The first time I went to a sushi bar, I did everything wrong. I sat at a table, was scared of wasabi and did not order nearly enough rolls, thus forcing a follow-up trip to Taco Bell. The more I went out for sushi, however, the more comfortable I felt ordering eel, using chopsticks and mixing wasabi into my soy sauce.

With more than 15 sushi restaurants in Columbus, it is no surprise they are becoming the new hotspots. With an increase in sushi restaurants comes an increase of first-time sushi experiences. Many college students who swore they would never eat raw fish are finding themselves sitting in a booth and wondering what they should do with the unidentifiable lump of green paste sitting on their plate. To cut back on the confusion, here is a guide to surviving your first sushi experience.

Step one: Choosing a Restaurant The best sushi has the freshest fish, which is why you should “make sure the restaurant has been open for a while,” said Zen Sushi and More owner Jimmy Hsiao. “If they’ve been in business for a while, they have a good track record. If the restaurant doesn’t get enough people then the fish isn’t as fresh.”

After you find a quality sushi restaurant that fits your style, stick with it.

“Regulars get better sushi and better overall service than casual patrons,” said Eugene Ciurana, author of the online sushi guide, “The Sushi Eating How To.”Step two: Bar or TableOnly from the bar can you watch the chef chop, sculpt and roll your food. And sitting so close to the chef means you’ll get the freshest fish.

Do not be afraid to ask questions or tailor your order.

“Talk to the sushi chef and you’ll get better sushi. That way we know if you want less rice or more wasabi,” Otani owner Kasashigi Honda said.

Step three: Table Manners When you sit down at the bar you may see a little bowl filled with water. It is not a soup, water glass or dipping sauce. It’s actually designed to keep your fingers moist while eating your sushi. Some bars give you white towels instead.

Step four: OrderingSo you’re sitting at the bar, your fingers are moist and the chef is wowing you by using seaweed to wrap fat chunks of pink tuna around a mound of rice.

Trying to order sushi with no prior experience can be a crash course in Japanese.

“It was really confusing,” said Jimmy Lauzau, a junior in computer science and engineering. “I had no idea what to order” in his first visit to a sushi bar. It does not have to be confusing because there are ony three basic kinds of sushi. Beginners should stick with one of them.

Maki rolls – Maki rolls are seaweed wrapped around sushi rice and ingredients, cut into bite-sized pieces.

Hsiao recommends beginners start with maki rolls with cooked and recognizable ingredients such as cucumber or cooked crab.

Tempura rolls are especially popular because the main ingredient is deep fried.

Nigiri sushi – For those feeling gutsy, nigiri offers some type of ingredient, cooked or raw, mounted on a comforting ball of rice.

Sashimi – Fearless first-timers can try shashimi, portions of raw fish, without the safety net of rice. The most popular style of sashimi among Americans is tuna, Honda said, who recommends trying Maguro, or Yellow Fin tuna, first.

How much should you order?

“Three rolls per person should be good for a dinner,” Honda said. He also suggested ordering one or two pieces of shashimi or nigiri to accompany the makisushi rolls.

“When I first went, my friends and I all ordered different rolls and shared them, which worked out well,” said Julie Baker, a junior in finance and English.

Step five: EatingYour sushi will arrive on a tray accompanied by a mound of wasabi, a green paste and ginger, the pile of thin, peach-colored petals. The ginger is used to clean your palate so your tastebuds are refreshed for each piece. After you pour soy sauce into the tiny dish brought with your plate, use a chopstick to take a little bit of wasabi and mix it in. Start small. Start very small. Even a pea-sized chunk can make you cry.

“I had no idea what to do with the wasabi when I first saw it,” Lauzau said. “Me and one of my friends were just eating big chunks of it. It’s not really spicy like normal American spicy things, but it does give you this weird kick. It made my nose run.”

The soy-wasabi mixture can be used as a dipping sauce for all the kinds of sushi.

“Wasabi is like pickles for burgers and hot dogs,” Hsiao said. “Some people just can’t eat a burger without a pickle, it’s kind of like that.”

You should always eat sashimi first. It is the only style of sushi that requires the use of chopsticks; however, don’t let the fear of chopsticks stop you from experiencing sashimi. Most chefs and waiters will be more than happy to help show you the proper chopstick technique.

“If you eat the sushi at the sushi bar, you don’t have to use chopsticks,” Honda said, adding it is not considered bad etiquette to bite larger pieces in half.

Sushi may seem confusing, weird or down-right intimidating, but with the proper preparation, going to a sushi bar can also be one of the best dining and cultural experiences you can have.

Erin Pompili can be reached at [email protected].