Musashi Sanjō Honten

Awesome. Everything was fresh and delicious, and it was very reasonably priced — 146 yen/​dish (2 pieces) for everything except a select few special things, like uni, which were 346 yen/​dish. Free tea. So, so great.

I was quite pleased to eat here. It’s best if you’re looking for a quick bite on the cheap. The sushi is fine, but when you consider the price – under ¥150 per plate of standard sushi and ¥359 per «special» plate – it’s a very good deal. It’s not a go-​out-​of-​your-​way-​to-​eat place, but if you’re nearby and looking for lunch, this is a good spot.

I would have given this place three stars, but then I remembered that my family and I ate nearly fifty plates of sushi and only paid about $ 20/​person, making this perhaps the cheapest sushi place I have ever been to. And it’s really this cheapness that is the only redeeming factor for this establishment. The sushi is barely better than something you might get at a supermarket. In fact, I saw them opening packages of frozen sushi fish to thaw out as they mass-​produced sushi to be carted away on conveyor belts. Also, the large majority of patrons were tourists, which makes me feel even worse about the authenticity and quality of the sushi. But $ 20! What would you expect?
PS — One other somewhat cool fact that made the trip here somewhat worth it was that they had horsemeat sushi. Yes, I know it sounds gross but I did it for the novelty. I won’t spoil how it tastes, only saying that it’s really not that bad.

Busy place with 20% smaller size sushi, prepared and stored before being served. It is an overall more expensive conveyor belt sushi restaurant.

Conveyor belt sushi made fresh right in front of your eyes. Good taste, good selection, affordable. Had I been to it before Chorijo, I would have given it 5 stars. I prefer Chorijo because of the ambiance.

When in Japan, you have to try one of the many conveyor belt sushi places. Musashi was a great, but I would recommend going to a conveyor belt sushi place in Osaka. Musashi didn’t blow my mind, but it was still good sushi and very affordable. Selection was good and almost everything except for fatty tuna was less than 200 yen.

Gee whiz, I wrote this review last year but never submitted it. Now, it just happens to be my 100^th review on Unilocal.Wonderful! On to the review:
The sushi didn’t appear to be «fresh» unless you consider store-​bought fresh (they opened sushi from packaging while we were dining here. It is inexpensive compared to other kuru sushiya but the servings are small and you’d have to eat 10 or more plates to be satisfied. Not all plates have two pieces, some have one. Overall it was OK. I have eaten at other kuru-​style sushiya and have been happier.
By the way, after I wrote this review, we went on to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms Japan has to offer during Spring. What a great experience!

While visiting Kyoto we found it difficult to find a sushi place that was affordable and offered more then just Kyoto-​style Sushi. We learned that because Kyoto is inland fresh fish wasn’t easily accessible generations ago so they adopted a tradition of making saba-​style sushi with cured fish wrapped in kelp. My husband and I both tried this style at Kyoto restaurants prior and just couldn’t get used to the taste. Maybe in time our American taste buds will truly appreciate this form of sushi making. For affordability and a more traditional style sushi experience that we were accustomed to we landed in Musashi Sanjo Honten, highly recommended by Lonely Planet.
Ok, let me start by saying when I say traditional you will find rolls, Sashimi and Nigiri however this is not traditional in a sense of what you would find commonly in the states. For example, plan to dine on dishes like Tuna with Quail Eggs, Fiqure Squid, Raw Horsemeat, Fatty Tuna, Sea Urchin, Roast Beef, Grilled Corn, Ham and Cheese, and Duck. The sushi here is lesser in quality compared to other sushi restaurants in Kyoto but if you’re on a budget or just want to eat a ton of fairly priced sushi, this is an excellent value with dishes $ 1-​$ 3 a plate.
Tips:
*You can order what you don’t see on the conveyor belt or menu, just ask
*There are cards labeling most plates in English
*Unlimited free green tea access right at your table

Un Kaiten sushi (sushi sur tapis roulant) très bien situé (en plein centre de kyoto, au coin de Sanjo/​Kawaramachi) et tout à fait abordable (depuis le commentaire précédent, le prix de l’assiette a un peu augmenté et est passé à 140¥).
Le restaurant a toujours autant de succès depuis 4 ans que je le connais, donc la queue est toujours de mise si vous arrivez entre 18h et 19h.
Comme il y a un étage, vous pouvez être installés au rez-​de chaussée ou en haut. Personnellement, je trouve la salle du bas plus lumineuse et plus vivante, mais de toute façon, c’est eux qui décident pour nous…
Une fois installé, on vous place une petite serviette humide (Oshibori) devant vous (c’est pour se laver les mains, pas le visage) ainsi qu’une tasse à thé vide. Il suffit alors, de saisir un petit sachet de thé matcha dans un des pots devant vous et d’appuyer votre tasse contre le robinet (lui aussi juste devant vous). L’eau chaude coule directement dans votre tasse! ^^
Vous êtes alors fins-​prêts pour partir à la pêche aux sushi!
Il y en a de toutes sortes: sushi de poissons, de fruits de mer ou de coquillages, crus ou tataki (semi-​grillés), des maki au poisson ou végétariens (attention aux maki au natto! Une spécialité japonaise très… très… spéciale. Je n’en dis pas plus), etc.
Seul petit bémol: depuis quelques temps, je pense en raison de leur succès auprès des étrangers, ils proposent de plus en plus d’assiettes «occidentalisées» (avec de l’avocat, de la mayonnaise ou du fromage philadelphia)… un peu dommage quand on préfèrerait goûter à de l’authentique. Mais bon, si vous restez dans les sushi de poissons, vous n’aurez pas ce désagrément.
En tous cas, c’est bon, c’est frais et la variété de poissons est très grande.
Si celui que vous souhaitez manger né passé plus devant vous, vous pouvez le commander directement au maître sushi devant vous (ou si vous n’êtes pas trop sûr de votre japonais, vous pouvez le faire plus discrètement en appelant un serveur ou une serveuse).
Je vous recommande de goûter aux différentes sortes de thons: Chu-​Toro, O toro, etc…
C’est quelque chose que nous n’avons pas vraiment en Europe et même si ça coûte un peu plus cher, ça vaut vraiment le coup!
Pour finir votre repas avec une petite touché sucrée (même si ici ce n’est pas vraiment la coutume), sachez qu’ils proposent des boules de glacé (sur commande uniquement) et qu’ils ont entre autre le parfum: Yuzu!!! Un agrume local absolument délicieux! ^^
Voilà, maintenant vous savez tout sur le Musashi Kaiten Sushi… :)

This place was a good experience especially if you like the idea of sushi on a conveyor belt. However I did notice that the fish was all prepackaged and the sushi chef wasn’t actually making everything.
Worth it for the experience but I’ve had better sushi.

Bar à sushis, sur tapis roulant, très apprécié à Kyoto! Le restaurant est toujours bondé, et il y a donc de l’attente. Cependant, cela va assez vite!
Expérience à faire, on s’installe au bar et les différentes sortes de sushis défilent sous nos yeux. La carte est extrêmement varié, et surtout très peu chers. L’assiette est à 130 yen, et généralement les sushis sont par deux. J’ai goûté beaucoup de choses, au saumon, au thon, tempura crevette, les rolls makis etc.
Si jamais nos sushis sont trop longs à venir, on peut aussi les commander au maître sushi qui se trouve devant nous, qui les fera devant nos yeux et nous les apportera!
Le thé matcha est à volonté, et c’est super car il y a juste à prendre sa tasse, à y mettre le sachet et l’eau chaude coule du robinet installé dans le bar!
Le lieu ferme vers 22h30.
A faire! the place to be in Kyoto pour manger pas cher et bon!

The reviews of this place are… well, I don’t know, baffling. The food here is edible and I guess it’s not terrible for the price, but, well, «mediocre» is probably an overly generous description of the sushi here. I’ve had fresher/​better sushi in N. America. I still regret trusting the reviews and taking my brother, visiting from abroad, to this place.
If you’re a backpacker on a tight budget, sure this might seem like a bargain, but if you really need to save money, you’d be better off buying half price sushi at a supermarket at closing time and a couple beers and eating in a park. Choose an upscale supermarket and the discount sushi is likely to be fresher and more delicious. And if you can afford more than bargain barrel sushi, go to a better restaurant.

I ate here all the time when I lived in Japan. It’s cheap, delicious, and you can pop in and out really fast. There are two floors, so if the first floor is full they might have space on the second. The second floor also has booths that can seat around 4 people if you want to have a bit of a more social experience instead of just staring at the line, waiting to jump on your 10^th plate. Most plates come with wasabi already pre-​applied and you can always add more. The way you can tell is if the outside of the plate is blue. If it’s rainbow colored, there is no wasabi. If you can’t find the thing you want, or you don’t like wasabi you can always ask the chef to make it for you. It will be the same price as anything on the rotating line so you don’t have to worry. If you don’t speak any Japanese, they have laminated menus with English on them so point away. There’s also unlimited hot green tea and ginger so drink and eat up! Many locals eat here all the time, but I’ve seen the occasional family of tourists pop in. Remember, this is Japan, so the majority of dishes are either nigiri style (rice + raw fish) or sashimi (just raw fish). There are a few maki rolls (pureed fish + rice wrapped in seaweed) but you’re not going to find Western dragon rolls, rainbow rolls, and that sort of thing here.

Recommended by my hotel, Musashi was my first sushi stop in Japan and it was simply spectacular!
Every single plate (I mean EVERY) in this conveyor belt sushi restaurant is an uniform 130 yen, so you don’t have to worry about grabbing the wrong color plate that costs a lot of money. Even though each plate is at such a low price, the quality and the variety are still top notch! Heck, forget your boring regular tuna and salmon for a bit, and grab that plate of sushi that you have never seen before! Heck, I don’t remember or even know which fishes I got (Though I do recall horse mackerel being awesome!), and the whole sushi experience was unique as I get to try new types of sushi without having to pay extra from the regular choices.
If you don’t want to rely on chance for the conveyor belt to deliver your sushi, you can also ask the chef directly. Don’t know Japanese? No worries, because the restaurant has an English menu that you can point for the chef. The restaurant also accepts credit card so you don’t have to worry about nuking your cash away if you want to go all out!
Within the block of the Kyoto City Hall subway station, Musashi is perhaps the best conveyor belt sushi that I have ever had. I highly recommend this as a lunch stop especially in the middle of a Kyoto daytrip.
—
tl;dr version:
1) Uniform 130 yen for ALL plates
2) Unique sushi selection along with the regular classics
3) English menu and credit card available

If you keep in mind this is a Sushi-​go-​round, you won’t be disappointed.
All the fish tasted good and seemed fresh, but it comes packaged and they are just slapping precut fish on to rice balls.
I really enjoyed the eel. The raw horse meat was surprisingly delicious. The tuna was nothing spectacular, but as good as you get in most mid-​grade American sushi places.
We fed 2 people for 2300 yen which compared to the U.S. is a lot of good food for a great price.
If you are looking for a no frills quick bite of sushi give it a go!

A kaiten Sushi place that became popular in the last years since its entry into the lonely planet travel book. It has been a place for japanese people before but it is now crowed with tourist who don’t know how to behave properly. The stuff is more and more annoyed but those people as they don’t understand the lining-​up-​for-​a-​table-​system.
But besides that it is a good place for Sushi as the variety is hugh and the quality good. They have reasonable prices, too (a plate is about 103 Yen).

Perfect place to have great running Sushi with all the little extras which make it super easy for guests who don’t speak Japanese ;). After trying everything we wanted we only had 2000¥ on the bill for two people… nice surprise! Go there!

Fresh and delicious sushi in Kyoto. I also noticed that the staff helped first time kaiten sushi visitors. The English menu also explained kaiten sushi manners for those who were in such a place for the first time.

I come to this Sushi restaurant with my foreign friends. Its not expensive and it always have fresh Sushi. Also as it is located right in front of the Sanjyo Kawaramachi cross road. It is easy to find.
There are table seats on the second floor so when I go with group around six people, I wait till the table seat open. If I’m not in a big group, we go at the counter seats at the first floor.
This Sushi restaurant is sushi-​go-​round so sometimes I choose from the conveyor but sometimes I order directory to the Sushi chief for specific Sushi. The price and quality are nice. It’s good to try.