Kura Revolving Sushi Bar - Edison and Fort Lee NJ
Restaurant review
I totally get and appreciate the novelty of conveyor-belt sushi. It's exciting watching the dishes glide by. You get to pick stuff that looks good, like a buffet, but you don't have to move - the food comes to you. And with the touchscreen at each table, you get to order anything from the full menu and it is delivered via a second conveyor directly to your table. Super cool.
However: (and these are big howevers)
1. It's expensive. We had lunch for 6 people (4 adults, 2 children) and the bill came to $310. Adding a tip brought it to $360. ($60 per person). That's about double what we would have paid on a weekend at an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant. You pay $3.55 per plate, plus any extras (drinks, special orders, etc). But there's only a few bites on each tiny plate. It's not uncommon to eat 10-20 plates per person, and they add up.
2. The sushi is just not that good. I mean, it's fine. Not exceptional. Not inspired. Just fine. There's not a huge selection of either maki or nigiri either on the full menu, and there's even less on the conveyor. We had a few things that were not great (eg the takoyaki were uncooked inside). A few standouts: the wagyu nigiri was really tasty and has great smoky notes; the ramen broth is very tasty and a rival of other dedicated ramen restaurants.
3. You can't customize *anything*. Don't want the spicy mayo? Extra green onions? Allergic to sesame seeds? Too bad. There's no way to customize anything on the touchscreen. (Full disclosure, we didn't ask a human server, so maybe we could have gotten it that way )
4. The variety on the conveyor depends highly on where you are seated in the dining room. The plates are filled in the kitchen and progress in a line past every table without being refilled until they reach the kitchen again. Lowest-numbered tables eat first. (Maybe tip your host before being seated?).
** And there's no sashimi anywhere in the restaurant. So if you don't eat rice, you're pretty much SOL. **
Those are the biggest challenges i had myself.
A few other nits:
- the servers weren't as attentive as i would have liked, despite a dedicated call button on the touchscreen
- the touchscreen itself was sort of hard to access. High up above the table, it put the two people next to it responsible for the whole table's orders.
- tables fit exactly four. Don't try to bring a large group. They'll try to make it work, but it's not at all comfortable. In fact, the whole place is kind of snug.
I don't want the overall impression here to be incredibly negative. There's lots of positive here: the food is tasty, no challenges with cleanliness or decor. Everything worked - which is saying a lot given the amount of automation required to make this place work. And it's cute and clever!
Make sure you get the app to "virtually" get online otherwise you're facing 1-2 hours of waiting.
My takeaway is simple: if you like Japanese food are aren't picky about what you get (and don't have any food allergies), it's probably worth a trip for the novelty alone. But i suspect after you're done, you won't want a second visit.
Happy Eating!
