Paid $25++/pax for evening dinner (on weekday).
I seen some reviews when they first launch and it was pretty good. But I guess, I did not do my update on this restaurant as the years goes by.

The quality of japanese food was bad. Should a first-time consumers trying out japanese food in this restaurant will never want to try Jap food again. 

Because Jap food were mainly rice and noodles, it was not worth eating so much carbo in a buffet. The gunkan were lower standard than those kiosk sushi and low variety too. Sashimi only offer salmon. Tempura batter was not great at all. Most of their food were salty. There is dish fried chicken wing battered with curry powder, this was bad - oily and salty. The miso soup were average. Cold saba and matcha toufu was acceptable. Some dessert were nice but not exceptionally great. 

The service were average. They do attend to you when you needed them. 
The ambience is nice but the food did not help with the overall rating. 
All in all, I would not return to the place. 

Please go to http://rollingwrites.blogspot.sg/2013/02/chiso-zanmai.html for pictures. 

From the way some of the sushi were wrapped, I kept my expectations for the sushi low. Indeed, the rice was a little hard. I can't vouch for the freshness of the food also as one of the prawn sushis tasted really weird.

Deep fried food sure appeals to me. Here, you can try some Takoyaki Octopus Ball, Stir Fried Udon Noodle, Tompeiyaki Pork and Cabbage Omelette etc. Problem is most of the food were actually served cold, not sure how long ago they were cooked.

You could also make your own ramen although I gave this a miss because I didn't want to waste my stomach space on carbs.

Some of the appetisers included Chilled Tofu, Edamame, Potato Salad etc.Of all of them, I tried the Chilled Tofu which was nothing special.

More deep fried items including my favourite Prawn Tempura and White Fish. The Chawanmushi was too salty. The Deep Fried Tofu with Light Soy Sauce had a gooey layer which was quite unappetising.


Desserts are always my favourite section. The best was the green tea tiramisu as it was light and not too sweet. The rest were pretty average.  

Although $19.90++ is a really cheap price to pay for a weekend lunch buffet, I wouldn't come here again. Lots of natural lighting made this place comfortable. But the food really awaits improvement.

For $35 (after ++) a person on a Friday evening, do yourself a favour, take the money elsewhere. Heck, top it up a little bit for quality food and have a better night out.

We dined from 8:15-9PM, half of the 'spread' was empty every time we made a turn for it.

Japanese "chicken" curry - only left with thin curry soup in the pot throughout the entire time we were there. Tonkatsu Ramen was without the tonkatsu, only noodles, a piece of radish and very salty soup. Lotus root tempura - lotus was hard to the bite. Sashimi - slimy and mushy. Salad bar - did not get to try, bowls empty or filled to 10%. The rest (which, actually is not a lot), nondescript.

Saving grace was the kong bak. But for $35? No thanks.

Um... well there isn't very much else to say about this place. Except that we will never be going back again.