168 Sushi Buffet is located at 1520 Steeles Avenue West, at the corner of Dufferin, a convenient two-minute bus ride east of the new Pioneer Village subway station, which is at Steeles Avenue on the newly-extended Yonge-University line.
It has a large modern interior. AYCD pop is available for $1.95. Chopsticks are reusable and the soy sauce is excellent, fresh and has a winy flavor, even the regular one. Low sodium soy sauce is available on request, and it is a slight improvement. Ginger is not dyed pink. 168 Sushi has "buffet" in its name, and it really has one for some soups, salads and desserts (ice creams, shot-glass desserts and cakes) as well as the iPad menus, which I have never seen before. Although free Wi-Fi is supposedly available, I could not see the access point "168Sushi-Guest" so could not connect to it.
Shrimp tempura was excellent, light and flaky, with great dipping sauce. Mishy loved the General Tao chicken, indicating it was tangy and great sauce. I found the General Tao to be excellent with a cherry-like sauce which I loved. We also loved the pineapple chicken.
Yakitori was very good and had great sauce. Mishy indicated that the chicken pad thai was boring and had not much flavor and I agreed, it was not very lively. She also described the chicken teriyaki sauce as boring. The same sauce was used on the beef teriyaki, and it was good due to the beef; I agree to the sauce had not much flavor.
We both loved the chicken cheese udon, which was delicious and rich. Sweet and sour chicken was very good and Mishy also loved it, but its sauce was a bit too sweet for my taste. Scallop tempura was good;
I love the little dollop of sauce on each one. Salmon nigiri was superbly fresh and good. Avocado cucumber roll was also quite good. Steamed pork dumpling AKA shiu mai was good very but sauce is very hot so watch out. Red snapper rose is an excellent variation on salmon rose, but that was very good too.
From the buffet area, the miso soup was alright but had no wakame or tofu (were they separate to be added by the diner and I missed it?) but it did have that "Javex" flavor Mishy loves similar to the miso at I Love Sushi (not really any better way of describing it unfortunately.) Clam chowder was very good and I enjoyed it. Sadly, the hot and sour soup was burnt and definitely not enjoyable; it had been in the server too long. Wonton soup had a nice flavor there was but not enough of it, it was somewhat dilute, although the color and salt were there.
Mishy loved the fried milk, with a smooth and creamy inside and crisp outside. Banana tempura she didn't like as it was maple-flavored and she only likes chocolate, but to each their own. 168 Sushi also has an ice grinder and slushie syrup; guava was wonderfully and tropically unique. Mango and mocha mousse cakes are the same brand as 8 Sushi and other establishments use. Vanilla, red bean, mango, green tea and chocolate ice creams were all good. Mango pudding was the best and richest I ever had. Service was super fast and friendly. We went for weekend lunch and the price was $20.95 which is definitely at the higher end. To be sure there were many excellent items, but certainly others for which some improvements could be made, most notably the burnt hot and sour soup which is too reminiscent of the Happy Panda and should not be at this price point… freshness is exactly the reason for which higher-end AYCEs have abandoned the buffet model in favour of on-demand single servings.Update 2018-Nov-22: I happened to return to 168 Sushi as I was in the area and looking for a good lunch. They have some new items on the menu so I tried as many as I could. Shumai with deep fry shrimp was good. Chicken cheese udon was delicious and an excellent flavor combo. Pineapple beef I had not tried before so I did, and it was good. The dim sum option steamed pork dumplings were very good and savory, with an interesting sauce reminiscent of peppers and pickles; steamed crystal shrimp were similarly good in the same sauce. Chicken yakitori was excellent and the sauce was delicious; it was perfectly cooked and smokey.
Hot and sour soup was perfectly fresh this time even though the tureen was half empty, so was much better. Shrimp salad, another thing I had not tried before, was actually excellent with celery and good seasoning giving it a wonderful mild flavor. Miso soup this time around at least had some tofu cubes added, rather than just being miso broth. The broth was also more savory, had more umami, and no more javexy flavor that Mishy likes but I don't, so had much improved. Honestly labeled surimi salad was also quite good. Thai chicken curry was delicious, with a well-balanced spicy curry sauce and exotic interesting vegetables.
Beware as 168 does not take debit cards. There is an ATM onsite, but it may be cheaper to go to the ones at the neighboring gas stations, or just pay by credit card. I had an excellent lunch, and as the previous shortcomings seem to have been addressed, 168 has earned a higher rating.Rating: 8-8.5/10
