Japanese buffet dinner for $23 per pax is quite value, even though the don't have sashimi, their strength is on the curry, fried stuff and the drinks and mochi ice-cream that are part of the buffet. We have been a fan of Curry Favor at stamford and this is our first visit to the Novena branch.

As it is tuck in a onscure corner without windows, the dark interior decor copied from the stamford branch makes this place looks down and gloomy. The stamford branch has full length windows on 2 walls to balance the dark interior. I guess they applied standardization without looking at the local condition.

My wife, 2.5 yrs daughter and I went on a wed evening and the restaurant is less than half full which means we have space and prompt service.

Here's a run down on the dishes we tried

Unagi - this is our fav and we ordered 5-6 portions, the fish is fatty and nicely grilled, even my daughter likes this

Unagi and cucumber salad - nicely cut jap cucumbers, good balanced for the fried stuff

Yasai Itame - nice crunchy vege dish to balance the other fried stuff

Rosu katsu, Cheese katsu, Mushroom fry, ebi fry, soft shell crab, chicken katsu - mostly fried just nice, though I think the thick batter is too over powering for the soft shell crab, they should also provide some shredded raw cabbage to cleanse the palate after the fried stuff, otherwise it can be quite jerlat for the tongue and stomach (or was that their delibrate omission to curb the appetite of customers?

Tempura - not crispy enough, in fact... soggy, did they cool the batter before frying?

Minced beef curry, fish curry - nice curry, right portion, not too salty and we are able to eat it like a stew without rice

Kani (crab stick) salad - great!

Chuka hotate - OK

Ice lemon tea - not so sweet and not too much tea which is good cause my wife can't sleep with too much caffeine.

Mochi ice cream - serving has 4 mochi, great way to end the meal

Service was prompt and polite. We really like the small serving portions that allow us to sample a wide variety of food, actually that's the main draw of this buffet.

They should do something to the decor, the corner location of the restaurant + the dark interior isn't going to draw walk in crowds and it is not adequate to depend on japanese curry fans only.