Oishi Grand Japanese Buffet in Bangkok

By Mark Wiens Bangkok
Oishi Grand Japanese Buffet (โออิชิแกรนด์)

Oishi Grand Japanese Buffet (โออิชิแกรนด์)

Another addition to Bangkok’s crazed Japanese-Thai fusion obsession is Oishi Grand Japanese Buffet (โออิชิแกรนด์).

It’s similar to Oishi Shabu Shabu or Oishi Express, but Oishi Grand takes things a few steps higher in terms of quality, variety, and ambiance.

Starting things off with a few rounds of sushi

Starting things off with a few rounds of sushi

Like most Japanese buffets, I like to start things out by first hitting the sushi and sashimi section.

There were about 6 different kinds of sashimi and about 10 different hand rolls all freshly prepared.

Oishi Grand Buffet in Bangkok, Thailand

Sashimi!

The sashimi was pretty high quality, comparable to the selection at Takumi Japanese buffet.

While normally I’m more of a fan of red flesh tuna sashimi, I actually enjoyed the salmon sashimi the best here.

Salmon roe rolls at Oishi Grand

Salmon roe rolls at Oishi Grand

Another attraction at Oishi Grand Buffet (โออิชิแกรนด์) is the orange pearl salmon roe, which aren’t particularly common in Thailand I’ve found, even at sushi restaurants.

I do like salmon roe, but actually prefer the smaller tobiko (flying fish roe), smaller eggs.

Seared tuna

Seared tuna

The lightly seared tuna was alright, but kind of dried out compared to the sashimi, so I didn’t go back for more of that.

Oishi Grand Buffet

Hand rolls

Unfortunately the Thai California rolls didn’t include avocado (which would have made them much better), but they were generously topped with tobiko fish eggs.

Having a quick shot of espresso

Having a quick shot of espresso

One thing I did love about Oishi Grand Buffet is the full coffee bar.

After the first few rounds of sushi and sashimi, I was ready for a shot of espresso to recharge my eating battery and keep myself alert and focused on the food!

The grill station at Oishi Grand Buffet

The grill station at Oishi Grand Buffet

After a good base of raw fish and a shot of espresso I was ready to tackle the grill station.

Choose whatever raw ingredients you like, and the chef will either grill or hot plate fry them, then deliver the cooked food to your table.

Steamed snow fish

Steamed snow fish

The snow fish, steamed in soy sauce and topped with thin shreds of ginger was excellent. The flesh was soft yet firm, and not even slightly rubbery. It was so good I had back to back platters!

Grilled sticks of mushroom and garlic are a welcome addition to any meal!

Grilled sticks of mushroom and garlic are a welcome addition to any meal!

Grilled Salmon at Oishi Grand Buffet in Bangkok, Thailand

Grilled Salmon at Oishi Grand Buffet in Bangkok, Thailand

More seafood off the grill at Oishi Grand

More seafood off the grill at Oishi Grand

The mussels were probably my favorite thing off the grill. They were lightly salted and just pure delicious.

Spaghetti in cream sauce at Oishi Grand Buffet

Spaghetti in cream sauce at Oishi Grand Buffet

In Thailand, a buffet would not be a buffet without a few random things like spaghetti or pizza.

In fact, at Oishi Grand, there was an entire little pasta station (resembling the pasta stand a ALoft Buffet) where you could order up  a choice of combinations.

I only had one bite of this, and I’d have to say, it was decent.

Fried soft shell crab

Fried soft shell crab

The signature deep friend soft shell crab was alright, but I think I must have grabbed a plate that had sat out a little too long as it wasn’t overly crispy anymore. That being said, it was flavorful.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino

A few more cups of coffee, this time in cappuccino form, and I was ready for dessert.

Oishi Grand

Chocolate mousse

While normally the fancy little desserts at buffets like this look much better than they taste, a few of the sweet treats were actually really well done.

The chocolate mousse (pictured in front), and the raspberry topped white pudding, were both excellent.

Top quality melon

Top quality melon

While the Oishi Grand Buffet assortment included a few local fruits, the big hit was the honeydew sweet melon – and it was superbly sweet and juicy.

Does the Häagen-Dazs really need to be chef recommended?

Does the Häagen-Dazs really need to be chef recommended?

One thing I found a little on the hilarious side was that the Häagen-Dazs ice cream was “chef recommended,” and a “signature dish.”

I don’t think we really needed the chefs approval of Häagen-Dazs ice cream (and somehow I don’t think they made it)!

Oishi Grand Buffet

Mango and strawberry sorbet

But nevertheless, the Häagen-Dazs ice cream, all-you-can-eat of it, was absolutely wonderful.

If you’re an ice cream lover, you could probably eat 700 THB worth in ice cream alone. I am not ashamed to admit, even though I’m not a sweets kind of guy, I downed about 4 bowls.

Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Ice Cream

Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Ice Cream

All the ice cream was good, but the Häagen-Dazs chocolate took the crown. It honestly tasted like a shaved chocolate bar mixed with extra cream and then frozen.

โออิชิแกรนด์

Oishi Grand Japanese Buffet – Bangkok, Thailand

The Bottom Line

The sushi is fantastic, items from the grill were excellent, the pre-made and fried things were alright but not the best, and the desserts were fabulous. The addition of coffe was also a genius idea.

Oishi Grand Buffet (โออิชิแกรนด์) is right up there in my books along with Takumi buffet as being one of the top Japanese buffets in Bangkok (on the list of top things to do in Bangkok). Takumi is a bit more authentic (no lasagna or spaghetti on the menu) and relaxing (as you sit at your table and just continual order off the menu, instead of getting up and helping yourself), but both offer a similar level of sushi and sashimi.

Oishi Grand Buffet also does a great job with their desserts, and like I mentioned above, if you love ice cream, the Häagen-Dazs buffet is alone worth it!

Lastly, another big bonus is the 3 hour time limit (other places offer just 1.5 hours or so), which is quite a long time to thoroughly enjoy everything without being rushed.

Oishi Grand Buffet Bangkok (โออิชิแกรนด์)

Price: 699 THB per person
Location: One the 2nd floor of Siam Discovery shopping mall
Hours: 11 am – 10 pm daily
Reservations: Oishi Grand has received quite a lot of local hype and is continually busy but doesn’t accept reservations. We arrived at 10:30 am and there was already a line of about 15 people in front of us. So you may have to wait to be seated.

How to get there:

Take the BTS Skytrain to Siam station. Walk to Siam Discovery, go to the 2nd floor and located in the back is Oishi Grand Buffet – there will most likely be quite a few people hanging out at the entrance waiting to be seated.

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