Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera

Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera (廻転鮨 銀座おのでら)

🍣 Sushi / 📍 Omotesando

⭐⭐⭐

📓 Visits: 1 (2021)

It's fairly common for places outside Ginza to retain that label when they expand outside the area so for the avoidance of doubt, Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera is located in Omotesando.

There's a real lustre not just in the name of this restaurant but in the fit-out with a beautiful beaten gold-paneled ceiling and huge transparent lightbulbs.  Even the conveyer belt was gold.  That said, the counter was already showing signs of wear just two months after opening.  That could take over a year in an omakase sushi restaurant.

Prices are higher than in other kaiten sushi restaurants and this could be the most expensive kaiten sushi restaurant in Japan.  But given the brand and location that's neither entirely unexpected nor unjustifiable.  Nigiri start from 420 yen for two pieces.  More expensive neta start from 380 yen for one piece.  The most expensive item on the menu is the uni which ranges in price between 930 and 1240 yen.  The price of tuna seems to vary as well but on my visit prices were Otoro - 930, Chutoro - 620, Akami - 420, Akami-zuke - 510, Tekka-maki - 510, Torotaku - 720.  The only question is how is the quality and is it value for money?

All the sushi I had was fairly good.  I tend to avoid expensive neta at kaiten sushi because it won't be good.  But the tuna is supplied by Yamayuki so the hope is that you can enjoy top-quality product at a much lower price and without a difficult-to-get reservation.  The chutoro was better than in a really cheap place but still wasn't very good and I'd never have guessed it was from a top supplier.  The torotaku was much better.  The shime saba was the least good piece overall - too cold and not particularly fresh.

I went at about 15:30 on a weekday and was seated immediately.  The bill came to JPY 5,570 for about 18 nigiri, one maki-mono and tamago-yaki and I was out within 40 minutes.  The most highly-rated kaiten sushi in Tokyo is a branch of Midori Sushi in Meguro Station.  If you go there, or to the Shibuya branch you'd probably pay half that, I don't think there's a huge difference in quality but if you go at peak times you'll be in for a long wait.

One moan / word of warning.  Well, maybe two.  Firstly, the conveyor belt wasn't used.  No idea why this was (Covid?) but If you were looking for the experience of being able to snaffle something up going past that takes your fancy then you're going to miss out.  That said, sushi connoisseurs would never do this and always order items freshly-made.  So that's your only option here - you order on a touch-screen menu and chefs hand the sushi to you directly.  Unfortunately, there's no English (or Chinese) language option.  For a restaurant to open in one of the most cosmopolitan areas in Tokyo in 2021, just a couple of kilometers away from the Olympic stadium from a group as well-resourced as Onodera, who operate restaurants in three countries, this is lamentable.  Sushiro and Hamazushi can both manage this.  Why can't Onodera?

For me, the only reason to go to Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera is for convenience.  If you're local, really want to eat sushi and you don't have a reservation or don't have an hour or more to spare it could be convenient.  But you need to be able to read Japanese.

Tachigui (standing) Sushi Ginza Onodera is co-located.  See my separate review.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1306/A130602/13264172/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.7

📱 Booking: You can book a private room if you really must, otherwise it's first-come-first-served.

📍 Location:

5-1-6 Jingumae.  Just along the one-way street off Omotesando with Hugo Boss on the corner.  Dedicated street facing entrance.  Around the corner from the A1 Exit of Omotesando station.

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit December 2021

💴 Damage: 5,570
⏱️ Time taken: 40m