Craving sushi, but want to try it with a fun twist? Kura Revolving Sushi Bar located at 2130 Sawtelle Blvd Unit 111, Los Angeles, CA 90025 offers customers the opportunity to grab their favorite dishes from a conveyor belt. Sushi and other food options are covered by plastic domes as they continuously circulate around the restaurant and patrons are taught the method of opening them once seated. After instructions are given or confirmed for returners, people wait for the dish they want to pass by their table and grab them up before the dishes travel out of reach.
The front area of Kura, where customers wait their turn to be called in after placing their name on the waitlist. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
Customers are called in to the restaurant after waiting for some time. Kura Revolving Sushi Bar often has longer wait times, but offers a unique dining experience. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
A variety of sushi is placed on the rotating conveyer belt and traveled through the restaurant for customers to reach for. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
A patron grabs a red dragon roll from the plastic domes as they circulate around the conveyor belt. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
If a dish is missed, customers can either wait for it to circulate back once more or order straight from the kitchen through a tablet present at each table. Through this tablet, people are also able to order their drinks, hot dishes, and desserts. Those orders are delivered fresh on a separate belt from the kitchen straight to people’s tables. Additionally, drinks are delivered by a robot that announces its arrival with fun music and verbal instructions for you to take your order.
The robot which serves as a waiter brings drinks to the table. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
Hand rolls are delivered on a separate belt after being ordered through the tablet. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
Dishes pass by on the conveyor belt. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
While there is often a wait to get inside, the experience and food is definitely worth it. From hand rolls and nigiri to sushi and dessert, Kura offers a unique dining experience. However, there are some dishes that the BruinLife staff thinks are not worth getting at Kura. For example, there is a small bowl of watermelon available on the conveyor belt as well as through the tablet. While watermelon may be refreshing, most plates cost $3.85, and at that price range, the amount of watermelon you receive is not worth getting. Kura also offers seared beef options served in the same fashion as nigiri. If you are feeling adventurous, these options are available, but BruinLife staff recommends other dishes.
Refreshing sliced watermelon circulates the restaurant as one of Kura's offered desserts. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
Inari, rice tucked in sweet and salty deep-fried tofu, moves past the tables. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
A unique choice, Premium American Beef Nigiri, rotates around the conveyer belt. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
Notably, hand rolls ordered through the tablets are fresh and come from the kitchen instead of waiting for an option that has been circulating around the restaurant. Many of the nigiri options are also recommended by BruinLife staff such as the umami oil salmon and seared eel with miso cream cheese. For desserts, we do recommend trying one of the many other dessert options available at Sawtelle. If you insist on staying at Kura for dessert, we recommend getting the taiyaki or Japanese style soy donuts. The taiyaki, which you can get at Somi Somi a few minutes away, is served with red bean. The Japanese style soy donuts, unique to Kura, are on the smaller side, but nevertheless do taste good. Both desserts cost closer to $6 and do come in smaller portions, so again if you have the time, it is best to go explore more of Sawtelle for dessert options.
A spider hand roll, one of the many hand rolls that could be ordered freshly prepared from the kitchen. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
The red dragon role has avocado and shrimp wrapped in rice and topped with tuna. The spicy mayo and tempura crumble add the perfect finishing touch. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
Taiyaki, a Japanese fish-shaped cake, served with ice cream and red bean paste on top. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
Some of the dessert options available, warabimochi, left, Japanese style soy donuts with ice cream, right, and taiyaki, top, presented in front of two stacks of plates, ready to be inserted into the plate slot for a prize. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
After consuming each plate, customers are instructed to insert them into a slot at the table. The plates get tallied up and displayed on the tablet. For every 5 dishes, a fun animation featuring Kura’s mascot, Mutenmaru, asks for your help on a mission. Once 15 plates have been inserted, customers are rewarded with a fun prize delivered by a prize machine located above the tablets. With hunger satisfied and a fun new toy, customers are able to walk out with a newfound eating experience.
Plates stacked up high with a couple of dishes ready to be eaten in the foreground. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
After inserting 15 plates into the slot, a ball drops from a machine above with a prize inside. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
For the current prizes in circulation, Kura is offering tiny replica keychains of dishes served at the restaurant. Photographed by Emily Chandler/BruinLife.
Disclaimer: Prices are valid at time of publication.
