I wanted to go to this event the last two years and haven’t been able to until today. Now, I’m a bit torn on the event and questioning whether I want to return next year.
Tickets were $90 I believe and it’s 11am-3pm of unlimited food and drink. Although it’s marketed as a “sushi and sake” event, you didn’t actually see much sushi or sake.
The main sushi booth was made possible by Katsu-Ya chefs and it was absolutely incredible to see so many chefs pumping out hundreds of pieces of nigiri. Each person is alotted two plates that typically had 4 nigiri or. After the tuna cutting, 1-2 nigiri and some pieces of chu-toro, otoro, and/or or akami.
Anothr table had cut rolls for just California and spicy tuna options while a third sushi table has crab hand rolls.
There were dozens upon dozens of alcohol vendors, most of which had shochu, some sake, and then Asahi, Sapporo, and Kirin.
A couple dessert booths and then individual booths for okonomiyaki, Takoyaki, miso soup, oden, wagyu, and Yakitori skewers.
My biggest issue with the event is just how insanely crowded it is due to the small space. It’s essentially one “large” ballroom (not very large to today’s hotel standards) followed by two smaller rooms for the alcohol vendors and then the outdoor patio for the few extra hot foods.
I never get claustrophobic or have issues with crowds but the constant waiting in line, mixed with alcohol, no a/c, and stopping/going to squeeze between the crowds just wasn’t cutting it for me. I left about 2 hours after the event started.
I still feel like I got my money’s worth but it wasn’t super enjoyable. Everyone was incredibly kind and no guests caused any issues as far as I’m aware, but the space is what made it difficult. I also feel like the combination of nigiri was an issue as I saw numerous people just throwing away certain pieces they didn’t eat. I wish they had almost like a buffet and each section was a specific cut of fish to allow people to choose what they want as they go through the line, instead of being forced to take a plate with items you don’t want. They wouldn’t give substitutions or offer omissions of certain pieces.
The sushi I ate though was amazing and even better when I had pieces from the tuna just caught. It was a 375 pound tuna from Spain roughly 10 years old.
Not too many freebies outside of the food/drink, I came home with 3 tote bags, pre packaged pastries, and some stickers
by XandersOdyssey
Dining and Cooking