Sunday, September 18, 2011

Niko's Japanese Restaurant - Ellicott City

We're back writing our blog again....we took some time off when school and sports started up again. But, of course, we never stopped eating.  

It's easy to miss Niko's Japanese Restaurant in the Normandy Shopping Center on Rt. 40 because it's located at the end of a large parking lot away from road. But it's worth finding. 

We go to Niko's for their all-you-can-eat lunch buffet offered Monday through Saturday.  
The buffet features a hot and cold food bar with a heavy amount of mouth-watering sushi. We lost count on how many different varieties of sushi they serve.

Thomas prefers the shrimp tempura and many varieites of California roll. Fluffy yet sticky rice on the outside compliments the sweet tender crab meat, ripe avocado and cucumber on the inside. The roll is wrapped in a thin seaweed - so delicate it melts in your mouth. The varieties include some with fish eggs ( I know it sounds gross but they are really good), spicy and topped with crab meat. 

Charles is more adventurous and has tried a number of different sushi.  But we both only eat cooked seafood sushi.  
The hot buffet has some winning dishes too. Our favorites are the vegetable dumplings and tempura and noddle "lo mein" dish. Other hot items include the traditional Japanese salad with orange dressing, bean curd salad, string bean sautee, chicken wings, veggie omelete and much more. 

If you haven't tried Japanese food this lunch buffet is a great way to try different dishes without having to order an entire dish that you may not like. 


The lunch buffet comes with a cup of miso soup. The soup, a combo of broth, bean curd and scallions, has a very strong taste. Charles likes it but Thomas isn't a fan. However, there is so much to choose from in the hot and cold buffet that you won't go hungry if you don't eat the soup.



  


Pros: Non-stop supply of consistently good Japanese food.  Great value for all-you-can-eat lunch - weekday price is $11.95 per person but weekend price is slightly higher. Younger kids get a different price depending on their age.

Cons: none

Recommendation: Go hungry....leave full!

Niko Japanese Reataurant on Urbanspoon