If you’ve been to a sushi restaurant in the US, you’ve probably seen one: a small cup balanced on chopsticks over a glass of beer, a countdown, then the whole thing dropped in and drunk. It looks like a ritual, which is why people go home and search for what they just watched. The short version is that a sake bomb is beer with sake added to it. The longer version of what sake, what beer, where it came from, and whether any of it is actually Japanese is worth knowing before you order one. What...

Before the first roll ever hits the table, most sushi restaurants bring out a small bowl of edamame, and there's a reason that pattern holds up almost everywhere. The salted, steamed soybeans do a specific job: they give you something to eat with your hands, something salty enough to make the first sip of a drink taste better, and something light enough that it doesn't compete with the delicate flavors of raw fish. It's also just an easy dish to like, whether you've had sushi a hundred times...

All you can eat sushi has a bit of a mixed reputation, and honestly, some of it is earned. Plenty of AYCE spots lean on cheap fillers and imitation crab to keep costs down. But done right, all you can eat sushi in La Jolla is one of the best ways to try a wide range of rolls, nigiri, and sashimi without stressing over the bill at the end of the night. This guide covers how AYCE sushi actually works, what separates a good program from a mediocre one, and why Nozomi Sushi & BBQ is worth...