We went to the local branch of the cheap “conveyor belt” sushi family restaurant chain known as Kappa Sushi last night. It seemed like the whole town had the same idea as it was packed. Naoko said it was on account of the heat (no one, including my mother-in-law, apparently wanted to spend anytime in the kitchen) and that it was the last day of summer vacation for some folks.
The Kappa Sushi chain of sushi restaurants is about as low on the totem pole of sushi restaurants as you can go, every plate is 100 yen, the staff are exclusively high school students whose high-pitched voices fill the loudspeakers, there are way too many kids running around, and the sushi is, well, fairly pedestrian. I suspect most folk would say the sushi is barely edible. If you tell other Japanese you went to Kappa Sushi, they usually respond down their noses with derision. But frankly the place suits me just fine. With four mouths to feed (Kaika for now just a spectator, as the above photo shows), the price is right, and honestly, for me the sushi is just fine. Their draught beer hits the spot dead on too.
(A few more photos, all taken with the cellphone, are here.)
My experience with Japanese sushi has been fairly mixed. I’ve been to probably 30 kaiten sushi places and maybe 8 counter types. I’ve only been happy with about 3 of the counter types and about 15 of the kaiten types. Given that the ratio of hit and miss is better for my kaiten experience and given that kaiten is usually about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of counter I’m happier with kaiten sushi most of the time 🙂
Maybe part of it is if I go to kaiten I can choose exactly what I want but when I go to counter I feel compelled to “omakase” (leave it to the chef to recommend). Invariably the chef will pick 2 or 3 kinds I could do without. Pretty much all of the white fleshed fishes don’t really do it for me.
I’m with you GMan, I love sushi to death but I really don’t enjoy eating at sit down places, which are invariably more expensive as well. I just don’t like ordering up front, and then having it all arrive at the same time. I must say I’ve never done “omakase,” for sure I’d end up with some ikura and uni and well, I find those types of sushi rather unpalatable.
There’s something more contemplative about kaiten-sushi joints (conveyor belt sushi restaurants), I love just watching the plates go round and round. By the way, since you live here, might I recommend the best kaiten-sushi place IMHO, Waka-Taka in Ikebukuro. 130 yen/plate (all), huge thick slices of fish. Special Otoro hours (2-4pm, 9-11pm) too.
It looks like the coolest place EVER to me!!!! 🙂 Beep!