This restaurant’s US$0.45 sushi is an amazing way to expand your sushi horizons in Tokyo

More variety than we’d hoped for at far less than we’d ever expect to pay make this a great place to try types of sushi you’ve never had before.

One of the things that makes sushi so awesome is the variety. Take a look at a sushi restaurant menu, and you’ll find dozens of different types of seafood and other toppings, all selected for how deliciously they pair with a base of vinegared rice.

So it’s kind of weird that at most sushi restaurants, the ordering system locks you out of maximizing the diversity of your meal. Often, your options are either an omakase set, which puts you at the mercy of the chef’s whims as he chooses each individual piece you’ll eat, or ordering a minimum of two pieces of each type of sushi you select yourself.

But thanks to Kappazushi, one of Japan’s most popular revolving sushi chains, there’s a way to cast off the constricting commitment of standard sushi ordering. Right now, Kappazushi is offering a wide range of sushi types for just 50 yen (US$0.45) per piece, and if you just want to order one, that’s totally OK.

▼ There’s a lot of Japanese text on Kappa Zushi’s banner, but the important part is 1貫50円, or “50 yen per piece.”

While Kappazushi rose to fame as kaitenzushi (revolving sushi) establishment, some of its branches have recently done away with their conveyor belts and gone to a touchscreen-based ordering system. It’s these branches that are offering 50-yen sushi, and the participating location in Tokyo is the one in the Itabashi district, which is where we went for our wallet-friendly sushi fix.

It’s not like the 50-yen deal is limited to only the most basic sushi either. Yes, you can get standards like maguro (tuna) and katsuo (bonito), but the budget-priced sushi lineup also includes limited-time innovations such as garlic soy katsuo, seen on the far left of this plate next to some ordinary katuso and maguro.

Other options we were happy to take advantage of were saba and aji (both kinds of mackerel), and also iwashi (sardine).

For those who aren’t into raw morsels, there’s grilled salmon, roast beef, and tempura kisu (smelt-whiting), fried to a golden crisp and one of the highlights of our lunch.

And if you’re willing to splurge, Kappazushi also has some great 90-yen-per-piece sushi, such as hotate (scallop), madai (sea bream), and salted seared itoyori (golden threadfin bream).

While you could utilize the 50 and 90-yen-per-piece menu by loading up on multiple servings of your favorite fish while still keeping the total cost down, the more satisfying method is to let the lowered entry barrier encourage you to branch out and try new types of sushi and dining sequences to create an experience you wouldn’t have been able to before, And if you have your heart set on splurging instead of scrimping, don’t worry, because Kappazushi is also the home of the 10,000-yen sushi cake.

Restaurant information
Kappa Zushi (Itabashi branch) / カッパ寿司（板橋店）
Address: Tokyo-to, Itabashi-ku, Toshincho 1-48-10
東京都板橋区東新町1-48-10
Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (weekdays), 10 a.m.-11 p.m. (weekends, holidays)
Website

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