En Sakaba is a Japanese restaurant that serves up both a la carte dishes consisting of rice bowls, sushi and an assortment of Japanese dishes, as well as a limited time Miyazaki Wagyu & Premium Queen Crab Hotpot Buffet which I will be focusing on for this review.
The buffet starts off with a few appetizers, including a small sashimi platter consisting of two slices each of salmon, tuna, and sweet prawn. Also served were 3 different seasonal appetisers consisting of edamame beans, cucumber drizzled with plum sauce and tamagoyaki topped with mentaiko and salmon roe. Closing the appetisers was a small plate of tempura dishes.
Although the ingredients were of pretty high quality, none of it really stood out. Additionally, you only get one serving of each item, so don’t go in expecting to eat tons of sashimi during the course of the buffet.
After the appetizers you’ll move on to the main event: the hotpot dishes, consisting of free-flow Miyazaki Wagyu, Kurobuta pork, Queen Crab and shabu-shabu vegetables.
The vegetables are your basic greens and mushrooms which is used to give more flavour to the stock, which itself is mildly flavoured and but does not overpower the flavour of the meat.
The pork is no different from any other place that serves kurobuta, however the beef and crab truly make the buffet worth its price point. The Miyazaki Wagyu is an award winning A5 wagyu, meaning the marbling of the beef is one of, if not, the best grade in the world, giving the beef rich flavour and the sensation of melting in your mouth.
The crab tasted sweet, rich and easy to peel due to its high quality, making it one of the more enjoyable crab eating experiences I’ve had.
At the end of you’re buffet course you have a choice of turning the leftover stock into porridge or and udon dish. This is whipped up by the servers who prepare and cook it for you right at the table. It was an interesting experience, but not a very impactful dish.
Although I would say most of the dishes were mediocre and it would’ve been nice to have the sashimi or just more items on free flow, the price you pay is more or less for the Wagyu and the crab which definitely do not come cheap.
If you really want to make your money’s worth be prepared to eat tons of the Wagyu and crab although due to the richness of the dish, it’ll be quite a task as the fat does get quite cloying after awhile.
In conclusion, I would recommend En Sakaba’s buffet only if you’re determined to have A5 Wagyu at a reasonable price point, as everything else can be gotten at cheaper buffet.
The En Sakaba Buffet can be experienced at their Capital Tower and JEM outlets.