Is the all-you-can-eat KFC buffet in Tokyo really as good as they say it is?

KFC buffet includes dishes you won’t find anywhere else.

Did you know KFC has an all-you-can-eat buffet in Japan? In fact, it doesn’t just have one, it has three, with one in Tokyo, one in Nagoya, and one in Osaka, the latter of which was the first to open back in 2015.

Our reporter Yui Imai has been keen to visit the KFC buffet in Tokyo to find out if it lived up to the hype, and she finally got a chance to put it to the test last month, when she arrived at the restaurant at 9:55 a.m. on a weekday, five minutes before numbered tickets were officially issued for the day.

▼ Tickets are issued from 10 a.m. on weekdays and 9:45 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.

Entry takes place in numerical order, so even if you line up when the ticket issuing commences, there’s a chance you won’t be eating until after midday, depending on how many people are ahead of you. Despite arriving five minutes early, Yui was 18th in line, which shows just how popular the buffet is, so you’ll want to keep this in mind when visiting.

Weekday lunchtime prices are 2,480 yen (US$16.78) for adults (junior high school students and older), 1,080 yen for elementary school students, 540 yen for children under elementary school age, and free for children 3 and under. Surprisingly, all-you-can-drink soft drinks are included in the price, which makes it an even better deal.

Thankfully, Yui didn’t have to wait and strolled right in to the bright and spacious seating area.

She made sure to sit close to the buffet, which was yet to be overrun by ravenous diners.

Wasting no time in grabbing a plate to begin her feast, Yui made a beeline for the fried chicken pieces, which were hard to distinguish from each other without comparing their shapes to the signs above the display.

After plucking out a couple of pieces of fried chicken, Yui was excited to see other familiar items around her, like nuggets, Colonel Crispies, and biscuits, which you can slather with as much honey maple syrup as you like.

▼ There are also dishes that are only available here, such as steamed potatoes, Cajun chicken, garlic rice, pasta….

▼ …and soup curry, which is designed to be eaten with the Colonel’s original chicken, as a dipping sauce.

At the salad bar you can find lots of fresh vegetables to cut through all the fat, and there’s even the chain’s special coleslaw. Next to the salad section are other options like corn soup, onion soup, and mini croissants.

In the sweets corner, there are mini cakes, jellies, and fruit punch, which will make you wonder if you’re still at KFC. 

When it comes to buffets, Yui prefers to see them as an opportunity to try a wide variety of food rather than an excuse to overindulge, so she started conservatively.

Everything was delicious, but what really stood out for Yui was the fried chicken and soup curry combination. She decided to follow the store’s recommendation to dip her chicken into the curry while eating it, which was a great choice as it was spicier than usual, adding a good kick of heat to the meat

Yui is no longer a spring chicken so on her second trip to the buffet she grabbed only a few small portions of food, including one last piece of fried chicken, with a cup of corn soup on the side.

As she headed back to the buffet for dessert, Yui passed a group of students who had their plates piled high with fried chicken, making her long for the days when she could eat with such carefree abandon. While those days might now be behind her, she always has enough gusto for dessert, so she followed the staff’s recommendation to add soft serve ice cream to her biscuit, and picked up a cup of coffee as well.

She also enjoyed some coffee jelly, lemon jelly, and fruit, which completed her 80-minute all-you-can-eat meal.

Yui was suitably impressed with everything on offer at the buffet, deeming it to be well worth the hype. However, the big question remained..did Yui get her money’s worth from the all-you-can-eat deal? Well, using the menu on the official KFC website as reference, she checked the prices of everything she ate and compared it to her meal.

・Original chicken 3 pieces — 930 yen
・Colonel Crispy 1 piece — 290 yen
・Coleslaw (small) — 290 yen
・Fries (small) — 290 yen
・Biscuit — 290 yen

According to these rough calculations, Yui’s meal came to a total of 2,090 yen, which fell short of the 2,480 yen she paid for it. However, considering she hadn’t accounted for the soup curry, sweets and coffee, she figured she probably came out just about even at the end of the day.

Yui might not have eaten much, but when she left the restaurant she did so without a bellyache, which, by her estimates, is a result you can’t put a price on. Whether you choose to go all out or rein it in like Yui did, you won’t be disappointed with a trip to the KFC buffet!

Restaurant information
KFC Restaurant / KFCレストラン
Inside Minami Machida Grandberry Park / 南町田グランベリーパーク駅
Address: Tokyo-to, Machida-shi, Tsuruma 3-4-1
東京都町田市鶴間3-4-1
Hours: 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (lunch) 5:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. (dinner; last order 8:30 p.m.)
Prices vary on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and dinner times so check the website for details
Website

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