Who knows what’s up with the on-again, off-again plans to open a Wagamama noodle shop in Penn Quarter? Few people. But this week, just in time for the London Olympics, another British food chain—and its conveyor belts—has invaded the D.C.
We first reported on Yo! Sushi’s plans to bring one of their conveyer belt restaurants here back in 2010. The doors of their newly installed Union Station eatery opened to the public this morning, making it the first of the chain’s locations in the U.S. (Score another one for the strength of the D.C. dining market, huh?)
The conveyer belt concept should be familiar to anyone that has popped in for a bite at Sushi Go Round in Gallery Place, at the West End location of Wasabi before it shut down, or at Yo! Sushi during their semester studying abroad in London. Small plates of sushi, sashimi, tempura, seaweed salad, green tea custard, and more pass by the sushi bar, rolling by on the track of a conveyer belt. Customers grab what looks appealing, paying at the end from a tally of the plates—by color—they’ve consumed. More expensive items, like a plate of seared and marinated tuna, might sit on a $6 pink plate, while edamame or avocado maki on a light green plate will only set you back $2.50.
The dizzying array of small plates rolling by in all directions on any side of the restaurant evokes the chaotic bustle of Tokyo’s Shibuya crossing. White lamps in the shape of enormous jacks hang overhead, while a mural on the back wall mixes iconic Washington images with Tokyo street scenes, with Mt. Fuji looming in the upper left horizon. Spaces and a few tables around the bar are outfitted with soy sauce/wasabi/ginger/chopstick stations, and huge vertical blue glow sticks that turn red when you press a help button to summon a server for drink delivery or a check.
The sushi, well, it’s merely OK. The trick is to look out for what’s fresh and grab it just after it’s set down for the first time. Better yet, make friends with one of the chefs preparing plates between the belts and ask them to send their plates directly to your hands. Some of the non-sushi items—chicken katsu (slices of fried chicken cutlets) and piping hot marinated chunks of eggplant—were among my favorite dishes at a media and friends preview event. Nigiri and maki were liable to be terrible after sitting too long, as the rice hardened after a few spins on the belt. (Computer chips in each plate supposedly trigger automatic dumping off of the belt from the belt rotation after one hour.) Get it fresh and it’s passable.
Foot traffic, especially tourist and commuter traffic in Union Station, should help fill seats. There is better raw fish to be had elsewhere, and a turn at the belt can add up quickly if you’re not careful. But you can also be in and out in less than 10 minutes, and enjoy a meal that’s a little more novel than what you’d get at Potbelly’s across the way, Sbarro in the track area, or down in the food court.
A second location is planned for D.C.’s Chinatown before potential expansion into other U.S. markets.
Yo! Sushi
Union Station – West Hall
Washington, DC
