Conveyor belt sushi and magical taxi stands
(Links to places are at the end of the post.)
After an endless Wednesday, we finally arrived in Narita airport on Thursday evening after a delayed departure from Montreal. The flight was as good as it could be: smooth with minimal turbulence, no screaming babies, no rude or smelly seat mates. We picked up our bags and sailed through immigration and customs. Then we headed to the trains.
I had booked the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno and the trains here never fail to impress. We picked up the tickets using the QR code, headed to the assigned car on the platform, loaded the luggage into a designated area (with its handy dandy bar that goes over the big luggage and drops back down to prevent it from sliding out), and sat down in our reserved seats for the <40 min ride to Ueno. While we waited on the platform, the cleaning crew came through to sweep the cars and we could see all the seats swivel around automatically to face the other direction for the return trip. The train had free wifi. I also noticed that they had coat hangers at every other set of seats.
In Ueno, we had no problem finding the taxi stand. There were no cabs waiting, but there was a button you could push to call for a cab. The light that was supposed to turn on was taped shut, so I followed the instructions to scan a QR code and request for pickup, The website asked for my location and said the taxi has been requested, but there was no Uber-like interface to track their arrival so I didn’t know if a cab was actually on its way.
I was getting antsy since we were already hungry and tired. In Boston, the cabs have a reputation for not being reliable. I was already planning to call the hotel for help but wasn’t sure how long to wait. However, probably not even five minutes later, a black Toyota car/van hybrid vehicle showed up. It was a customized to be a cab with plenty of room for luggage and the driver was so nice. I had the address of the hotel up in a note since I knew I wouldn’t have a prayer of reading it aloud and he was a total pro. He loaded the two bags into the back, opened the door for us (which I do remember reading about — don’t open the door, the cab driver will do it), and typed the address into the GPS. Too bad we couldn’t tip him. I was able to pay with the Suica IC card too! JPY1,200. Barely 10 dollars and worth every penny.
Our hotel, the b Asakusa, is nice and definitely newly renovated. I couldn’t find it in the older Japanese train routing apps because it had a different name and just reopened June of this year. The room is small but more than adequate. It’s got a safe, mini fridge, hair dryer, Toto hardware for the loo and shower. The toilet is the totally magical Japanese toilet with all the bidets, heated seat and some other functions I haven’t tried. I was worried Dan wouldn’t leave the hotel room, ever.
We were starving though and decided to try a revolving / conveyor belt sushi since we’ve never done it. Kura Sushi, which opened in Watertown last year and had crazy lines, has its global flagship store here in Asakusa, so I figured we couldn’t go wrong with this choice. The other place I found on the internet sounded more like a local hole-in-the-wall, which is great but probably not conveyor belt style.
It was almost comical how out of our depth we were. At first. we couldn’t find the entrance. Google directed us to the wrong side of the building because that’s what the street address is. Kura has a separate entrance around the corner and an elevator that goes straight up to the restaurant in the 4th floor. The check-in / maitre’d is a screen where you input how many are in your party and whether you’d like a booth or a counter seat. However, the screen menu has no English so we had to consult a paper guide next to it to figure out what the buttons to press. We got a ticket with a number, then waited our turn until the number came up. We checked in at another screen where we were assigned to Table #2 and we followed another electronic sign with the #2 flashing and an arrow to go seat ourselves.
The place is a slick, modern sushi factory. No one explained anything and we had to figure out how it all worked. I was getting frustrated because we sat down at our booth, found a tablet on a dock, and couldn’t get the menu up long enough to order. It turned out docked = charging. We had to pull the tablet off and put it on the table, then we were able to pick the English menu and order. Once we got going, we excitedly put in several orders: tuna, mackerel, hamachi, unagi, etc. and the computer actually had to tell us to stop while it processed the orders we had already put through.
Everything was set up to be automated. There’s a plate return slot, a hot water spout, and two cubbies cut into the table. One contained utensils and the other had a little caddy that held a pot of pickled ginger and a smaller pot of wasabi powder.
On one side of our booth were two conveyor belts. Empty plates and containers floated by on the bottom conveyor belt. We weren’t sure what that was about until our neighbor explained that perhaps it was near closing time, so they were no longer putting more items out on that level for people to take. The upper belt was zooming along delivering orders to specific tables.
The first set of sushi arrived in minutes. We were wondering if we were supposed to eat off the plates they came on then realized that the sushi was on top of two bowls. Jordan whipped out his gimbal to film the arrival of the next order and a minute later, one of the staff came over and ordered us to take our order off the belt immediately. We were holding up all the others behind it. Oops.
The biggest gaffe of the night, however, came at the end of the meal. We finally discovered the tea cups above the conveyer belts, which answered the question of where we were supposed to put the water coming out of the hot water spout. A little row of bowls with condiments passed by on the lower conveyor belt containing packets of chili oil, togarashi, and… wasabi. Then a light bulb went off: that pot of green powder next to the pot of pickled ginger? That wasn’t wasabi. It was matcha. For making tea. With the hot water. Using the tea cups. No wonder the wasabi didn’t clear our sinuses this time. 🤦🏻♀️
We took our ticket to pay the bill at yet another automated screen (it took your money and made change, if needed) and the total was JPY4,270… roughly US$28. It is by far the most inexpensive sushi we’ve ever tasted and probably one of the best in terms of variety and quality. We tried straw-grilled fish, flying squid, bonito, toro (fatty tuna), abalone, sweet shrimp, and even fugu (pufferfish) on top of the usual favorites like tuna, hamachi, and unagi. Several items were only JPY132 ($<1) per serving/piece. We were tempted to go back — it was such a bargain!
We walked around the neighborhood a bit afterwards, checking out Hoppy Street where the izakayas are and some of the alleys nearby. Don Quijote is a discount department store with four floors. I got my mom’s requested chicheria and was flabbergasted when I spent slightly more for chocolate and chips than we just did for gorging on sushi.
On the way back, we checked out the ice cream offerings at the local 7-Eleven konbini (convenience store) and brought home a couple of house-branded ice cream. They were delicious!
Despite the loooooong ass day, we went to bed at close to 2am, just because it took a while to settle down, wash up, and pull out enough clothes for three days in Tokyo.
Tomorrow, we explore.
Kura Sushi Global Flagship Store Asakusa
I’m so glad to hear you had a wonder time upon arrival in Japan for the first time in 3 decades. And I envy you too 😊