Sushiro, budget-friendly in Japan, is adding private rooms and full-course meals as it arrives in America for the first time.
Among Japan’s major kaiten/revolving sushi restaurant chains, Sushiro has the most passionate fans. Pretty much wherever a new Sushiro branch opens, you can expect crowds of sushi lovers looking to grab a seat at peak dining times, and this fall, for the first time, that’s probably going to be happening in America too.
Sushiro is just a few weeks away from opening its first-ever U.S. branch, and it’s not timidly testing the waters with a low-key launch in a low-competition market. Instead, it’s starting its American endeavor in New York’s Times Square.
▼ Though it was probably based more on real estate availability than issuing a direct challenge, America’s first Sushiro is located right next door to a McDonald’s.
Sushiro is leaning into its legacy of success in promoting the new restaurant, billing itself in English as the “world’s #1 sushi brand.” And yes, in some ways the preview images look similar to Sushiro branches in Japan, with large monitors near the entrance displaying the call numbers of parties whose tables are ready, and horizontally oriented touch panels with images of sushi digitally flowing by which can be tapped on to place orders.
However, there are a number of ways in which dining at Sushiro in the U.S. is going to be very different from eating at the chain’s restaurants in Japan. For one thing, Sushiro America appears to be trying to position itself as a much more premium dining destination. A two-piece plate of maguro (tuna) sushi, for example, will cost you 180 yen at Sushiro in Tokyo. In New York, though, a plate of maguro will cost US$5, equivalent to roughly 800 yen.
Granted, restaurant prices are higher in general in America than they are in Japan, and the current exchange rate makes the gap feel even bigger. That said, assuming a person were to eat five plates of maguro, that 900 yen would still be considered a rather modestly priced restaurant meal in Japan, whereas a $25 meal in the U.S., while not a major luxury in today’s economy, isn’t a particularly thrifty meal either. There’s also the fact that the New York Sushiro’s maguro will actually be cheaper than its other types of sushi, which will be priced at 6, 8, or 10 dollars a plate.
Further signs of Sushiro’s upscale American dream can be found in the New York branch’s private rooms, something not seen in chain revolving sushi restaurants in Japan. Located on a separate level of the restaurant from the other diners, each room has swanky minimalist décor and its own refined name, such as “Sho Chiku Bai,” “Wabi Sabi,” or “Yama Kawa Umi.”
If you’re wondering where the lanes that whisk your food to you are hidden in these private rooms, there aren’t any. Sushro says that these rooms provide patrons with “a Japanese private dining experience featuring a curated prix fixe course menu.”
That doesn’t mean no care will be given to the main dining area’s automatically delivered dishes, though, and Sushiro boasts that customers will be able to choose from some 200 menu items. Some of these will be original creations crafted specifically to cater to American tastes, such as a double-cheeese shrimp roll and marinated salmon with cream cheese.
▼ It’s also kind of unusual that Sushiro America is trying to make “Eat ‘til you drop” its catchphrase. Not only is the chain not known for large portions, the Japanese phrase kuidaore, which literally means “eat until you drop,” is already associated with the city of Osaka and its food culture as a whole, not just Sushiro’s Osaka-based parent company.
But while the Sushiro experience in America is going to have some differences from the one in the chain’s home country, there is one surprising way it’s going to be just like in Japan. The management has put the word out that the New York Sushiro will have a no-tipping policy, with the announcement being greeted with a round of applause by attendees at a preview event, reflecting a growing sense of fatigue among American consumers towards gratuities.
Sushiro’s New York branch is slated to open sometime this coming October.
Source: Nitele News via Hachima Kiko, Jiji, FNN Prime Online, Sushiro USA
Top image: Sushiro USA
Insert images: Sushiro USA (1, 2, 3)
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