How popular is sushi in your city/region/country?

43 comments

1. Here in Palermo,we have more and more sushi places.They have become popular with the younger generations.

   However.. they are rarely very authentic.Most of them are Chinese owned and run ‘all you can eat’ restaurants, with some very strange kinds of sushi… many things you wouldn’t see in Japan or on traditional sushi.

   Sushi 🍣 is not really sold at supermarkets here, apart from at Lidl where they have a couple of choices only.

   We also have one or two higher quality Japanese places where they serve good sushi, though they are certainly not cheap…

2. I live in Basel, Switzerland.

   We have some sushi restaurants, but I wouldn’t say lots. Many are associated with other asian type restaurants, like Chinese or Thai places, but there are a few more authentic Japanese places.

   I would say it is generally the same sushi I have had elsewhere in the world, and not particularly adapted to the local palate. It isn’t as good, for sure, but the overall content is more traditional than adapted to some Swiss flavors.

   Yes, supermarkets here sell pre-made sushi rolls/sashimi platters one can buy and take home. They seem to be pretty popular items. I’ve eaten plenty of them and they are good in terms of quality/flavor, although not as good as a fresh made roll in a real restaurant. They tend to me some of the more conventional/mainstream offerings, but I suppose that makes sense when preparing a mixed plate with broad appeal.

   I’ve been to Japan and eaten sushi there, but I am far from any sort of expert, so keep in mind that these are the comments of a relative amateur in the sushi world. What tastes fine to me might be awful/unacceptable to a Japanese that loves sushi.

3. I think most people believe they are having authentic sushi and they are not. I moved to Denmark from the US west coast, and people love sushi here. However the quality of it does not go above what you would find at a Chinese buffet in the states. And when the quality goes a bit beyond that it is drowned in mayo. It is disgusting here but people keep recommending places where they say is the most authentic or is the best they’ve had.

4. I’d say almost all sushi is sold in specialist sushi restaurants, but often to go.

   I don’t know if I’d call it authentic, but there’s also nothing really Swedish-specific that I can think of. I’m sure you can find a pickled herring sushi somewhere, but it’s not the norm.

5. a vietnamese “china restaurant” not having some euro-sushi is a rare thing these days.

6. I was quite surprised to see a lot of Sushi places when I moved to Portugal. Of course we had all sorts of and grades of Sushi in London – From conveyor belt places to top end restaurants but I didn’t expect it to be so popular here. There isn’t a Thai or Vietnamese place within 50 km but even fairly small towns will have one or perhaps two sushi places. You can even buy sushi in Lidl to take home although it isn’t great.

   Some of it isn’t fantastic (some of it is) and I think the “authentic” sushi doesn’t really have much meaning anymore as it has evolved as it has moved round the world. I don’t see much adaptation to local palates here though – there is no bifana roll that I know of.

7. Extremely popular. Some years back it became really trendy and there’s a lot of sushi buffets, at least in the capital area.

   I’d say most of it isn’t particularly authentic. Don’t get me wrong, I know nothing about sushi (other than that it’s delicious) so I’m not the best person to say whether it’s authentic or not. But I still doubt it is. I’m sure there are some restaurants that are more authentic than others, though. On the other hand, I don’t think sushi here usually has a Finnish twist either. It’s just more western, I guess.

   And yes, you can also buy sushi from grocery stores. I love treating myself with some easy store bought sushi after a long day at work.

8. Living in Oslo I worked as a meal bike courier (Foodora) and I swear a good quarter of the orders are sushi restaurants. It’s great because you don’t worry so much about the order going cold too quick in the winter.

9. Honestly not that much. Even though we have a lot of hipsters in Berlin it isnt as popular as I myself thought. But that might be because it tastes awful here.
   My brother likes Sushi and he is still on the search for Sushi that actually tastes like it isnt leftover from the Stoneage.

10. It’s quite popular, especially in the big cities, I have a very good sushi restaurant 100m away from the place I live so I’m lucky.

    There are some sushi sets in the markets but I never bought them so I have no idea if they are any good.

11. American here but commenting bc sushi & Japanese food was some of the easiest food to locate in France. I ate pretty good sushi in Paris and Nantes- certainly comparable to California sushi at least, always at sushi or Japanese food specific places too. The grocery store sushi was perfectly comparable to US grocery store sushi. But France and Japan have a pretty deep history of cultural exchange so that’s to be expected on some level. Inasmuch as the sushi did match US sushi and noting I’ve never been to Japan, I’d say it moreso was ‘authentic’ over catering to a local palate. (I can’t say the same for Texas sushi where crawfish, blue crab, & BBQ-inspired sushi is common… I digress). The grocery store I frequented had a large sushi selection so I’d say certainly people buy it there to eat at home. The farmer’s market in Nantes had an awesome fish selection so I’m sure people could make it at home easily too if they wanted. Also, France has a tastier instant ramen selection in a typical grocery store than the US.

    I… eat a lot of sushi so I feel fairly qualified on this topic. My very first day in Paris, a culinary oasis, I sought out sushi of all dishes lol. (I also ate sushi in London on my first day there too….)

12. extremely rare. As far as i can tell there are two chain chinese/japanese restaurants that sell sushi, and those chains are pretty rare to see too. I would imagine there are some dedicated non-chain sushi restaurants as well, however I cannot recall seeing one, let alone eating in one.

    This is for Istanbul by the way, I would imagine its much rarer in other provinces.

13. We have quite a few but tends to be in the city, etc. sushi is generally becoming more popular so easy to buy prepacked ones in supermarkets and stuff these days… going to a restaurant to eat sushi is a really rare treat for me because the majority of my family & friends wouldn’t eat sushi

14. Quite popular I’d say. It’s sold in any supermarket basically and there’s also plenty of restaurants offering sushi. Specialist sushi/japanese restaurants exist, but sushi is also sold by a lot of generic asian restaurants. Authenticity varies accordingly I’m sure.

15. Sushi restaurants are incredibly popular in France, ranging from cheap Chinese-owned places to high quality fancy ones, they may be the most popular kind in the country alongside Italians. Sushi are not that popular in supermarket though, you can find some but it’s still not that developed, and people rather buy sandwiches for lunch.

    In the Netherlands, I found it quite opposite. Sushi restaurants are still fairly popular but no as widespread as French (as other forms of Asian cuisine may be more popular, including Indonesian, Chinese). The supermarkets however almost always have some form of sushi available (even the smallest albert heijn often has some sushi to go), some basic supermarkets even have a stand with a sushi chef freshly making them, which I found quite incredible !

16. Sushi is popular. The first sushi places popped up at around 2010, I remember that I first tried sushi in 2011 on a trip, but most of my friends had had it before (I was poor).

    There are quite some sushi places, we have a low population, but even small towns of 10 000 or less people do have at least one sushi place. Some of them might have a wider spectrum like miso soups and other similar foods and I’m pretty sure there’s this odd place that sells sushi and pizza somewhere.

    The most popular sushi is the more authentic one, or well the general western one that has a lot of salmon and cream cheese, too. But there are also spin-offs like using atypical local fish (very rare, I know one place like that), some have a few weird ones with chicken or something like that and many places also serve warm tempura sushi (I don’t know what the Japanese think of that, but it’s not *sushi* sushi to me).

    People sometimes buy it from supermarkets, it is sold at several of them, but unfortunately the quality of the supermarket versions has gone down a lot during the past decade. But I remember the days when as a poor student you could get some pretty decent sushi from a supermarket and have a nice picnic and not be bankrupt over your sushi craving.

17. Sushi is pretty popular in the Netherlands. There are a ton of restaurants, although most of the older ones are run by Chinese people. But I noticed an small influx of Japanese immigrants, who are now also starting their own, more authentic restaurants. Most of the restaurants do stick with the concept of Japanese sushi, although the grand majority mostly sell salmon or tuna because it’s easy to find in this region.

18. It’s quite popular here. It’s not sold at the supermarket, but there are a lot of sushi restaurants and the supermarkets do sell sushi rice and nori, for example.

19. I wouldn’t say it’s that popular in the UK. For a country that is surrounded by water, eating fish is not actually that popular outside of fish and chips, especially when compared to for e.g. France, Spain, Portugal.

    We do have a national chain called Yo Sushi, but outside of bigger cities you’d otherwise probably not have much choice. I’m in a mid tier city in the UK and can think of a couple of Japanese restaurants, but one is a Teppanyaki place and doesn’t do sushi.

20. Yes! I went to an amazing sushi place for my birthday there are some real top quality ones.

    In England the food cultures is extremely diverse and strong so we have tons of good sushi

21. (Germany)

    >How popular is sushi in your city/region/country?

    I would say it has become extremely popular in the last couple of years. When I was a kid there was only one sushi restaurant in my moms hometown in Germany- and now there are 12.
    And apart from those 12 sushi restaurants there are also other asian restaurants that offer Sushi as well. (Like some Vietnamese restaurants)

    So yes, it’s **extremely** popular right now.
    If my friends and I want to go out for dinner the question is usually ‘Sushi or Pizza?’.

    ​

    >Is the sushi’authentic’ or adapted to the local palate?

    I would say it’s adapted to the local palate. A lot of people here are vegetarian- so most restaurants have a good variety of vegetarian options.
    And one of the most popular types of sushi is a deep fried maki roll- aka the ‘crispy roll’ or ‘crunchy roll’. I guess it’s probably not authentic.. but it’s tasty.

    ​

    >Is it also something that people would buy from the supermarket and eat at home?

    Some supermarkets offer sushi.. but I wouldn’t say it’s very common to get sushi from the supermarket.
    Some people make sushi at home- you can find all of the ingredients at any regular German supermarket.
    But it’s most common to just eat it at a restaurant, get it delivered or pick it up from the restaurant yourself.

22. Very popular in Italy, especially among people under 25

23. Not very. I myself dont like it or any sea based food.

24. Super common in Moscow, especially American-style rolls. My wife buys them at local supermarket when she wants to stretch out whatever she has cooked for lunch. Some places fry them, which I guess is an additional adaptation.

25. I’d say it’s very popular. There’s a sushi restaurant in almost every small town (by small I mean 50,000< people) and in Vilnius it’s especially common. Take a walk in Vilnius and you’re very likely to see at least one sushi, or japanese restaurant(of course it’s not everywhere, but still). If it wasn’t as expensive it would be even more popular.

    And no, it doesn’t have anything lithuanian about it. Fish, or rice are not really a traditional ingredient here, so it makes sense thare isn’t anything like that.

26. I live in Stockholm, we have tons of sushi restaurants here! I have tried sushi from the supermarket once, not the best thing i’ve tried. I would say the sushi that is sold in Sweden is pretty “authentic”, nothing is really “adapted”. You’d be hard-fought to find a mall or a neighbourhood without a sushi restaurant, at least in Stockholm.

27. It’s mostly a big city fancy food, since it costs at least twice as average dinner(if you want to be actually fed and not only taste a bit), but becomes more and more popular

    There is also s cheaper convenience store and supermarket version, but it usually tastes like trash

28. Cork has several Japanese places that serve pretty good sushi! I’m not sure how authentic it is, but I’ve yet to Black Pudding nigiri so it can’t be that bad.

29. I would say somewhat popular, you can expect to get it in medium sized towns. But it is far from extremly popular as some other people here wrote. Döner, Schnitzel, Pizza etc are extremly popular Sushi is far from that league.

30. Belgium here. Yes, lots of sushi restaurants even with halal options and every supermarket sells it because it’s popular with the office lunch crowd.

31. Not particularly popular in my area. There is like 1 place that I think gets some custom (never been there) but otherwise, nah, don’t know anyone who gets enthused over it.

32. A loooooot

    We have very deep cultural ties with Japan

33. in the biggest european cities I’d even say it’s almost post-sushi, where you can find proper regional japanese cuisine

34. Sushi restaurants in Milan are everywhere and virtually everybody in the younger generations has at least tried it, I always joke abroad that sushi is a traditional food of Milan

35. Very popular. I think sushi is among the most common food categories at restaurants in my city, both at specialised sushi restaurants and at japanese/chinese/thai/vietnamese/”asian fusion” restaurants.

    Most of it is pretty westernized, which I don’t mind. I like both traditional and western sushi. I think salmon is particularly popular here. It wasn’t uncommon when I was in Japan either, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had a sushi platter in Norway without salmon.

    Supermarket sushi is available, but I don’t think it’s very popular. It’s pretty shit compared to the restaurants and takeaways.

36. Not that famous, of course people know what it is most of the time but a lot of them haven’t tried it, the only places where you can taste it is at the two biggest cities at our province and in some shops where they sell really small shushi packages

37. There are quite a few in Ireland, and some extremely good ones including Michelin Star level in Cork for example. Quite a variety of types and price points from being part of asian fusion menus to conveyor belt places to very high end.

    However, it’s not dominant as a cuisine here and there’s a huge variety of types of restaurants and we tend to cycle through fads quite a lot so what’s popular for a while might fade again in a few years.

    Supermarket sushi is there but I don’t think it’s very popular as it’s pretty bland. You’ll see it in motorway service stations and garages in prepack formats from time to time too. Not terrible, but not wonderful either.

38. Just as Korean restaurants are very common in Japan, Japanese restaurants are also very common here in South Korea. I’ve heard that Asian food sold in western countries is untasty and overpriced. I heard that Korean restaurants in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, etc. are expensive and not very tasty but Korean restaurants in England, France, and Czech seem to taste better.

    P. S. I think many westerners probably wouldn’t enjoy Asian cuisine at such overpriced prices if they knew how reasonable Asian food is in Asia. And I think people are in some way quite irrational when it comes to eating out. Well, most South Korean tourists never go to a Korean restaurant when traveling to Thailand, Vietnam, or Philippines etc. It’s because they sell Korean food at a ridiculously high price.

39. We know it is Japanese no-cooked fish, but we would rather tuna in oil in Spain.

40. I would say not very.

    There were two shops you could buy sushi in my place – both specialising in asian food, one of them closed after like 2-3 years, probably due to Covid and expensive meals.

    The other one is relatively new too imo and in a weird place – out of town a bit. Its always somewhat odd to buy sushi in a country with no seaside imo, but Budapest has plenty of restaurants.

41. Few years ago, I found sushi at the supermarket. The cashier was like “what the funking hell is this?!?!”

42. In Belgium, I don’t know many sushi restaurants that are authentic.

    It seems most are run by Chinese or South-East Asian people and many of the sushi are ‘strange’ to me. Most are not really bad but, it’s not something that you will find in Japan.

43. Very popular in Vienna. We even have a few pretty authentic sushi places. I don’t think we have “Austrianized” sushi though – but salmon and escolar are definitely much more popular here than in Japan.