Quick Look: 40906 Restaurants of the World: Japan
Posted by Huw,
The gift with purchase at LEGO.com at the moment is 40906 Restaurants of the World: Japan, the first of four restaurant sets that'll be available at various times during 2026.
In recent years similar series have been microscale which has reduced their appeal somewhat. This one, however, is minifig-scale, so is likely to be better received.
Summary
40906 Restaurants of the World: Japan, 289 pieces.
A strong start to this year's series of collectable GWPs
- Minifigure-scale
- Unique minifigure
- Lovely details inside
- Only available as a GWP
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The establishment occupies a 12x10 area and has seating for two customers. Chopsticks, sushi, and jars of wasabi and soy sauce are laid out on the table. Behind it, there's a worktop on which the chef can prepare the seafood dishes.
It seems to be mandatory for food establishments operating in LEGO City to display a large scale version of their wares on their roof, so here we have a piece of prawn nigiri sandwiched between two chopsticks.
The internet tells me that the first character on the sign means “longevity” or “long life”, the second "to manage” or “to administer”. Combined, they form the word sushi. Apparently, the characters were chosen mainly for their sound, not their meaning (called ateji). They don’t describe the food directly.
The chef is attired in a traditional white sushi chef jacket, which is a new print.
The oversized nigiri can be removed easily to leave something looking much more realistic that will fit right in to your LEGO cityscape.
It's an excellent little set so don't miss out: it's available only until March 8th, free when you spend over €180/$180/£160 at LEGO.com There will be plenty of new things to buy tomorrow!
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25 comments on this article
This would work great as an Ichiraku ramen shop from Naruto! Might need to get some of those flag pieces...
Absolutely wonderful little set indeed! Here's hoping that it won't run out of stock (and if worse comes to worse, it's always buildable at home).But the aesthetic is very nice and a nice taster if 910060 is beyond means. Fits well in City, Ninjago, Creator, Monkie Kid, and well..anything you want i suppose. Totemo sugoi! Zettai hoshii! (oh and it's good that 71019-19 has a choice of place to return to now)
This will be great to fill out the large space in Ninjago City Markets to make it more of a market.
What a lovely little build. I believe the only sushi minifig before this was from Ninjago, so it's nice to have this available now.
I expect this will do pretty well on the secondary market, so I have to find what's worth snagging from my wantlist at the moment.
Thanks for the review! Might have to pick this one up. I'll consider it a consolation prize since I forgot to order the BDP Sushi Restaurant :/
Looking forwards to receiving this great little GWP.
Wondering if 11375 will be in stock tomorrow. Ordered yesterday and it went straight from pre-order to back-order on receipt. Still 'coming soon' on Lego.com so waiting for midnight in antici......pation.
Hat isn't new, or a recolour, looks like they renumbered the part. It first appeared in white in the butcher CMF iirc.
Nice little set, even when I still can't shake the feeling the designer confused hashi with scissors. Unfortunately behind a pretty big paywall. Hope I can get it some other way eventually...
And I wonder if after the less than steller reception of the French Cafe, this "Restaurants of the world" theme will now just be GWP's? Or might this just be a precursor for a bigger, regularly available Japanese restaurant set? I'd buy that!
The price to get into these is high, but if they all have the same footprint, they could be combined to make a lovely little restaurant alley.
I wonder what they'll choose for the other ones...
It does look good without the cartoonish sign, but it might be best to remove the lights on the roof too as there is nothing to light up.
I already placed my Lego.com order to get this. I'm looking forward to building it.
"It seems to be mandatory for food establishments operating in LEGO City to display a large scale version of their wares on their roof"
I think I've been on Brickset for 13 years now and this is my favourite review line yet!
I can see this is a lot of cities.
There is someone in the city I love very much. Yeah, I remember when I first laid eyes on him. The last I saw him was, well, I guess about 16 years ago too. I was just an irresponsible kid and I…it was this guy, who made probably the best sushi I’ve ever had in my life. You never knew what was coming next, and you didn’t even order! It was one of their places where yiur don’t even get a menu.
That’s this place! Omakase.
Mmmmm .....I quite like that.
Lego is going fishing..... will I get hooked? I can't afford to get hooked!
They'll be more......they might be as good or even better...... are they all going to have 160€+ threshold?
Mmmmm..... TOO MUCH!!!!!........swimming away.....
Ah yes. A beautiful gwp. This one tiny ass set makes me want to run and buy $180 worth of lego right this very instant
180 is an insane threshold. This would be a great and extremely popular set - if it were a normal retail set.
The most challenging thing about this set is going to be saving it until one of the others in its mini theme comes out - my partner and I have been building the previous versions of the four-a-year GWPs together, two at a time, and it’s been delightful so I’ll have to exercise some willpower not to spoil it.
This kit is so extremely up my street. I love food places, I love City-suitable buildings that aren’t police/fire/hospital, I love giant 3D signs, and so I am absolutely thrilled with the choice for this year.
A great idea. If they can be connected, we can make a food alleyway filled with restaurants serving food of the world.
I guess it will be available later in Japan Lego Stores.
This pushed me to buy some things off the wishlist. I particularly appreciate the graphic design of the stickers, which have a more mature tone than you typically see in sets like this. Hopefully I don’t like the subsequent ones as much xD
Kawaii! Sugoi! Sorry, is my weeaboo showing?
I see the comments and text in the review itself about removing the sushi to be more "realistic," however, I just visited Japan for the first time a few months ago and found that this set really captures the feel of urban restaurant storefronts, particularly the Dontonbori district in Osaka.
Normally the giant food like the City food trucks feels cartoonish and unrealistic, but here is does fit the culture well.
Discounts on One Piece sets plus a nice minifig-compatible GWP pulled me in.
This should have been a GWP with the Bricklink Japanese set...great review.