One of Japan's most travel-friendly, customizable, and user-friendly foods, sushi together with restaurant delivery is like white on rice.
No longer considered foreign, sushi has permeated American culinary culture and has become as popular as the all-American burger or pizza pie. And these days, culinary artists across the nation are taking creative license with their sushi creations, with sushi burgers, donuts, burritos, and bowls becoming one of the most Instagram-worthy food groups on social media.
Whether you pair it with sake, a mocktail, a glass of wine, or green tea, sushi offers a unique and flavorful eating experience unlike anything else on earth. Popular among the most health-conscious and eco-concerned, vegans and carnivores, sushi deliver is on a roll throughout the nation.
What is Sushi?
Before we talk about what sushi is, let’s start by explaining what it’s not. Not to be confused with sashimi, which is raw fish, sushi refers to the vinegared rice used to make the dish. Contrary to some popular belief, not all sushi is made with raw fish. Nigiri sushi is fresh, delicate pieces of sashimi pressed on top of vinegared rice. Nigiri sushi was originally called edo-mae, meaning in front of Edo (the original name for the city of Tokyo) because the fresh fish came directly from the fish market at Tokyo Bay. But sushi can be made with cooked fish or no fish at all. It’s the rice that makes the dish known as sushi.
Intended to be bite-sized finger food, sushi can be made with sashimi (raw fish,) cooked fish (ie: eel, steamed shrimp,) tempura (fried fish or vegetables,) imitation crab (commonly used in California rolls,) egg, tofu, or vegetables pressed on top of sushi rice or wrapped into a roll. Sushi rolls are generally wrapped with seaweed (nori), soy paper, or many other ingredients like more fish, cucumber, and lettuce.
Sushi is made with short-grained rice seasoned with salt, sugar, and vinegar. This combination is what gives the rice its sticky consistency and helps hold its shape.
Sushi and Restaurant Delivery
From Kyoto to Key West, Sushi has blended into the American culinary mainstream, as this travel-friendly, healthy menu option continues to undergo creative interpretations. With photo-friendly dishes like sushi burritos, tacos, burgers, and donuts; seamless vegan menu adaptations; and Mexican sushi steadily on the rise, this category promises to be one of the hottest cold dishes for fast-casual restaurant delivery in 2023.
In a recently published report on the top food delivery orders in 2022, topping the list were handheld foods such as burritos, quesadillas, pizza, and California Rolls. With casual Fridays lasting seven days a week and staying in being cooler than going out, make-it-your-way, travel-friendly, and easy-to-handle dishes are just a few of the trends that will likely continue through 2023.
If the perfect “fast food” existed, sushi would be it. It’s healthy, convenient, and adaptable, and the number of flavor combinations is endless. And sushi is not just travel-friendly, it’s photo-friendly too, coming in the top searches on Pinterest in 2022.
The best news is, people are combining delivery orders so no one needs to argue about whether it's a pizza, Chinese, or sushi night. Just order them all!
Five Main Types of Sushi
Maki: Rice and filling wrapped in seaweed
Nigiri: Small mounds of rice topped with a dab of wasabi and various ingredients (usually raw fish). “Nigiri” translates to “grip,” which reflects how the rice mounds are measured and shaped by hand. It’s the most traditional style, served in twos, and typically eaten in one bite with chopsticks.
Sashimi: Thin-sliced raw fish. Sashimi technically isn’t sushi at all, because it isn’t made with seasoned rice.
Temaki: Rice and filling wrapped in seaweed, but in a cone-shaped roll. Also called hand rolls.
Uramaki: Just like maki, but with rice on the outside of the seaweed instead of inside.
Sushi Terminology
Agari: Green tea.
Anago: Saltwater eel
Ebi: Cooked shrimp
Gari: Pickled ginger.
Hamachi: Raw yellowtail
Kani: Cooked crab
Maguro: Raw tuna
Nori: Dried seaweed sheets used to roll or hold sushi fillings.
Shoyu: Soy sauce.
Surimi: Imitation crab
Tamago: Fried egg.
Tempura Sushi: Deep-fried and battered seafood, meat, or veggies wrapped inside a roll.
Tobiko: Flying fish roe.
Toro: Raw bluefin tuna belly
Unagi: Barbecue freshwater eel
Uni: Raw sea urchin
Wasabi: Japanese horseradish paste
Omakase: A form of Japanese dining in which guests leave themselves in the hands of a chef and receive a seasonal, elegant, and artistic meal made with the finest ingredients available.
What is Omakase?
An article about sushi is not complete without mentioning New York City’s omakase sushi scene. Coming a long way over the last two decades, Manhattan has some of the highest-quality seafood found outside of Japan, and the city’s top chefs and sushi counters are as good as the much-respected sushi restaurants in Tokyo. But the cost to eat at one of these sushi hotspots may surprise you.
Running the gamut from Shion 69 Leonard Street, where it’s not surprising to spend over $1000 for two, to Gouie, a more affordable omakase gem, NYC has become the nation’s prime spot for high-end, high-priced, and yes, highest quality sushi in the US.
Here’s what $1,000 gets you at New York’s best sushi restaurants, arranged from the most expensive omakase to the most affordable.
Masa: $1,000 per person for counter service - $850 for table service
Yoshino: $1,000 Dinner for two
Sushi Noz and Sushi 17: $1,000 for two
Shion 69 Leonard Street: Dinner for two
Shuko: Dinner for Three
Sushi Nakazawa: Dinner for four
Sushi Dojo: Dinner for 8
Gouie: Dinner for 10
Sushi Delivery On a Roll Across the Nation
We’ve put together a list of some of the most popular sushi delivery restaurants across the nation.
New York City
Presenting a wide selection of party trays, appetizers, combinations, sushi, sashimi, vegan-loving naruto, udon, ramen, and more, customers can order directly from the Hand Roll Sushi menu.
37 Allen Street, NY
Bamboo Ya - Forest Hills
With a full bar, sushi bar, and open dining area, Bamboo Ya offers dining room customers a luxurious, comfortable, and cozy atmosphere with communal tables. Take-out and delivery customers can order directly from the full menu on their website.
69-12 Austin Street, Forest Hills, NY
I Sushi - Queens
Known for its “healthy sushi,” I Sushi is one of Queens’ most popular sushi restaurants, offering direct ordering from a menu of sushi, sashimi, and kitchen dishes.
59-40 Myrtle Ave., Queens
Enjoying a nice spot by the Cadman Plaza Park, Iron Chef House is a family-friendly sushi restaurant in Brooklyn with an extensive menu and casual atmosphere. Offering a full delivery menu, customers can order directly from the website.
92 Clark St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Orlando
An Orlando favorite, Kingdom Sushi offers catering, ala carte, combos, and all-you-can-eat menu items. Delivery customers can place an order directly on their website from an expansive menu of special rolls, temaki, nigiri, and sashimi. Cocktails, mixed drinks, and beer are also available on the delivery menu. Free delivery is available to customers within a 5 miles radius on orders over $30.
5632 International Drive
Presenting a wide selection of classic and special rolls, appetizers, family-sized combinations, kitchen dishes, temaki, nigiri, poke, sashimi, and more, customers can order directly from the Hand Roll Sushi menu. Free delivery is available to customers within a 5 miles radius on orders over $30.
2595 S Hiawassee Rd
Starting (and staying) as a food truck, Take A Sushi has two locations in Orlando, each offering a huge menu with signature rolls, sushi burritos, poke bowls, tempura rolls, basic rolls, and hot kitchen dishes ready to roll to customers in the Orlando area. Customers can order directly from the menu for both locations with free delivery available to customers less than 5 miles away on orders over $30.
Food Truck - 14851 State Rd 535, Orlando
Restaurant - 4725 West Sand Lake Rd, Suite 101 Orlando,
Miami
Offering free delivery to customers less than 5 miles away on orders over $30, Taiko Sashimi is Miami’s go-to restaurant for feeding a hungry crowd of one or 30. With a massive delivery menu that includes inventive special rolls, sensei, temaki, combination platters, nigiri, sashimi, and more, Taiko Sashimi packages all of their delivery orders with care so customers can enjoy a restaurant dining experience at home.
Kokai Sushi - Doral, FL
Revolutionizing the Venezuelan gastronomic community, Kokai Sushi offers customers a unique experience, fusing traditional sushi with the bold flavors of Latin cuisine. Customers within a 10-mile radius can order directly through Kokai’s website, with free delivery for customers less than 5 miles away on orders over $30.
9036 NW 25th St, Doral
Kamiko Sushi Bar - Doral, FL
A Fusion of Asian Fare with a Latin Flare, Araigatai blends the simplicity of sushi-making with the bold flavors of Japanese and Latin cuisine. Offering take-out, delivery, catering, and in-person dining, fun events and live music, mouthwatering apps, tiraditos, crunchy bites, poke bowls, sushi rolls, and kitchen specialties, any night of the week can be made a bit more colorful with a meal from Arigatai.
1817 NE 123rd. North Miami
By Eileen Strauss
