Sushi Time. Sustainably.

Last night I went out for Sushi with friends and family. I used to restrict myself to the vegetarian selections on the menu, but now I have other options. As soon as the menus came around, I pulled out my iPhone, accessed the Seafood Watch app, and selected their sustainable sushi guide. After explaining what I was doing to my dining companions, the conversation turned to the guide itself and what sushi on the menu was sustainable.

Much to our disappointment, few of the items on the menu merited the Seafood Watch "Best Choice" stamp of approval. In fact, the only best choice was the oyster tempura. We fared somewhat better on the "Good Alternatives" with surf clam sashimi (atlantic clams); and since king crab could be ruled out, we decided that the crab choices were also either a best choice or good alternative. The eel, salmon, shrimp and scallop choices all were rated "Avoid", which didn't stop some of the diners from ordering them. (Although, I'd like to think they ordered less of their unsustainable choices in favour of the sea-friendlier ones.) "Imagine if we all had one of those guides and followed it. Sushi shops would be really challenged," said one diner. We all nodded our heads somberly.

Personally, it's my hope that sushi-goers will get their hands on this guide and use it to ask their servers questions and guide their sushi choices. It's available as a wallet card, and iPhone and iPod touch app, and on the Web. If you order a wallet card, consider ordering a couple of dozen and giving them to your friends and favourite sushi restaurants.

Have you used a sustainable sushi guide at a restaurant? What was your experience? If you haven't used a sushi guide, would you?