I’m changing things up a bit this week by starting off with a question. When it comes to buffet, how do you pronounce it? My husband says “buh-fay” but I say “boo-fay” — like Phoebe Buffay from Friends. Is my pronunciation a local thing? Or, am I merely pronouncing it incorrectly? (The latter is quite likely, but I’ve been saying it this way my whole life and it’s ingrained in my brain.)
I ask because we recently went to Nine99 Seafood House, a new restaurant on Beretania Street by Safeway. It’s a Chinese restaurant that specializes in (you guessed it) seafood, but I heard it also offers all-you-can-eat shabu shabu, where you get your own veggies, add-ins and sauces buffet-style and servers bring the cuts of meat to your table.
Those who know me know that I’m all about AYCE places. Sushi, yakiniku, buffets — give me all of them. So, heads up that this review is mainly about Nine99 Seafood House’s AYCE option.
There’s an a la carte shabu shabu menu, as well, but the prices quickly add up, so you might as well just spring for the AYCE.
The a la carte soup bases start at $9.99 a pot. Red meats run you $15 (sliced pork belly) to $22 (beef tongue). Other proteins include lobster balls, beef tendon meatballs and cuttlefish balls (five for $5), as well as quail egg (five for $8), pig’s feet ($7) and goose intestine ($24). Veggies and noodles are anywhere from $3 to $5 each. See, adds up, right?
The AYCE shabu shabu is $36.99 for diners age 13 and older, and $20.99 for kids ages 5-12. Not bad, if you ask me. And I appreciated that I could opt for AYCE, while my husband was able to order off the regular menu. He got the beef and bitter melon ($18.99) and we split the pan-fried dumplings ($12.99 for six; basically, gau gee), but I saw him look longingly at me as our server brought tray after tray of pork belly and beef.
As I dipped it into the original marrow broth, all I could think was, “I made a good choice.” I opted to skip the noodles and rice so I could fill up on the good stuff: a few orders each of pork belly, beef and lamb, as well as lobster balls and beef tendon balls. I’m pretty basic when it comes to veggies, and I stuck to baby bok choy, choy sum and napa cabbage. But there were also bean sprouts, pumpkin, seaweed knots, daikon, lotus root, potato, corn, taro, watercress and so much more.
Seafood lovers can choose from baby octopus, small clams, fish, mussels, head-on shrimp and more; vegetarians searching for protein will enjoy bean curd varities, tofu, and king oyster, wood ear and enoki mushrooms.
The options are honestly overwhelming, so I didn’t stray too far from my comfort zone, but I left very full knowing I ate my money’s worth. Thankfully, a return is imminent because my husband wants his turn at the AYCE shabu shabu, too.
Nicole Monton is the managing editor of Crave and contributing editor for Kaka‘ako VERT magazine. Follow her on social media (@nicmonton).
Nine99 Seafood House
Address
1296 S. Beretania St. Ste. 106, Honolulu
Phone
808-888-3689
Hours
10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
Instagram
@nine99seafoodhouse
Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Drinks n/a
Ambiance: 3/5
Parking: Free in the Safeway lot
