Cracking the sushi bar code

April 21, 2009 7:34 AM

So.. how do sushi bars work?

Whenever I eat at a sushi bar - and I mean the "sushi train" style bars with the conveyor - the same questions run through my head:

What do the different coloured plates mean? Is there a code?
How long's that food been on there? Do they take the old food off? after how long?
When is the warm food coming? Where is the dessert?
Why do they keep putting more of that unpopular dish out?

I've probably missed a few others too..

posted by devnull to food & drink (11 comments total)

A green plate on the left side of the conveyer belt means they expect you to pay.
posted by box at 7:48 AM on April 21

Yes, the plates are coded with certain plates having a certain price point. In theory, old sushi gets pulled but that depends on the establishment. Nigiri sushi such as, inari (stuffed tofu pockets) or cucumber rolls will be the cheapest so get to know those plates. Usually, dishes like tempura or chawnamushi (egg custard) need to be ordered directly.

Look, going to a floating sushi boat bar is not necessarily the highest level experience you might get. But it totally depends on the establishment. I have had some surprisingly great fish in the boat experience but I am pretty cautious.

Follow this simple rule: Take only dishes that you have personally witnessed being placed in the boats otherwise, it is a crapshoot unless you are familiar with the establishment.
posted by jadepearl at 7:50 AM on April 21 [1 favorite has favorites]

The key to the "code" should be on a menu or stand-up at your table. Failing that, ask your server. It's written somewhere.

IME, only certain items come along the conveyor belt. Usually the hot food, beverages, desserts, soups, etc are served by a server.

I find that food is most fun when it moves laterally along a belt, but for food quality I prefer a non-belt sushi bar. Everything is made-to-order.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 8:11 AM on April 21

I haven't had "sushi train" sushi outside of Japan so take this for what it's worth.

Plate colour lets you know how much the sushi will cost. When they calculate your bill they just count how many plates of each colour you have.

The food shouldn't be out there for too long, but that will depend on the place and what they're charging.

My wife says that she never takes the stuff that's already there and just orders what she wants. Friends of hers say they do the same. They're all Japanese, but I don't know if they eat "sushi train" outside of Japan.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:17 AM on April 21

A few points missed so far:

- Sushi trains (at least, all the ones I've been to) also often have a menu that you can select from, and have the chef prepare (just like a real restaurant). So that's where a lot of the hot food is, waiting for somebody to order it so it can be cooked.

- If you've been going to the same place for a while, you get a feel for what they put on the conveyor belt. Then, when your favorite dish isn't there, you can just request it of the chef, and he/she will make some more and put it out (usually about 5 dishes of the same, since they make more than one in a single go). You obviously don't have to pay for this, just the plate you take.

- Price coding for plates should be marked somewhere in the restaurant, if not in multiple locations.

- Go earlier rather than later (i.e. 12:00 for lunch instead of 1:00-2:00). It decreases your chance of getting that occasional dish that has been there for a wee bit too long.

- Some sushi places (but not all) put dessert dishes on. I've never tried them though.
posted by kisch mokusch at 8:23 AM on April 21

...or I could check preview.
posted by kisch mokusch at 8:23 AM on April 21

Blue C in Seattle uses RFID tags on the plates to check how long they've been on the line and automatically pull them off.
posted by O9scar at 11:15 AM on April 21

If you've been going to the same place for a while, you get a feel for what they put on the conveyor belt. Then, when your favorite dish isn't there, you can just request it of the chef, and he/she will make some more and put it out.

No need to qualify this with "if you've been going there for a while." Me, I rarely pick the dishes up anymore, I always ask the sushi chef for what I want. Then he just hands it to me. In fact, in my favorite kaiten-zushi place (Daidokoro in Shibuya) they no longer put much of anything on the conveyor belt except pricing info, since everybody in there is ordering directly now.

And -- sushi trains? Where do they call 'em that? Here in NoCal, sushi boat is the norm, because all the places seem compelled by perr pressure to install the channel of water with the little floating boats, IMO just tarting up the experience to raise the price.
posted by Rash at 1:40 PM on April 21

rash, some places have little trains that carry the sushi. Here in Calgary an example is Sushi House Richmond. The ones that have boats are called, well, boats.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 2:56 PM on April 21

tsk tsk Rash, it's NorCal not NoCal. :)

But yeah, I always thought it was a Sushi Boat.
posted by radioamy at 3:32 PM on April 21

ethnomethodologist wrote: rash, some places have little trains that carry the sushi. Here in Calgary an example is Sushi House Richmond.

There is one here in Tulsa that does that, literally with a model train. It is called (wait for it!) The Sushi Train.
posted by wierdo at 2:17 AM on April 22