Touché Sushi!

Kabuki Restaurant (located only in AZ, CA and NV), has introduced some new menu items geared towards the health-conscious consumer.  This was, unfortunately, not on their website, but I found out when I visited the Cerritos location last night.  Now on the inside, left page, titled, “Eat Healthy. Love Life,” are four new menu options:

1. Organic Green Tea Yea we can’t really eat that, can we? I guess this is cool, but, really nothing novel or worthwhile here…
2. Brown Rice This is super. I think most sushi places have offered this, but I could be wrong – I don’t really eat much sushi!  So you can ask for brown rice as a side or to be used instead of white rice in your sushi.  Just note they charge $0.25 – $0.50 extra. For a holistic, down to the price, comparison of brown versus white rice, see here.
3. Cha (green tea) SOBA Noodles While the menu boasts the benefits of green tea – i.e. its antioxidants and supposed metabolism-revving properties – which are presumably in the noodles, I’m a tad skeptical. I have heard that soba  noodles are more healthy than regular, refined white noodles because they are made with buckwheat (or some ratio of buckwheat to wheat flour; this does not make them whole-wheat). Unfortunately, the noodles didn’t taste good, per the boyf. Was this yet another player in the green washing we’ve seen in recent times? Perhaps. And more literally so.
   
4. Clam Cha (green tea) SOBA Noodles Same as above but add in some clams.  Yuck.

Dear Kabuki, thank you for your efforts! The brown rice thing is awesome.  Now let’s step it up.  How about a dish with grilled chicken breast, veggies, and brown rice?

And how about your post your nutritional content, please!

So pals, I would suggest ordering your sushi with brown rice and having a bowl of miso soup, which is low-cal (40 calories per cup says Calorie King here) and pretty nutritious.

I had my usual avocado sushi with brown rice and a bowl of miso soup.

Here is the tricky part, which easily demonstrates why I have an aversion to eating out:  Kabuki does not post its nutrition information and sushi is something that is had to gauge, calorie-wise, because it’s so dependent on the chef making it.  Calorie King says one avocado roll (6 pieces) has 140 calories.  Other sources, including Peer Trainer.com here, say 246 calories.  I also found other sites that corroborate with Calorie King’s 140 cal estimate.  What is a girl to do?  I just take a happy mean of the two, wash my hands of it, and call it a day.  I can’t worry about everything too much or I’ll go crazy.  But I will think of those possible extra calories when I’m pushing myself at the gym…

p.s. Sorry I had to rely on my own awful photography for this blog.  What’s up with companies not updating their websites? Have people cut down on web update people due to the economy? Yet another reason I spurn you, economy!

Tags: avocado sushi roll, calories, dining out, gym, healthy food options, Kabuki, nutritional information, sushi