kaiten sushi in japan,

hm going on a trip to japan and would really like to go to a kaiten sushi place, ie. going around on a conveyor

to anyone who's been to one before, i know they often have time limits, at the end do they automatically know and kick you out/calculate cost? or should you check yourself and make sure you're out on time.

Time limits only apply to Tabehodai (all you can eat) and Nomihodai (all you can drink) meal sets and restaurants. They will keep track of the time and let you know when you are almost finished usually by asking you for your last order. They don't kick you out when you're done, but people don't often linger at restaurants after they are finished eating.

I have heard of Kaiten Sushi that was all you can eat but I have never experienced it. Typical Kaiten Sushi is not all you can eat though, so I wouldn't worry about time limits.

Mel,

I've never been to or heard of a kaiten-zushi place that had a time limit. You leave when you have had enough. Usually, someone will come over and count the number of plates and give you the bill. At some hi-tech places, you post your empty plates into a slot for them to be counted automatically.

Not related to all you can eat, however, there IS a kaiten sushi shop in Shibuya that is lined up with people and IMPOSES a time limit!

I believe it is 30 minutes and each person needs to order a minimum 7 dishes. If you continue to eat you can stay, but they do monitor you strictly.... we we found out...

We got kicked out once right on the dot but quiet frankly, that shop's sushi is not that great.

Most kaiten sushi shops in Japan aren't that great at all. The rice are pre-made by machines and rock solid and cold. Fish is cut so thin you could barely taste it.

Out of all the things I experienced and ate in Japan, kaiten sushi shops probably disappointed me the most.

This made me laugh. First of all you're not Japanese so they most likely won't kick you out. If they try just act like you can't understand them. Sad I know, anyway I've never been to a place where they kick you out. Most places have different colored plates and are tallied up, or have an auto counter. Don't worry, if you have such a question about your visit, I'm sure you have most of everything else figured out and you'll be okay! Enjoy your sushi!

I have only been to a few kaiten zushi places but all of them had actual chefs making the sushi in front of us, the rice wasn't machine pressed and the chef would take orders if you couldn't see what you wanted on the belt.

Maybe smaller individually owned places in the suburbs are better than the chains in the respect.

Sira wrote:

Maybe smaller individually owned places in the suburbs are better than the chains in the respect.

Price is usually a pretty good indicator. If it is a "100 yen per plate" place, then you can guarantee that untrained staff hidden from view will be plopping barely defrosted slivers of fish onto machine-pressed rice. Pay more and you get decent sized sushi prepared by a trained sushi chef in front of you.

Just to clarify, I did write that 'most' kaiten sushi shops have rice pre-made by machines.

You might see chefs slicing fish and putting them on the rice. Some of the rice balls are pre-made and hidden from view.

The other variation is, even if the nigiri sushi rice aren't made by machines, some shops still use the machine to make rice for the gunkan variety of sushis. They then wrap the nori around it.

Having said that, I'm not saying all of them are like that. Like Dave said, the price is a good indication.

I just invited by Japan friend 21 march 08 to try 100 Y sushi big restaurant at Keio Building Shinagawa ( Accross Shinagawa station ). It is modernized kairen sushi, fresh . You can put special order menu by lcd monitor . Worth to try with reasonable price. Automated interface.

I've tried the JPY100 per plate and as many have said the quality is not worth it. In fact I and a bunch of my friends got ill from one of them after a binge...not sure if it was the sushi or the sake ;-) Perhaps the experience of seeing the sushi go around is enough and compensates for the quality (lack of). Now there is a very good chain "SUSHIZANMAI" and I know of 1 in Shibuya and I think there is 2 in Roppongi. One in Roppongi (along Roppongi Dori) is the best. The quality is fantastic, the atmosphere is loud and the price is reasonable. For around JPY3,000 per person you can eat fantastic quality sushi and have a few sake's as well. Salmon is only JPY98 for example...So I'd recommend there for sure.
Enjoy!

While I don't necessarily agree that you should skip 100 yen sushi, I think it is worth checking out better places. Most of the 100 yen sushi I've had was on par to what you'll find outside of Japan. The quality if ok, but there is better. Some of the chain kaiten sushi have good quality food. But if you just need a quick cheap meal then 100 yen sushi is a good option.

I found a kaiten restaurant I like and go there almost every week. Sometimes twice a week. I don't have deep pockets though.

You can find them all over the place if you look...
The ones I have been to didn't have a time limit. The plates were color coded by price and when we went to leave a worker just added it up and that was it.

As posted above time limits are usually for tabihodai/nomihodai and when I have done all you can eat at other resturants they almost always had the time on a paper or recipt they let at the table and would come around like 10 minutes before and tell us.