I was just at a mediocre sushi place.  
They offered both "toro" and "chutoro."
I was confused because the "toro" was more
expensive than the "chutoro."
My understanding is that in terms of the
hierarchy of tuna sushi:

"otoro" is the most prized,
"chutoro" is the second-most prized
and "toro" is OK, but not great.

Am I wrong?

It appears that the hierarchy is truly as follows: otoro (or o-toro)
is the most prized form of toro, and chutoro (or chu-toro) is the
second-most prized form of toro.

All of the web pages I have seen that discuss the distinctions support
the view that toro is the tuna belly, and that otoro and chutoro are
grades of toro.

"Sushi - Lesson 2: Excerpts from Sushi, by Mia Detrick", submitted by
Deborah Alves
The Fish Sniffer Online
http://www.fishsniffer.com/recipes/sushi2.html

"Chipsan Says" (scroll about 1/3 down the page)
theSushiBar.com
http://www.thesushibar.com/sushi_chipcolumn.shtml

"Fun Facts: Sushi Menu Terms: (cont.)"
Kiyari America, Inc.
http://www.kiyari.com/Fun_Facts_4.html

"Big Trouble in Little Tokyo", by Kate Murphy and Micah Forbes, March
2000 (scroll about 2/3 down the page)
MASH Magazine
http://www.mashmagazine.com/00march/marchasian.html

Perhaps the restaurant at which you ate was like this one, where the
menu prices "toro" above chutoro, with otoro being the most expensive
at market price:

"Dinner" (click on "Nigri Sushi")
MF Sushibar
http://www.mfsushibar.com/sushi_rolls.html

It seems that "toro", being undifferentiated tuna belly, contains both
chutoro and otoro, and is therefore between chutoro and otoro in
fattiness and price.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google and Altavista:

chutoro otoro toro
chu-toro o-toro toro