iPad Menus @ 168 Sushi Buffet

Mom’s favourite thing is AYCE sushi so for her birthday we took her to 168 Sushi Buffet where they took on the new trend of iPad menus. We went for lunch and I don’t think they took reservations so we waited over 20 minutes for a table. It was one of those cold Polar Vortex days but people kept coming in and were all eager for a table at this relatively small restaurant.

Lunches at the restaurant are cheaper but do not have sashimi, so if you want the raw fish without all the rice than dinner would be preferred. They did have a large assortment of non-japanese items. There was Thai, Korean and Chinese dim sum dishes that were available in addition to the Sushi and included in the lunch price ($14.99 – I think).

This was my first experience ordering off an iPad menu. It had this large case screwed on it to prevent the user from pressing the home button and going outside the menu. I felt it accommodated the large food selection well and had lovely photos that made all the food look very appetizing. The annoying part was that sometimes we would order something and it wouldn’t come. I enjoyed this salmon salad a lot and ordered more but it didn’t appear. I tried an additional time and the screen told me it was coming, but never did.

In my opinion the iPad was a tool that enabled the workers to be lazy. They could blame complicated orders not coming on technology. Waitresses only came when you confirmed an order on the iPad or when they were delivering food. There was often many empty plates waiting on our table to be taken away. I eventually figured out how to call a person by confirming an empty order.I curiously wonder what it must be like to work in the kitchen that deals with the receiving end of these iPad orders. I feel like the whole idea is a bit of a marketing gimmick.

The food was decent and there was a large selection of it, but it was not particularly memorable. Soups were a bit cold for my liking. However, the fried pudding dessert is recommended.