What to Order at a Sushi Restaurant the First Time
A real sushi menu is a different kind of intimidating. There's no chicken parmesan, no fries, no obvious safe choice. Just rows of unfamiliar Japanese names and a counter full of people who clearly know what they're doing. Here's how to order without panicking, without ordering bad sushi, and without faking your way into something you don't actually want.
First, the Three Categories You Need to Know
Sushi menus look complicated because they're often translated word-for-word, with no structure. Most of what's on the menu is one of three things.
Nigiri
A small mound of rice with a slice of fish or seafood draped on top. Sometimes there's a tiny bit of wasabi between them. Nigiri is the form of sushi that real sushi chefs are most proud of, because it's where the rice and the fish actually meet.
Nigiri is sold by the piece. "Two pieces of salmon nigiri" usually means two small pieces, not two plates. Plan accordingly.
Maki (Rolls)
Rice and fillings wrapped in seaweed (nori). Cut into six or eight pieces. This is what most Americans picture when they hear "sushi." Rolls range from very mild (cucumber) to wild (rolls with cream cheese, mango, eel, sriracha mayo, the works).
Rolls are the most beginner-friendly category because the flavors are mixed and the fish is in small pieces. Nobody is going to judge you for ordering rolls.
Sashimi
Just slices of fish. No rice. Usually served with soy sauce and a small mound of wasabi. Sashimi is for people who already know they like a particular fish and want to taste just the fish, undiluted.
Skip sashimi as a beginner. Come back to it once you know what you like.
The Beginner-Safe Order
If you're at a sushi place for the first time and you want to order well without overthinking it, here's a solid lineup that will almost never disappoint.
Start: Edamame and Miso Soup
Edamame is steamed soybeans in the pod. You squeeze the beans into your mouth and discard the pods. Add a sprinkle of salt. It is impossible to mess up.
Miso soup is a brown, savory broth with tofu and scallions. Mild, warming, basically risk-free.
Both are usually $5 or under. Both buy you time to read the menu.
Cooked Roll Option: California Roll or Shrimp Tempura Roll
A California roll contains cooked imitation crab, avocado, and cucumber. Mild, slightly sweet, no raw fish. This is the gateway sushi roll for a reason.
A shrimp tempura roll has fried shrimp inside, often with avocado and a sweet eel sauce drizzled on top. Crunchy, savory, very easy to like.
Mild Raw Option: Salmon Nigiri or Salmon Roll
If you're going to try raw fish for the first time, salmon is the move. It's smooth, slightly fatty, mild. Doesn't taste fishy. The texture is more like soft butter than what people imagine raw fish to be.
Salmon nigiri is a thin slice of raw salmon on a small bed of rice. A "salmon roll" or "spicy salmon roll" gives you the same fish in a more familiar format.
If You Like It So Far: Tuna or Yellowtail Nigiri
Tuna (maguro) is firmer than salmon and has a cleaner, more meaty taste. Yellowtail (hamachi) is buttery and richer. Both are extremely common, neither is intimidating.
Avoid (For Now)
- Uni (sea urchin): divisive even among people who love sushi. The texture is custardy, the taste is briny and intense. Not a beginner pick.
- Ikura (salmon roe): little orange beads that pop in your mouth. Very fishy. Most beginners hate it.
- Mackerel (saba): stronger flavor than salmon or tuna. Worth trying eventually.
- Tamago (sweet egg): actually fine but tastes more like dessert than fish. Try it once.
- Anything raw and orange-and-white-streaked you can't identify: probably uni or fatty tuna belly. Save it for visit 3.
Reading the Menu Without Embarrassment
If the menu has terms you don't recognize, that's normal. Here are the words you'll see most often.
- Maguro: tuna
- Sake: salmon (also rice wine, depending on context)
- Hamachi: yellowtail
- Ebi: shrimp (cooked)
- Unagi: freshwater eel, served grilled with sweet sauce
- Tako: octopus
- Ika: squid
- Tamago: sweet egg omelet
- Uni: sea urchin
- Ikura: salmon roe
- Tobiko: flying fish roe (the tiny orange dots on rolls)
- Tempura: lightly fried in batter
- Spicy: usually means mixed with spicy mayo
If your menu doesn't have descriptions, snap it with MenuPics and you'll see a picture of every dish. This is the actual easiest way to navigate a sushi menu the first time.
How Much to Order
Sushi is sneaky. The pieces look small and you think you'll need a lot. Then you finish and realize you ate more than you thought.
A reasonable first-timer order for one person:
- An appetizer (edamame or miso soup)
- One roll (8 pieces)
- Three to four pieces of nigiri (so two orders, since nigiri is usually two pieces per order)
That's around 14 pieces of sushi total, which is plenty. If you're still hungry after, you can always order more. Sushi restaurants are used to incremental ordering.
The Wasabi, Soy Sauce, and Ginger Question
Three little things sit on your plate. Here's what they're for.
Wasabi is the green paste. It's sharp horseradish, not chili. Most American sushi places use a wasabi substitute (real wasabi is rare and expensive), but it works the same way. Eat a small amount with the fish if you want a kick. Don't dump it all into the soy sauce, which is a beginner mistake that good sushi chefs visibly wince at.
Soy sauce goes in the small dish. Dip the fish side of nigiri (not the rice side) lightly. For rolls, dip a corner. The point is to add salt, not to drown the rice.
Pickled ginger (gari, the pink stuff) is a palate cleanser. Eat a small piece between different fish to reset your taste buds. It is not a topping. Don't put it on your sushi.
Should You Sit at the Sushi Bar?
If the restaurant has a sushi bar, sitting there means watching the chef make your food. It's fun. It also opens up a small etiquette question: it's polite to actually engage with the chef, ask questions, and order through them rather than the waiter.
For a first visit, sitting at a regular table is totally fine. Save the sushi bar for visit 2 or 3, when you've got a sense of what you like and a question or two to ask.
What About Omakase?
Omakase means "I trust the chef." You sit down, eat what they bring you, and pay a fixed price. It's a great experience at a serious sushi restaurant, but it's also expensive (often $80 to $300+ per person), and it's a tasting menu of varied raw fish.
As a beginner, you don't yet know what you don't like. Twelve courses of unfamiliar raw fish is a lot of money to spend on what is partly trial-and-error. Start a la carte. Come back for omakase once you've earned a few opinions.
The Bottom Line
Sushi is way more approachable than the menu makes it look. Order a cooked roll and a couple pieces of salmon nigiri. Add edamame. Drink water or a beer. Don't worry about the wasabi-in-soy-sauce thing on your first try, just don't make it a habit.
The chef is not testing you. The other diners aren't watching you. Sushi is just food, and the only real mistake you can make is ordering nothing because you got intimidated and going to get a burger after.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best sushi for someone who's never had it?
Start with cooked options. A California roll (cooked imitation crab, avocado, cucumber), a shrimp tempura roll, salmon nigiri (which is mild and creamy even raw), or tamago (sweet egg) nigiri. None of these are scary. All of them are real sushi.
What's the difference between nigiri, sashimi, and maki?
Nigiri is a slice of fish on top of a small mound of rice. Sashimi is just slices of fish, no rice. Maki is a roll: rice and fillings wrapped in seaweed. Beginners usually find maki rolls the easiest entry point because the flavors are mixed and the fish is in smaller pieces.
Should I order omakase as a beginner?
Probably not on your first visit unless the restaurant is mid-tier and the omakase is under $40. Omakase means "I trust the chef" and is usually a multi-course tasting at higher-end places. Start a la carte until you know what you like.
Is sushi safe to eat raw?
Yes, when prepared properly at a reputable restaurant. The FDA requires sushi-grade fish to be frozen at specific temperatures to kill parasites before serving raw. Pregnant people, immunocompromised individuals, and very young children should avoid raw fish, but for most healthy adults it's a low-risk food at any restaurant with a real sushi menu and decent reviews.