Mushi Mushi: Kulu Kulu Sushi

51 Shelton Street
WC2H 9JU
Tel: 020 7240 5687

Date of Last Visit: Friday, 15th of October

The Victim: ConAnn

The Damage: 15 gbp/head

I have found sushi nirvana. See, in Chicago, I loved going to two places: Kabuki, on Clark and Fullerton (the original one, my favorite, has since closed), and Kamehachi, in Old Town. Occasionally at work back in the old days, we would order in from Naniwa. I felt comfortable going to all three on my own if I wanted to, although the former two were my faves.

But no such finds here in London. Until last night. ConAnn and I met up at her awesome flat overlooking Covent Garden, and she took me to her favorite local sushi place. She kept warning me that it would be very casual. I was wearing trainers with a skirt, so I couldn’t complain. Plus, we were having movie night (finally seeing The 40 Year Old Virgin), so casual it was.

Kulu Kulu is conveyer-belt sushi. Now, my dad was in the Coast Guard Reserves for 20 years, which meant that every summer, he went on "Active Duty" to some base somewhere, and we went with him, along with our pop-up trailer. I remember this one summer in Virginia, we stayed at some base somewhere, and the food at the mess hall was conveyer belt food. You stood there, and waited for everything to come around (and around, and around). Appetizers, entrees, desserts, they all went around and around the conveyer belt. And this one time, they were serving rabbit, and great big swarms of rabbit kept coming around the conveyer belt. We ate at Wendy’s that night.

So my experience with conveyer belts has not been all that positive. Not so last night! We grabbed two stools at the bar and ’round and ’round the food came. We started off with gomae and edamame, two of my fave things. Then we grabbed some salmon sashimi and some teriyaki chicken. Also grabbed some fried tofu (delicious). Then some kimchi. And then we ordered sashimi separately. Everything was super fresh and good. And I loved how in the corner, you could serve yourself green tea. That was a very nice touch.

The experience was slightly marred by an elder gentleman and his concubine who sat down next to us; the man kept humming, which was disturbing. Not Kulu Kulu’s fault, though!

The Verdict: Love it, love it, love it. If I feel like sushi on a Saturday afternoon, and if I’m out and about in Covent Garden, I will stop here!