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A sushi menu can read like a cipher: nigiri, sashimi, futomaki, uramaki, plus sets with Japanese names. Most guests end up ordering "the usual" — and spend years eating one kind of sushi, never knowing the others taste completely different. Yet the differences are simple. They can be explained in a few minutes, no Japanese dictionary required.
First things first: sushi means rice, not fish
Counterintuitively, the word "sushi" does not mean raw fish. It refers to rice seasoned with rice vinegar — and that rice is the foundation of every form of sushi. Fish, seafood or vegetables are the topping, and it can be raw, marinated, grilled or fried in tempura. So "I don't eat raw fish" does not rule out sushi at all — more on that in a moment.
Nigiri — rice and fish, nothing else
The simplest and most demanding form: a hand-formed pillow of rice with a slice of fish or another topping on top. There is nowhere to hide — what counts is the temperature of the rice, the cut of the fish and the proportion. That is why people say you can judge a kitchen by its nigiri.
Nigiri is ordered by the piece, so it is easy to build your own tasting: salmon to start, buttery hamachi, grilled unagi eel with sweet kabayaki sauce, and bluefin tuna for the connoisseur. You will find the current list in the to.gather nigiri menu.
Sashimi — technically not sushi at all
Sashimi is thinly sliced raw fish served without rice. No rice — no sushi; it is a separate category and the purest way to taste the quality of the product. No masking sauces, nothing beyond wasabi and soy: just the fish, its texture and its temperature.
It is the choice for those who already know sushi and want the essence. The sashimi menu features bluefin tuna, hamachi, salmon and tai sea bream.
Maki — everything rolled into a roll
Maki is the umbrella name for rolls: rice and filling wrapped in nori (pressed seaweed) and cut into pieces. This is where most of the confusion starts, because no two rolls are alike:
Futomaki — the "thick roll": nori on the outside, rice and a generous portion of filling inside, often several ingredients at once. It is cut into six larger pieces — filling, expressive, easy to share. Ours include the classic Philadelphia, tempura prawn ebi ten and the vegetarian yasai ten — the full list is in the futomaki menu.
Hosomaki — a thin roll with a single ingredient, the format you know from fast-service bars. Simple, but for that reason the least interesting — our menu focuses on forms that deliver more flavour at once.
Uramaki — the inside-out roll
Uramaki is maki turned inside out: rice on the outside, nori hidden within. The format was invented for guests put off by the look of dark seaweed — and it is what launched sushi's global career. Rice on the outside takes toppings and sauces well, which makes uramaki the most "creative" category: from the gentle Philadelphia and colourful Rainbow to the whole Dragon series.
An uramaki roll is cut into eight pieces — two or three different rolls are enough to start a shared table for two. See the to.gather uramaki menu.
Cheat sheet: what to pick your first time
If you are just starting out, keep it simple and follow this path:
1. Gentle start: Philadelphia or Rainbow uramaki — rice outside, familiar flavours.
2. A step further: nigiri with salmon and grilled unagi eel.
3. No raw fish: futomaki with tempura prawn, vegetarian rolls or grilled unagi — raw is a choice, not an obligation.
4. For the whole table: a ready-made set — the kitchen composes a cross-section of rolls and nigiri for you. Have a look at the sets menu.
How to eat it: four rules, zero stress
Nigiri may be eaten with your hand — in Japan that is perfectly normal. Dip the fish side into the soy sauce, not the rice side (rice falls apart and oversalts). Add wasabi to the piece rather than stirring it into the sauce. Ginger is for cleansing the palate between different fish, not for putting on sushi. And most importantly: a piece is eaten whole — that is exactly why good sushi is cut "to one bite".
The best way to learn the differences is simply to taste them at one table: a few nigiri, a plate of sashimi, a futomaki and an uramaki roll side by side. At to.gather on Stępkarska 7 in Gdańsk the menu is live — what you see in the online menu is what the kitchen serves today. Book a table and find out which kind becomes yours.