Kona Grill & calories- the mistake that I made!

phdiva12
phdiva12 Posts: 79 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So, yesterday me and friend went to a happy hour at Kona Grill. I knew I was going out, so I ate light during the day and exercised. As a result, I had almost 1000 calories to "use" at Kona Grill. I didn't check the calories before I went, but I decided that the chicken satay appetizer would be fairly healthy. The dish has four chicken skewers, about 2 and a half cups of slaw, and two dipping sauces: peanut and teriyaki. I ate all the chicken, but I ate no more than a cup of the slaw, none of the peanut sauce, and about three tbsps of the teriyaki sauce. My friend even complimented me on sticking to my diet! Well, when I get home I look up the calories for my dish. Imagine my surprise when I find out the chicken satay appetizer has almost 1500 calories! I had to check the website several times to make sure I was seeing it correctly. At most, i figured the whole dish would have about 700-800 calories. Being that I ate only a small portion of the slaw and avoided most of the dipping sauce, I had assumed that my total calorie count would be no more than about 500 to 600 calories. Boy, was I wrong! I went over my daily allowance by about 400 calories!

This is a good lesson and reminder for everyone; if you go to a restaurant, make sure to check the nutritional information first! Don't just guesstimate the calories. Now, of course there are times when we must guesstimate, smaller restaurants usually don't post their menu with nutritional info. But when you can, make sure to check!

BTW- no offense to Kona Grill, but most of the appetizers and menu items have a lot more calories than you would assume. Their potstickers appetizer ( I think 5 total) has 840 calories! I think it will be a long time before I go there again!

Replies

  • xxvogue
    xxvogue Posts: 172 Member
    Ouch! where are all the calories coming from in that? Peanut sauce, slaw, and teriyaki aren't great, but that sounds like a lot of chicken!
  • phdiva12
    phdiva12 Posts: 79 Member
    I know, right? It really wasn't that much chicken, maybe about 5 ounces total.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    But te 1500 on the website includes the sauces and slaw. You didn't eat them, and you at e half the slaw. Subtract about 500 cals. Ta Da.
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    Ugh that sucks. Even with looking at nutrition info for slaws and peanut sauce I still am seeing it being like 1000 cals. Which is double what you were hoping for. Makes me wonder what they put in their stuff, seriously. Scary!
  • rdean150
    rdean150 Posts: 6 Member
    I just had a similar revelation! I eat at Kona Grill probably around once a month on average, as there is one located very near where I live. Until recently (I guess early 2013), they only had nutrition facts for a very small subset of their menu. Fortunately, my favorite dish, the Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon, was on that list - and the nutrition facts weren't too bad, as far as restaurants go.

    Well apparently they have recently listed a much more complete set of nutrition info, and apparently updated the existing items as well. Suddenly I realize that my favorite salmon dish packs in 910 calories, 39 grams of fat, 2440 mg sodium, and over 50 g sugar! And frankly, it's still one of the best choices on the menu!

    Their nutrition facts are absolutely staggering. Their pan-seared Ahi tuna entree is almost 100g fat and over 4000mg Sodium. That chicken satay the OP mentioned is 109g fat. My favorite hot sushi item there, the Volcano Roll, somehow manages to jam in 50g fat into a single sushi roll!!! It's not even fried!

    They must use ridiculous amounts of oil or something, because otherwise these numbers just do not make sense. It boggles the mind that dishes that appear to be reasonably healthy can be so astoundingly high in calories and fat.

    As the OP said, when dining at restaurants, you really cannot trust your own estimates. I'm inclined to estimate how many calories a dish would be if I made it at home, and then double that. Or in the case of Kona Grill, triple it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Pretty much if you eat out, plan on at least 1000 calories. That said...OP...you didn't eat the whole thing, therefore you didn't go over as much as you think you did. Also...one day of many. If you're over by 500 calories, you're likely still at a deficit if your calorie goal reflects a 2 Lb per week loss goal...even if it's 1 Lb per week loss goal, you've eaten to maintenance. Don't stress and obsess...it's all about lifestyle, not one day. Nobody is healthy and fit because they ate broccoli one day during the week...no body gets fat and sabotages their diet with one night on the town either.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Yeah it sucks. I try to check beforehand, and otherwise it's often salad with healthy ingredients and dressing on the side or something. Or something grilled with no sauce and veggies. In my experience, it's either under 500 calories, or over 1200, there's no in between lol.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    Never heard of Kona Grill...have to check them out sometime....but restaurant food can be a shocker. Usually more oil than you think and monstrous portions. I know....I'm a restaurant cook....
  • mshopey
    mshopey Posts: 125 Member
    I went to dinner recently, i saved a few calories, and said i'd eat a few over and exercise them back later.
    I picked what i really wanted in the menu, and expected around 1,000.
    When i got home i checked the nutritional information online.
    And it came out at more like 2,500!!!
    These places are feeding the obesity in all fairness.
    Nothing ever looks as bad as it turns out to be.
    I felt sick just thinking about it!
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    This is a good lesson and reminder for everyone; if you go to a restaurant, make sure to check the nutritional information first! Don't just guesstimate the calories.

    Been there, done that several times. Even as calorie savy folks we get bilked sometimes into the "if it's chicken with little sauce, it is low cal" mentallity. There is a thread about foods people were floored by the calorie count and many of them listed come from restraunts and 'sound' healthy. You can imagine how the average consumer gets tricked by this, but they probably don't follow up to see what the actually calories counts are and continue to beleive it is a good choice.

    Cheers.

    Tis how we all learn.

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