Buffet, EV & Ethics...

[VBM]

A friend & I went to a seafood/sushi buffet and he started to peel the fish off of the rolls of rice, and eat only the fish, throwing away the rice.

I expressed some shock at this type of behavior and my friend expressed an equal measure of shock at my disdain.

I got to wondering;
1. Am I applying some sort of non-existent ethical standard to how someone else enjoys their food?

2. is the buffet the unique dining experience that allows you to maximize your food-EV, and you're actually the fool if they don't regulate this type of behavior?

3. are we, in effect, both just enjoying our dining out experience through different means and both right? i.e. me enjoying it my way, him enjoying it his way?

[mmbt0ne]

The sushi buffet I eat at is not keen on the idea of people trashing the rice, and I've seen them throw the equivalent sashimi charge on the offender's bill.

It is the buffet's responsibility to regulate it, but I would feel the same way you do about it.

[turnipmonster]

eating at a "sushi buffet" cannot be +EV. who wants cheap sushi?

--turnipmonster

[M2d]

If it's an all you can eat sushi deal where they make your sushi fresh to order, then I think they commonly have a rule against tossing the rice. If it's a buffet that includes sushi where it's made ahead of time and put out on trays for people to pick up, I think your friend is increasing his EV. His Salmonella intake EV.

[VBM]

in truth, the sushi is OK but they do offer a bunch of non-sushi cooked foods that are surprisingly good. not like, Bellagio-buffet good, but it's also 1/2 the price...

[Corey]

If you did this at my favorite all-you-can-eat sushi place, they would (1) not bring you another order and (2) Add the price of the roll onto your bill.

Eating just the fish is +EV for the consumer, but -EV for the restaurant and thus is not allowed.

[stabn]

[ QUOTE ]

also 1/2 the price...


[/ QUOTE ]

I thought you were talking about todai until we got here. Maybe it was the eating co?

In any case, there are definitely buffets that tell you they will charge you for doing that. I don't think todai does this though, and i don't remember if eating co does or not. I think if they ask you not to, in verbal or written form it's bad form to peel the rice off. Otherwise it's probably ok ethically. I still don't do it, although maybe i should since my girlfriend eats about 10 dollars worth of food at a 22 dollar buffet every time we go.

[Freakin]

[ QUOTE ]
eating at a "sushi buffet" cannot be +EV. who wants cheap sushi?

--turnipmonster

[/ QUOTE ]

[andyfox]

My wife doesn't eat the rice either, doesn't want the carbs. She'll order sashimi, but when sushi's all there is, she'll 86 the rice. I don't think it's any different from taking, say, a lemon merignue pie from the buffet and only eating the meringue or the filling because you don't like the other part, or scraping the almonds off of trout almondine. You're eating the part you like and discarding the part you don't.

[jar]

If you've got sushi to eat and you're throwing out the rice, you're completely missing the point. Go to Bob's Fish Shack instead.

[Alobar]

you should be able to eat your food however you like. If the restraunt wants to tell him he cant do that, thats fine. but so long as they dont care, why should you? We all have our own tastes and likes.

[stabn]

No one who takes the rice off does it for 'taste'. No one.

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
No one who takes the rice off does it for 'taste'. No one.

[/ QUOTE ]

well I've never eaten sushi, so I dunno

[andyfox]

I sometimes do. I probably wouldn't at a buffet though, because the taste is probably sub-par.

[stabn]

If you weren't at a buffet wouldn't you simply order sashimi that didn't come with rice anyway?

[Lawrence Ng]

[ QUOTE ]
3. are we, in effect, both just enjoying our dining out experience through different means and both right? i.e. me enjoying it my way, him enjoying it his way?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is why I do not go to all-you can eat sushi places.

Lawrence

[andyfox]

Usually we order "family style" as a sushi place.

[DBowling]

Im really surprised there wasnt a sign posted saying this was not allowed. Its typically not. But if there isnt a sign posted, i think what he did was fine. Even if there was, and hid some of the rice in a napkin, id think its fine.

[stabn]

Ah, smooth. Unfortunately my girlfriend won't eat raw fish /images/graemlins/smile.gif. So she's always getting rolls (and tempura'd rolls if she can, the more cooked the better). Sharing just...isn't an option.

[Reef]

[ QUOTE ]
eating at a "sushi buffet" cannot be +EV. who wants cheap sushi?

--turnipmonster

[/ QUOTE ]

not all sushi buffet type restaurants are cheap.

[Reef]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
No one who takes the rice off does it for 'taste'. No one.

[/ QUOTE ]

well I've never eaten sushi, so I dunno

[/ QUOTE ]

you've gotta try some good sushi at least once in your life. Sushi's good at least once a month to me

[andyfox]

It's not just that: sometimes something comes that has some goopy stuff in the rice or near the rice that I don't want. And sometimes I just want the rice because it's the goopy stuff I like, but the stuff inside of it is icky.

Sorry for all the technical terminology.

[stabn]

[ QUOTE ]

in the rice or near the rice that I don't want.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wasabi?

Not sure on your second goopy stuff. In any case, i'll rephrase my earlier "no one" to, "most of the time with the great majority of people, it isn't about the taste of the rice, especially at a buffet".

[VBM]

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe it was the eating co?

[/ QUOTE ]

you're right; it is, in fact, eating factory.

A couple of people have said that they would never eat buffet sushi, but in this case, i was a guest and it would've been uncouth of me to turn my nose up at the invite...