Was fortunate to snag a seat at Fuji through the omakase website when one of the very few available seats matched my travel schedule.
The overall flavor profile at Fuji was light, sincere and clean, designed to highlight the natural flavours of Shizuoka’s sea bounty, supplied by the celebrated Sasue Maeda fishmonger located just 30 minutes drive away.
The cooking was simple and restrained. Sauces and broth were formulated from the fish itself to ensure harmony. Some of the manual processes were done counter-side, eg making warabi mochi by hand using bracken root starch.
Presentation was a celebration of simplicity. The whole meal simply relied on fish and vegetables to lend colour, purity and character to the season compositions.
The counter has 7 seats and the meal was very good value at 19,000 yen (USD125). Menu below (summer 2025):
Mirai Corn: refreshing sweet corn surinagashi, enriched with chopped oysters, vinegar jelly and deep-fried strands of corn silk that added crispy element.
Kamasu: steamed barracuda nestling on a bed of sticky rice, served with kudzu paste and wasabi. Delicate with fall apart texture.
Orido nasu: an eggplant native to Shimizu in Shizuoka, paired with incredibly sweet Amera fruitica tomatoes from Kakegawa which are known to have one of the highest sugar content.
Iwashi agemono: deep fried whole sardines accompanied by cod roe flavoured salt for dipping.
Hanadai jagaimo manju: flower sea bream, potato dumpling laced with ichiban dashi. For the latter, the chef hand-shaved honkarebushi made from locally caught bonito from Yaizu that has been smoked, sun-dried and fermented for over 6 months.
Sashimi: Ara, Aori ika. The pristine flavours of saw-edged sea perch and bigfin reef squid went well with side condiments of mackerel fish sauce and rock salt.
Momo Shiraae: white peach folded with white miso and kin goma (golden sesame) from Fujieda. The whole room was filled with alluring aroma when the sesame was smoked and mortal-pounded at the counter.
Amadai Matsukasa: tilefish with ‘pine-cone’ skin for that shattering crunch. The meat was steamed, grilled then bathed in scorching hot oil over the skin to create a beautiful Matsukasa finish.
Aji kimisu nabana: cured horse mackerel teamed with with tangy egg yolk vinegar, young onion, rapeseed powder and a scattering of shiso.
Aged Kinmedai: golden-eyed snapper slowly steamed at low temperature to retain its oceanic flavour and flaky texture. The finishing touch was a drizzle of warm sauce from its bones.
Gohan: Kinu Musume rice from Fujieda freshly cooked in claypot with Niebana Tsukemono.
Yaito Gatsuo-Zuke: slabs of soy-marinated black skipjack fish over rice
Jindoika: rice folded with Japanese squid and earthy edamame beans.
Sakana Dashi Ramen: the umami-rich broth made from fish bone & amagi-shamo chicken, a combination that blends the essence of land and sea
Ume Mitsuni: Stewed green plums in honey.
Warabi mochi: handmade by the chef from scratch with dusting of kinako and kuromitsu brown sugar molasses.
by BocaTaberu
Dining and Cooking