The Great Katsu Midori Wait: Yes, It’s Worth The Hype

August 22, 2025 Not Your Typical Tourist

I first heard about Katsu Midori from my husband, who was baffled by the perpetually long queues. He wondered: is it cheap? Is it of premium quality? After all, it’s not the first conveyor-belt sushi restaurant to attract this kind of attention in Bangkok. The answer, as I discovered, is both. Launched in December 2024, the buzz around this place is still undeniable. But is the food really so good that people are willing to wait for hours, nine months after it opened? I set out to find out…

The Queueing Challenge

Located on the 3rd floor of CentralwOrld in the Nippon Avenue Zone, Katsu Midori’s queue is managed entirely through the QueQ app. On my first visit, a staff member directed me to scan a QR code rather than giving me a physical slip. The good news is that you can still walk around and keep track of your place in line on your phone—a smart way to work around the system. In fact, on subsequent visits, I didn’t even walk to the restaurant but just used the app when I was in the vicinity of Siam or CentralwOrld.

Here’s a breakdown of my attempts to get a table:

Attempt #1: Thursday, July 24, at 7:07 PM. My number was A296 with 595 people ahead. My number was called 2 hours later, with many no-shows after 8:30 PM. By then, I had already eaten dinner somewhere else.
Attempt #2: Tuesday, August 5, at 5:47 PM. My number was A115 with 629 people ahead. My number was called a staggering 3 hours later! Again, I had already finished my dinner.
Attempt #3: Wednesday, August 13, at 4:17 PM. My number was A248 with 187 people ahead. This time, the wait was just 20 minutes, but I ended up being a no-show as it’s too early for dinner.
Attempt #4 (Success!): Tuesday, August 19, at 4:57 PM. My number was A402 with 272 people ahead. The wait was 2.15 hours.
Attempt #5: Thursday, August 21, at 5:02 PM. My number was A477 with 417 people ahead. My number was called 3.5 hours later; we didn’t wait for our turn.
Attempt #6 (Second Visit Success!): Tuesday, September 2, at 4:23 PM. My number was A121 with 226 people ahead. We secured our seats at 7:08 PM, a wait of nearly 3 hours. At 6:27 PM, the queue was down to 30, so we walked to the restaurant assuming we would be seated before 7 PM, but our guess was slightly off.
Attempt #7: Sunday, September 21, at 2:00 PM. My queue number was A108 with 1517 people waiting ahead of me. At 3:30 PM, there were 873 people waiting, and by 5:35 PM (our intended dining time), 341 people were still ahead of us. My number was finally called at 7:00 PM, a full 5 hours after I got the queue number, but we had already had our dinner by then.
Attempt #8: Saturday, September 27, at 3:50 PM. My queue number was A256 with 1860 people waiting ahead of me. My number was finally called at 9:08 PM, a full 5 hours after I got the queue number, but we had already had our dinner by then.

Our test confirmed it: a long wait for dinner is the norm, but with the right timing, a table can be had at your intended dining time. The queues can also grow at an incredible pace, jumping by over a hundred numbers in a matter of minutes in the late afternoon as many people play the same strategy.

The Verdict: Yes, It’s Worth the Wait

Yes, yes, and absolutely, yes. The service is good, and the quality is excellent for a price that doesn’t break the bank. With sushi starting from just 40 baht per plate, it easily beats any options sold at BTS/MRT stations or supermarkets. Plates can range up to 160 baht for more premium items.

Our meal was a feast of favorites: we loved the salmon, beef items, the fatty tuna, and the duck loin, which is a rare find at most sushi spots. We also tried the seared salmon with butter cheese, which was a great choice. My personal favorite, however, was the simple but delicious fatty salmon dish (80 baht). We stuck to a few regular items on this trip, but we’ll definitely be back to try the wide variety of white fishes and the daily specials. The jiggly cat pudding is a favorite among many, too.

On our first visit, we had a hearty meal of 18 plates for 1,111 baht, including a 10% service charge and 7% VAT.

For our second visit, we were able to keep the total bill to just 990 baht for 17 plates by focusing on the more affordable 40 baht plates. The food is still consistently good, and we enjoyed repeat orders of our favorites, while also trying new dishes like the sardines and flounders.

The restaurant uses a modern RFID tag system, so there’s no need to stack plates; the staff simply scans them to calculate the bill.

Insider Tips for Getting a Seat

Given the sheer volume of people, a little strategy goes a long way.

Plan Ahead: Your best bet is to get your queue number well in advance of when you plan to eat. For a dinner around 7:00 PM, a good strategy is to get a number between 4:30 PM and 5:00 PM. For a 6:00 PM dinner, try for a number between 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM. That said, as our attempts show, the wait time can be unpredictable and long, so it really does depend on luck! Use the QueQ app to monitor the queue while you shop or see a movie. If you are late after your queue number is called, they still allow you to go in, as I witnessed.
Order from the Tablet: While you can grab standard-sized sushi from the conveyor belt, ordering from the tablet allows you to request smaller rice portion sizes, which is a great option if you want to try a wider variety of dishes.
Go Solo: If you’re a solo diner, you’re in luck. The staff often offers solo diners a seat to fill an empty spot. You can get a table much faster by hanging around the queue booth. We even saw friends take separate seats to get in quicker.
Freebies and Kids’ Plates: A few things are complimentary, including water, wasabi, seafood sauce, mayonnaise, salt, and seasoning. They also have special children’s plates available.
Consider Takeaway: There’s also a takeaway counter. We saw two guys grab their sushi and enjoy it at a nearby public space.

It’s unlikely the hype will die down anytime soon. The quality and value are simply too good to ignore. Both my husband and I love the place, and we’ll definitely be back soon—with a proper plan for queue number booking, of course. For those looking to try their luck at a new location, keep an eye out for their new branch at Dusit Central Park, which just opened on September 4th! For more information and updates, you can visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KatsuMidoriThailand