Kura Revolving Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Troy

Not sure where to begin. I don't leave a lot of reviews, positive or negative, but I felt like I needed to do a public service. So here goes.

Went tonight with my kids. We spent hundreds of dollars and we left and went to Shake Shack for another meal. The plates are four bucks a pop. Doesn't matter what you order. Noodle soups were $11 for a size much smaller than what you would expect from a ramen place. Not shareable. Not suitable as an entree, either.

I didn't feel that the sushi was very fresh. Some of it had an unusually fishy smell. The fish was sliced thinner than normal for sushi restaurants. Even the rice ball was smaller. The restaurant had no capability to customize whatsoever. You could order a tuna roll but not a salmon roll. Items that are pictured raw were delivered cooked, which I thought was no bueno. It wasn't what I expected. There are no waiters coming by to check on you. No sense of hospitality. No desire to accommodate whatsoever. They were happy to take the cooked "spicy salmon sushi" hand roll off of the bill, though.

I will say there's a robot that goes around playing loud music the entire time. It's cool to look at but it's sort of sad that the robot provided better hospitality and service than the rest of the restaurant did. It's not that you couldn't find somebody and ask for something but they made no effort to check on you at all. The sushi was delivered with no wasabi or ginger. We asked for wasabi and ginger and were delivered two plates of the most unappetizing horseradish I've ever seen. It looked half white with the other half equal parts green and yellow. It was chunky and did not taste like wasabi; rather it tasted like the kind of horseradish that one would put on prime rib. Totally off-putting and bizarre. For a place that charges almost $8 for a full serving of a cucumber roll (two plates) You would think that you would be able to get authentic wasabi and ginger.

In my opinion, this type of environment with the concept that was put together here would be a fair value as a $20 all you can eat sushi place. I think with that going on the expectations for service, quality and all of the accoutrement go out the door and it might meet expectations. On the other hand, as a sushi restaurant, it falls woefully short. The conveyor concept was a complete fail. It was conveying all evening but the vast majority of the containers were empty. I'd say 75% of our food needed to be ordered through the touch screen (which we had to reset more than once). That's actually a fairly convenient system where after about 5 to 10 minutes whatever you order is delivered directly to your table on another conveyor.

As far as the plates go, you are asked to clear your own table through a slot. That's great unless you have food you didn't like and have no place to put it or you have leftovers such as edamame. The slot doesn't have any place to dump leftover food (nor will the plates fit through the slot with food on them) and you are expected to put all of your plates down the slot before you leave. We ended up having to pile a bunch of food in the middle of our table which I don't think was the idea.

To sum it all up, if you're looking for a place to go for good sushi or a great dining experience, I would definitely not go here. If you're looking for a gimmick and a place to hang out for a little while, the place has fast food vibes, probably costs twice as much as a meal at a sushi place but the show of the conveyor is impressive. The only problem is you shouldn't expect to be able to eat your meal solely from the conveyor. I think it's a fair statement to say that of the most popular items at sushi restaurants in the area, they comprise the minority of the places on the conveyor and the majority of those where they are located are empty most of the time. That was based on my experience and may be different on other days.

One positive: the robot delivered prompt...

Looking for a fun time with your sushi eating? Look no further than Kura. Bulld around the classic Japanese "revolving sushi bar" idea, but updated to a modern take. What does this mean? Imagine siting before a moving conveyor belt and random food passes by. You better have fast hands for this eating experience.

Kura is a medium small, friendly feeling place. There is a small entrance area where you can sign in for getting a seat. Inside, there are 6 "rows" of seats booths, sort of like the tines on a fork. Each tine has either seats or booths adjacent to that tine's conveyor belt. Now comes the excitement.

The conveyor belt is always moving and on it lies the prizes--various sushi. A good variety of 2 piece nigiri, 4 or 6 piece rolls, and the occasional fruit/dessert/other. I have to give bonus points to Kura for the following:

1. A sign before each place stating what was on the plate. This makes it great for everyone who might not know what a particular piece of sushi may be.
2. Not just one plate but TWO having the same thing, in a row. If someone before you on the belt takes that Fatty Tuna, well there is a second plate with the same thing and you might get lucky.
3. Each of the plates have a neat plastic 'bubble' protecting them. No need to worry another other customers breathing on that Umami Oil Salmon you want. The bubble pops open with gentle tug on the edge of the plate you take.
4. Each booth has a 'plate disposal slot' that counts your plates so you'll have an idea how much you've spent.
5. Can't seem to get that piece of Miso Cream Cheese and Eel? There are little screens about your spot where you can request specific food (including things other than sushi if desired!). These orders are delivered by a special belt ABOVE the always moving one, which zips your order to you.
6. The dishes were great and had a nice variety. Multiple tunas, some flavored salmons, watermelon salad, shrimp, eel, real crab, yellowfish, even a couple beef nigiri. And if you don't want that, you can order some tempura or udon from the touchpad.

Now, things to consider when going, neither of which is a negative:

1. Plates are all about $4, which is about right for 2 pieces of quality nigiri, but keep an eye on your totals.
2. They are BUSY. Wait times can be long so, get there early, sign in and hang out nearby until you get that text.

Can also suggest topping off your sushi meal with their Taiyaki and ice cream dessert? Deep fried and filled with sweat bean paste with a side of vanilla? Perfection.

All this amd a friendly waitstaff who yells "Irashai!" every time a new group comes in. Highly suggested to any sushi aficionado or even someone slightly interested in trying something different for their...

TLDR: 3/5 stars. Check your receipt before you pay to avoid additional charges.

We've been 4-5 times over the last 12 months. Each visit, the experience has never really lived up to the magic of the first time, and the issues we've experienced keep happening. The food is good, but for the price there's better sushi options out there.

Pros: The rotating sushi bar provides a truly unique experience. We don't have anything else like it in the area. The staff is kind and as helpful as they can be (more on that later). They provide a wide selection of food you'd expect to see in a Japanese sushi bar restaurant. The robot waiter for drinks. This thing never gets old ;) Ability to order items directly to your table via à la carte conveyor Great desert options.

Cons: the rotating sushi bar is one long continuous loop that travels by the sushi bar with 6-8 single seats and 15 tables, which seat 4-6 people each. If you're seated on the back half of all that, the sushi plates are so picked over by the time they actually make it to you. Luckily, using the monitor at the table you're able to order items and they come à la carte via a separate conveyer belt directly to your table. But we've seen sushi on the belt that is not available for individual order via the monitor. To come to a rotating sushi bar, and not get that feels like a cheaped experience. Payment. By default, they want you to pay with your phone, and limit how much the human servers directly interact with you. You're able to review your ordered items, but somehow, on multiple visits we have been there additional drinks get added to our bill. The first time, this was about $30 in additional drinks. In the unfortunate event you pay via phone and you notice the overcharge after, the only option is to call corporate and go back and forth with them and the store manager to come up with a solution. Since then, we always request a server to bring the check so that we can review the receipt before paying. The most recent time it was $7 in tea we didn't order. While they eventually credited back the overage the first time, and removed the items before payment the second, the fact that this has happened to us multiple times is wild to me. I'd be willing to say "it's gotta be something we're doing wrong" but I overheard another couple speaking with the waitress about the same exact issue. This is minor, but expect your clothing to smell like sushi when you leave. It's not a bad smell, it just really lingers in a way other sushi restaurants don't. We avoid taking anything that can't be easily washed...