Shinjuku Station

 

Located at 5835 Samet Drive in High Point’s Palladium Shopping Center, Shinjuku Station offers conveyor belt sushi and Japanese cuisine. It is open from 11 a.m. -9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11-10:30 Friday and Saturday. Sake is available.

The Triad’s first conveyor belt sushi establishment, Shinjuku Station offers a unique dining experience. That experience won’t appeal to everyone, but for those not alienated by the drawbacks, this place has quite a bit to offer.

From the faux turnstiles at the entrance to the subway map on the ceiling to the conveyor belt “tracks,” Shinjuku Station leans heavily into a train theme. Add robot waiters (fear not: there are human servers as well) and vending machines, and you’ll feel temporarily transported to another world.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the emphasis on aesthetics masks mediocre, overpriced food, but many of Shinjuku Station’s offerings hold up better than you think. While the flat fee for all-you-can-eat isn’t cheap ($28 for dinner/$18 for lunch for adults and less for kids), even if you come hungry, you can very easily get your money’s worth here. The menu boasts apps, sides, hibachi entrees, nigiri sushi, and classic and specialty rolls. You can grab whatever passes by off of the conveyer belt or use your table’s tablet to order up to five items at a time from the kitchen. My wife and I tried a variety of items and were satisfied with most. The salmon and snapper nigiri tasted fresh and the Yip Yip, Green River, and Lady Shinjuki rolls all offered a nice balance of flavors. Only the spicy salmon (not spicy) and crab rangoon (oily) were disappointing.

 

While Cha(?) provided excellent service (and gave us an assortment of sauces), the kitchen was rather slow getting our first order out. The second, thankfully, came quite a bit more quickly. As you can imagine from the ambiance, this is a lively place, and while the energy skewed toward “fun” during our visit, I can imagine it gets quite noisy here during busier times.

If you like trying new things and are willing to abide a few quirks and delays, Shinjuku Station can offer a meal you will not easily forget. It may not be the best sushi around, but it’s more than just a gimmick.