Surprisingly Fantastic Summer Corn Sushi at Kappazushi

    One day in mid-July, my family went to Kappazushi, one of the safest options for conveyor belt sushi during the pandemic. This year, I didn't pay much attention to the Fourth of July, an American holiday I would celebrate at home with a barbecue, fireworks and lovely grilled food. Being in Japan and during a pandemic means missing out on a lot of that but thanks to Kappazushi, I still got my grilled corn fix for the summer.

    A few dishes that can be considered early summer specials only offered in July include pieces of grilled corn sliced from the cob and served three ways. The first is the most obvious with the grilled corn served directly over rice like a nice little piece of nigiri, grill marks on the top hinting at the light smoky flavor within.

I could have eaten twelve of these.

    The second corn related option was an adaptation of the first, this time served with sauce and a light okonomiyaki-style swizzle of mayonnaise, clearly made to entice the lovers of that ever popular Japanese savory pancake. Personally, I didn't feel like the sauce added anything great to the dish, but it wasn't bad either. It is possible that my hopes were a bit higher after liking the first option as much as I had. While the grilled flavor of the corn still shone through, I wouldn't eat twelve more of these. One was enough, though if I had been made to eat two more, I would not have complained.


It was prettier than its predecessor but not really better flavor-wise.

    Next, I greatly enjoyed the corn tempura, much to my own surprise. When my husband read it from the menu, he meant it as a joke but I decided to give it a chance, having just enjoyed the grilled corn nigiri. Admittedly, my expectations for this one were pretty low. Usually when corn exists at a sushi chain, it's creamed or served as a couple of kernels alongside a "salad" consisting exclusively of broccoli. With that in mind, I figured the tempura version would have a weird creamy center, the texture of which I may struggle with. When the outside of the food is battered and fried, all sorts of things might be happening inside.    

  To my utter delight, this was different. The same slices of grilled corn from the nigiri were breaded and fried, so the smoky flavor and real corn texture were still present. The generous portion of fried corn was served with a sauce that added a juiciness that really worked with the flavor profile. If this corn tempura dish were available by the bag, I would buy it and eat it like popcorn.


You can still see the kernels inside! Nothing creamed in there.

    I highly recommend using the dipping sauce with these as otherwise they come off a tad bit dry. While they are still enjoyable, the sauce adds a nice touch.

If you're looking for some fun new ways to enjoy grilled corn this July, Kappazushi has you covered.