Five Star International Buffet

Decent, average buffet, lacking in selection. If you’re coming here based on the lunch menu on the website, DON’T. Or make sure to view the food in the buffet line first. Also, make sure and call about reservations even if you think you know their policy, since it apparently changes day to day. Don’t come for the fish. Though not bad, it is definitely typical «buffet» quality and cut (very thin sliced pieces with almost twice the needed rice), and lacking in choices. Maybe their dinner delivers better, but I won’t be back to find out.
The one really good dish on the buffet line was always out and when they finally did come out with more and it was inconsistent from the first batch and not good the second time.
Certainly NOT «gourmet» buffet or even close as other reviewers have suggested. And though wait staff service was great, management was very complacent about the menu discrepancies or reservation issues. I would have expected at least a small gesture, but maybe this is the standard, and I just don’t get out enough.
3 stars for being average.

We went to this buffet restaurant last month.
First time coming here, right after you go to the main Entrance, There are 2 sections I guess. Our waiter brought us too the section, which another party had a babyshower for 20 people.
Yes I should’ve done something but it was too late. The other party, had moved the tables and chairs, so it was really hard to go to the Buffet line. I hate selfish people. And why don’t people just get a private room instead?
Well anyways it was a disaster going through the line because of them and their games, I noticed that they had a sign that said they don’t sell alcohol temporary. So I was like
(wtf…) (…)
Talked to the waiter, he apoligized and he wouldn’t tell me why. I’m assuming they sold to an underage person. He did mention that they are doing BYOB at the moment, and I’m like where in the world am I going to get a 6pack.
Anyways.
Now about the food, we went on a Sunday afternoon. The food was like completely gone. I’m a little shocked because the place wasn’t packed. They had hardly any food, and the Sushi was gone really fast.
I’m disappointed at this establishment. Service was good but the food, was short handed. (Alcohol was not available, and we were sitting with loud people having a baby shower.

The only way this place would have anything to do with «five stars» would be if you hit your head on the toilet bowl while throwing up and saw stars.
The menu looks tempting even at $ 50 and I thought i would give it a try. However, the crab legs were so salty you couldn’t eat them. I think they boiled them in ocean water… the garlic shrimp were room temperature (as was many of the dishes that should have been hot).
I tried most of the items trying to be fair… the green beans were raw, the chocolate covered strawberry had a black section I couldn’t identify. I think they used a cigarette to flame the top of the crème brûlée (I can’t be sure…)
I would have tried to kill the taste in my mouth with alcohol, but their license was being renewed and they
couldn’t serve any.
I seriously couldn’t make this stuff up… absolutely disappointing.

Good selection of food but I wish they heated their food a little more. I’m no health inspector but I’m sure buffet food is supposed to be heated to a certain temperature or else it will grow bacteria and can make someone sick.
Service was good though. Our table attendant checked on us regularly. They also offered Kamaaina discount.

This is how it all started…
I was starving
Parked at royal hawaiian center
Walked around the center looking for places to eat. Then my bf goes…
«That would be cool if five star buffet was only $ 20 then we should give it a second try. Hahaha I told him u wish not knowing that it was $ 19 per person for lunch buffet!!! SAY WHAAAAA!!!
So we picked this place and give it a try once again. OMG! Why don’t they serve this during dinner? It’s delicious!!! I mean dinner wasn’t all that for me but lunch?! Can’t go wrong with $ 19! On top of that, if you’re kamaaina, you get free soft drink per person.

The food is not really that great, a few decent dishes and good service saved it from one to two star territory. Don’t believe the previous pictures of the food, it’s not representative of what they are serving now. We used the 30% off HI resident (Kama’aina) special from the Sunday paper, without the coupon, it’s not worth it.
The good: snow crab legs are the standard and actually quite large. A bit on the salty side but the meat didn’t stick to the shell, a good indication that it was not sitting in the freezer for a while.
Sushi was ok. As I mentioned before, don’t believe the pictures. They must have took off sashimi off the menu. The poke is not ahi, very like au (swordfish) which is a cheaper substitute.
Crab miso soup was pretty good, actual crab is used to flavor it. However, no green onions or tofu to add on??? Garlic shrimp was ok, the shrimp was a bit small.
The stars of the desert are crème brulee, green tea cake and tiramisu. Not a bad spread.
The rest of the food was underwhelming, tempura — soggy, prime rib — dry, lobster — dry, chewy and overcooked (how can you mess up this dish!), stuffed scallop — too rich. Hate to stay this, a bit like Todai food but presented more nicely and smaller portions.
I expected more, I remember walking in here a year ago to check it out, thought the food look ok.
Service is great, our waitress and help stopped by multiple times to take our dishes and re-​fill drinks. The glass for the soda was a wine glass… very small!
Probably not coming back, unless there are changes to the menu. Coming here re-​forces my opinion that Kai Market is still the best.

I’ve eaten here a couple of times for dinner and while the choices aren’t as vast as other buffets on Waikiki, the quality of the food is pretty good.
The area where the food is located is a little cramped, like a long hallway — but for the diners are usually mindful of personal space, for the most part.
One of the first times I ate here, there was a green tea jello dessert that was very delicious, but haven’t seen it again. waaaah.
Service is usually good and I especially like to come here because I can make reservations using Open Table!

I am at a tug-​o-​war fight with buffets. Want to stuff my face to get my $ worth but do not want to gain the extra weight. Is a love-​hate relationship.
At Five Star… My face got stuffed. Both for lunch and dinner… During lunch, the price is reasonable, since I was out with the family, the cost per person was feasible. The difference between lunch and dinner, besides the big jump in price, was the more seafood variety and fancier desserts at dinner.
I am unable to describe all the dishes, but what really stood out was the presentation of the food. The food is basically in this hallway sort of room, but it is not placed in huge food trays, instead it is in a family-​like style dish. This is good because they will consistently make fresh batches each time.
Also walking into the place doesn’t look like a buffet restaurant at all. No tacky bright color walls or cheapy chairs, so dress semi-​casual yet comfortable.

My boyfriend and I took a few of our friends here because the last time we came, the food and service was just amazing. However, our most recent experience didn’t even compare to the last time (which is such a disappointment to me because I raved about it the day before). During lunch hours the buffet is $ 19 a person. Kama’aina gets free drinks (so yay for me I saved $ 4.50). They validate parking for you and you pay for it at the machine on the 3^rd floor in the parking structure.
Anyway, I had to –1 star because the food didn’t look fresh. Some of it looked like it was sitting there for a while and there wasn’t much variety. Even though there food warmers, some of the food was still a little cold. I thought the food was average, nothing too special. The only thing I really enjoyed from my most recent experience is the crab chowder soup.
I also had to –1 star because one of the workers was having a conversation with another worker at the buffet line. I don’t mind workers mingling, but the line was already crowded with people coming back and forth trying to get food. If you want to talk, take it to a place with more space. I had to scoot onto the side because I had a horde of people coming at me from the opposite direction lol.
The dessert is just wonderful though! Everything looks so fancy and it tastes so yummy! I loved their flan custard and the tapioca. The servings for the dessert are just right. They’re small and petite so I end up getting a few servings because they’re just so tasty.
Anyway, I know my review might make you rethink about visiting but I highly suggest you try it out. I’ve been here two times before and had nothing but exceptional service. This review is solely based on my most recent visit.

This place should rethink their name as it’s not 5-​star quality food or service here.
Most of their food options were empty or nearly empty when I went for lunch. There was someone telling the cooks what needs replenishing, but I didn’t notice any difference.
Food:
They were decently packed so I could easily see how the dishes would need replacing so quickly, but some things should just be removed from the line instead of being left out there for customers to wonder if there’s going to BE anything there.
The steamed basket for example — that sucker was empty from the start and was never filled. The katsu, pasta and the… awe see I can’t even remember what I ate because the food wasn’t even that memorable or even there. What I DO remember is how awful their chawanmushi was — don’t waste your time or stomach space for that stuff.
Service/​Atmosphere:
I think their A/​C had trouble competing with all the humidity outside that their bathrooms felt much cooler that their dining areas — I’m serious!
The waiter/​waitress must’ve not seen us as we were by some funky wall and the window so I can see why we were bypassed so much by the wait staff as they only seemed to pay attention to the larger crowds — no big surprise there. I literally had to flag them down so they could come to refill my water glass with their «über trendy» water glass vases, like they’re trying to mimic mainland style.

One of the top buffets in Honolulu. I don’t have a big appetite so I usually feel cheated at buffets, but the quality and taste are worth the price (especially at lunch!).
Unlike some other buffets, the staff consistently change out their dishes. In the time it takes to wait in line, I’ve seen them switch out plates at least twice.
The only bummer of eating here was getting back to the table to find I missed a few items in line. It’s a small price to pay for fresher options. While the loco moco looked delicious on my friend’s plate, I just wasn’t feeling another trek through the hoards of people waiting in line.
My FAVORITE dish was the agedashi tofu. I just knew it was going to be good and threw on a bigger portion (because I knew I wouldn’t go for seconds!). Definitely look out for that one!
Everything here is really good. The space here can accommodate a larger party. We celebrated my friend’s baby shower and had roughly 30 – 40 people. Nice décor and overall chill vibe.

I had a Hot Deals coupon where you spend $ 25 and get $ 50 worth that was expiring in June, so the hubby and I decided that we better use it or lose it, so we ate here for dinner last night.
We got seated right away and decided why not wait, let’s go straight to the buffet line! There’s two entrances to the buffet and not really a clear defined line for anything, so we picked up our plates and just started randomly picking out different foods we wanted. The selection was your typical type of buffet scene– assorted sushi, salads and apps, soups, a smattering of different local and Asian entrees, crab legs and lobster, and dessert.
The foods that really stood out to me was the clam chowder (homemade, you could even see the bay leaf in it), lobster and crab of course (and no limit on how many lobster halves you get like at Makino’s), poke (it was really fresh and the ogo was crispy like it just came out of the ocean), their pasta of the day, and their smoked salmon.
Why the low rating? Nothing really stood out to me. The food was just so-​so. Also, the buffet area is so cramped, so you’re constantly bumping into people. There is someone that calls out to the cooks to replenish dishes, but they run out so quickly that you constantly have to go and see if they replenished the item that you wanted. Certain things didn’t seem too fresh either. For example, the butter for the crab and lobster wasn’t even warm, it was more like room temperature. Also, for $ 50/​ea for dinner you would think they’d have a little more selection. For example, they only had one type of poke, no sashimi, and only the very basic type of sushi. Perhaps we’re paying for the plates that are single serve and require more work?
In terms of the service, our server did check on us and my dirty plates were always removed from our table in a timely manner. But I did not understand why they don’t put ice in the water because refills were never cold and it took our server 15 min just to deliver the check. I think she got slammed when we were leaving, but it didn’t look like her section was that big.
Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be back. There are better buffets out there with the same price tag, but at least this coupon allowed me to save a little money and I finally got to eat here!

Five Star International Buffet… You are not five stars, nor are you international… but you are a buffet, I’ll give you that at least.
Coming here, you’re looking at shelling out at least ~$ 48 per person for the buffet. I’m looking at this cost in terms of how much crab I can eat. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I cannot stand buffets, but if I MUST come to one, it’s all about how much crab I can gorge myself on. And in terms of crab, this place did not disappoint. The two trays of crab were always full of delicious mountains of crab legs just waiting to be nommed on! Love! I also tried the lobster that they boast about, I had one piece that was almost like chewing an old tire. So rubbery… Would not recommend!
Aside from the crab though, I found the rest of the hot food selection to be very lacking. There are maybe 6 hot items??? Not too much I think in the realm of buffets. I tried the mochiko chicken and the seafood diablo and wasn’t too impressed. The sushi selection is pretty large though and I love love loved the poke! I believe they use shiso as an ingredient in the poke which gave it a unique flavor that i definitely enjoyed. Also tried the papaya with coconut milk because it looked pretty. I was pleased with this because it isn’t a combination that I ever would have thought to try, but it was delicious!
The entire set up of the buffet was pretty wack though… the buffet is set up in a hallway. It wasn’t too much of a problem earlier in the night when we arrived at 5:30 for dinner, but as it got later and more patrons came, the hallway was kind of a mess to navigate with people on all sides. Also, not to nit pick, but there is nothing 5 stars or gourmet about putting crock pots on induction cooktops to serve food. Just saying.
Three stars because they delivered on my crab expectations… But only three because they didn’t deliver on much else. Props to the waiter who gave us kamaaina discount without us having to ask though. If you come here, get the crab, avoid everything else!

Best dinner buffet!
Honestly, I was not expecting much. Most places that calls themselves «five star» or «number one» usually fall far from their name, but Five Star Buffet actually had delicious foods!
In terms of choices, it’s quality vs quantity here.
+ Pork belly, sukiyaki, crab legs, nigiris, baked salmon and desserts
— Katsu (dried out), poke (too much sesame oil) and the papaya cups with sour milk
The buffet area is a bit narrow, but overall it’s very clean and it’s never too crowded. I liked the fact that the kitchen/​cook station was directly above the buffet line, so food items were quickly replenished.
Staff are friendly and the plates were cleared very quickly.
Parking is $ 1 per hour for the first 4 hours!

Worst buffet I have been to here. Maybe I’m just not a buffet person anymore. Anyway its Mother’s day so you would think they would be putting their best foot er crock pot forward. Yes Crock pots. And I don’t mean to keep the food warm either, no, its just the crock part. Food was not great. They had such small serving palters and the place was so crowded I don’t even think we got to try so much it was always out. AND its not like you can wait because it was VERY crowded and small in the buffet area. There was no way of keeping the food hot (no chafing dishes) so even though the food was there for like 20 seconds before it was taken it was still cold. Fish was not that fresh, they did not seem to be able to handle the crowd well either. Ok enough complaining. I did not like it. Mom did not like it. Not as good as Todai. DId I just say that? Yes.
On the bright side, our server was nice, my iced tea got refilled.

Variety of food available for lunch. It can get crowed in the room you get your food at.
Very affordable. $ 20 for lunch. They do have kamaaina discount. Parking is at royal Hawaiian. They validate the first hour and anything after that it’s a dollar.

Just ate at Five Star today for lunch and it was fantastic. I must say that this is probably one of the best buffets on the island. This restaurant is located in Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center on the third floor.
The service here is great. The wait staff is very good about keeping our glasses full and clearing our plates when we were done and ready to get more food. I really liked how they have complimentary soft drinks for kama’aina.
The food was fantastic and fresh. The different food selection was just simply amazing and from my understanding they have different dishes everyday, which makes me want to come back more often to see what else they serve. Nothing looked old or like it was sitting too long. I also noticed as soon as a food item was low they were already placing a replacement for it. I thought this was impressive because that is all done with the right timing and knowing when its time to cook more of a certain dish and to time it out so well was really just impressive in my opinion.
Overall my experience here was great. I think five star is doing a great job with service and food expectations.

The first time I ate at Five Star was via the Unilocal CMYE invitation for the Foodies and Fashionistas event put on by the Royal Hawaiian Center. We were only limited to one trip to the buffet, so I didn’t get the full experience on that occasion, so I’ve been wanting to go back to try it out for real. I recently got the opportunity to do so, and I sure enjoyed myself.
PROS:
+ Fresh high quality food
+ 15% Kamaaina discount for dinner
+ 25% discount after 8:30 pm
+ Friendly staff
+ Clean
+ Indoor and outdoor seating options
CONS:
— Pricey
— Cramped buffet line area
We saw the specials board near the door one night, and noticed that there was a 25% discount if you dine in from 8:30 — 10:00 pm. This would shrink your buffet cost from $ 48 to $ 36. What a deal! The catch to this special is that you have to have a walk-​in seating, and not reservations. No worries, though because the restaurant is usually empty enough by 8:30 pm that you won’t have very much of a wait at all. So with this information in mind we came back another night to take advantage of this special.
We were promptly greeted at the door by a friendly hostess, and we only waited for a few minutes for a table to be cleared and set for us. We were lead in by the same hostess that greeted us, and got seated. Our server came by shortly after and took our drink orders, and directed us to the buffet.
While the selection here isn’t as huge as some other buffets the food is freshly made, and delicous. Quality vs. Quantity, I guess. Most of the food items are already portioned into single servings, so it’s easy to grab a plate full of food. One of the highlights of the buffet for me were the prime rib and crab legs. I just doesn’t feel like a buffet without them! There were also some tonkatsu skewers that were surprisingly tasty, and all of the sushi and sashimi were superb. Just about all of the other food that I tried was great. I did have a bread roll that was dry and hard as a rock, though, and some of the desserts (mostly the cakes) were just meh. Maybe I’m just not that big on desserts… The bread pudding was excellent, and the green tea panna cotta was wonderful.
Individually portioned sashimi:
The setup of their buffet is pretty cool because you can see the cooks at work in the kitchen right behind the food counters. This way you know your food is coming fresh right out of the kitchen. The odd thing about the setup, though is that it’s basically in a hallway with the food counters running along each side. There are sliding glass doors on each end, and about six feet of space between the two food counters. It gets pretty hard to navigate in there when it’s crowded full of people with their high-​piled buffet plates.
This photo by Nat N. is a good shot of the setup:
The service was indeed very friendly, although a bit lacking at some points. There were a couple of times that used dishes would start piling up on our table, and water glasses went empty. Our server wasn’t seen for a good stretch of time, and when a couple of us had gotten the prime rib we noticed that there were no knives on our table. Each of us had two forks each, but no knives. This was quickly remedied with one of us asking the hostess for knives.
Overall I give Five Star International Buffet a solid four-​star rating. $ 48 feels a bit steep for a buffet, so the after 8:30 discount (25% off) really helps. The Kama’aina discount (15% off) is not bad, but it’s basically just the same as the tip you’ll end up leaving so you’d still be dropping $ 50 when all is said and done. I’ll definitely be back again, but probably only for weekday lunch, or after 8:30 pm. I’m curious to see what the lunch spread consists of…

$ 48 for a buffet without crab legs and prime rib.
Sorry, but what is a buffet without crab legs and prime rib? They do have sushi, nigiri, sashimi, and filet mignon. But, in my mind, a good buffet will always have crab and prime rib. :)
Five Star’s strength is the freshness of the product. They don’t put a lot out at one time, so the buffet line is stocked constantly with fresh product. The kitchen is directly above the buffet line, so the food goes directly from the stove to the line. An employee walks up and down the line and calls to the chef to make another batch of whatever is running low. Nice.
The buffet area itself is a little cramped and confusing. I wasn’t quite sure where the start was, and neither did other people because people were cutting in and out of the lines. Some were going the «wrong way» (I’m presuming they were going the wrong way because they were making their way towards the plates, not away from them).
The service overall was pretty good. Our empty plates were cleared from our table in a very timely manner (the biggest pet peeve at a buffet is returning to your table before your old plates have been cleared). But our waiter seemed to forget about us after we were finished with our meal. We had to hunt him down to get our check.
We received 15% off our dinner thanks to the Kama’aina discount.

Don’t expect a large buffet line of a huge variety of mediocre food. What you can expect is a good amount of selections made with quality ingredients. Not only that the food is made fresh and in small portions. They basically cook it fresh when it’s time to refill. I like that there is always staff members monitoring the buffet line so it never looks messy or empty!
I went for lunch with my mother and we were impressed with the quality of the food. There was not an item that we did not like. I thought the mini loco moco’s were so cute (it was yummy too btw), they chawan mushi was yummy, and the kalbi was delish! There was a curry station, a good array of desserts, a great salad bar, and sushi!
Service here is great too! I will be back!