We Have Good News and Bad News About the New Restaurant in the Japan Pavilion at EPCOT

Things are CHANGING over at EPCOT in some pretty big ways.

Construction is coming along at Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana. Plus, we’re seeing progress at the new CommuniCore Hall and CommuniCore Plaza areas, and a Figment meet-and-greet is on its way. But over at the Japan pavilion, there’s even more to get excited about.

The Japan pavilion is set to get a NEW restaurant soon called Shiki-Sai: Sushi Izakaya! Disney previously noted that the restaurant will open in the summer of 2023.

The new restaurant will feature a sushi bar and grill, will celebrate Japan’s many seasonal festivals with new menu items or decor, and will offer izakaya-style eats to share with friends and family (like crispy tempura and okonomiyaki).

We’ve seen a number of updates in the pavilion indicating that the restaurant is inching closer to its opening, like signage put up near the restaurant’s location. But now we’ve noticed some bigger changes and it’s a bit of a mixed bag with some good news and some bad news.

Let’s start with the good news. We’re starting to see operating hours listed for the restaurant on both the Disney World website and My Disney Experience app! That can often be a BIG step forward in indicating that a restaurant will be opening soon.

In fact, we noticed that operating hours were listed for August 9th, but (here’s a bit of bad news early) the restaurant didn’t technically open to the public on that date. Still, the showing of hours is a good sign and the restaurant’s current listed hours — 12PM to 9PM — continue to be listed on the calendar for the upcoming dates we checked.

Second, in terms of good news, though the restaurant was not open on August 9th (despite showing operating hours for that day), we stopped by the Japan pavilion and saw that a private event was being held in the restaurant!

We even saw some individuals sitting inside the restaurant — that’s a great sign indicating that it is much closer to being open than some might have expected.

We’ve also seen some more decor up in the front area.

There’s some great artwork to look at.

And things are generally looking more “built out” here.

Shiki-Sai also now has its own dedicated Disney World website with details about the experience, and you’ll find a page for it on the My Disney Experience app.

But that leads us to the bad news. For starters, Disney still has not revealed an opening date for this new restaurant. Despite it showing hours for August 9th and dates beyond that, the website notes that it will “open soon.” When we spoke to a Cast Member in EPCOT, they indicated that the restaurant is not expected to open to the public until later this month. (Of course, that is subject to change.)

Second, Disney still hasn’t shared a full menu with details and pricing for the menu items here. We do know there will be a sushi bar with menu items like Kobore Sushi, Tokyo Negi Roll, Funamori, and The Monster Roll. (The Kobore Sushi is full of flavor with negi toro, nakaochi tuna, salmon roe, and green onion. The Tokyo Negi Roll is made with green onion tempura rolled with tuna tataki and topped with jalapeno aioli, shredded carrot, and sliced jalapeno.)

We also know that there will be Funamori (which features sashimi and sushi arranged on a boat-shaped plate), and samplings of Japanese Izakaya (with a variety of sharable small plate dishes including Karaage Chicken, Salmon Misoyaki, and Tomato Salad with Avocado).

You’ll also find Okonomiyaki on the menu (a savory pancake filled with shredded cabbage and bacon, and topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, aonori, bonito flakes, and pickled ginger).

But still, the full menu has yet to be revealed.

So it’s a bit of a mix so far. But still, some of these signs are VERY promising. We’re keeping a close eye on the situation and will let you know as soon as we get more news about this spot, so stay tuned.

Click here to see what STRANGE thing is happening in EPCOT

Are you looking forward to the opening of this restaurant? Tell us in the comments!

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