Katana Buffet — Restaurant in Jackson Township

Once upon a time this facility housed Hometown buffet and save some East Asian wall art and some backsplash tiling (and the food of course!) Everything else is unchanged-- so it will always be a great comfort to go there if only to remember times with loved ones who have passed.

The register staff is frequently curt bordering on judgemental and CERTAINLY never openly grateful or pleasant to patrons. The servers/ drink and dish attendants are hit or miss. I suspect they dont categorize them as servers so they dont have to report tips and can pocket credit card tips. This leaves those poor women confused why people DONT tip, but in this country (for legit establishments), the tip would be going to THEM, not the house- credit card or not.. it has been so sad and disheartening to see their frustration and lashing out at non-tippers for lack of language and culture comprehension facilitating their abuse. I have toyed with the idea of reporting them on so many instances because I feel out of sorts because, like most people these days, I seldom carry cash. If you are reading this, servers, I apologize that you are being taken advantage of and that it gives the impression that your patrons are greedy or unkind. Im near certain in all instances this isn't the case.

The variety, size, and consistent quality of the offerings was enough to finally beat out the longer-established rival asian buffet across the street in the last year. (RIP Buffet Dynasty, you were always my favorite... you were cheaper, always friendly, had great fried zucchini, baked crab meat, coconut shrimp, and sushi)

In counter reference to the above parenthetical praise for now a departed establishment; Katana, comparatively, IS QUITE expensive for what it is, register workers nearly always pointedly unwelcoming, and worse? They steal credit card tips from their service staff (illegal). No fried zucchini, soggy coconut shrimp due to putting canned fruit cocktail (🤮) in it. Though larger than their late competitor, they offer an underwhelming sushi bar - 3/4 of which just sits there all day untouched because it just doesn't look very appetizing. The baked crab casserole is oddly sweet, and the un-melted shredded cheese scattered on top has not been worth putting on the plate even once in retrospect. I feel it has potential if they broiled it for longer, maybe? Melt the cheese even a little??

Back to the sushi, you can only serve canned tuna sushi so many ways until it is just unnecessary and redundant. A lot of items on the bar are not labeled well nor accurately. If you want eel like I do, you are out of luck.

Positives, though? The meat offerings are honestly pretty great. An array of shrimp dishes that are nearly always piping hot and bountiful

The 'Japanese chicken' is uniquely good. Every time I have it, Im left thinking ...is this duck? They'd have to SAY it is duck, dont they? Perhaps not, but I've never had duck, so I have no frame of reference. I have never utilized their hibachi and usually defer to the 5 tables of hot and ready fare.

Coconut cream pie and sauteed mushrooms and (sometimes available kimchi) and fresh fruit always always find their way onto a plate.

Their fried fish is passable making this place a not half bad lenten option. I used to live in Cbus, where a handful of places have bottomless fish and chips. This is almost almost a decent substitute.

Final verdict? Little better than minimum effort asian buffet. Probably the nicest in the county. I will definitely be back. But please, for sake of their staff,...

Horrible Experience. Will never go back. So this was our second time visiting this establishment. It has been over a year, so I was hoping the experience would've been better. I am a DSP and help take care of three DD individuals. We decided to go after church and my son and another DSP worker were in our group. One of my individuals had an $18 gift certificate that they refused to honor, stating it has been over a year. I explained she is disabled and does not drive. I asked to speak to a manager and was told there was not one there. Then another gentleman came over and they spoke their language so I couldn't understand and refused to take the gift certificate. Well, DD individuals are on a fixed income and now my individual did not have enough money for lunch. I ended up paying for the majority of our table w/ a credit card (which I left a tip on each transaction) The other DSP worker wanted to pay with Apple Pay and they told her they would not accept that either. We wanted to leave, but since I had already had one individual pay and had paid for my son and myself- they refused to refund those transactions so I had to pay for the rest. We get out receipts and silverware and tried to head to a table not in front of the exit- but that is where they forced us to sit. So every time someone left, we were hit with the frigid air. The waitresses came to our tables to get drinks. Harassed the DSP worker (who just got a water) about seeing her receipt for water. I was under the assumption water was free- so whey they treated her treated her that way is beyond me. These waitresses stayed by our table and stared at us the entire time- so blatantly rude that even my son was shocked. The food was sub par. It just wasn't very good, especially for the price. When they brought us our fortune cookies, they pointed to the tray that had tip written on it and said tip. I wrote on a napkin that I tipped by credit card and they snatched the tray away from me. Now, I have worked in the industry before, you are not required to leave a tip. Most people do, but it is not mandatory. In the past, they chased us to the exit asking for tips. It was embarrassing of them. On that visit I also paid with a credit card and tipped there. They were rude to everyone - even the individuals. They were talking on their phones or head pieces and did not answer us when we went up to the sushi bar and hibachi. I felt very discriminated by them. We will never return and I will be sure to tell anyone who askes what a horrible place this is. I am surprised they are still in business. I...

If I could give them less than one, I would! My husband and I used to go here back in the day, and the food was good, and the service was pretty good. Well, with inflation and rising prices, the buffet was no longer in our reach to go as much as we used to. It had been 2 years since we went, but we decided to take my grandmother out for her 85th birthday there and spend the money we didn't really have much of. Well anyways, we brought my 4 year old daughter who got worn out from playing (who was falling asleep) and NEVER eats anything at buffets, she will only eat food at home (she has a sensory processing disorder so she's a bit different). Well, when we came in, we told the lady for 4.. me, my husband, grandma, and my mom. We knew my daughter would sleep through the entire thing and never would touch any food (and she didn't) anyways... the lady STILL charged us for my daughter... 5.99! Well, I didn't say much, really.... it is what it is... tried to let that go. Then the lady told us to sit ourselves.. so we did, but then another lady made us move to another table, not 2, but 3 times til it was seen fit for her where we sat... still didn't say much... but she ended up sitting with us by 3 very rude men who kept talking crap about my 4 year old daughter, who mind you WAS SLEEPING. Well, I bit my tongue on that because I dont really like conflict, and it was my grandmas birthday. Well... ate the food which has gone DOWNHILL since the last time we came a few years ago but I still didn't complain much. We were almost done eating. My husband left to take my daughter out to the car because like I said she was tired and me my mom and grandma began to leave, mind you we didn't even have time for my mom to get her purse out to leave a few dollar tip (which she always does) until TWO ladies that worked there (one who which only filled my water once and no one else at the table needed a refill) started TAPPING on a tray that had fortune cookies on it DEMANDING a tip REALLY LOUD in front of EVERYONE, before we even had time to leave a tip! It was so embarrassing!!!! My mom still gave her a tip, but I told my mom I wouldn't have even given a tip after that stunt they pulled! We will NEVER be back to Katana! And we will spread the word with how unpleasant this trip was!!! I never usually leave reviews on anything, but this was a DEALBREAKER!...