Samurai Japanese Restaurant, New Haven

First of all, you have to understand that this restaurant, like most Japanese restaurants in this area, is run by a lovely Chinese family; they're not Japanese. So, if you're looking for traditional, authentic Japanese food, you won't find it here. With the exception of NYC, authentic mom and pop Japanese restaurants are extremely hard to find anywhere on the East Coast. The fare here has a distinctly Chinese influence. However, none of this translates into a bad restaurant. You just have to understand what you're getting and modify your expectations accordingly. It's clean, it's quick, it's affordable, the staff is very nice and accommodating, the building is charming, and the food is tasty. It's not fine dining, but what more can you ask for in this price range? They now have an all you can eat menu, which includes a good selection of sushi as well as hot and cold dishes. The best thing of all is that it's NOT a buffet. Everything is made to order. How can you beat $18 on weekdays and $20 on weekends for all that? This place is good at getting the theater crowd in and out quickly. Just make sure to let them know up front.