Sushi Etiquette

While enjoying my favorite sushi at a great sushi restaurant or bar, I always wish to have simple conversations with the itamae-san like the ones you see on the Japanese food shows on TV. I want to tell him how great the food is and ask for his recommendations on what to eat next. When you build a good relationship with your sushi chef, you will have a more enjoyable sushi-eating experience. However, since I don’t speak any Japanese, another way to show respect and how I much I enjoy the food is to have good sushi etiquette. A good sushi chef notices customers with good sushi etiquette and will personally welcome your returning visits. I have researched online and composed a brief summary of sushi etiquettes to follow when you are at a sushi restaurant. Afterall, don’t you want to enjoy sushi at a bar as a sushi connoisseur?

1. Never wear strong perfume or other fragrances when going to a sushi bar. They will conflict with the flavors of the food.
2. Usually, the sushi connoisseurs sit at sushi bars but you are welcome to sit wherever you like.
3. Never refuse when given Oshibori (hot towel). Oshibori is used for wiping hands before meal.
4. Remember to order with the assigned waiter or waitress. Sushi chefs only take sushi or sashimi orders.
5. Never order more than what you can eat at a time at the sushi bar because you do not want the sushi to dry out. Also, since you are eating sushi with other customers as well, it is rude to order a large amount of food and take up the chef’s time in preparing food just for you. Order maybe 1-3 items and then order more later.
6. Sushi connoisseurs usually order green tea with the food. However, sake or beer is equally important to order at a sushi bar. It is not wise to order coffee or coca cola with sushi since the taste will masks flavors of the sushi.
7. Never ask for knives because that implies the food the tough.
8. Never smoke at a sushi bar since the smoke will disrupt the flavors of the sushi and also other people eating sushi.
9. Know how to use hashi (chopsticks). Never eat sushi with fork or spoon. People will look at you funny.
10. When using chopsticks, break them apart under the table and never rub them together to get rid of the splinters. That implies the restaurant cannot afford expensive chopsticks.
11. When taking food from a shared plate, use the opposite ends of your chopsticks.
12. Never use chopsticks to pass food; instead, pass the plate. Passing food with chopsticks means passing cremated bones of a deceased relative at a Japanese funeral.
13. When eating sushi, you have a choice of eating with your fingers or chopsticks. However, always eat sashimi with chopsticks.
14. Never make wasabi soup with your soy sauce. The itamae-san prepares sushi or nigiri for original taste of the fish and not for you to indulge in wasabi, which paralyzes the palette and hide the subtle flavors of the raw fish.
15. Never dip sushi rice down in soy sauce. Pick up the sushi and dip the fish, then eat the sushi whole with fish side on your tongue. Always try to eat sushi whole and not bite in half.
16. Never bite into one piece of sushi and then go for another piece. Always finish the one you have and then go for a second piece.
17. Daikon and gari (ginger) are to nibble on in between dishes. They help cleanse your mouth of after-taste from the previous dish.
18. When not using chopsticks, place them on the hashi oki in front of you, parallel to the sushi bar table. This way the sushi chef will know you are finished and ready to pay.
19. Finish everything! Never leave food behind, especially rice.
20. When you are ready to pay, ask for the waiter or waitress, not the chef. People who handle food never touch the money.
21. When you leave, say “Gochisoo-sama” to the itamae-san.