Kura Revolving Sushi Bar delivers delicious eater-tainment
“The waiting is the hardest part,” Tom Petty sang. And though it’s unlikely, the famous track actually could have been inspired by time spent at Kura Revolving Sushi Bar. The company’s been sending sushi to hungry guests in its artful, automated way since the 1970s.
It began in Japan, where this long-proven concept has more than 500 stores.
There are fewer in the States, where Kura made landfall in 2009 with a store in Irvine, California. But that number, 46 to date, is growing.
Back in August, waits at the just-opened Vineland Pointe shop often soared past two hours. On my more recent visit, the automated system estimated 57 minutes. That’s not something I’d normally tolerate, but at clean-lined and colorful Kura, particularly for a first-timer, there’s casino-level action to soak up with your sake.
Twin conveyors flow in harmony. The lower one fluid and nonstop, is loaded with offerings both authentically Japanese and created for the American palate, like the spicy garlic tempura Philadelphia roll or Premium American beef gunkan maki. Up top, an express conveyor zips made-to-order items directly to the tables.
A small army of robot servers (all called Kur-B) shuttle drinks to and fro, winking with wide eyes and blaring music as they pass. Cartoons explode on table-mounted ordering tablets. Then there’s the clattering of empty sushi plates into the slots below, a genius and B.F. Skinner-esque concept, that has guests bussing their own tables in pursuit of positive reinforcement pellets. At Kura, this comes in the form of Bikkura-pon — plastic orbs filled with popular, anime-branded goodies.
With every 15 plates (most cost $3.50 apiece), a prize is dispensed.
We only managed one between the three of us,
“but it depends on who you go with,” chuckles Robert Kluger, chief development officer for Kura Sushi USA and father of three growing boys. “For us, it’s really easy to get the prizes!”
With all this techspawned “eatertainment” going on, one might think that the food would be an afterthought. Guess again.
Hokkaido scallops. Rich, buttery negitoro. Seared eel with miso cream cheese. We scarfed from the moment we sat, which is among the pros of dining at Kura (in particular if you’ve waited). Spicy-rich and peanutty tantanmen ramen ($10.30) showed up super hot and ranked among the table’s top picks, as did the shishito salmon skin, my personal favorite of the night, with tender, charred peppers and tasty, fresh-fried salmon reminiscent of the fish collars you might enjoy at some of Orlando’s trendier izakayas.
Seriously good stuff. But is it worth the wait?
Our predicted 57-minute odyssey went to one hour and 12 minutes. Estimated wait times are calculated using average table-turn rates, but it’s not a precise science. Sometimes, it goes the other way and waits are shorter. Either way, my answer is yes.
Because with a little planning, you don’t actually have to “wait” at all.
Downloading the Kura
Sushi app allows for contactless check-in ahead of time. This means you can do your waiting at home, while shopping, or as you’re heading out from the parks.
“You can get ahead on the line without actually being there,” Kluger explains. The app, like the tablet you’ll find if you check-in in person, will notify your phone when your call time’s approaching. If you miss it, no worries, they’ll just take the next table and move you down the queue.
“It’s such a great experience eating at Kura, we don’t want anything to sour that,” he says.
The system works. Some guests meandered off to explore the shopping center during their waits. Others parked at the bar and grabbed a drink. No one complained. Not even the teenagers I brought along for the ride.
“I think this is the fullest I have ever been,” one told me. “I mean that in the best way possible.”
Indeed it was fun watching her and her bestie, scarfing everything from edamame to takoyaki, harajuku summer salad (dressed and peppered hunks of watermelon and cucumber) to the golden crunchy roll, a sweet and sticky panko-topped creation Kluger says is among the most popular in the Stateside stores.
Oh, and by the way, there’s dessert. We went with a mochi mix of matcha green tea and black sesame flavors. And lightly sweet, pleasantly squishy warabimochi ($3.50). Taiyaki ice cream, like the soup, showed up fresh and hot in its cute masu presentation. “Why is this so good?” my daughter, a seasoned taiyaki fan — we even make it at home — wondered aloud.
The funnel cake feels give it away: this taiyaki is deep-fried. Not precisely traditional.
“But, it sure is good,” says Kluger.
I can’t argue. And like the other nonconveyor items, it showed up lightning fast.
Peek behind the conveyor curtain and you’ll see this automated Oz has a larger staff than you might imagine. When the orders come through, Kluger tells me, up to 14 folks on the line are on like Donkey Kong, which would make a killer retro marketing partnership if you ask me. One that Gen-Xers might find intriguing enough to grab another plate of wagyu off the belt.
Look for Kura’s second Orlando location, this one in Waterford Lakes, to open in the spring 2024.
I can’t wait, to be honest.