You’re probably working too hard. Honestly, most people playing Dave the Diver treat the sushi bar like a frantic scavenger hunt. They dive, they grab whatever fish is closest to the surface, and they slap a bunch of Level 1 sushi on the menu.
That is the fastest way to stay broke.
If you want to hit Diamond rank and actually afford those level 20 staff training costs (which, by the way, hit nearly 100k at the top end), you need to stop thinking about fish and start thinking about Dave the Diver recipes. The difference between a basic piece of Bluefin Tuna sushi and a fully enhanced multi-ingredient dish is the difference between making 5,000 gold a night and clearing 150,000.
The Math of Why Single-Fish Sushi is a Trap
Basically, the game tricks you early on. It gives you a Whitetip Reef Shark and you think, "Wow, 60 gold! I'm rich!" But basic sushi scales terribly. To get the best taste scores and the highest prices, you need recipes that require seasonings (Salt, Soy Sauce, Mayonnaise) or vegetables (Onion, Garlic, Rice).
Why? Because multi-ingredient recipes often provide more "servings" per cook.
Take the Tropical Fish Sushi Set. It’s the mid-game king. At Level 1, it’s decent. But once you maximize it, you’re getting 7 to 9 servings out of a single set of ingredients. That means your inventory of fish lasts seven times longer than if you were just making individual nigiri.
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Dave the Diver Recipes You Need to Max ASAP
Not all recipes are created equal. Some are a nightmare to maintain because the fish are rare or the farm requirements are too high. Here’s what actually works in the long run.
The Seagrapes Jellyfish Sushi (The Platinum Ticket)
This is the first major recipe you’ll get from Vincent the Gourmet. Do not ignore this.
- Ingredients: White Spotted Jellyfish, Sea Grape, Salt.
- The Strategy: Hire staff and Dispatch them for Salt immediately. You’ll need 222 units of Salt and Sea Grapes to hit Level 10.
- The Payoff: At Level 10, this dish hits a 280 Taste score. That is the magic number to push you into Cooksta Platinum rank. It sells for over 800 gold a plate. It’s the most reliable "bridge" to the end-game.
The Dumbo Takoyaki (The Diamond Standard)
Once you reach the Glacial Area, you’ll start seeing those cute Dumbo Octopuses. Stop thinking they're cute and start thinking they're profit.
- Ingredients: 3 Dumbo Octopus, 2 Wheat, 1 Mayonnaise.
- Why it’s elite: It serves 9 people. If you run a maxed-out restaurant and branch, you’re looking at roughly 90 customers. You only need to "cook" this dish 10 times to feed everyone. That’s only 30 octopuses. With a Fish Farm, you can breed those faster than you can use them.
Crimson Fish Roll (The "Lazy" Millionaire)
If you hate farming vegetables or sending staff out for salt, this is your best friend. It’s one of the few top-tier recipes that uses only fish.
- Ingredients: Clown Frogfish, Red Bream, Rhinochimaeridae.
- How to get it: Level up Billy to Level 15.
- The catch: Red Bream and Rhinochimaeridae don't spawn in huge numbers, so you absolutely must use the Fish Farm to supplement your stock.
What People Get Wrong About Recipe Enhancement
You’ve probably noticed the "Enhance" button. You’ve probably also noticed it eats your ingredients.
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Here is the part most players miss: Enhancing a recipe doesn't just increase price; it increases the number of servings. If a recipe starts at 1 serving and you enhance it to Level 6, it might jump to 4 or 5 servings. This is how you handle the 45-customer rush at the main restaurant without having to hunt 45 individual sharks.
The Staff Recipe Secret
A lot of the best Dave the Diver recipes aren't found in the ocean. They’re locked behind your employees.
- Maki (Level 5): Unlocks a special shrimp sushi.
- Billy (Level 15): Unlocks the Crimson Fish Roll.
- Itsuki (Level 15): Unlocks some of the highest-value late-game dishes.
If you aren't training your staff, you're missing out on the actual "meta" dishes. Honestly, it’s worth over-hiring early just to have people in the waiting room you can send for Dispatch. You will always run out of Black Vinegar and Soy Sauce. Always.
Handling the 2026 "In The Jungle" Meta
With the new In The Jungle expansion, the recipe game has shifted toward freshwater ingredients. We’re seeing a huge emphasis on the Jungle Gun for capturing Piranhas and Crocodiles.
The standout new recipe currently is the Spiced Piranha Soup. It requires Chili Peppers (a new farm crop) and Piranha meat. It’s significantly easier to farm than the deep-sea sharks because the "lake" biome is shallower and requires less oxygen management.
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However, the "old" recipes like Dunkleosteus Sushi still hold the crown for pure price. The Dunkleosteus is found in the Hydrothermal Vents. It’s a tank, but if you use a Steel Net Gun or a Tranq Drone, you get huge amounts of meat. At max level, it sells for over 600 gold per individual piece of sushi, no seasonings required.
A Quick Strategy for Ingredient Management
Stop manually checking your farm every five minutes. It’s a waste of time.
Use the Auto Supply feature on your menu. If you put a dish on the menu and set it to 1, then toggle Auto Supply, Bancho will only prepare a dish when a customer actually orders it. This prevents you from wasting 50 pieces of expensive shark meat on a night where only 40 people show up.
Also, keep an eye on the Cooksta rank requirements. Don't waste your best ingredients enhancing a dish that has a low "Taste" ceiling. You need that Taste score to unlock the next restaurant tier.
Actionable Next Steps for Maximum Profit
To turn your sushi bar into a money-printing machine, you should follow this specific order of operations:
- Prioritize the Seagrapes Jellyfish Sushi to hit Platinum rank. It’s the easiest high-taste dish to max out early.
- Get Billy and Itsuki to Level 15 as soon as you have the spare gold. Their recipes are essential for the Diamond-tier grind.
- Invest heavily in the Fish Farm for Dumbo Octopus and Tropical Fish (Titan Triggerfish, etc.). Breeding is much more efficient than hunting once you’re in the end-game.
- Use the Seaweed Farm specifically for Southern Bull Kelp and Sea Grapes. These are the biggest bottlenecks for the highest-paying recipes.
- Always Dispatch for Black Vinegar. You can find Salt and Soy Sauce in pots underwater fairly easily, but Black Vinegar is much rarer.
Stop selling basic sushi. Start enhancing the multi-ingredient dishes, and you'll find that gold becomes a non-issue by the time you're exploring the Glacial Passage.