Is there any way to find out how many calories are in a dish from a restaurant?

Shortieweightloss

I very regularly get a junior chicken teriyaki bowl combo with steamed rice and a side of zucchini and onions from Seasons of Japan.

The issue is the company doesn't report nutrition information, so this meal could be anywhere from 300 to 800 calories for all I know. I tried emailing them a while back and received no response. The meal consists of a small bowl of white rice with teriyaki chicken and a separate bowl of Japanese-style zucchini and onions. Since half the meal is veggies, my best guess would be that it's not TOO calorically dense. However, since I know nothing about how it is cooked or what is in the sauce on the teriyaki chicken, I've been putting it down as a 600-calorie meal to be on the safe side. The obvious problem is I could be eating way below what I need per day because of this.

I don't take it there are locations where I can take a meal to be measured or anything.

Edit: Just wanted to add, I do know there is an entry on MFP for a chicken teriyaki bowl from Seasons of Japan. However, this is a completely different menu item than what I get. That is an entree in itself, whereas what I get is a smaller bowl that is part of a combo and contains different ingredients.

SuzySunshine99

There ARE labs that can analyze the calorie content of a dish...but it is very expensive and seems extreme in this circumstance. With most restaurant food, you just have to make your best guess.

edlanglais5

Here's what I do in cases like this. I type in the description of the food and the app will list a lot of options, many from chain restaurants. I would choose the most comparable option.

ktekc

i always put at least 1000. Unless you know the veggies were steamed or something they were probably sauted in oil. That adds up alot. Rice packs quite a calorie punch as well. So it would depend on what a small bowl is. . . 1 cup? 2 cups? teriyaki sauce tends to have alot of sodium but not sure about calories.

ccsernica

Search the database for dishes that seem comparable and take your best guess. There's not much else we can do, really.

ritzvin

There should be some entries in cups, tablespoon sizes for "teriyaki chicken" (or separately cooked chicken + teriyaki sauce + oil), "white rice, cooked", chopped zucchini, oil. You'll just have to guess on how much oil, and which teriyaki entry is closest (how sweet, how oily, etc..).

kimny72

Honestly, you just have to give it your best guess. Try breaking it down into components. Log the rice, the chicken, and the veggies separately. Then log a teriyaki sauce. Does it feel oily to you? Then add a TBL of oil (honestly I log an additional TBL of oil to anything I get at a restaurant!). Can you get it to go? Maybe one time take it home and measure everything so you get an idea.

Bakins929

You can try https://nutritionix.com/brands/restaurant or menustat.org/ or calorieking.com/. I'm sure there are others out there.

I am betting that it will end up being more calories than you think.

Shortieweightloss

Well, here's the thing. I lost 5 lbs in the past 2 weeks and have had this meal several times, so I don't think it's causing me to go massively over my calorie limit. I'm more concerned, as I said, I'm not eating enough. When you have your max calories at 1,150, it's really easy to malnourish yourself if you're guestimating your meals even 100 calories too high.

Tomorrow, I'll get the meal again and take it home and try to weigh everything to the best of my ability.