Pod — Stephen Starr’s restaurant in University City — has been resurrected in its original form (with some changes) after a brief rebranding.
The new-and-improved Pod is a mature, “refined” version of Starr’s original restaurant that opened in 2000, which many people remember for its conveyor-belt sushi service. After 20 years by Penn’s campus, Pod closed during the pandemic. It reopened last year as Kpod, a Korean American concept, but according to customers, something was missing.
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“When we reopened the space as Kpod, our customers kept asking us, ‘where’s the sushi?’ So, we listened and decided to transition the space back to its original conception – a Japanese restaurant and Izakaya,” Starr said in a release.
Pod is once again a sushi-focused Japanese restaurant. It does not include its distinctive conveyor belt of the past, but it does feature a sushi menu curated by Pod’s former lead sushi chef Kevin Yanaga. (As Kpod, Chef Peter Serpico was brought in to design the menu; Serpico left the company this March and was replaced by corporate chef Mark Hellyar.)
Hellyar developed the menu and executive chef Kenjiro Omori is carrying out daily operations. “I’ve created a menu that embraces the essence of the original Pod, but with a little more elevation, polish and Japanese tradition,” Hellyar said. “Between the updated menu and the restaurant’s intrinsic energy that defined the space for two decades, diners will fall in love with Pod all over again.”
There is a unique variety of rolls, as well as a wide selection of hot and cold menu items. Hearty noodle dishes include pork ramen and mentaiko spaghetti, a popular dish in Tokyo. A full “Robata” (Japanese grill) section of the menu features yuzu prawns, smoked pork belly and beef short rib.
Beverages include modern takes on classic Japanese cocktails, sake, wine, beer and fan-favorite cocktails from Kpod, like the “Champ-pop” sake-and-boba drink.
Located at 3636 Sansom St., Pod is open for dinner Monday-Thursday from 5-10 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 5-11 p.m.