Are Lazy Dog Restaurant meals fattening?

Dining out definitely increases your waist size (and your chances of having a heart attack). I have a family member that loves to eat at Lazy Dog, which wouldn’t be a place I would choose because of their unhealthy, fattening menu.

Lazy Dog Restaurant’s Ginger Soy Salmon with brown rice entrée contains a whopping 1050 calories. I contacted the restaurant and they gave me this break down:

• 8 oz Salmon=471 calories
• 1.5 cups Cooked Rice=220 calories
• Veggies with Sauce and oil= 250 calories (Steaming the veggies would remove about 180 calories)
• Teriyaki Glaze=45 calories

Now I know why that dish contains so many calories. The salmon they give you is a generous portion: a half a pound. I also didn’t know the vegetables were cooked in oil (most restaurants add oil to all of their food). If you noticed, the math doesn’t add up to 1050. 471+220+250+45 = 986, not 1050 per their online calorie chart. It’s only a difference of 64 calories, but excess calories increase bodyfat and health complications.

If I omit just the rice, that would still make the meal 776 calories, which is a lot for one meal, especially when that number doesn’t include a beverage or dessert! If I had eaten steamed vegetables instead of the fried veggies and excluded the rice, the dish would come in at 596 calories which is not bad for a restaurant in terms of calories. It’s still more calories than the meals I make at home. What I should have ordered is rice with steamed veggies with the teriyaki glaze on the side (my body doesn’t need excess protein or saturated animal fat from the salmon).