Three approaches to all you can eat sushi
Over the past few months I've been fortunate enough to try three different restaurants in the Maryland suburbs that offer AYCE sushi. Each restaurant has a different approach as to how sushi is obtained. I've only sampled at lunch, both for my convenience and to save some money. The dinner price is higher but has more offerings (at two of the three). All three were good experiences and I would be comfortable returning to any of them.
Kawa AYCE sushi has recently opened next to Costco at the Gateway Overlook shopping area. For a fixed price ($25, drinks, tax, and tip not included) you can order as much sushi as you want from a fairly extensive menu. You do not have to order all at once, your waiter will periodically come by to see if you want to order more. In addition to sushi (nigiri, standard rolls, complicated rolls) you can also order appetizers such as fried tofu, takoyaki, and seaweed salad, a variety of soups, and entrees like fried rice, chicken or pork katsu, and teriyaki. Sashimi is only available at dinner. This is a good way to introduce people to sushi because there's plenty of cooked items for them to fall back on if necessary.
The sushi was good but not great. Both the nigiri and the complicated rolls had some high points but they also had some disappointments. I tried three of the complicated rolls, a rainbow roll, a dancing salmon roll, and an amazing roll. The rainbow roll was decent, not the best I've had but pretty good. I enjoyed the amazing roll and was glad I tried it. The dancing salmon roll I did not like and wound up not eating 2/3 of it and ordering something else instead The smoked salmon nigiri was very good. The unagi nigiri was a bit disappointing, with small pieces of unagi kind of disintegrating. The mackerel (saba) nigiri was ok, not my favorite version but decent enough, but the rice kept falling apart. Desserts are also included and if you do have any room left, I was pleasantly surprised by the cheesecake. It was better than I'm used to seeing from sushi places.
Umi Sushi Buffet opened earlier this year in Catonsville, inside the beltway in the shopping center past the Lowes shopping center. For $25 (not including drinks, tax, or tip) you get a huge choice of sushi, sashimi, salads, cooked american food, cooked pan-asian (including Korean) food and made-to-order stir-fry. They also have a large variety of desserts including ice cream. I was very impressed by the variety and quality of the food here. I indulged in sashimi, since without rice it's a diet food :-) but also tried a sampling of the other dish types. The variety of sushi rolls was impressive and there was also a smaller but well curated variety of nigiri. Since this is a buffet you pick up a plate at the buffet and can load up as much as you want. When you are done eating the items off that plate they will collect it and you go and get another plate. They also have a section where you can build a stir-fry bowl from various veggies and (frozen, thinly sliced) meats. You take it to an area with a flattop and they cook it for you. There are many sauces to add. The sushi and sashimi were the attraction for me, but I thought the cooked food was quite good as well. It would be no problem for a non-fish / non-sushi person to have a good meal here.
Usu is part of a Japanese themed shopping center on Rockville Pike in Rockville. It has become my favorite kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi place, significantly better than Kura. You can order sushi by the dish, or you can buy one of the all-you-can-eat options, ranging from $35, $50, or $65. The price is the same for lunch or dinner. I think it includes a single soft drink or tea. You can take dishes off the conveyor belt as they pass by or you can order specific dishes. Like other kaiten sushi places, the dishes on the conveyor belt are colored and the price of each dish is determined by the color. The most rare / expensive dishes never appear on the conveyor belt but must be ordered from a website (QR code access from your smart phone) for single diners or from your waiter for groups. If a group is dining, the group must decide whether to get AYCE or go ala carte, and the group all has to choose the same AYCE level. This seems reasonable to me. The first time I tried it, I would take items off the conveyor belt most of the time and only ordered from my phone dishes that I didn't see on the conveyor belt like kaarage or miso soup. The second time, I mainly just ordered what I wanted from the app and nibbled on random dishes from the conveyor belt while waiting for my order. The dishes you order are brought to your table by a drone on a track. It's pretty fun. Your drinks and cooked food are brought to you by a robot. I really enjoyed the experience. I've chosen the $50 AYCE option because the dishes available at the $65 level are things ike bluefin tuna, uni, and some rarer fishes that I haven't tried yet. I think on my birthday I'll treat myself to the $65 level and see how it is. The quality of the fish has been excellent. The sushi here is better than either Kawa or Umi, and I found the dining experience to be nicer as well. I enjoy the automated food delivery mechanism and the staff were really nice.
Each of these restaurants is enjoyable and I wouldn't shy away from any of them. As I get older, my body's tolerance of all-you-can-eat quantities has diminished, so this is a special occasion experience that I do only once or twice a year. It is fun to take my son to one of these restaurant and watch him go to town. I feel I really get my money's worth then :-) While $25 ($35 with drink and tax and a small tip) seems like a lot, it's about what a meal costs at a non-fastfood / fast casual restaurant these days, so it's not completely outlandish.