Kurumaya

I’ve been to Kurumaya several times. My husband works right around the corner and as a sushi fan, this is better than anything else nearby.
The first thing you need to know is that it gets super crowded after 12:30 on a week day. I don’t know about the downstairs bit as I’ve never been, just upstairs where the sushi comes around on a conveyor. Local business people swarm the place to either sit and eat or to get takeaway service.
Like any place, there are good things and bad things to eat. I love their goyza, any of their fish sushi but my particular favourite is the fried softshell crab roll pieces. Yum!
Not the cheapest place in the world but also not the most expensive, it’s still worth the money for a quick business lunch near St Paul’s.

I’ve been to the sushi train part of Kurumaya twice and have been really pleased both times. For the City, it’s really well priced, quick and they have good service. Much cheaper (though less fancy food) than sushi train rival K10 which isn’t far away.

I’ve had the hot food here now on two occasions and my general takeaway is that it is edible but not great. The first time, I had a beef over rice dish and the second I had the salmon over rice and pork gyoza. I like how the salmon is served also with a layer of egg, which is quite traditional, but would rather not have the salmon in cubes. By way of comparison, Ribon gives you a thin fillet. The gyoza was unspectacular as well; they were only about half plump and came served on what looks like very wilted lettuce. I have eaten the sushi as part of large platters that we order into lunch meetings, which is similarly good but not memorable.

Not bad food, tuna belly maki is very good. Ramen/​noodles are average. Service is not a strong point however.

Sushi is OK. but not other foods. Also bit too pricy compared to others in the neighboorhood that quality of food did not justify.

Came here on a last minute hunger search for something to eat after working late in the office. I was craving sushi and this was one of only a few options in the area. I should have turned away after looking into the window from the outside.
I had my doubts after looking at the sushi on the belt and it seemed to not be incredibly fresh. Plus the fridge/​freezer in the corner of the sitting area didn’t give me the greatest confidence that they were using the freshest fish.
I ordered up a salmon skin hand roll and upon being served the roll, there was a strong fishy smell that turned me off. After taking a few bites, there was a number of bones still in the skin that I had to pick out after trying to chew. Definitely a big no no.
The udon was mediocre too. The noodles seemed pre-​packaged and not the correct type of noodles for udon. The chicken was flavorful and the broth tasted good. If they were able to replace the noodles with the right set, that would have made things a bit better.

Nestled in little Wattling Street, between Queen Victoria Street and Cheapside, Kurumaya offers the perfect combination of value for money sushi and convenient location.
The dining space is below the ground level sushi bar. Weekday evenings are super quiet; so don’t go for the ambience.
The food is super fresh and the ingredient quality is very close to A grade. The chef selection with salmon, tuna, seabass, hamachi and toro nigiri, California maki, salmon avocado maki and tempura maki at £29.50 is definitely the best priced sushi selection on the menu. The seven varieties sashimi platter with Toro, hamachi, tuna, salmon, scallop, ebi, and saba on a bed of grated radish is not a bad deal either at £32. I have posted pictures of both these platters.
I will try the hot dishes next time around.

Stopped in last night. It wasn’t busy but the service was quite good, as was the food. We had a wide tasting variety. I’m a noodle fan myself and the seafood udon was just right. With drinks came out to about £40 per head.
Remove shoes as in traditional Japanese establishments.

Had a lovely and memorable chirashi sushi takeaway. More expensive then what I would normally spend for lunch (£7.80) but much cheaper than other chirashi sushis I have had (which can easily run you £12 to £20). The overall quality was excellent with very generous portions of fish and rice. And there was good variety too. Much more than just the typical salmon and tuna.

The first time I ever went to a sushi place was in Hong Kong. They had colour-​coded plates for the dishes (different colours for different prices) and everyone sat in a huge loop with a conveyor-​belt at eye level displaying all the yummys for you to just pick up and gobble down. Or take your time and enjoy the delicacies. Whatever.
Anyway, I loved it. But I have to say that most of the sushi places I’ve been to in London have not been that at all. The sushi is small, overpriced, not-​so-​fresh and, most importantly, regarded as a starter and not as a meal.
Imagine my delight, then, when I went for lunch to Kurumaya. This place does sushi the right way, the same as in Hong Kong all those years ago. The food is made as you sit, but rather than having to wait for a waiter (no pun intended) to get to your table three times before you even ask for food, you can eat straight away. And it’s really tasty.
You can order extras, and I did just that. I’m more a fan of maki rolls than hand rolls or sashimi, so I ordered the maki set. It had a great variety and was reasonable value at £10.50 for enough sushi to fill me up and some miso soup.
The waiters were efficient and friendly without being overbearing and, given that it is in the city, the service was quick and organised (you get the bill as you eat and then pay at the counter to avoid a wait at the end).
The only downer I’d say is that you pay slightly more than you would probably normally pay for a lunch. We paid £15 per head, which isn’t too bad, and worth it for the food, but others may disagree.
That said, I’d definitely go back to Kurumaya, and recommend it to anyone who wants good, fresh, sushi as a meal, not just a starter.