Skylon Tower Summit Suite Buffet Dining Room, Niagara Falls, Canada

The Skylon Tower restaurant offers a buffet with probably one of the most magnificent views in the world. Let me tell you right now that I have not been to this buffet - I cannot review the quality or taste of the food. As I often do, I want to share with you an unusual buffet experience - even if I have not been able to dine there.

I learned about this buffet from several people who have been to it and said how good it is. A comment was also made that it is expensive - and looking into it - yes, it is. The buffet costs $39.99 Canadian Dollars per adult and $15.00 per child for dinner. Lunch is $27.50 and $12.50 for children. So we shall set aside the price and concentrate on what you are getting - because not only are you having what I have been told is a fine buffet meal but you are also sitting in a restaurant up in the air on a tower that overlooks Niagara Falls. That alone has all buffets beat for atmosphere. There is a menu restaurant that revolves on Skylon Tower also. I do not believe that the buffet restaurant revolves - so if a revolving restaurant is not something you would enjoy (I know I would not) then give them a call before you go to make sure that the buffet restaurant is stationary and does not go around and around, no matter how slowly...

The dinner is served from 5 to 10 pm in "season". This generally means June to August, maybe September. All other times of the year there is a buffet brunch on Sundays.

The dinner includes a salad bar with mixed greens and salad toppings, a selection of prepared salads, mixed seafood salads, and Marinated Gravelax. Entrees on the buffet are Whole Poached Fresh Salmon, Crab Legs, Baby Shrimp with Seafood Sauce, Roast Prime Rib of Beef au Jus, a changing chicken entree, a pasta entree, rice pilaf, roasted potatoes, and assorted fresh vegetables.

On the dessert table there are assorted cheeses (this is very continental to have cheese for dessert), fresh fruit salad, fresh strawberries, and assorted cakes and pastries. I can't be more specific as I have not been there.

The beverage that is included with the buffet is coffee, tea, or milk. No unlimited sodas here.

The lunch buffet is exactly the same as the dinner offerings at the lower price and is served from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm.

With dinner you get free admission to the Skylon Tower attraction and also free admission to the indoor and outdoor observation decks. These have separate admissions to the general public so if you were planning on seeing this attraction on the Canadian side of the Falls then your dinner or lunch buffet is more reasonably priced as it includes those admissions.

Reservations are recommended and you can make them on their website which is listed at the side of this page.

The Summit Suite Buffet Dining Room is located in the Skylon Tower, 5200 Robinson Street, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada L2G 2A3 Phone 1-905-356-2651 and Toll Free in North America 1-877-4SKYLON (1-877-475-9566).

If any of our readers have dined here, please comment.

Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant, Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)

I came across this restaurant through a video and I am going to share that video with you as we go along. The Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant located in Vancouver, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada offers, in addition to menu offerings, an all you can eat or should I say all you care to eat menu. The uniqueness of this is that it is served to you by waitresses who - as you will see - bring a large variety and quantity of Japanese foods - with an emphasis on sushi - to your table.

Now, as always when I have not been to a restaurant myself - and it is unlikely that I am ever going to get to British Columbia - I am writing without first hand experience of the restaurant, but I have been able to get a number of opinions about this restaurant and I will share those also as we go along.

The restaurant offers the all you can eat meal from Monday through Sunday for lunch from 11:30 am to 3:00 pm and for dinner from 5:00 pm to Midnight. The price is what is most notable here. Dinner for adults is $22.95 (CD) and lunch for adults is $9.95 (CD). Weekends and holidays add another dollar to the price. Now, if you like to eat late night go after 9:30 pm and the adult price drops to $12.95. There are children's prices as well. Now, these prices are exceptionally good for a Japanese all you can eat restaurant. Please be aware that the late night offerings and the lunch offerings are much limited from the dinner offerings. The price is less, but so is the selection.

Ordering is done off a menu and by number. You tell the server what you want and she brings it. The only soup is Miso soup and there are a few salads to select, but you are not coming here for the soup or the salad. You are coming here for the sushi, sashimi, cones, rolls and maki. Again, you select the what you would like the waitress to bring and it is brought to you. In addition to the raw fish, there is also udon, teriyaki, tempura, dumplings, fried rolls, bbq, and motoyaki. Desert is limited to jello and mango pudding.

The best way to know what you will get at this restaurant is to see it and for the first time I offer this video, courtesy of you-tube. Hopefully, this link will survive. You can see first hand the layout of the restaurant, the appearance of the food and what some of the selections are. There does not look like there is enough room on the table for all that is brought and keeps on coming.

So how is the food? The majority of opinions on the food here is that it is very good. Many say that they go regularly and first-timers say that they cannot wait to go back.

There are a few complaints that need noting. Not all of the waitresses speak English well and communication with some can be a problem - though this seems to be managed. Some say that the service is slow and I must say that if that is the case in an all you can eat situation where the servers bring your food that can be a problem - and again, others say no problem getting what they wanted. Cleanliness of the restrooms was questionable for some, but no comments that there was any problem in the dining room.

This looks really interesting. While I have been to Japanese buffets where the food is served traditional buffet-style, I would like to try one where the food is brought out like this. Another Japanese restaurant that I have written about in Hawaii does this type of serving as well. It always looks intriguing. But as I have said a number of times in the past - the experience is only as good as the serving staff who must be attentive to your wants and needs in this type of restaurant.

There is a second location of this restaurant in Richmond, British Columbia. At this location only there is a lite all you can eat menu called the Hot Pot. There is a note at the Richmond location that all food ordered must be eaten or menu prices will be charged for each dish that is left over. I am not certain that this applies to both locations - but it would not surprise me. There is also a note that there is a two hour dinner time limit per table.

The Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant is located at #201-1128 West Broadway, Vancouver BC V6H 1G5. Their phone number is (604) 677-0434. They do take reservations. There is also a website and that is linked at the side of this page.

If you have been to Tomokazu please leave a comment and share how you liked it and help out our readers! Thanks!

FRANKIE TOMATTO'S ALL YOU CAN EAT ITALIAN FEAST, Toronto, Canada

Mama Mia! I actually found a real Italian buffet! Many readers ask me where there is an Italain buffet. Other than restaurants and buffets that may have an Italian buffet menu night and other than pizza buffets (which are more American than Italian) I have never come across a full time Italian Buffet - until now! Right off, I must thank who connected me to this buffet. It is a great young man by the name of David, who just happens to be my nephew. We don't often get to see him but we had the wonderful opportunity to get together with him recently and I was telling him about this site and asking him if he knew of any buffets. He went on a teen tour last summer and on the tour he went to Frankie Tomatto's All You Can Eat Italian Feast. He told me about it and I then found the restaurant's website - which by the way is quite an experience in itself! Now, as I always make clear if I am writing an article about a restaurant that I have not personally been to, what I am writing here is based upon all of the information that I have been able to learn, BUT I have not actually dined there. In this case, David did eat there and I can, through him, comment on the food.

So - Frankie Tomatto's All You Can Eat Italian Feast is in Canada. It is located in Markham, Ontario which is very near, if not in, Toronto. The restaurant's building looks on the outside like the Coliseum in Rome. The website has a virtual tour of the entire restaurant so I feel like I have actually been inside. When you enter you are in a lobby area that looks like an Italian area in a theme park. You are transported to rustic Italy - but more of a fun fantasy Italy than the real thing. The dining rooms are similar in decor with walls that are made to look like exterior ancient building walls - all of it looks like a lot of fun! Different rooms have different Italian fun themes. There are ten different dining rooms. The buffet serving areas in this restaurant are set up to be a marketplace. This was the first thing that came to mind when David was telling me about it. You go up to different sections for different types of foods.

Pricing at Frankie Tomatto's is on the mid-level of the buffets that we usually talk about it. It is not a buffet where you will eat dinner for $10 or $11 - though few are any more. All prices are in Canadian Dollars. With the recent currency exchange they are more in US Dollars. Dinner here Monday to Thursday is $14.99. Lunch on weekdays is $10.99. Friday dinner is $17.99. Saturday dinner is $18.99. Sunday dinner is $17.99. Holidays dinner is $18.99. There is lunch on Saturday for $12.99. There is no lunch on Sunday but there is Brunch and that is $14.99. They also list late night prices - weeknights $10.99, Friday/Saturday $13.99, and Early bird Fridays for $12.99. There are reasonable children's prices - half price for three to eleven, two and under are $1.99. Seniors over 65 get a 15% discount at all times. While I am sure a variety of beverages are served, there is no mention of beverage prices on the website.


The buffet is scattered along "Main Street" where there are fourteen different food stations. Oh yes, fourteen! They state that the food is made in small quantities and right in front of you at each food station so that everything is always hot and fresh. You are encouraged to try a little of this and a little of that and eat all that you care to eat.

Let's start with the Seafood Station. Here you will find mussels marinara, calamari, seafood pasta, baked salmon, seafood polenta, and Atlantic sole. Next door you come to the Rotisserie. Here you may have spit chicken, cacciatore, roast potatoes, chicken and veal Parmesan, roast veal, and Italian sausage with peppers and onions. The next station is called Ortaggi - get ready for fresh grilled vegetables, eggplant Paresan, rice Italiano, potato rosti, seasonal vegetables, and frittata. (I have to stop for a moment and tell you that I am only at the first three of the fourteen stations and I already want to make arrangements to get to this restaurant as fast as I can - my mouth is watering as I write!) Ok - moving on. The stations are grouped in threes - three "stalls" in a building - and they all look like buildings on an Italian alley way. You come to the next building and find the Carvery at the corner. Here the meat selection that is being carved appears to change and one of these items will be available - roast sirloin, turkey, baked stuffed salmon, roast lamb, glazed ham, or roast veal. Next door - pasta! Pasta specialties are made in front of you and the selections vary. Of course, if you have pasta there has got to be meatballs - and the Meatballs Station follows with linguine, Italian Meatballs, alfredo sauce, and vongole (clam sauce) and tomato sauce. Across the way is the Zuppa Station with homemade soups and their special Minestrone soup. Next to the soup is the Antipasti Station with peel and eat shrimp, Italian salads, marinated olives, and more. The order of these shops are not in the order of eating (at least as they are presented on the website). Dessert stations come up next with Spumoni's Gelato Bar with 16 flavors of ice cream, gelato, and Italian ices. Next door is Maria's Pasticceria with sweets, cakes, pies, puddings and all types of Italian specialties. Across the way from here is Pizza with all types of fresh made pizzas. Across the aisle again is Frutta with fresh fruits in season. Next door from the fruit is the Bakery. In the Bakery you will find fresh baked Italian breads, rolls, buns, focaccia, and calabrese rolls. Just in case you wanted salad other than the antipasti, there is a station called Insalada that makes the specialty Caesar salad along with other fresh salads. The Caesar salad is made in front of you. Yes - fourteen stations! Oh my!

Is that enough? Yes... but there is more! There are specials on certain days and they are offered ALL day. Tuesdays bring all you can eat crab legs! Thursdays they are grilling steaks! Fridays are special Seafood selections! Kids eat free on Mondays. On Wednesdays Seniors get a buy one adult dinner and get one FREE. There are specials on birthdays but appears that you pay for these - either $4.99 or $6.99 (it is not clear) for birthday packages. This seems to include spinning a large tomato wheel and winning a prize and getting a number of extras including photographs, hats, and a special chocolate cake that looks like a pizza slice. The whole birthday explanation is on two pages and I am still not certain what it is all about. (It does not look like you are getting a discount or a free meal - but perhaps I am wrong. It does appear that you are paying for a birthday package.)

Frankie Tomatto's does take reservations and can accommodate large parties - with reservations. Reservations are accepted for parties of two to two hundred.

So how is the food? I am reporting on the the food based upon the report that I have from my nephew, David. Now, David is sixteen years old but for his age he has dined with his parents in many very fine restaurants. I feel that we can trust his opinion on the food and he said that it was very good. If any of my readers have been to Frankie Tomatto's I ask that you leave a comment with this article.

I am not only intrigued by this buffet, I am dying to go! It sounds terrific! And the report to me (from David) is that it is terrific. So if you live in Canada near Toronto you are all set! If you are in the US, go now and check that your passport is current and head north over the border. This is a destination buffet! Mangia! Mangia!

Frankie Tomatto's All You Can Eat Feast is located at 7225 Woodbine Avenue in Markham, Ontario L3RIA3. Directions on their site say that from 401 take exit 404 North to the Steeles/Woodbine exit - or from 407 exit Woodbine South and they are two lights north from Steeles. The phone number is 905-940-1900. There is a website - that is an experience all on its own - and the link is at the side of this page.