as my option and spinach as the day's special dish) was definitely the freshness of the raw ingredients - tender, fatty and with character. a bit short on the essential green mustard but you are given more if you ask! service was quick, which fitted well with the lunchtime crowds. the menu was easy and logical to help select what we wanted.

been here twice, with a group of 6 both times. it was such a stressful and hectic time trying to order and cook and eat, because there is a 90 min time limit for your sitting and you can order up to 60 mins of your time only. we were smarter the second time around but still it was hectic. the ordering is seamless via ipad. the meat is hit and miss depending on which cut you ordered. i really liked the potato salad and the eel rice though. not a smart idea for abuffetdinner though. we also really like the slushies, but it came in such a small container, we had to order like 50 of them! take note that they do charge for overordering if you couldn’t finish your food.

we were attracted by the menu and high rating score, but the experience was extremely disappointing. we expected to have a la carte menu, however onlybuffetwas available upon arrival. we went with the $65 choice but the meat selection was very limited on this price. the meat quality was just average. wondering it was really wagyu or not. karubi is a kind of fatty meat, but the one they served was apparently too fat. their vegetable dish portion also left us speechless. at the beginning we ordered one portion of vegetable (mushroom, onion and zucchini), and there really came just one piece of each...

we expected to have charcoal bbq as sumi means charcoal in japanese. but they just use gas and it was extremely hard to control. the gas unit only heats an inch diameter, so it took very long to cook.

basic service of a bbq restaurant all has a price here. $2 for grill exchange, $3 for a cup of warm tea..

with the same price (even lower price) we believe there are many better choices. don't trust the rating so much. this place was really over priced and over rated.

my friends and colleagues had a lot of great thoughts on suminoya so i had high expectations and overall i was very impressed.

our group ordered the deluxebuffetat $65/pp which included ayce wagyu beef ribs and sashimi.
what really made it amazing was the wagyu beef ribs and the scallop sashimi.

the wagyu beef ribs had great marbleisation and rich juices that came out with each bite. the scallop sashimi was fresh and pleasant. we also enjoyed the sides of yukke (raw beef) and takowasa especially as well.

the salmon and tuna weren’t as fresh as i would have expected but still decent nonetheless.

although pricey, i definitely would recommend suminoya to others and i will return for more!! the wagyu beef ribs alone seal the deal!!!

great atmosphere and super speedy service! this place is a bit pricey for those who might be on a budget but it's worthy a try! we got the $60 bbqbuffetdeal with $6 all you can drink (limited selection). the meat was good and fatty if you enjoy that. i really enjoyed the pork rib and wagyu beef halami. lots of variety in the sides (corn, sashimi, miso soup etc.). probably wouldn't come back again just because of the price but if you're ever in the cbd and want to try jap bbq, check it out! also gr8 sesame ice cream!!

came here to try the all you can eat menu (i paid $65 for the seafood, sashimi and yakiniku) and i found it to be worth every dollar i paid! thebuffetmenu is extensive offering a variety of sashimi (scallops, tuna, salmon, kingfish etc), sushi, yakiniku and everything was prepared well and tasted fresh!

tucked in a small street in sydney cbd is the best japanesebuffetbbq ever! 

i came here for my friends birthday for 14 people and we enjoyed all the selections offered! 
the seating here is quite tight so our table arrangement was not a long table but side by side tables. 
we chose the premiumbuffetselection ($60 each) which also included the selection from the gourmetbuffetas well. 

my favourite dishes were the garlic prawns, all beef wagyu selections and prawn salad. the slushy they had for the day was grape flavour and i liked it. icecream dessert was okay, the green tea was more icey than the soft icecream texture and my friend enjoyed the sesame icecream. 

overall great experience and would recommend coming back here again! 
the waitresses were very patient as we kept ordering on the ipad. 
bookings here are required as it was very busy when we went on a saturday night!


note: there are extra charges if you over order and don't finish your food. your eating time starts when you place your first order and goes for only 90mins.

very averagebuffetfor $65 pp. service was very slow and waiters weren’t friendly. my friends and i were left disappointed and agreed that we will not be returning

one of the best japanese restaurant in sydney. and one of a few that i think is worth my money.
the bbq lunch was great, tasty, and fresh.
thebuffetdinner was generous, and high quality. service was always friendly.
all my friends who i recommended to loved this place.

this is japanesebuffetat its finest. suminoya’s concept is simple: choose a set menu and go crazy! you have 60 minutes to order and the remainder 30 minutes to eat, so all in all thebuffetis 90 minutes long.

there are 3 types of packages: standard, gourmet (with sashimi, each person limited to one plate of ox tongue ) and deluxe (unlimited ox tongue). note that thebuffetoption is only available for dinner and on weekend dinners, diners have to opt for either the gourmet or deluxe package.

love it:
1. you can order using ipads, which circumvents the otherwise awkward problem of having to signal the waiter every time you want a double helping of wagyu short rib. the food was very prompt, which is often not the case in all you can eat restaurants. zero faults.
2. great choice: they have a really good selection of meat and sashimi, and we managed to sample almost everything. particularly loved the wagyu short rib, scallops, corn, wagyu steak and scampi. everything is really well marinated and tastes delightfully fresh. sashimi was fresh and clearly of a decent cut. just beware when ordering that one serve means one piece, so make sure you order more than one!

not a fan of:
1. the raw beef had way too much sesame oil in it, drowning the taste of the beef. avoid if not a fan.
2. 60 minutes is too short a time as we spent most of the hour in a frantic cycle of cooking and ordering. however this appears to be the standard time for most japanese all you can eats do not really a pet peeve relating to suminoya pet se.

verdict: excellent value for money. suminoya doesn’t skimp on quality and for unlimited meat, sashimi and ice cream i don’t think i can ask for more.

i was excited upon seeing all the good review but i would honestly prefer to go to a-la carte japanese bbq, the standardbuffet(seafood and meat) 50$ pp has a limit on ox tongue which was one portion per person (too little)🤦🏼‍♀️ and the rest of the meat was so so but overly dressed with really sweet soy(fine if u have sweet tooth) the quality of the meat was pretty good so it was a shame that they overdressed it. i do not recommend going downstairs if you are here for a dinner catch up, voice echoes and it was way too noisy even when there was only one other table. worth trying but will not go back 🙂

suminoya has a large selection of food with the premiumbuffetoption so we were able to try a lot of different things on the menu. service was fast and food was fresh! my favourite dishes was the beef yukke, scallop sashimi and the crab cheese salad. i enjoyed dining here and i would come back again

suminoya is an authentic japanese restaurant specialising in yakiniku aka "grilled meat" since 2000. it is literally tucked away in hosking place because we walked past the little alleyway at first before realising we had missed it. during the day they have a lunch menu consisting of a range of a la carte dishes, bbq sets (select up to two to four choices of meats and it comes with rice, miso soup and salad) and bento boxes. however theirbuffetdinner menu is where you can get the best bang for your buck. choose from three types of buffet: gourmet ($50pp and only available mon, tues and wed), premium ($60pp) and premium with unlimited beef tongue ($65). there is also a regular a la carte menu too if your stomach is not prepared for all-you-can-eat with a selection of sashimi, premium cuts of beef, salads and sides, seafood and more.

the food is above average, but the service is bad. the receptionist was rude when i mentioned the notice about credit card surcharge at the counter was wrong. they didn't put 50 cents surcharge for eftpos on the notice (i only used a debit card). it's just a small price difference, but the guy was not properly trained and didn't know how to communicate with his customers.

i also had  a bad experience there with my friends in that restaurant a few years ago. we were pushed to choose the premiumbuffetbecause the waiter said the cheaper standardbuffetwas sold out that
night. the food was actually pretty much the same for both standard and premium buffet. we were also annoyed by the waiters when we had the meal because they always pushed you to finish quickly.