Eating out is often difficult for me because my eyes get bigger than my stomach and I am easily tempted by the things that sounds good on the menu. When I know where I’m going out to eat, I will look up the menu online and pick what sounds the healthiest to me. I may not always choose that, but I like to have a game plan. My go-to restaurant “healthy” choice is usually the soup and salad combo; it’s a safe choice.
But with sushi, I don’t get that same anxiety about choosing the wrong thing. Part of the reason is that I think sushi is really healthy. IF you order the right things. The biggest tip for sushi: don’t order tempura! Deep frying anything immediately makes it not a healthy choice (even though the tempura is oh-so good).
I found a website recently with a chart for calories in sushi. The calories run from 50 calories to 700 calories. Just to give you a few examples:
Veggie Roll – 170 calories
Avocado Roll – 140 calories
Spicy Tuna Roll – 290 calories
Salmon Cucumber Roll – 230 calories
Sashimi is usually under 100 calories!
One of the good things about sushi restaurants? You are usually sharing the rolls with your friends! So you’re probably eating even less calories than you think. I rarely feel guilty about eating sushi because fish is so healthy and packed with omega-3 fatty acids.
A tip that I have for sushi restaurants is to get an appetizer first. The edamame (soy beans) lightly salted run around 100 calories. Miso soup is less than 100 calories for a small bowl. Both take the edge off the hunger. Also, if you’re not that skilled with chopsticks, it will take you forever to eat your sushi!
I recently met up with my cousin Anna for our monthly/bi-weekly-girl’s-night-out-happy-hour at Bara Sushi House. It’s in SE Portland on the trendy Clinton Street. I’ve been there for dinner at least three or four times and have always had a good meal there. Another bonus: I had a Groupon deal that covered a bulk of our dinner.
It was a Thursday evening after a gorgeous week in Portland with weather that was sunny and warm and a reminder of why I live in the Pacific NW. I wished that the sushi place had outdoor seating. I got there early and read some of my book while I waited for Anna to get there. I had a small cup of Miso soup while I waited for her to arrive. She arrived and ordered sake and I had a glass of dry chardonnay. We ordered some really tasty sushi rolls, some were ones I’ve never tried before.
We shared a Philly Roll (my favorite) and a Spicy Salmon Roll (Cucumber, kaiware, and yamagobo). Then we got two rolls that were more adventurous; the Tropical Punch was spicy as hell–as in my lips and mouth are burning spicy–but in a really good way. The Tropical Punch: Spicy albacore, house crab mix, mango and Thai chilies. And we got a Spider Roll (which was just two pieces): Fried soft-shell crab, house crab mix, tobiko, cucumber, avocado, yamagobo and kaiware.
We were both super happy with our choices and I felt like the calorie count was fairly decent. Miso Soup -50 calories; Spicy Salmon -330 calories; Tropical -297 calories; Spider Roll -317 calories for 4 pieces but I had 1 piece; Philly Roll -320 calories. So splitting all the sushi, how did I do on calories? I estimated 675. That isn’t too bad for a dinner out!
Whatever calories I saved by eating sushi I made up for at Pix for dessert! It’s a super cute, delicious dessert place just up the street from the sushi restaurant. We ordered the Amelie– it was creme brulee with a hint of orange, chocolate mousse with a crunchy chocolate outer glaze and caramelized hazelnuts.
Thank goodness we split it! It was rich and decadent and I absolutely loved the crunchy hazelnuts in it.
Splitting it was a good move; I think we each had about five bites before it was gone. Hopefully I didn’t do too much damage to my waistline with that little treat.
One last thing, I never step on the scale the day after eating sushi. Don’t torture yourself. That soy sauce will add a few pounds to anyone!
QUESTION: Are you a sushi fan? What do you usually order and how many calories are in it?
Emily
The “spicy” varieties of rolls (i.e. tuna, salmon, etc) are usually mixed with a mayo based sauce to make it “spicy” – there is also usually tempura crunch mixed in (at least at my fave sushi place). I usually go for a plain tuna roll and had my own spice by adding a dollop of wasabi.
Lisa Eirene
Yes! Thanks for reminding me. The orange sauce is a mayo sauce and that can add calories.
Roz@weightingfor50
Hi Lisa, I’m a HUGE sushi fan. I usually have a veggie roll, spicy tuna roll or sashimi. I splurge sometimes and get “fancy” rolls too. If I have rolls, I try to get brown rice. Now I’m craving sushi! Have a great day!!!
Lisa Eirene
You know, I’ve never tried sushi with brown rice. Lots of places offer it, but I always forget to ask.
Curt
That’s a cool little site that you found!
I’m a big sushi fan but I try and limit how often I go out and eat it. While I love it, I’m a dude that likes to eat and sushi just doesn’t fill me up unless I eat a LOT! I probably average close to 1,000 calories just based on the massive amounts of sushi I eat (and I’m a nigiri fan, not so much on the rolls).
While I don’t particularly care about my caloric intake (I’m more into eating quality food than the calories themselves) what gets me is the rice. Especially since the sticky rice has sugar in it (at least I think it does).
Lisa Eirene
I’m the opposite. Sushi fills me up pretty fast because of the rice. When I go out with a friend for sushi, we usually order 3 or 4 rolls and that’s plenty for two to share.
Curt
You know, I probably eat pretty close to the same if I’m not eating sashimi. More often than not, when I go for a normal sushi outing, I probably have a total of 10 pieces of nigiri and then some sashimi. I would imagine that’s pretty close to the same as 4 rolls…
Lisa Eirene
I would think sashimi would be less since it’s just the fish. I have nigiri and sashimi once in awhile but when I go out with friends it’s usually the favorite rolls that I crave–which are more calories for sure.
Jane Cartelli
I choose to believe that sushi contains no calories. You will not ruin the fantasy for me.
Lisa Eirene
I like how you think!!! Sushi should be free of calories. 😀
Jane Cartelli
My daughter took me out to one of the most upscale sushi places in our area tonight. We have been planning it for two weeks. Because of your post today, I had to admit that sushi had calories and print out the sushi calorie chart and bring it with me and choose wisely.
I don’t like you. 😉
The sushi was wonderful. I had sea urchin for the first time. Wow.
Lisa Eirene
Oh Jane! I’m sorry! LOL But if it makes you feel better, the recent Grey’s Anatomy episode might of cured me of sushi.
Nah, who am I kidding. I love it too much!
Lisa
I love sushi! I had to stop ordering the tempura or fried rolls since I was loving them too much and getting away from the reason I really loved sushi. I like sushi because it tastes like you are eating so healthy, and for the most part it isn’t bad for you.
My eyes are bigger than my stomach when it comes to sushi. I like to eat spicy and not spicy, and pieces with veggies and those without, so I usually end up ordering too many rolls!
Lisa Eirene
I agree! I always feel like I’m doing something healthy when I eat sushi.
Lisa
I wish we had conveyer-belt sushi restaurants like they have in Japan. It’s like dim-sum sushi – just a little on each plate and take only the kinds you want.
Lisa Eirene
I’m a fan of the sushi trains. It makes it easier to eat what I like and not overeat.
phil
I wish I could make sushi at home!