All-you-can-eat sushi: 7 tips to get your money's worth

The AYCE golden rules: go hungry but not starving, start with sashimi and nigiri, skip the fried starters and the soda, pace yourself, and keep count. Do that and you will comfortably out-eat your usual number.

Here is the full strategy, tip by tip.

1. Skip the fillers

Miso soup, edamame, tempura, fried rice — restaurants love when you fill up on cheap starters. If you are there for the fish, go straight to the fish.

2. Sashimi and nigiri first

Order the highest-value pieces while your appetite is fresh: sashimi, then nigiri, leaving big rice-heavy specialty rolls for the end (or never).

3. Watch the rice

Rice is the buffet's best defence. Some regulars leave part of the rice on heavy rolls — you paid for unlimited food, not unlimited rice.

4. Drink water, slowly

Soda inflates you with gas and sugar. Water, sipped, keeps you comfortable without stealing capacity.

5. Order in small waves

Big orders arrive together and pressure you to rush. Small repeated rounds let you gauge your real hunger — and most AYCE places charge for uneaten pieces.

6. Pace: 20 minutes matter

Fullness lags eating by about 20 minutes. A short pause mid-session resets your appetite better than pushing through.

7. Keep count — it changes the game

Counting turns a blur of plates into a score. With Kawashi you tap once per piece, see your total grow in kawaii style, and the app saves your record for the next visit. It also settles every "who ate more" argument on the spot.

Turn the buffet into your personal record attempt

Kawashi counts every piece and remembers your best. Free on iOS and Android.