Century Tsukiji: Japanese Buffet at Century Park Hotel
One of the buffets in the metro that I’ve always to try is Century Tsukiji. My friends highly recommend it and the reviews online are promising as well. Located inside Century Park Hotel, Century Tsukiji offers eat-all-you-can Japanese fare, including varieties of sushi and sashimi.
Here’s my review of Century Tsukiji Japanese buffet at Century Park Hotel in Manila.
Our visit to Century Tsukiji
I went here for weekday lunch with my friend Andrew. Since it was the weekday, I figured we would just walk in. It turns out we were just lucky to have a table available for 2 — the restaurant is small and most tables were already reserved for groups. So take note: even on weekdays, it’s best to reserve a table.
Century Tsukiji has a few stations serving all kinds of Japanese food. At the first station is the sushi and sashimi. There were fat slices of fresh tuna and salmon sashimi, inviting rolls of sushi aburi and maki, mini plates of uni (urchin), and a handful of sushi donburi –- it was truly a Japanese food lover’s dream. Of all the buffets in Manila I’ve tried, Century Tsukiji has the best selection of sushi.
Let’s see the rest of the food stations at Century Tsukiji.
There is a teppanyaki station where you can ask for grilled beef tenderloin, chicken, or salmon. I was excited to try this since it is said to be one of the highlights at this buffet restaurant. The cook didn’t ask us for doneness and the beef tenderloin turned out to be very chewy. My friend liked it though, so it may be a matter of preference.
There is also a ramen bar where you can make your own ramen. You need to choose your bowl of noodles and then choose your toppings (the staff will blanch/reheat it first) and broth (choices of cheese, seafood, and tonkotsu). I chose classic tonkotsu. I liked that the serving is small so you can finish it without getting full and the tonkotsu broth was flavorful, but I’m not a fan of the make-your-own concept in generally especially since the mushrooms weren’t cooked enough for my liking.
Of course, who would miss the tempura station? The good thing about Century Tsukiji’s tempura station is that it is always refilled, so unlike other buffets you won’t have to wait for a new batch of tempuras every time. Sadly I found the ebi tempura lacking in flavor. I don’t know if it’s the shrimp itself or the sauce and I didn’t bother going for a second plate to find out.
Century Tsukiji also has other food, such as okonomiyaki, tofu, and different viands. They have sukiyaki which is vegetarian-friendly — you can add beef toppings on your bowl if you like meat. As someone who am trying to lessen meats, I appreciate having the option. I had already stuffed myself with sashimi at this point so I wasn’t able to try most of the viands.
Lastly, there’s dessert. I asked for a mango crepe and topped it with chocolate ice cream — it was really good. I didn’t care for their other desserts. The tiramisu is a light-flavored pudding instead of an actual tiramisu and their coffee jelly was almost dry. I feel like they could’ve put more effort into their dessert section.
For the drinks, they have limited selections of juice. I wish they offered tea as well; I thought that would be a standard in a Japanese restaurant. I believe you can order tea or coffee but for an additional price.
So, here’s a summary of my review:
- Food. Great sushi and sashimi. I think it’s worth visiting here for these alone. As mentioned above, I wasn’t impressed with the rest of the food options.
- Service. Service can be greatly improved as well. We arrived 10 min before opening time and there was literally no one at the reception area. Staff going in and out just ignored us. A staff arrived at exactly 11AM to entertain us. But shouldn’t there be a someone at the reception to check walk-ins and reservations even before the restaurant opens? Once we were inside though, the staff was attentive and helpful.
- Ambiance. There was no background music and you could tell because when we started eating, there were only few customers aside from us and it was eerily quiet.
Overall, I find Century Tsukiji as above-average in terms of food, but they have areas that they can greatly improve on. I had high expectations because this was highly recommended by friends and because I expected better from a hotel buffet. The last hotel buffets I’ve been to (Cafe Eight in Crimson Hotel and Misto at Seda BGC) have great food so I was expecting the same quality here.
Anyway, this is just my opinion. If you’ve been here too, let me know what your experience was!
Here’s a short clip of our visit to Century Tsukiji:
About Century Tsukiji
Century Tsukiji is located at the Ground Floor of Century Park Hotel.
To commute here, head to LRT-1 and get off at United Nations Station. From there, ride a tricycle or pedicab to the hotel or walk for 15 minutes.
- Opening hours: Daily 11AM to 2:30PM and 5PM to 9PM*
- Rates: Monday to Thursday – P1199 / Friday to Sunday – P1399
Their hotel website and pages lists the lunch schedule as 11AM to 2:30PM, but when we visited we were informed they were open until 2PM only. So if you are going for lunch, best to get there early — and don’t forget to make reservations!
Also worth nothing that their weekend menu has more food options, including shrimps and oysters in their teppanyaki station.
Have you been to Century Tsukiji in Century Park Hotel? What was your experience? Do you have other recommended Japanese buffets to try? Let us know in the comments section below!
What to read next:
Love eating at buffets? Check out these articles:
- Buffet 101
- Marriott Cafe
- Medley Buffet by Okada
- Cafe 1228 by New World Makati Hotel
- Cafe Eight by Crimson Hotel
- Misto at Seda BGC
- The Alley by Vikings
- Ultimate Buffet Guide: The Best Buffet Restaurants in Manila
Katherine Cortes is a long-time backpacker and a freelance writer/editor. She likes beaches, snorkeling trips, and relaxing staycations (preferably with bath tubs!).
