Kanazawa is home to many high-end conveyor belt sushi restaurants, also known as "gourmet conveyor belt sushi." However, most restaurants do not keep the sushi on the conveyor belt all the time, but rather serve it freshly made after you order, which is the Kanazawa way. Being able to easily enjoy seasonal fish from the Hokuriku region has earned the restaurant's support from locals and tourists alike, and the restaurants are bustling with customers every day. Here are five unique restaurants among them.
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Don't miss the "Gosanke" conveyor-belt sushi restaurants in Kanazawa
- A little bit of Kanazawa's delicacies. Morimori Sushi Omicho Branch takes pride in its careful work and freshness.
- Going anywhere for just one bite. A famous restaurant that spares no effort: "Sushikuinee! Prefectural Office Branch"
- Kanazawa Maimon Sushi Main Branch: Enjoy the culture of Kaga's Hyakumangoku domain while savoring elaborate sushi
This conveyor belt sushi restaurant, frequented by locals, is as delicious as you'd expect!
●You can't miss the "Big Three" conveyor belt sushi restaurants in Kanazawa
A little bit of Kanazawa's delicacies. Morimori Sushi Omicho Branch takes pride in its careful work and freshness.
Morimori Sushi is located inside Omicho Market, a long-loved restaurant known as the kitchen of Kanazawa residents. Its large wooden signboard is particularly eye-catching, and there is always a line at lunchtime. Morimori Sushi has stores all over the country, but it originated in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Clockwise from the front: Kanazawa sweet shrimp, three kinds of tuna, five kinds of Hokuriku fish, and Kobako crab soup. The tuna is fresh, and the Kobako crab is refrigerated on board and can be eaten all year round.
Here, they purchase ingredients three times a day and try to use them all on the same day. They also pay particular attention to freshness, such as not cutting ingredients and storing them.
Hokuriku 5-item platter. Clockwise from the top right, rosy seabass, clams, lobster, firefly squid, and white shrimp are representative seafood of Hokuriku on one plate.
Due to its location, many customers visit alone, and in order to allow customers to try as many different types of sushi as possible, the restaurant focuses on serving 3-item and 5-item platters, with each sushi being assorted individually. The "Hokuriku 5-item platter," which features an assortment of Hokuriku specialties, is said to be particularly popular.
Only shrimp caught at Kanazawa Port that meet certain standards can be called Kanazawa Sweet Shrimp Nigiri.
According to the restaurant staff, "The Hokuriku 5-item platter is recommended for those who want to eat Hokuriku sushi but can't eat much, or for those who want to eat something other than sushi at Omicho Market." The seafood from the Hokuriku region is carefully prepared and served to enjoy.
Morimori Sushi Omicho Branch
| address | ： | 88 Aokusacho, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| phone | ： | 076-262-7477 | ||
| Closed Day | ： | Open all year round | ||
Going anywhere for just one bite. A famous restaurant that spares no effort: "Sushikuinee! Prefectural Office Branch"
In Ishikawa Prefecture, it is common for sushi restaurants to have customers order directly from the chef, rather than ordering sushi from the conveyor belt. Sushi Kuinee! has decided to remove the conveyor belt, which has gradually become less used.
Clockwise from the front: Hokuriku carefully selected assortment, salmon roe, live-caught horse mackerel, homemade stewed conger eel, fish soup, Kanazawa sweet shrimp
A set of 6 recommended Hokuriku selections. From the right, white shrimp, heshiko, sillago, skinned fish, Noto squid, and willow bachime. The contents change depending on the day.
They have a route to directly purchase seafood from Kanazawa Port and Himi Port, and in the kitchen there is an aquarium with horse mackerel, red sea bream, flounder, and other fish swimming in it, and they serve extremely fresh fish that are killed on the spot. And their commitment doesn't stop at freshness. For example, when it comes to salmon roe, the purchasing manager himself goes to Hokkaido every year and selects the salmon roe with his own eyes to prepare for "Sushi Kuinee!"
Our proud salmon roe. Its chewy elasticity is irresistible.
"In this day and age when fresh fish is the norm, we're competing with our original salmon roe, which is made with Kanazawa soy sauce," says the owner. This is a famous restaurant that spares no effort in its determination to serve delicious food.
Sushi Kuinee! Prefectural Office Branch
| address | ： | 1-51 Saito, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| phone | ： | 076-268-3450 |
| business hours | ： | 11:00～21:30 |
| Closed Day | ： | New Year's Day |
| web | ： | https://www.sushikuine.co.jp |
Kanazawa Maimon Sushi Main Branch: Enjoy the culture of Kaga's Hyakumangoku domain while savoring elaborate sushi
Kanazawa Maimon Sushi is not only found in Ishikawa Prefecture, but has stores all over Japan and even overseas, and many people may have experienced its deliciousness with their own tongue. However, since freshness is key to the sushi ingredients, we recommend that you try it at least once in the original location.
Clockwise from the left in the foreground, Noto Kawahagi, Gasu shrimp, Shiromono Sanmai (rosy seabass, seasonal squid, Toyama white shrimp gunkan), wild yellowtail tuna, and in the center, a seafood treasure chest.
The gorgeous interior and exterior are eye-catching, evoking the image of the Kaga Domain's one million koku domain, and the soy sauce dishes are made of Kutani ware, giving the restaurant an appealing feeling of Kaga culture while you eat sushi.
A gorgeous seafood treasure chest that is a feast for the eyes, available in limited quantities
The sushi, named "Seafood Treasure Box," is a creative menu item that allows you to enjoy every last bit of fish, with scraps of raw fish tossed in egg yolk and garnished with crab meat and salmon roe. The dish also features deep-fried heads of gas shrimp and disposable chopsticks made from trees that have been thinned out to promote forestation, showing the restaurant's high level of environmental awareness.
Gasu shrimp. The accompanying deep fried head is a fragrant delicacy.
The owner of the restaurant said, "Our motto is to only serve what we would want to feed our own families." The soy sauce dispenser, which dispenses one drop at a time, is easy to use and is one of the restaurant's charms.
Kanazawa Maimon Sushi Main Store
| address | ： | 3-20-7 Nishishinmachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| phone | ： | 076-234-1144 |
| business hours | ： | 11:00-21:30 (L.O. 21:00) *This may change depending on the situation. |
| Closed Day | ： | Irregular holidays |
| web | ： | https://www.maimon-susi.com |
●This conveyor belt sushi restaurant, frequented by locals, is as delicious as you'd expect!
Conveyor belt sushi restaurant Saemon: A once-in-a-lifetime encounter with delicious sushi and the artisan's dedication
The shop is located in a quiet residential area away from the center of Kanazawa, and has many local customers. One of its features is that it is not a chain, but operates with a focus on the local community.
The front is a 5-item platter of local produce, the back right is a 5-item platter of daily specials, and the left is a 3-item platter of bluefin tuna. The price of the 5-item platter varies depending on the contents.
"I go to the Kanazawa Central Wholesale Market every day to check out the fish I want to sell in this store with my own eyes before purchasing them. I think this is possible because we aren't a chain store. We have a lot of regular customers, so I find myself thinking of their faces as I select the items," says the store manager.
The three-piece bluefin tuna set includes otoro, chutoro, and lean tuna. They are particular about the tuna they use, and on this day, they were lucky to get wild caught tuna. It's rare to find high-quality tuna at this price.
Shrimp is a popular item at this restaurant. Many customers come looking forward to local sweet shrimp, so in case they are unable to procure them, they make sure to prepare them thoroughly to ensure their satisfaction, such as by preserving them in kombu seaweed and storing them in the freezer.
If you've come all the way to Kanazawa and want to try some local fish from Ishikawa Prefecture, we recommend the five-item local fish platter. On this day, from the right, the fish were local gurnard, local sweet shrimp, local turban shell, local skinned liver, and local horse mackerel.
The restaurant offers a variety of seasonal delicacies, such as the "Local 5-item Platter" for those who want to eat local fish, and the "Daily 5-item Platter" which lets you try all of today's recommendations.The restaurant has a homey atmosphere that makes it easy for tourists to drop in.
Conveyor belt sushi restaurant Saemon
| address | ： | 2-12-35 Izumigaoka, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| phone | ： | 076-218-4077 |
| business hours | ： | Weekdays 11:00-15:00 (LO 14:30) / 17:00-21:00 (LO 20:30) Weekends and holidays: 11:00-15:00 (last orders 14:30) / 17:00-21:30 (last orders 21:00) |
| Closed Day | ： | Irregular holidays |
| web | ： | http://saemon-kanazawa.com |
"Mawaru Omicho Market Sushi Main Store" offers seasonal, handcrafted sushi unique to Kanazawa in a retro atmosphere
"Mawaru Omicho Market Sushi Main Store" has been in Omicho Market for about 20 years. The interior is a bit retro, reminiscent of a typical conveyor belt sushi restaurant, with counter seats lined up along the conveyor belt. Ninety-nine percent of the ingredients are sourced from Omicho Market, and the restaurant makes a daily round of the market to check what kind of fish is available.
Clockwise from the top right: gas shrimp, raw fatty mackerel, hairy crab, seared rosy seabass, sandfish nigiri
According to the manager, "We are a typical conveyor belt sushi restaurant in Ishikawa Prefecture," he says that in order to serve freshly made sushi to customers, for at least 10 years now the restaurant has not used a conveyor belt to serve sushi. Despite the fact that the restaurant's name includes the word "conveyor belt," it has recently become well-known as a non-conveyor belt sushi restaurant.
They also actively offer rare ingredients that can only be eaten at this time of year, and on the day of our visit, they offered nigiri made with sandfish caught using bottom trawl fishing. Sandfish is usually eaten boiled or in other dishes, but here you can eat it raw. It was a stylish way to eat local fish that is in season from autumn.
Kobako crab. Kobako refers to female snow crab. Ishikawa crabs are only caught in a short fishing season from November to December, so they can only be eaten during a limited period (the photo shows crabs from Niigata).
Rotating Omicho Market Sushi Main Store
| address | ： | 28-1 Shimoomicho, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| phone | ： | 076-261-9330 |
| business hours | ： | 8:30～20:00 |
| Closed Day | ： | Open all year round |
| web | ： | https://www.ichibazushi.co.jp |
The culture of the Hokuriku region, where Lord Maeda Toshiie once had his castle and where Kaga boasted of its prosperity with a million koku of rice during the Edo period, is still strongly rooted in the area. It could be said that the context of "miyabi" gives conveyor belt sushi a gorgeous taste. As the weather gets colder and the trees turn red, fresh seafood packed with delicious flavors awaits the visitors. The next time you visit Kanazawa, why not enjoy a meal at a famous conveyor belt sushi restaurant?
Originally posted on November 11, 2020 (some content was updated on November 1, 2022)
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The contents published are accurate at the time of publication and are subject to change.
