Restaurant: Sambo Kojin
Price Range: Eat All You Can Buffet (Php. 595 per head without drinks)
25 September 2011
(Pictures were taken with our camera phone, so expect low quality photos. XD)
Kuni and I went to Sambo Kojin and took their eat all you can challenge for 595php per head. I made a reservation two days before because I don't want to wait for a couple of hours (besides that, it was my birthday treat to Kuni, so everything should be planned.) Moving on, the staff were pretty impressive because they were all attentive and they even welcomed us with huge smile on their faces. "Irasshaimase~"
I really like their place because they have this high ceiling, white walls and clean floor which makes the place spacious and neat even there were so many customers. Sambo Kojin's place will give you the impression of dining in a fine hotel or restaurant. I am pretty sure that you will enjoy dining with your friends or family there.
Kuni and I love sushi so the very first food that we tried is their sushi. Before I forget, their sushi is not your ordinary sushi, they made variations of maki with different fillings and toppings like kiwi and cherries. Their sushi rice was cooked nicely, the seafood and fruit toppings were also fresh. Sambo Kojin also has kimbap or Korean sushi which is a bit similar to futomaki or fat/thick rolls.
I love salmon
sashimi, so I grabbed a plate and filled it with salmon :3 Here's their
sashimi section, btw.
Looking for banchan or Korean side dishes and salad? Don't worry because they have it all for you! (I ate a lot of kimchi and I even filled my bowl with kimchi x3) They have fresh lettuce, crushed red chili, sweet potato, sweet yam, kimchi, gochujang, carrots, cucumber and dried anchovies.
So if you are planning to make samgyeopsal or marinated and grilled meat wrapped in fresh lettuce, you can make as many as you like... Like we did x3
Kuni loves meat, so he went straight to Sambo Kojin's meat and seafood section. This is where you can get slices and pieces of meat that you want to grill. They have shrimps, salmon belly, tuna, pork, beef, asparagus wrapped with bacon or pork and etc. There were so many choices and I'm pretty sure that you will also have a hard time to choose what to grill because all of them were mouth watering and tempting :p
You will cook your own food using the yakiniku grill on your table which makes your Sambo Kojin experience more fun! They also has six different sauces on each table for grilling like Sambo Kojin sauce, ponzu sauce and pepper sauce which made our meat and seafood even more tasty.
Sambo Kojin uses good quality meat and seafood, you can actually tell it by it's look, texture, scent and tenderness. I hate lengua or ox tongue because it is hard to chew, but Sambo Kojin's lengua was very soft and chewy (you won't even notice it's lengua!) While Kuni hates liver because it has this odd taste, but Sambo Kojin's liver were different, it was fresh and you can actually enjoy eating liver without that odd smell and taste. Same goes to their pork and beef cuts, it was soft and chewy, so no comment at all.
The waiter offered us some Kamameshi (rice cooked in an iron pot topped with veggies and meat), but we refused his offer because eating rice in a buffet is a no no and besides that, we already know its taste. We usually pick unusual foods or dishes if we are in a buffet.
For those who wants just the usual, don't worry because they have plain rice, fried rice yakisoba (or stir fried noodles), miso soup, chapchae or Korean glass noodles, different kinds of tempura (deep fried veggies and meat) and stews. They also have tofu steak and kimchi jeon or kimchi pancakes.
Tofu Steak, Kimchi Jeon, Spicy Wings and Spicy Squid
Apparently, they don't have unlimited drinks like Tong Yang, but Sambo Kojin has a wide variety of drinks to choose from and you can even convert their single serving or regular iced tea to bottomless. They also have Japanese beers in their menu like Asahi which is our favorite, but we didn't get some because it will make us feel full right away. We had some hot tea for 48php... I think. (This is how we survived Sambo Kojin). My only comment here is, their drinks are quite pricey. Good thing I'm not a big fan of iced tea XD
If you like sweets like I do, then I am pretty sure that you will leave a room for dessert! Sambo Kojin has fruit slices, chocolate fondue, ice creams, cakes and brownies.
The desserts were usual, but it is enough to satisfy your sweet cravings and taste buds after a savory meal.
Here's what I picked for my dessert: Blueberry cheesecake, strawberry and vanilla ice cream (Big Scoop), pineapple chunks, sliced apple and a pastry dipped in melted chocolate :3
Sambo Kojin's layout was pretty nice because you can see their cooks/chefs preparing the foods and refilling the plates at the counter (They are right behind the counter). They were pretty impressive because you won't even see an empty plate at their food section or counter, they will refill or add more before it runs out. (Yes, you don't have to wait and you don't have to tell them.) The staff were pretty attentive and full of energy, you can actually see and feel that they were all happy to serve you.
For me, 595php is just right, not too pricey and not too cheap. You can have quality food, comforting ambiance and proper customer service. Kuni and I will definitely go back to Sambo Kojin, this time I will take a lot of pictures using our new camera~ I'm gonna gather up some friends too. We really had fun! Thank you Sambo Kojin! :3
Visit Sambo Kojin at Eastwood behind Somethin' Fishy
You can contact them at 421-0145 or 46 (For reservation and more information)
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