For the first time in at least 25 years, I went to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant this weekend, right here in St. Louis!
If you’ve ever played the game Sushi Go (or Sushi Roll), it’s emulating the Japanese kaiten-zushi experience: While you sit in the restaurant, plates of sushi move past you on a conveyor belt, and you claim–and eat–the sushi you want. At the end of the meal, you pay by the plate.
A conveyor belt sushi place called Sakatanoya recently opened in the Loop in St. Louis, and we went there with some friends on Sunday for lunch. We loved it! I like trying a lot of different dishes when I eat, so this was perfect for variety. Also, food was available on the conveyor belt as soon as we sat down, so we were eating almost immediately.
We could also order non-sushi dishes from a tablet at the table, and they would appear a few minutes later on a robot moving above the conveyor belt, stopping at our seat. When you’re done with a plate, you feed it into a little machine at the table that adds it to your bill. There’s a toy factor to it that makes it fun, but also really efficient.
As for the food, it was good sushi! Every dish is covered with a translucent lid to give it a veil of freshness as it reaches you.
I will definitely be returning to Sakatanoya in the future. Many of the tables were full at lunch, but we didn’t need the reservation we made. I passed by at dinnertime recently, though, and it was packed–I’d definitely recommend reservations then.
Have you ever tried conveyor belt sushi?
Jamey,
Yes, 100%! The first time was in San Francisco years ago, but most recently in both D.C. and my hometown of Philly. I enjoy the fact that you can take as many (or as few) plates as you want. My wife and I had visited a restaurant with friends from VA who have five children, and they thoroughly enjoyed “feeding” the machine.
Cheers,
Joe
I’m glad you had the chance to try it too! 🙂