One of the best parts of an immersive theme park experience is all of the themed food, and even though the grand opening of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan has been postponed due to COVID restrictions in Osaka, they have had advance previews and soft openings, giving the world a glimpse at what will be available once things are officially up and running. With one restaurant and two snack stands, there are a ton of options to choose from, and yes, as one would expect, there is a heavy mushroom presence.
Originally set to open in early February, once the land does actually open to guests, make sure that you go hungry but know that even then, you likely won’t be able to try everything on the menu in one sitting, unless you have a bottomless pit in your stomach. At Kinopio’s Café, which you of course enter through a mushroom facade and is full of fun themed decor, you can choose from more than a dozen meal selections, along with four desserts and a couple of specialty drinks. Personally, I would be keen to try either (or let’s get real, both!) Mario’s Bacon Cheeseburger or Luigi’s Green Curry Chicken Sandwich, especially since they come with a little plastic Mario or Luigi hat on top. All of the food portions appear to be good sized and could be easily shared, if you wanted to order a few options to try.
The only vegetarian options available at Kinopio’s are the Piranha Plant Caprese, Yoshi’s Favorite Fruit & Veggie Salad, and the Mushroom Soup. Be warned that you aren’t able to customize food items, so if you aren’t a mushroom fan (even the Fire Flower Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Yoshi’s Spinach Carbonara come with mushrooms), you might want to focus on the desserts. When it comes to those dessert options, the prize for most incredible food item in Super Nintendo World goes to Princess Peach’s Cake. The shareable strawberry cake has raspberries, multi-colored sprinkles, and star cookies on it, and is accompanied by a cookie with a note from Princess Peach herself that reads, “I poured my heart into this cake I baked for you. I hope you enjoy it. Yours truly, Peach.”
While it’s disappointing that you don’t get to take home the adorable soup bowl with removable mushroom top, you can pick up a Super Mushroom or a 1-Up Mushroom Sipper at Yoshi’s Snack Island, conveniently located near the Yoshi’s Adventure attraction. And it wouldn’t be a theme park without souvenir popcorn buckets, and you can choose between Mario Kart and Super Star, as well as one of two land-themed flavors of popcorn – Caramel Peach or Mushroom Cream.
Be sure to check out a small selection below of the hundreds of photos that Chris Nilghe (aka TDR Explorer) has displayed on his website and graciously given us permission to spotlight at Collider. You can check out his coverage of Universal Studios Japan on his website. And if you’re looking to visit one of Asia’s incredible theme parks (as always, following all current safety protocols), go to www.tdrexplorer.com, the premier English-language lifestyle website dedicated to crafting content for theme park fans in or traveling to Asia, where he can supply you with all of the best tips.
