Strawberry Buffets in Japan
From late winter into early spring, Japan goes into a strawberry frenzy. Countrywide, they are in abundance and available at rock bottom prices; or at least as rock bottom as fruit prices go in Japan. Astute shoppers can pick-up punnets of berries for as low as ¥200 (about $2), though those tend to be low in quality and taste very tart. For those willing to splurge, there’s no limit. Plumper, sweeter, juicer, luxury punnets equipped with foam seats for each individual strawberry, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are traditional red berries to choose from, but also pink and white varieties, which are Japanese creations. For strawberry lovers, this time of year can be a dream come true. Dreams do have a way of manifesting themselves into nightmares.
A Little Bit of History
The humble beginnings of the Strawberry Buffet, or Strawberry Fair, as it’s sometimes called in Japan, are murky. My research into who started this fad, and when, turned up next to nothing. The earliest mention of a strawberry buffet I could find was from a fluff piece published by Businesswire about the Keio Plaza Hotel, which cites their seasonal dessert buffet from 2014. You can read that article here.
Accurate history notwithstanding, we can reconstruct what most likely happened: a single strawberry buffet opened in the Tokyo area at some point in the last decade. It was priced moderately and they offer decent quality products that focused on strawberries. The buffet was an immediate hit and before long other establishments jump on the idea. With new competition came more variety being offered, but with a focus still on quality. Year after year more restaurants and hotels jumped into the game, bringing more competition in the form of offering more dishes at the expense of quality. An arms race of quantity over quality ensued as more customers flock to these season events. Today these strawberry buffets are money-making juggernauts with big name hotels dishing out generic experiences and subpar food.
Our Personal Experience
We became really aware of these strawberry buffets in 2019 from an “article” in the Japan Times. These “articles” are more akin to advertisements dressed up to look like articles, rather than having any journalist merit.
They do paint a very attractive picture of the buffets. Careful readers will note that there are no actual reviews or commentary on the quality, and all the photos are clearly glamour shots, which are not at all indicative of the actual experience.
Our first attempt was Valentine’s Day in 2019. We contacted every hotel/restaurant we could find to no avail. Not just for that weekend, but for the entire run of the buffet that year. The next year we decided to try again, however this time booking much earlier. Success! We were able to get a reservation for Valentine’s Day weekend at The Marble Lounge in the Hilton Tokyo.
Nothing to Sneeze at
Clocking in at whopping ¥5,250 ($50) per person, we had some high expectations (that price doesn’t include any alcohol). To be clear, we weren’t expecting a Michelin star affair, but for the price we expected a pleasant/romantic atmosphere with high quality desserts. For us, the dinner items were secondary. We were there for the ‘strawberry’ buffet.
First Impression
We were a little shocked when we first entered. The Marble Lounge is an offshoot of the lobby, so the idea of a relaxed environment was out the window. Depending on where you are seated, you can see hotel guests coming and going and hear the hustle and bustle. I’d have no problem with this if it were a complimentary breakfast buffet at the hotel, but not for $50 a head.
The next thing we noticed was that no space was spared for seating. If they could pack a person into a corner, they didn’t hesitate to. We were shoved into a booth, which had no place to store bags or jackets. We had to put them on the floor under our table. Even worse, we were practically on top of the party seated next us, being easily within arm’s length. Every time I got up, I had to squeeze between the narrow gap of our tables, which impossible to do without bumping both. I’m sure this was an annoyance for them.
Since The Marble Lounge was packed to beyond capacity, there was a rush whenever the staff hauled out food, especially the dessert items. Multiple lines for the buffet were 20 persons deep almost continuously, making the entire food area was a congested mess. It was a chore to get anything. If you weren’t lucky enough to be standing right at the buffet tables at the exact moment when they were putting the desserts out, you would more than likely miss the chance, as supplies were quickly exhausted by the hungry mob.
From Seafood to Strawberries
There were quite a lot of dishes on offer. We noticed there were a large number of seafood dishes on the line. It’s Japan, so I suppose it’s not that out of the ordinary, just that strawberry buffets don’t really scream crab legs.
Beyond the seafood, there were a number of the typical carb-heavy dishes one finds at most cheap buffets, like pasta and curry rice.
Then there were the bizarre offerings on hand, like saltines and bowls of nuts. Nothing says classy like unwrapped saltines turning stale in the opened air. I was more interested in the ridiculousness and absurdity of these items being there than actually eating them. One of the highlights of ludicrousness was the huge salad in a carved out Parmesan wheel on the opposite end of the buffet. From a distance it looked promising, but upon closer inspection I discovered that the Parmesan bowl was made of plastic. You could either laugh or cry.
The quality of the bread did surprise us. They tasted like they were on site. At the very least, whomever made them knew what they were doing and had at least a little of passion for their craft. Truly, there was a nice variety of styles and it was great to see them offering something besides white bread. If the bread gets called out for being better than your entrées, it’s not a good sign.
The Sweet Spot
Sadly things did not improve when we moved on to the desserts. Dare I say it, they got worse. I have to say that I do feel some compassion for the poor kitchen staff that most definitely had to be more focused on shoveling out cakes as fast as possible than how good they might taste. With the large number of customers wolfing down cakes at an insane rate there is no way the kitchen staff could both meet demand without cutting a lot of corners.
There were a dozen or so dessert offerings and we went through the entire selection. Is it surprising that there wasn’t a single item that didn’t taste like a discount confection that was rushed out of a factory or fast food restaurant? Well, at this point, it shouldn’t.
We would have forgiven all the subpar dishes, and more, if they delivered on the strawberries. It was, after all, a strawberry buffet. There was a mountain of them sitting front and center at the beginning of the dessert table. Sadly, these strawberries didn’t make the grade. They were the cheapest variety one could buy. These were the discount berries, the ones that were picked before they were ripe. They had uneven color, lacked sweetness, were way too tart, and not at all succulent.
All they had to do was source some quality strawberries that were of average or better quality. The Marble Lounge failed in this modest task. Not because it was hard, but because they couldn’t be bothered to do it right. Truly a more egregious display of contempt I know not of.
The Aftermath
Being disappointed is an understatement. Actions speak louder than words, though we didn’t complain to the Hilton, nor ask for our money, even though I feel like we were entitled to some sort of refund. Instead, we dropped by a supermarket on the way home to buy strawberries.
It might seem to bit rash or unfair to write off all the rest of the Strawberry Buffets as a cynical cash grab. It’s true, we haven’t been to all of them. In our defense, these hotel restaurants aren’t really known for their innovation. They copy what’s in vogue and squeeze it for maximum profit, while giving little value back in return. That’s a roundabout way of saying; if you seen one, you’ve seen them all.
For us, lesson learned. We’ll never go to another seasonal food event like this in Japan ever again. I guess you could say it left a bad taste in our mouths.
A silver lining to Covid might be that it’s put an end to these cheap buffets, maybe forever. It’s certainly doubtful we’ll see the Strawberry Buffet return in 2021.
Conclusion
How can you get your strawberry off if these Strawberry Fairs are a bust?
Pocket that ¥10,500 ($100) and plough some of the money into your own dessert buffet at home. You can get creative and make something on your own in your kitchen, or just hit up some quality bakeries around town and pick up a few cakes. Either way, you’re going to save a bundle of money, plus eat something much tastier. Win-win!