Eat Sushi From A Buffet? Are You Kidding?

Of all the foods that make their way to buffet tables, sushi is one of the most puzzling. At Chinese buffets, they're usually the only Japanese option you see, and you'll even find them on the buffet spreads at Brazilian-style steakhouses, Las Vegas casinos, and Sunday brunch buffets that don't have anything else Asian on them. So here's a word of advice: When you see sushi on a buffet line, skip it. Here's why.

First of all, sushi is a lot more filling than it appears. If you take all the rice you find in six or seven pieces of sushi and put it into a bowl, you'll probably notice that that's a heck of a lot of rice. And as anybody who aims to be a buffet master knows, the biggest enemy on a buffet spread is the starch, which takes up all the stomach space that can go toward a far more worthy cause.

The second biggest enemy on a buffet spread? The risk of food poisoning. Raw fish sitting out for who knows how long, as you can probably guess, can breed some serious danger. Unless the food is kept on ice, the amount of bacteria can multiply exponentially in as little as an hour.

So the next time you see sushi on a buffet table, abstain, and tell your dining companions to do the same.