Courtesy of Kura Sushi

Our four favorite plates that we ate at Kura Sushi.

After a strenuous second semester six-week period of school, we were met with a week-long break in April to catch up on sleep, do homework and relax. But during the first days of spring break, unmotivated and bored in hot weather, we decided to get a cooling lunch and an ice-cold treat.

As we walked around Main Street Cupertino, we stopped by Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, a Japanese sushi restaurant that uses conveyors to serve their customers. We entered around 5 p.m., and we were quickly seated without any wait time. We lucked out; normally, wait times can be up to an hour. Next to our table, dishes such as salmon nigiri and Japanese cheesecakes were served on a conveyor belt. 

We first ordered water with an automated digital ordering robot called Kur-B the KuraBot. Soon after, we started grabbing plates off the conveyor.

The first two plates we got were the salmon and tuna nigiri. The fish itself tasted cool and fresh, the perfect taste we were looking for after walking in the sun. Next, we got a yellowtail and shrimp nigiri. Compared to the salmon and tuna, the yellowtail had a nicer and smoother texture, while the shrimp was underwhelming — as any shrimp nigiri usually is.

Besides the nigiri, we loved the hand rolls. We each got a spicy tuna and salmon roll, which we thoroughly enjoyed. There was a fine balance between the fish and rice, and the umami spices gave a kick that complimented the acidic taste of the vinegar rice. The seaweed’s slight crunchiness on top of the roll accompanied the warm inside, resulting in a satisfying taste.

Because we enjoyed the hand rolls more than any other dish, we each ordered another yellowtail hand roll, which was similar in taste to the previous rolls but had less flavor. The yellowtail was silkier, but there was a smaller portion of fish inside. 

At Kura Sushi, each table has a slot where customers can put their finished plates in, and each plate is automatically counted and shown on the ordering screen. For every five submitted plates, the mascot, Mutenmaru, appears in an adventure on the display encouraging customers to keep depositing and eating plates. After we put in 15 plates, a machine dropped a small prize ball, where we got a pokemon keychain. This rewarding system is called the Bikkura Pon system.

After our meal, we were craving a sweet treat, and Somisomi at Main Street Cupertino, a 2-minute walk away, was the perfect choice. Although there are a myriad of nearby dessert places to choose from, we were told that Somisomi’s soft serve and taiyaki stood out from the rest.

At the shop, we first got matcha and ube swirl upside down Ah Boong, which is a cup with a taiyaki — a fish shaped cake — facing downwards into the soft serve ice cream. 

At Somisomi, the basic four swirl flavors — matcha, ube, cookies and cream and dulce de leche — are always available. On top of this, there are two swirls, or combinations of two flavors, that change weekly.

We topped the matcha and ube Ah Boong with Oreo crumbs and cocoa pebbles for no cost, which added a nice crunch to the soft ice cream. The ice cream itself had a strong ube taste powering over the matcha, but both still complemented each other well. Personally, the ube was the best flavor out of the flavor options, as the taste was prominent, cooling and satisfying after each bite. 

The second upside down Ah Boong we got was cookies and cream and dulce de leche flavored. However, the taiyaki was poorly filled with nutella, so it wasn’t as satisfying to eat. Compared to the matcha and ube, the soft serve tasted far more like typical ice cream but was too sweet. Since it was one of the first hot days coming out of winter, the lunch at Kura Sushi and soft serve at Somi Somi definitely served as a good solution to our hunger and the heat. The next time you visit Main Street Cupertino, we recommend both restaurants for a cooling meal.