Sushi Otaku

I’ve been eating sushi for years and have always spoken to everyone I know on the topic ad naseum. Just for the heck of it I’ve created a list of sushi pet peeves that I’ve collected from what other folks say about their sushi experience as well as my own. These are not particular to any sushi-ya or region, but just general annoyances that one may experience when going out for sushi (of course many can be applied to any restaurant, but so what

So… Sushi pet peeves for potential perusal:

• A diner asking in a loud and braying voice what everything is, pointing and gesturing at the bar, at other people’s plates, etc…..
• People talking on their cell phones, especially at the close quarters of the sushi bar.
• Demanding attitudes or other disrespect of the itamae.
• Boorish manners (you can still be generally polite even if you don’t know everything about sushi etiquette).
• Loud TVs in the restaurant (sometimes a problem where they have regular bars in a restaurant).
• Loud, inappropriate music in the restaurant.
• Rolls that are sliced too large (mega-monster rolls). Once you’ve bitten into many of them, they fall apart.
• That one stray tobiko on my kappa maki (for those vegetarians).
• Maki that was made a while ago where the nori is now too chewy.
• Too much sugar in the sushi rice.
• When they don’t clean the rolling mats well and rolls end up covered with tobiko or masago (some folks don’t like them).
• People who go to a cheap sushi place and then complain about the quality or size of the sushi.
• People who go to places known for their sushi and get tempura or terakiyi or worse who complain when they only serve sushi and not other Japanese food.
• Sushi served at the wrong temp (when the rice is still warm it’s nasty).
• Sushi served late, I don’t like it sitting around. I would rather have things come when they are ready than when the order for the whole table is ready.
• People who complain that their favorite rolls aren’t at a particular Japanese place. If you really must have the rock n’roll or avocodo, spicy tuna and mayo bar-b-cue roll then ask nice and they may make it for you.
• People who think eating sushi is a great reason to do way too many sake bombs
• When someone at the next table points to your natto/uni etc and yells GROSS! Or really any other unnecessary comment.
• Friends who claim they like sushi, and then when you take them to a killer sushi place, they order teriyaki bento and tonkatsu.
• Restaurants that charge you extra money for the shrimp heads.
• Places that don’t serve the heads when you order ama ebi, even after specifically enquiring about it when placing the order.
• Ordering anything tempura and getting served something rolled in pako breadcrumbs and told it’s tempura
• Getting an unagi spine/bone stuck in my throat eating unagi
• When people don’t use proper etiquette for using ohashi…stabbing food, sticking it up in the rice…and especially using them as drumsticks.
• No *real* wasabi
• Sushi-ya that insist that you order through a waitress while seated at the bar.

Any other annoyances? Feel free to add your two cents!

Meshi Agare!
Warren
The sushi guy.