Hokkaido Offers Good Chinese and Mediocre Sushi

With a name like Hokkaido, I expected Japanese food. What I found was a massive all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet with an impressively large American dessert selection and a tiny, token corner of unlabeled, mediocre sushi.

It was a study in contradictions: The friendly hostess gave way to a surly waitstaff. Well prepared Chinese food was contrasted with a badly done Hibachi grill.

I left with incredibly mixed feelings.

Let’s start with the good news. The Chinese food was good. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the pineapple chicken, which was made with actual white meat in a slightly sweet glaze, which wasn’t too sticky. The sesame balls were filled with creamy red bean paste that held just the right contrast between the slightly sweet interior and the faintly bitter toasted nuts on the crust.

The vegetables in the steam trays were crispy and tender, while the sauces managed to achieve a good balance of flavor without being too salty for anything soy based or too cloying for anything sweet. If you like Chinese buffets, this is a good iteration.

That said, Florissant already has a good selection of mom-and-pop Chinese restaurants. I understand why the restaurant purposefully mislabeled itself. The announcement of a Chinese buffet the size of a Walmart wouldn’t have sparked a fraction of the excitement a new sushi restaurant garnered.

Excitement is an understatement. When my call went out to friends to try Hokkaido, 14 people answered. Because the place is so massive, we had a minimal 20-minute wait for such a large party.

The dining room was a cavernous, warehouse-like affair, lined on three sides with more than 100 food options. The steam trays were piled high with freshly made beef ribs, General Tso's chicken, pork lo mein and beef broccoli.

I couldn’t find any vegetarian options other than dessert or vegetable tempura. This is an unabashed Hall of Meat. In addition to the expected beef, chicken and pork steam tray stir fries, Hokkaido had an impressive selection of more authentic and exotic Chinese food.

Adventurous eaters could try salt and pepper frog legs, whole shrimp with the heads still on, a small selection of dim sum and a large selection of Things With Tentacles. In fact, if you’ve ever wanted to take revenge on the ocean, the sheer variety of fish with eyes and heads still attached, plus calamari, shrimp, clams and oyster was impressive. The seafood that wasn’t simmering in dark brown sauces was stuffed with assorted cheese blends. 

You might notice a theme here. The authentic dim sum, authentic Chinese seafood, and well prepared Americanized Chinese favorites made up the majority of the selections. Despite the name, Hokkaido is not a Japanese restaurant. It’s a Chinese buffet with a small selection of sushi.

The sushi itself was utterly uninspired. Three dour men lurked behind a counter, mostly talking to one another. Every now and then, they’d quickly roll up a new tray of identical offerings. You could choose from a California roll, cucumber roll,  dragon roll with salmon, tuna and some unsavory looking avocado, a slightly dried-out red tuna roll and three varieties of nigiri that looked like they’d been sitting out all day.

I found the tuna so dry it was almost stringy, which is never a good sign when dealing with raw meat. The California and cucumber rolls were passable, but also noticeably dried out.

If you’re desperate for some sushi and unwilling to drive out of Florissant, the bitter sushi attendants will reluctantly make you a custom roll from their small selection of ingredients, but each roll will run you $8 in addition to the cost of the buffet.

I’ve seen hibachi grill areas in everything from Mongolian grills to Chinese restaurants to Harrah’s buffet, so I didn’t think of that as adding anything more authentically Japanese to the menu. The hibachi offered choices of chicken breasts, thin sliced steak, shrimp and an assortment of vegetables or lo mein noodles.

Watching the chef merely dice the meat on a hot surface didn’t inspire me. I tried asking for additional seasonings, but the hibachi chef ignored anything the other diners or I had to say. My chicken came back still pink in the middle seasoned only with an oil from the grill and a thin token drizzle of watery teriyaki sauce. 

At the opposite end of the restaurant, there is a small salad bar leading into a dessert buffet capped off with a four-tiered chocolate fountain. It includes the usual suspects, common at all Chinese buffets: almond cookies, chocolate pudding, orange cake rolls and plain yellow cake with white icing.

Past that uninspired fare, the restaurant offered a nice selection of fresh fruits for dipping in the chocolate fountain, including bananas, whole strawberries and pineapple plus whole, fresh cherries. The fresh fruit in the chocolate fountain was a very nice cap for the meal. Those with a sweeter tooth could dip in rice crispy treats, marshmallows and sugar or chocolate chip cookies.

As a Japanese restaurant, Hokkaido is an utter failure. As a Chinese buffet, it’s actually pretty good. It attempts to satisfy everyone from the most bland meat eaters to the most adventurous seafood lovers, while keeping kids happy in the dessert line.

The good Chinese food and fun dessert buffet were balanced against the mediocre sushi and bad Hibachi Grill. If I need a place that can serve a large group of people with assorted tastes in food, I’ll probably take them to Hokkaido. Otherwise, I doubt I’ll be back.

My bill came to $15.85 for the buffet and a never-filled drink, plus another $3 for a tip. Kids buffets were only $4 cheaper, so I don't think this is a good fit for families on a budget.

I give Hokkaido a disappointed C+.