Have you ever sat in a sushi restaurant, staring at the menu, thinking to yourself, "What the hell is a  Glockenspiel Roll?"

It seems sometimes as if every sushi restaurant not only takes it upon themselves to rename every second item on the menu, but to give the most bizarre names possible, and then include no explanation on the menu itself.

What’s maguro? What’s ebi? Why, if hamachi is yellowtail tuna, doesn’t my menu just say ‘yellowtail tuna’?

If you don’t know your ikura from a tamago, this is the site for you. We attempt to make it easy to decide what sushi is your sushi, by telling you straight up what the ingredients of each dish are, a little detail on how each menu item is made, and giving you the straight dope on whether you’ll like it or not.

Sure, this site has a western focus. Japanese sushi aficionados might scoff at our simple descriptions and uneducated tongues, but that’s okay, because the only way to really become a sushi eater – a REAL sushi eater – is to start at the bottom with the easy stuff, and work your way up the ladder to the more exotic flavors at your own pace.

If there’s a specific sushi ingredient you like, click on it on our Ingredient Cloud, and you’ll be taken to a long list of sushi items that include that flavor. If you prefer inside-out rolls to the standard seaweed-out variety, we’ve got you covered.

Remember, the best way to enjoy sushi is to order two dishes you know you’ll like, and one you’ve never tried before. And with SushiIndex.com, we hope you’ve got all the information you need to do that with confidence.

Enjoy!