Food Spot | Hosaku International Buffet SM North Towers

By huayyu - 2/13/2021

With Samgyupsal restaurants popping everywhere because of the popularity of Korean drama, you would wonder if there is anything to eat besides Samgyupsal. That is where Hosaku comes in. Hosaku International Buffet offers Yakiniku/Samgyupsal, Hotpot and other ready to eat dishes.

Hosaku International Buffet is a homegrown brand by Fredley Group of Companies which also owns brands such as Macao Imperial Tea. Located at Level 1 of SM North Towers, this new restaurant is set to open on February 14, 2021. For their Grand Opening on Februart 14, 2021 (1 day only), they are treating their first 50 customers for free while succeeding customers get 50% off.

The rate is Php 699.00 for weekdays lunch and Php 899.00 for dinner, weekends and holidays. Take note that their weekends include Fridays as well. I had the luxury of being invited to try out their food and it was delicious.

I love how their space is big enough to accommodate a lot of guests and it might mean that the time spent waiting for someone to finish eating might become shorter. It also has that clean, minimalist feel.

They offer ready to eat food like maki, sushi, tempura, teriyaki, etc. One of my favorites is the tempura because the coating is not soggy when left for too long. I accidentally forgot that I took some tempura so I left it a bit long but it didn't get soggy and is still crunchy unlike some that I have tried.

They also made sure safety measure are in place in this "new normal". They placed arrows on the floor for smooth flow of the people and barriers in their buffet area to prevent contamination from the virus.

photo credits to Hosaku

Now for my favorite part, their Yakiniku and Hotpot!!! Oh, plus the conveyor belt and the Hotpot machine. The thing that set this restaurant apart from others is their conveyor belt system of bringing raw food items to you. You don't need to wait for a server to notice you plus you don't need to stand up to get the food that you like for Yakiniku and Hotpot. Saves time going back and forth. You can just concentrate on eating. They are currently not using the conveyor belt for safety reasons due to the pandemic.

Another thing is that they have this hotpot machine wherein the bottom of the pot can be lifted so that the food won't get too soaked in the soup. It is also good if you are trying to find a piece of meat or balls. My personal preference though is to let them soaked through so that they will get all flavor of the soup.

Here are some of the food that they offer for Yakiniku and Hotpot. I don't really eat shell but I suggest that you still get them because they are good at enhancing the flavor of the soup.

For the soup, we got the Sukiyaki and Mala flavors. I like the Mala flavor better maybe because it tastes and smells a bit like the hotpot that we tried in Taiwan. Their Mala soup is not spicy for me although it is a bit salty. You might want to lay off in dipping sauces when eating the hotpot as it will get too salty.

Before I forget, they also pickled cucumber, kimchi, and salad. Best eaten together with grilled pork,

Last but not the least, dessert! I love the Ube Cake, it is soft and moist. Of course, the dessert won't be complete without the ice cream.

Overall verdict? I would definitely visit Hosaku International Buffet again. For the price of only Php899.00, I could already enjoy grill, hotpot and ready to eat food. Recommending this restaurant for those who loves Japanese, Korean and Chinese.