There are two things wrong with that sentence - all-you-can-eat and hot pot. I don't enjoy either of those. I also remember that they recently released a coupon deal... not a good sign for an eatery. I'm reluctant to go but Monkey promises I get to pick the next place so off we go!
Not much of an entrance... I hope it looks better on the inside.
Ok, that's better. There's a dessert place just on the left as you enter - that's where the coupon was for. Lots of seats and every table must've filled up as the night went on.
There are several sections of the menu running from appetizers, sauces, seafood, meats and ending with sashimi. We decide on a bunch of items and wait in anticipation.
Fresh fruit smoothie - $0.50
It tastes like milk with strawberries which I found was just ok, more milky than fruity. I guess for $0.50, I shouldn't expect anything more than a styrofoam cup's worth of juice either. You could really skip this and drink the complimentary tea or just water. They also have the option of $1 for a can of pop or $3.33 for unlimited pop.
Deep-fried items
We've got some onion rings, chicken nuggets, deep fried fish (limited to 1), chicken wings and takoyaki balls (limited to 1). They also had chili fries but why would we order them here?? Onion rings were crunchy, chicken nuggets were as is - Monkey loved them since he doesn't have them too often and reminds him of his childhood, chicken wings were crunchy on the outside and takoyaki balls... well, you can see for yourself. It's dry and overcooked and I don't know why it's limited. I also don't even know why the fish is limited because it was just plain old deep-fried fish. Lesson here? Skip the deep fried items and go for the good stuff below but if you have to order any of these items, I would say the chicken wings were the way to go.
Deep-fried assorted sashimi
There was a nice spicy sashimi on a chip that we both really enjoyed - the sashimi is marinated lightly in a soy and sesame oil base and it's really quite good. And because it's good, it's limited to 1 piece per person. Of course.
Assorted Sashimi
Some salmon, tuna, yellowtail and another mystery dark purple-hued fish (sorry I can't remember the name!) and some spicy salmon and spicy tuna in a shell. I was very surprised at the presentation - everything was put on ice and wasn't just simply put into bowls in front of us. I like the small touches. Not wild salmon but I wasn't expecting to get that here. Oh, that dark purple sashimi is amazing and I can see why it's limited to 1 piece per person.
Assorted sauces - $0.55 to $1
I don't know why sauces are extra - we're already paying for the soup base so why the extra cost? We went with satay, peanut, 1 egg and green onions which is a nice when mixed together. The egg really thickens and smooths out the sauce so if you can palate eating raw egg yolk, go for this option. (Raw egg yolk has it's risks so you can eat at your own discretion!)
Japanese Beef Bone and Seafood Miso - $8.38
We choose two soup bases because we couldn't decide on one. It's a little more expensive but it's $1 extra to satisfy both our tastes so definitely worth it. Suffering from the aftermath of my cold, I really honestly couldn't taste much of either. Monkey, however, said the Japanese Beef Bone broth was better and the Seafood Miso has the miso flavor but it was quite light.
Assorted hot pot items
OMG. I think Monkey ordered WAY too much. There's all sorts of balls up in here - mushroom, squid, fish, shrimp and even a red salmon in there somewhere. I thought the mushroom ones were good but we both agree that the fish balls are still the best. We went with an instant noodle and ramen (I liked the ramen more) but I don't think we'll be even getting to that with all the other food available. Go with the pea shoots for your veggies - I mean the cabbage is nice but they're boring. The edamame is also hard to keep track of in your soup and we honestly cooked the heck out of them by accident. The various dumplings were good but I honestly think we could have done without or less of - I thought the shrimp dumplings were the best of the bunch.
Assorted seafood items
We chose oysters, squid, tiger shrimp and mussels. My oyster was funky and full of sand but Monkey's was really quite good. Tiger shrimps and mussels were awesome - order more of this if you decide to come here. Tiger shrimps and mussels.
Assorted meats
We chose snow beef, sliced lamb, sliced beef and sliced pork. Every meat was good. Eat more meat. Monkey really enjoyed the snow beef but I thought it was a bit too fatty for me so I preferred the lamb.
All you can eat hot pot - $14.95 per person (and we upgraded to the extra menu for $6)
All in all, with the upgrade to the menu, drinks and sauces, it was about $35 per person after tax and tip so it's not cheap. It's not authentic Japanese food if you can't already tell from that fact that it's AYCE hot pot but the second clue is that every person who works in here speaks Mandarin and/or Cantonese. So if you're looking for an authentic Japanese meal, this is not your place. If you're looking to gorge yourself silly, Toyotomi is the place to visit. We didn't even touch the tip of the iceberg of what was available so give it a whirl and see what you like and don't like. Bon appetite!Pros:
- Some really great items on the menu - oysters, tiger shrimp, snow beef, etc
- Wide variety of items to choose from
- Great private booths
- Free parking available in their multi-level covered lot
Cons:
- Some items are limited to one piece per person - not really all you can eat then
- Sauces and drinks are extra - I don't understand why the sauces are extra when we're already paying extra for the soup
- Cash only
- Seafood is frozen - not fresh by any means
- Hard to get service/server's attention when you're in the private booths
- Pricey if you order drinks and upgrade to the extras

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