Is supermarket sushi worth it?

Photo credit: Si Taylor

Sushi is a Japanese delicacy usually handmade by an expert chef in a restaurant. There are cheaper sushis, but the cheaper you get, the worse quality the fish is, which is important seeing that it is raw food. So, getting good quality sushi is worth it, but expensive. Obviously then, when anyone can get this food at a cheap price and prepackaged at their local grocery store, it seems a little suspicious, so I tried it for myself. I sampled sushi from Trader Joe’s, Ralphs, and Sprouts to see if it actually tasted good.

Trader Joe’s

To be honest, I was really disappointed when I had this sushi. I love Trader Joe’s so much that I wrote a whole article about them, so they really let me down here. The fish tasted fine, but the rice was a problem. The sushi crumbled because the rice didn’t stick together. It tasted like rice that wasn’t heated up right after being stored in the fridge for a while; it was hard, and I honestly didn’t even finish the container. Maybe I got a weird batch, but I would not recommend buying this.

Photo credit: Si Taylor

Ralphs

Ralphs' sushi was actually good. When you have raw fish, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. For example, it can be spoiled when kept in bad conditions. Ralphs' sushi had imitation crab, so there was a lot less that could’ve gone wrong since it doesn’t expire as quickly as real fish. The taste was pretty good; it was a basic crab roll with sriracha, mayo, and tempura bits. I would buy it again.

Photo credit: Si Taylor

Sprouts

This sushi was pretty average. It was a tuna roll with spicy mayo sauce, but honestly, the sauce had no flavor. I put on all the wasabi and soy sauce and it was definitely edible, but I wouldn’t get it again. The fish was good quality, which is good, however, there was too much rice. Personally, I wouldn’t buy it again, but it wasn’t bad.

Summary

My expectations for this were completely different from reality. I thought that Sprouts and Trader Joe’s were going to have the better sushi, because their food is usually healthier and of a higher quality. But, the Ralphs sushi was definitely the best, and I would recommend trying it. Overall, is buying sushi from a grocery store worth it? If you’re already out at Ralphs and want sushi, I think it’s totally reasonable to get some there. However, I wouldn’t go out of my way to get sushi from a grocery store; I’d rather pay a little more and get it at a higher quality.