Sambo Kojin, Japanese Korean Smokeless Grill – Yakiniku Eat-All-You-Can!

There’s nothing more fun when meeting with friends than meeting over lunch at a restaurant that offers unlimited food.  But we were introduced by my brother and his friends to Sambo Kojin and now we know that there’s still such thing as “better than unlimited food”.  Sambo Kojin offers more than just stuffing you up with the abundance of Japanese and Korean Yakiniku choices, they also give you great ambiance, great desert table (which is also unlimited), and great service from everyone in their staff (service crew, chefs, valet, supervisors).  Ah… words aren’t enough to express the wonderful time we had at Sambo Kojin so let’s go on with the rest of the blog and the photos… ^_^

About the Restaurant  

Apparently, there are 2 branches already, and we went to their EDSA branch which is along the South bound lane of EDSA, very near Barrio Fiesta.  If you’re coming from the North, like Quezon City, just take EDSA, and it’ll be on your right (Landmark: huge Barrio Fiesta signage) way before you reach Robinsons mall.  And if you’re coming from the South, let’s say Makati, you’ll have to take a U-turn somewhere near the White Plains area… Argh!  Showing the map would be much better, right?  ^_^;

Zoom In

Zoom Out

It was my brother’s treat and he made a reservation for 11AM.  When we got there, valet was waiting for us (for free).  We were among the first customers of the day and very friendly female staff greeted us at the lobby and we were escorted to our table on the 2^nd floor.  Once the door opened on to the dining area of the 2^nd floor, we were greeted by some 7 – 10 staff with a loud “Irasshaimase!”  That’s the Japanese greeting for customers who are coming in a business place whether it’s restaurant or spa, etc.  Because we were among the first customers to arrive, we got a good look of the whole place without the hustle and bustle of other enthusiastic lunch batch customers.  The whole place is super spacious, very clean with the white leather chairs, cream and white covered walls and beams, polished brown wooden floors, black granite tables, and the very prominent and inviting buffet table which was well organized, very clean, and always stocked up (never empty).

Clean table, clean grill, black granite table, comfortable chairs... Ah... such a wonderful place to have lunch!

A few more customers are starting to come in. My brother and Mario in this photo, and you can see how well lit the whole place was. The white/cream walls and the perfect lighting made the place look bigger. No fancy shmancy giant paintings or what not. Just everything that buffet-ers need, great food, huge and clean place, and friends.

I like that there's a fair distance from the buffet area to the nearest set of tables and chairs so that those who are getting food aren't disturbing any of the customers who are also enjoying the whole experience.

See how really clean, spacious and just relaxing the place is? Yes, it's a buffet restaurant, but it also feels like a cafe where you can also catch-up with friends, tell stories, etc.

About the Service  

Don’t be scared even if it’s your first time because as soon as you get to your table, an assigned Sambo Kojin staff will take care of your every need.  He/she will ask you if it’s your first time or not, regardless, he/she will still explain the buffet price, about the leftover charge, the sauces, etc.  They’ll also be the one to turn on your grill.  Ask away!  You can call the attention of any of the crew for water, request for spoon, etc., and they’ll be on it and fulfilling it ASAP.  The chefs were also very polite, fun, and accommodating!  They were quick to refill and I never found myself staring at an empty plate even though it seemed that people were getting food faster than it took for people to refill the serving plates.

Chefs hard at work making sure there's a constant supply of everything for everyone.

About the Food  

We came there on a Saturday, so the buffet price was P595 per person (plus P100 if you have leftovers).  You pay for your drinks and they have a separate menu for that.  Each table is given a tray of 6 different sauces which you can use for everything, we highly recommend the Sambo Kojin sauce.  We were also given a Sambo Kojin Rice, there weren’t a whole lot and we failed to ask if we can get more but it was delicious!  Reminded me of Adobo Rice except that it was a little sweet and they used Japanese rice.  Ahhhhhhh!  There was a great number of different sushi and sashimi to choose from, various bacon wrapped goodies, different tempura choices, lots of meats and different parts for you to grill (fancy some tongue?), unlimited curry, salad, and crazy fondue desert, fruits, ice cream, and cakes!  Did I miss anything?

Do you think you'd be able to taste one of each from this section? Here's the meat and veggies section you can grill. Very well disguised, you won't see at first but the plates are stacked below the buffet counter.

Closer look... ^_^ Mushrooms!!!

Here comes the sushi/sashimi section! All your appetizers can be found here too! Their kimchi was superb!!!

Wonderful colors... Say hello to the world, Shiitake mushrooms!

Here's where the deep fried goodies are... Tempura (all kinds of them), plus tonkatsu.

While waiting for your grilled stuff to cook, have some perfectly cooked dishes first!

Tired of photos of meat? Well, have a salad!

Dessert anyone? Fondue forever!? Cakes galore?! Where's the ice cream!?

Ice cream!

There’s just too many photos to post everything individually so I decided to just show them in a slideshow…  Enjoy!

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Overall

I love the whole experience!  It was a very interactive lunch (getting stuff, grilling them, turning them at the right time, etc).  You would think that because most of the food were unseasoned (or so I thought), you expect them to be bland after grilling, but that’s not the case.  Their tempura was exceptional and the desert table was something I wish I had left more room for.  ^_^

Fun fun fun!

It's the waiting time that sometimes frustrates you... ^_^; It's faster to devour than to cook.

But it's also during those lag/waiting times that you get an opportunity to share a few laughs, and loads of stories with your friends or family.

QUICK TIPS:

1)  Call for reservation a week before, especially if you plan to dine on a weekend or holiday.  This place gets packed full easily on a weekend.

2)  If there are 6 of you, check if you can reserve 2 sets of tables good for 4 (total of 8 chairs) so that you also have 2 grills.  This makes for more meat grilling, less waiting time in between, ummm…, feeding sessions?  But if you can’t get 2 grills for 6 folks, that’s ok.  1 will do.

3)  Request for grill clean-up when all the skins start sticking to the grill, especially the delicate fish meats/skins.  ^_^  Making me hungry just thinking about the food there…

4)  Go easy on the tempura.  I know it’s tempting to just dive in a plate full of deep fried battered meat or veggies, but that will fill you up really quick and won’t give you a fighting chance to sample the other goodies they have to offer!

Contact Information:

Eastwood Citywalk QC (Tel. 421-0145 to 46)

Greenhills Mandaluyong City (Tel. 726-4466 or 726-4520)

Hours:

Mon – Thurs:      11:00 am – 2:00 pm / 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Fri – Sun:              11:00 am – 2:00 pm / 5:30 pm – 10:00 pm

Price

LUNCH (Mon to Fri) No Left Over Price is P 495 (with left over add P100 only)*Except for Holidays

LUNCH (Sat & Sun) No Left Over Price is P 595 (with left over add P100 only)

DINNER (Mon to Sun) No Left Over Price is P 595 (with left over add P100 only)

For children- No Left Over Price is P 295 (with left over add P100 only)