Tsunami Sushi Buffet on 3rd Road

[Evil Penevil 7,609]

Forgive me, reader, for I have sinned.

 

I made a classic beginner's mistake in leaving my apartment without checking the battery in my camera or making sure I had an extra battery. I got to the restaurant and discovered the battery was dead. Since I couldn't take pics of the meal we had, I am forced to lift some from the restaurant's Facebook page. I don't like to do this, but I doubt the restaurant will care and the use of copyrighted photos for reviews is permissible under copyright law as it falls under "fair use."

 

Next time I visit Tsunami, I'll be sure to check my camera's battery.

 

 

Tsunami Sushi Buffet on 3rd Road featured some of the best Japanese food I've eaten in Pattaya. Top-quality and fresh ingredients were prepared and presented properly to give us a memorable meal at the modest cost of 449 baht per person for all you can eat. Most customers will quite rightly focus on sashimi and sushi, but Tsunami's extensive menu includes plenty of tasty options. The tempura was perfect. The slices of mushroom grilled on skewers, as well as grilled fish, were delicious. Standard Japanese "comfort foods" such as katsu don and Japanese-style curry with rice are also available, but I can't imagine why anyone would go to an all-you-can-eat sushi place and order a pork cutlet.

 

The 449-baht fixed price includes unlimited Japanese tea (hot or iced) and a small dessert (ice cream/sherbert). If you want beer with your meal, a bottle of SML costs 65 baht and other bottled beers in the50-to-60-baht range. Saki and wine are also available, but I have no idea about prices.

Be aware that although Tsunami calls itself a buffet, the name is misleading to Westerners for whom buffet means customers serving themselves from tables laden with food. At Tsunami, you place your order with a waitress and she brings it to your table. Diners have 1.5 hours to eat all they can for a fixed price. You can order as many times as you wish during the 90 minutes and most customers do so repeatedly. This is a common model for casual dining/drinking in Japan.

I don't know what it is with Thais and salmon sushi/sashimi, but just like my dinner companion, the customers at all the other tables went heavy on salmon. I certainly like salmon and would agree it's among the most flavor-packed raw fish variations, but I don't want to knock it back by the plateful. I like to include tuna, octopus, squid, shrimp, yellowtail, eel, mackerel, etc. My companion isn't a very adventurous eater. She knows what she likes and sticks with it. Next time I visit Tsunami it will probably be a Japanese friend or a farang who knows Japanese cuisine well so we can enjoy some of the more exotic offerings on the menu. Tsunami has a lot of different nigiri (hand-pressed) sushi as well as maki (rolled) sushi and specialty items.

Tsunami is a small restaurant that seats about 30 people. It's brightly lit and space is tight. A couple will find themselves sharing a table for four with another couple. Western diners "of size" could find it very cramped. It's relatively new (open a few months) but has proved hugely popular with Thais. We called at 7.00 pm on a Friday night and were told no tables would be available until 8.15 pm. The restaurant was full the whole time we were there, with several groups of people waiting outside for a table to free up. If you're planning to eat at Tsunami from 6 pm onward (it's open from 5 pm to midnight), be sure to call ahead and reserve a table. While I'm sure farang are welcome, I was the only Westerner in Tsunami during the time we were there. I wasn't necessarily the only foreigner, as at least one Japanese guy was eating with a Thai female. However, the majority of guests were definitely Thai, with several family groups ranging from infants to grandmas.

The service was fast and attentive but not effusive. The waitress spent quite a bit of time answering my companion's questions. I don't know for sure, but I doubt the service staff would be able to answer questions about the menu in English. Our total bill was 449 x 2, or 898 baht. No service charge or tax was added, so I paid with a 1,000-baht note and told the waitress to keep the change.

The biggest downside at Tsunami was the noise level. So many people talking at once in a small space raises the decibel level to (for me) an unpleasant level. Of course, many Asian eateries are noisy, brightly lit and cramped, with strangers often sharing table space. It's a different sort of restaurant experience than most Westerners are accustomed to.

Bottom line: great Japanese food in hectic surroundings. If you're expecting any sort of romantic or un-rushed ambiance, then there are better choices. But for Japanese food, Tsunami ranks highly.

Evil

Tsunami is located on the east side of 3rd Road, not far from the intersection with Soi Chaiyapoon.

[BigusDicus 9,413]

All of a sudden I am hungry!

[Nightrider 340]

That looks very appetizing Evil , thanks for posting...

 

On a side note , do they offer a take away at a set price , as i would not enjoy it if the place was really noisy.... : )

[MM 6,562]

My favorite sushi restaurant, and echo your comments. The food is fresh, quickly prepared to order, the place is loud and has bad acoustics like an echo chamber, but for pure gluttony, it can't be beat. I'm always stuffed when I leave.

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Evil Penevil 7,609]

That looks very appetizing Evil , thanks for posting...

 

On a side note , do they offer a take away at a set price , as i would not enjoy it if the place was really noisy.... : )

They have fixed prices on various sushi and sashimi "sets" and combinations that can be "taken away," but I don't think it is a significant part of their business. The big attraction of Tsunami is "all you can eat" at a fixed price.

 

Should you want to enjoy Japanese food in more peaceful surroundings, Yamato on Soi 13/1 near Beach Road would be a good choice.

 

Evil

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

The tempura especially looks much better than the fare at Fuji Restaurant and Zen, which my Japanese friends consider reasonably good for a chain restaurant.

 

EP, salmon and particularly ikura (salmon roe) are rich in astaxanthin, an antioxidant that helps heal fatty liver, something of a problem for us social drinkers.

 

Two questions: Where exactly on Third Road is this joint?

 

And could we merge the two Tsunami threads?

Edited April 4, 2016 by MeGoDanceNow

[Evil Penevil 7,609]

The tempura especially looks much better than the fare at Fuji Restaurant and Zen, which my Japanese friends consider reasonably good for a chain restaurant.

 

EP, salmon and particularly ikura (salmon roe) are rich in astaxanthin, an antioxidant that helps heal fatty liver, something of a problem for us social drinkers.

 

Two questions: Where exactly on Third Road is this joint?

 

And could we merge the two Tsunami threads?

 

The tempura was the best I've had in Pattaya. Good to know about salmon roe and the liver, I'll be sure to order it every time I have sushi.

 

Tsunami is located on the east side of 3rd Road between Soi Chaiyapoon and Soi Xcyte. I marked Tsunami with yellow on the map.

 

 

It's up to MM or the mods to merge the threads, but I have no objection.

 

Evil

Edited April 5, 2016 by Evil Penevil

[MM 6,562]

I think merging the threads might cause some confusion...already jacko thought EP was dating my wife and that was without merging!

[atlas2 4,329]

I think merging the threads might cause some confusion...already jacko thought EP was dating my wife and that was without merging!

 

 

We all thought that.......but we don't think they've merged as yet. There's still time to save your marriage MM....

[Evil Penevil 7,609]

 

 

We all thought that.......but we don't think they've merged as yet. There's still time to save your marriage MM....

 

I'm much too culturally conservative to even contemplate inviting out another man's wife!!

 

 

Evil

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

 

The tempura was the best I've had in Pattaya. Good to know about salmon roe and the liver, I'll be sure to order it every time I have sushi.

 

Tsunami is located on the east side of 3rd Road between Soi Chaiyapoon and Soi Xcyte. I marked Tsunami with yellow on the map.

 

Tsunami.JPG

 

It's up to MM or the mods to merge the threads, but I have no objection.

 

Evil

 

 

Thanks! My Japanese excellence friends will be in town in a few weeks and I'll take them to see what they think of it.

[losgrad 264]

EP,

 

Thanks for the excellent write up. I walk by the place regularly, but have never entered as there seems to be a few more new Japanese restaurants in town. I will now try this place.

 

I love salmon sashimi which is what i get every week when we eat at Oishi Buffet at The Avenue mall. At Oishi Restaurant (540 baht), there are also almost all Thai customers unlike the Shabushi Restaurants (3xx baht) which attract many of my big eating farang friends :). Tsunami seems to be priced exactly between Oishi and Shabushi.

 

Thanks also for the note to either call ahead or visit early in the evening.

Edited April 5, 2016 by losgrad

[MM 6,562]

 

Thanks also for the note to either call ahead or visit early in the evening.

Yes, call ahead for reservation to avoid the 40 minute wait we had the last time we went.

 

Alternatively, come around 11pm, when the place starts clearing out...they do close at midnight, but 1 hour of gorging should be enough for most people.

[losgrad 264]

Yes, call ahead for reservation to avoid the 40 minute wait we had the last time we went.

 

Alternatively, come around 11pm, when the place starts clearing out...they do close at midnight, but 1 hour of gorging should be enough for most people.

 

 

Yes, these days one hour at a buffet is plenty for me to gorge myself, but i will likely aim for the 5 pm opening time. At 11 pm, i want to be on WS, Soi 6 or getting a 'good' massage :). Good food and entertainment in the same night. This is a great retirement! :).

Edited April 5, 2016 by losgrad

[Evil Penevil 7,609]

I have to emphasize that it really is necessary to call and reserve a table if you want to avoid a lengthy wait. The other night, my companion called around 7 pm, but was told nothing was available until 10 pm. That was too late, so we went elsewhere.

 

No doubt, Tsunami is extremely popular among Thais.

 

Evil

[losgrad 264]

Last Saturday, i walked in alone at 8:33 pm and there were two 2 seat tables and one 4 seat table open, but a Thai couple sitting at a 4 seat table invited me to sit at their table. I declined and sat at my own table. I must have hit it just right. I was the only non-Thai in the restaurant. The 4 seat table was being cleaned.

 

I ordered some of my favorites: hot green tea, miso soup, shrimp and vegetable tempura, salmon sashimi x 2, tuna sashimi and saba shioyaki. The server recommended the nigiri sashimi set, but I was full. The sashimi was very fresh, almost too much so, but in this climate and environment probably for the best. The tempura was good and the saba was a good size piece of fish. After my initial orders, my secondary requests arrived within 10 minutes. There was no unagi which can be expensive so that was understandable in a buffet setting.

 

Next time i'll come with a larger appetite so i can try the sushi items (i don't like to fill up on white rice).

 

For big eaters who enjoy Japanese foods, it's definitely a strong recommendation, so a couple of my bigger USA expat friends will visit after Songkran.

 

 

 

P.S. I also tried a couple of the restaurants at the new Harbor Mall such as Shabushi (same as the other two in town except for the 'maze-like' setup) and "Tuna Ichiban" Japanese Restaurant but i'll wait for EP to do a full pictorial report to add :). Tuna Ichiban had a queue every afternoon since it opened, but the food is "excellent" just like my mother use to make. It can be expensive for bigger appetites even with their menu being discounted (at least according to the "XX" on every menu item). Nigiri Unagi was 60 baht each (discounted from 120 baht) and i could easily eat a dozen if that's all i was eating :).

 

Enjoy the expanding options of our growing city.

[MM 6,562]

I used to order nigiri unagi off the all you can eat offering. Sadly, last time I went there, they weren't carrying unagi anymore.

It was a good deal at 45 baht too!

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

I used to order nigiri unagi off the all you can eat offering. Sadly, last time I went there, they weren't carrying unagi anymore.

It was a good deal at 45 baht too!

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

 

Unagi (eel) usually costs twice as much as any of the other items. Not sure why that is, it's basically a fish that lives in ditches, you 'd think they could catch it anywhere.

[Fatboyfat 361]

Unagi (eel) usually costs twice as much as any of the other items. Not sure why that is, it's basically a fish that lives in ditches, you 'd think they could catch it anywhere.

 

I think it might be the preparation involved that puts the price up, with the cooking to a certain temperature etc.

I find Japanese restaurants tend to import more often than other nationalities (even in UK) when they have concerns over freshness or hygiene. Hence relative priciness.

[jacko 8,578]

 

 

Unagi (eel) usually costs twice as much as any of the other items. Not sure why that is, it's basically a fish that lives in ditches, you 'd think they could catch it anywhere.

Slippery buggers......