Restaurant of the Week: Kula

Kula Revolving Sushi Bar, 9659 Milliken Ave. (at 4th), Rancho Cucamonga

Said to be the Inland Empire’s first revolving sushi bar, Kula opened in August 2012 across from Ontario Mills. It’s a Southern California chain with six other locations, including Rowland Heights. Revolving would seem to imply it’s round, but really it’s a conveyor belt that wends its way around the room. It’s almost like an elaborate model train layout, only with salmon nigiri instead of coal cars.

Almost everything is $2, whether it’s sushi, hand rolls, cut rolls, salads, grill items, desserts or sodas. (Udon, however, is $5.) No matter where you sit, plates trundle by, covered by a clear plastic lid, ready to be snagged off the belt. A friend and I had lunch the other day, leaving stuffed after a total bill of $32.

Kula isn’t the place to go for high-end sushi, obviously, and the cuts of fish were thinner than is typical. Most plates had two pieces, meaning you and a companion could each have one piece and move on. The experience was novel, and if you’re undemanding, the sushi is good enough. You can sit at the sushi bar if you like conversing with the chefs, although they seem busy cranking out the sushi; for everyone else, you don’t really have to deal with anyone. It’s kind of like the automats of old.

The closer you sit to the bar, the fresher your items, potentially. We sat in the middle of the room. Pointing to the folks at the far end, my friend commented, “Those people really get whatever it is we don’t want.” I suppose the people at the bar were saying that about us.

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