Sora Sushi & Seafood Buffet — Restaurant in Natick

After 21 years, Minado Restaurant closed its doors on September 10, 2024. With the grand opening of Sora Sushi & Seafood Buffet on April 21, 2025, I was curious to see if they’d recapture Minado’s former glory.

The result? A mixed experience.

Those familiar with the nearby Hungry Pot might notice some similarities—both restaurants share the same management, which initially boosted my excitement for Sora’s opening.

Parking is straightforward, thanks to a large, shared lot spanning several businesses. The newly updated sign is bright and eye-catching, a refreshing upgrade from Minado’s subdued, easy-to-miss signage.

Inside, the restaurant features a glossy, marble waiting area. My wife and I arrived at 8:30 PM, avoiding the typical rush when lines stretch outside. We were promptly seated, but quickly encountered our first issue: our server didn’t seem to speak or understand much English. Asking for hot water or even a Coke proved challenging (though it turns out they serve Pepsi anyway).

The dining area itself has undergone some noticeable renovations. Gone are the dividers between tables, creating a more open atmosphere. Personally, I didn’t mind the change, though some diners who prefer more privacy might miss the partitions. Hungry Pot’s signature squiggly lights illuminate the space pleasantly without being harsh.

The buffet layout remains largely the same, split into sushi selections on the left and hot food dishes on the right. Arriving late meant minimal lines, and I quickly grabbed everything I wanted—including the coveted ginger scallion lobster—before others noticed. The sushi area differed slightly from the preview images, with sashimi presented in large piles rather than individual portions.

Before visiting, I noticed several negative reviews criticizing bland food, so my expectations were tempered. Also, a lot of food was mislabeled, echoing my earlier complaint of our waiter not seeming to understand English.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by most of my selections: • Pork Spare Ribs: Tender, juicy, and lightly glazed with a sweet sauce. • Snow Crab Legs: Perfectly cooked, easy to crack open and extract the meat. • Cheesy Mussels: Enjoyable, though notably not as good as Minado’s version. • Fried Shell-on Shrimp (with head): Crispy, lightly salted, flavorful—but still not quite matching Minado’s. • Blue Shell Crab: A delightful surprise. Sweet and tasty meat as expected • Stone Crab (halved): Oddly crumbly texture; I honestly wasn’t sure how to eat this. • Korean Galbi: Tough and disappointing—not recommended. • Salt & Pepper Frog’s: Surprisingly delicious, strongly recommended. • Hokkigai (Surf Clam Sashimi): Another unexpected highlight; I kept going back for more. and so many more...

I didn’t sample the sushi rolls, but visually there appeared to be fewer options than Minado previously offered, and the rolls seemed to use extra rice (possibly a tactic to fill diners faster).

The dessert area sparked mixed feelings. There’s a variety of cakes and a freezer filled with popsicles, Melona bars, and single-serving ice cream cups. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived, the Melona bars had run out. I found myself missing Minado’s original soft-serve machine, which previously offered vanilla, matcha, or a combination.

Service was mediocre. Despite clearly placing my empty cup near the table’s edge, our server walked by multiple times without offering a refill until explicitly prompted. Considering it was their opening day, though, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt—perhaps everyone was...

Please play Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” while reading:

When Sora Sushi was annouced it would be replacing Minado following its aburpt closure my wife and I were excited that we would be able to continue our monthly tradation that we built over sixteen years.

We decided to give it a couple weeks after opening and went this past Friday. The interior was renovated*, the entryway felt bigger and the dining room was bright with lots of LEDS. The layout was more/less the same except booths have been added on the sides. Like Minado waitstaff asked the number of people in your party, what kind of drink you wanted and let you proceed to the buffet.

Naturally we went to the sushi line first, but not all the items were out yet. That was okay, even Minado wouldn’t have all the sushi out at opening. However, the selection was definitely not as diverse or anything unique. In my opinion sashimi pieces were cut way too large and should have been a bit smaller. The presentation was good, but that’s where it ended. I will agree and echo that the sushi was bland and flavorless. Myself not my wife could put our fingers on it but something was just missing from the sushi. Seasoning? Rice Vinegar? Not even the bright green wasabi or peeled ginger helped.

When it came to the hot food I needed to keep reminding myself that this was a Chinese buffet and not a Japanese buffet.

I grabbed a little bit of everything: butterfly shrimp, pork ribs, shrimp cocktail, potstickers (dumplings), breaded chicken wings, spring rolls, lo mein noodles, mixed rice and a chicken stir fry. No matter what I ate they all lacked flavor. The steak on skewers were just seared flat beef steak on a sitck and the pork ribs just lightly basted with a BBQ sauce? (I really couldn't tell what I was tasting.)

I was hoping desserts would be a redeeming treat, but somehow the desserts were underwelming. I had a piece of chocolate cake, but it was clearly from frozen. As I pulled my cake to the plate the top layer frosting all lifted up leaving my cake nearly naked.

I hate putting a new place down, especially when it's just opened. While the prices are cheaper the quality is not there.

Truthfully, even on a BAD DAY at Minado the food was still much, much better.

If you were a longtime fan of Minado I recommend you skip Sora Sushi.

*The Men's room was in serious need of a renovation before Minado closed. I was shocked to see at Sora only the urinals were changed out. The rest of the Men's room was exactly the same.

I miss Miando.

Update: 5/10/25: Sign on door says it’s Temporarily Closed (pictured). I went by again to see if there was a reason why because a couple reviews has some concerning comments about food making...

We were incredibly sad to lose Minado, but we had to try the replacement which was Sora. Our party consisted of 5 patrons, (6 including a child that was not eating).

At 5PM on a Saturday, the line was about 100 people deep, in and outside the door. How can a restaurant pack people in their establishment like sardines, yet they can't even install dividers to make proper lines at the entrance? People were standing shoulder to shoulder until names were called. No seats available at all. One person in our party was on crutches and was forced to wait in the car for this exact reason.

The overall ambiance was overcrowded and very loud. I did not enjoy the amount of people that were crammed into the restaurant. Every which way you turned, someone was there. Difficult to navigate through..

Food was good, not great. Still missing a lot of the Minado specialties. I love that they offer snow crab, oysters, and bits of lobster. The short ribs did not have much meat on them, they were more bone than meat. The sushi was good, but I did not get to sample much due to the empty trays. It was far too busy for the staff to keep up with the demand. Some of the sashimi I found to be tough and inedible. (Yellow-Tail)

I enjoyed the self-serve beverage and dessert stations. There were several options to choose from and you could pick whatever you'd like and take it back to the table. Right away, I noticed people taking canned/bottled beverages, as well as ice-creams to go. Desserts consisted of ice-cream bars, cakes, pastries, and fruit. I grabbed my daughter an ice-cream cup since she had just come along to be with the group, but was not eating. I didn't think it was that big of a deal since we saw people grabbing whatever they wanted and walked out the door with it. They ended up charging us $3 additional dollars for a ice-cream treat since she was not included in our group. (It was like a hoodsie size cup).

They were pushy with the bill. One person in our party had a credit card, and the rest of us had cash. We told them to put $50 on the credit card, and we would pay the rest in cash. They ended up putting the whole bill on the credit card, despite telling them three times, what the instruction was. I believe there is definitely some language barrier issues. They don't deserve a 15%-20% tip for clearing a few plates off the table. You pretty much serve yourself the entirety of the meal, including drinks and desserts.... and for them to be petty about one little ice-cream cup for a child, didn't really leave a good taste...