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In today’s review… we’ll cover a conveyor belt sushi venue that charges way too much for very average fish quality.

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The Ratings

Our simple & honest checklist covers a restaurant’s key ingredients:
Ambiance, Service, and Food.

3/10

Let's begin with the discrepancy in the address. The address listed on the website doesn't match the actual location, which is a bit odd. The real venue isn't far — just around the corner — but it's still a peculiar situation.

Sima resembles a typical small Japanese conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Booths are lined up next to a sushi bar where plates with nigiri and maki rolls circulate on a conveyor belt under plastic covers.

The ambiance is unremarkable and lacking any distinctive features. The atmosphere is one you might expect: casual, laid-back vibe, perfect for a quick and easy sushi meal.

3.5/10

Alright, but it's below average. The laid-back atmosphere means you can sit wherever you like, and they'll bring you water. For the rest of the meal, you'll pick food from the conveyor belt or order additional items using an iPad. The interaction with staff is minimal. The waitress only mentions leaving the plastic dish covers on the edge of the table for her to collect, and doesn't offer much assistance beyond that.

3/10

We opted to visit Sima Sushi for a specific reason: we wanted affordable conveyor belt sushi that offered good quality fish.

With sushi prices skyrocketing, especially in the District, and quality fish becoming harder to find, we were searching for a budget-friendly option to casually enjoy with friends.

Maguro, otoro, yellowtail, salmon, scallop, beef, unagi nigiris… all were really just OK. The spicy tuna temaki… let’s just say the sushi nori is so dry that all of the hand roll’s contents plop right out the other end like a pastry piping bag. Oops.

However, despite glowing Yelp and Google Reviews praising Sima's high-quality fish, we weren't too surprised to find that the quality was just average. It was OK, but we had somewhat anticipated this. We had hoped, though, that the prices would reflect this average quality.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The bill ended up being surprisingly high! Good grief.

Overall, Sima is a casual joint, but for the price, we would rather go to a higher end (which might even end up being cheaper) option.

Reservation & Menu: