Kura Revolving Sushi Bar in Torrance introduces a new take on the average sushi dine-in experience with a concept new to the U.S. : a conveyor belt running throughout the restaurant where everyone can access sushi at any booth.

Conveyor belt sushi is not a new idea in more trendy downtown LA areas, although it is less widely known of in smaller cities like Redondo. Luckily, Kura opened up in 2015 in Torrance and gave locals a taste of the unique idea nearby.

Kura takes the concept of authentic sushi and turns it into an innovative, high-tech experience. In the small restaurant, there are six industrial-looking booths where on one side of each booth, there is a conveyor belt carrying little plates of sushi covered by protective domes.

Each plate consists of two or three pieces of sushi, depending on the kind it is, the price ranging from $2.50 to $2.75, also depending on the content.

Sushi that is known to be as more authentic, like nigiri, tends to cost more than the well-known sushi rolls that Kura offers, such as California rolls, caterpillar rolls and crunchy rolls.

The variety of sushi at Kura appeals to a wide range of people, since it is so diverse, as to why everyone is bound to find something they’ll like.

The sushi itself seemed very high quality, with top notch local fish and fresh rice. All of the rolls had nice blends of flavor, varying from spicy to savory to sweet. It tasted both authentic and flavorful without being overpoweringly seafood based.

A quality unique to Kura is the ability to portion control what you want to eat. In normal restaurants, there is a determined portion of food that everyone is given, which is sometimes way too much, causing leftovers or the consumer being overly full.

While the main idea of Kura is to serve yourself, there are other options to which you can order food. There are plenty of servers around to get drink orders, and you can also order sushi rolls from them. Although the more unique way of ordering is by the small tablet above the table where consumers can use the touch screen to order more food, which arrives on yet another conveyor belt that is just above the revolving one.

Often times, consumers resort to the touch screen tablet to order when the specific item they wanted is not available at the conveyor belt. There are only three to four plates of the same sushi per each type running on the conveyor belt, so they run out rather quickly. If the chefs are not able to make them quick enough, then people use the tablet to order what they want.

Kura’s food options don’t only include sushi they also offer different, authentic Japanese cuisine such as miso soup, tempura, udon soup and seafood, which can all be ordered only on the touch screen.

Kura’s conveyor belt usually contains some out-of-place foods that don’t seem fitting to a sushi restaurant, including “New York” cheesecake, watermelon cubes, and pineapple.

Since Kura is such a popular place to go to have a quick snack or a dine-in lunch, it’s understandable that the small restaurant easily gets crowded. Many people complain that the wait is too long, getting up to an hour at some times. Fortunately, Kura tries to adapt to this inconvenience by providing a line of chairs outside so that people can wait comfortably.

As long as you are willing to wait for a little while, Kura is a super enjoyable place to grab some delicious sushi in a fresh, entertaining way.