I found out about Fuji from /u/BocaTaberu’s post on the restaurant and after a meal I did not personally enjoy at Sushi Akira, I made the trek down to Shizuoka.
My experience largely matched Boca’s post – Fuji is a restaurant that generally leans on simpler and more straight forward cookery with lighter and clean flavours (but it does have room for very strongly flavoured dishes in pockets as well). This is not a bad thing, I honestly kinda prefer it – it does mean a restaurant has to lean hard on ingredient quality but it allows them to let those ingredients shine such that you can truly taste what you’re eating. There’s also a lot less places to hide if the execution is something the diner doesn’t enjoy or if there are issues during cooking.
Courses were:
1. Iwashi tsumire-jiru with takenoko and tiny mitsuba leaf. Solid elevation of a more home style dish – very nice w sake 2. Aji from Yaizu with lightly pickled onions, hanaho, ume paste and myoga oil. Really nice just a lot of onions that were admittedly pretty tasty 3. Shaved katsuobushi, not technically a course but fun to see in person – I believe they said it was the obushi portion but service was entirely in Japan so legit everything I’m saying is off my broken ass fish Japanese 4. Hamaguri risotto, alright but not my personal favorite. Still good with the sake I ordered 5. Itoyoridai owan with fukinoto, dashi is made with the freshly shaved katsuobushi. Slightly discordant, I felt the old adage held true and the fish tastes were competing a bit 6. Sashimi course – Shizuoka buri and hirame, I actually liked these a lot even though the fat levels weren’t super crazy 7. Spinach with sesame dressing that is toasted, grinded in a suribachi and mixed in front of you. Insane aroma from it toasted and being ground in front of you. This was delicious and I really enjoyed it – the show and lingering aroma of the sesame seed definitely contributed to the vibe but the dish itself was very good 8. Shiro amadai matsukasayaki, finished over charcoal in a light shiro amadai dashi from the same fish. Superb, I think this, the next course or the ma-saba were my favourites of the night. Perfectly cooked flesh and a delicious broth 9. Sumibiyaki deshiko unagi from lake hamana, unagi was steamed before being finished over the coals. Half of it got the skin blistered by the charcoal while half just got a more normal crisping up – whole thing was very simple but incredibly enjoyable 10. Tachiuo and asparagus agemono with a koji sauce. I used to know what this specific type of agemono was called but I forgot. Regardless the tachiuo was pretty robust n meaty and the koji sauce added a TON when I wanted a lil ajihen 11. Shizuoka ma-saba in a shiro miso sauce with shiitake and blanched negi. One my favorite three courses of the night I think this might’ve been my favorite, the shiro miso sauce was exceptional with the gently cooked saba, the negi and shiitake were great too – the shiitake with the shiro miso sauce and the negi mixed together with certain bites of the saba. I’d have ordered a second of this and the shiro amadai if they offered it 12. Rice courses started with a simple rice + pickles and and alright aka miso soup. I loved these rice in these – each grain was cooked properly and had a very nice texture n lustre. There was a lot of effort that came through that I really appreciated 13. Kihada maguro zuke don, great although I preferred the version at Kitajima a bit more. I felt the Kihada maguro there was of slightly higher quality 14. Takenoko, grated sesame seeds and jindo-ika gohan, insane I was a huge fan of this – more takenoko than rice in some bowls but I’m not complaining lmao. Smoky sesame seeds n jindo ika are a pretty goated combo 15. Lake hamana seaweed zosui w a bit of ichimi. Best zosui of the trip – I enjoyed the one at kitajima, I loved this one. The seaweed and broth here were exceptional 16. Sakura mochi in Sakura leaf, alright. Ik why this was the dessert but I wasn’t huge on it personally
The flow of the menu is honestly pretty standard kaiseki – flowing from lighter simple flavours to stronger ones before concluding with filling rice dishes. I’ll fully admit to my western palate that many of my favourite courses with part of that stronger flavour middle portion – the run of dishes from the spinach with sesame dressing to the end was honestly some of the best food I’d had on the trip. Nearly every one of those courses were something I could have honestly eaten several helpings of.
That’s not to say that earlier courses were bad – the aji and sashimi especially were quite enjoyable but they were lighter and more simple fare that were more focused on letting you get a taste of these ingredients rather than being a full dish you can enjoy.
If you’re nearby, I think it’s absolutely worth a detour out to Shizuoka. I definitely want to come again if I was in Tokyo/if I could group this up with some other stuff in the area
godiloveswords
Have you been to Onjaku? The preparations tend more rustic than Fuji but for some ingredients that tends to serve it better imo. Both incredible restaurants in my book.
Have both lined up on an upcoming trip so should be fun to compare both within days of each other
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I found out about Fuji from /u/BocaTaberu’s post on the restaurant and after a meal I did not personally enjoy at Sushi Akira, I made the trek down to Shizuoka.
My experience largely matched Boca’s post – Fuji is a restaurant that generally leans on simpler and more straight forward cookery with lighter and clean flavours (but it does have room for very strongly flavoured dishes in pockets as well). This is not a bad thing, I honestly kinda prefer it – it does mean a restaurant has to lean hard on ingredient quality but it allows them to let those ingredients shine such that you can truly taste what you’re eating. There’s also a lot less places to hide if the execution is something the diner doesn’t enjoy or if there are issues during cooking.
Courses were:
1. Iwashi tsumire-jiru with takenoko and tiny mitsuba leaf. Solid elevation of a more home style dish – very nice w sake
2. Aji from Yaizu with lightly pickled onions, hanaho, ume paste and myoga oil. Really nice just a lot of onions that were admittedly pretty tasty
3. Shaved katsuobushi, not technically a course but fun to see in person – I believe they said it was the obushi portion but service was entirely in Japan so legit everything I’m saying is off my broken ass fish Japanese
4. Hamaguri risotto, alright but not my personal favorite. Still good with the sake I ordered
5. Itoyoridai owan with fukinoto, dashi is made with the freshly shaved katsuobushi. Slightly discordant, I felt the old adage held true and the fish tastes were competing a bit
6. Sashimi course – Shizuoka buri and hirame, I actually liked these a lot even though the fat levels weren’t super crazy
7. Spinach with sesame dressing that is toasted, grinded in a suribachi and mixed in front of you. Insane aroma from it toasted and being ground in front of you. This was delicious and I really enjoyed it – the show and lingering aroma of the sesame seed definitely contributed to the vibe but the dish itself was very good
8. Shiro amadai matsukasayaki, finished over charcoal in a light shiro amadai dashi from the same fish. Superb, I think this, the next course or the ma-saba were my favourites of the night. Perfectly cooked flesh and a delicious broth
9. Sumibiyaki deshiko unagi from lake hamana, unagi was steamed before being finished over the coals. Half of it got the skin blistered by the charcoal while half just got a more normal crisping up – whole thing was very simple but incredibly enjoyable
10. Tachiuo and asparagus agemono with a koji sauce. I used to know what this specific type of agemono was called but I forgot. Regardless the tachiuo was pretty robust n meaty and the koji sauce added a TON when I wanted a lil ajihen
11. Shizuoka ma-saba in a shiro miso sauce with shiitake and blanched negi. One my favorite three courses of the night I think this might’ve been my favorite, the shiro miso sauce was exceptional with the gently cooked saba, the negi and shiitake were great too – the shiitake with the shiro miso sauce and the negi mixed together with certain bites of the saba. I’d have ordered a second of this and the shiro amadai if they offered it
12. Rice courses started with a simple rice + pickles and and alright aka miso soup. I loved these rice in these – each grain was cooked properly and had a very nice texture n lustre. There was a lot of effort that came through that I really appreciated
13. Kihada maguro zuke don, great although I preferred the version at Kitajima a bit more. I felt the Kihada maguro there was of slightly higher quality
14. Takenoko, grated sesame seeds and jindo-ika gohan, insane I was a huge fan of this – more takenoko than rice in some bowls but I’m not complaining lmao. Smoky sesame seeds n jindo ika are a pretty goated combo
15. Lake hamana seaweed zosui w a bit of ichimi. Best zosui of the trip – I enjoyed the one at kitajima, I loved this one. The seaweed and broth here were exceptional
16. Sakura mochi in Sakura leaf, alright. Ik why this was the dessert but I wasn’t huge on it personally
The flow of the menu is honestly pretty standard kaiseki – flowing from lighter simple flavours to stronger ones before concluding with filling rice dishes. I’ll fully admit to my western palate that many of my favourite courses with part of that stronger flavour middle portion – the run of dishes from the spinach with sesame dressing to the end was honestly some of the best food I’d had on the trip. Nearly every one of those courses were something I could have honestly eaten several helpings of.
That’s not to say that earlier courses were bad – the aji and sashimi especially were quite enjoyable but they were lighter and more simple fare that were more focused on letting you get a taste of these ingredients rather than being a full dish you can enjoy.
If you’re nearby, I think it’s absolutely worth a detour out to Shizuoka. I definitely want to come again if I was in Tokyo/if I could group this up with some other stuff in the area
Have you been to Onjaku? The preparations tend more rustic than Fuji but for some ingredients that tends to serve it better imo. Both incredible restaurants in my book.
Have both lined up on an upcoming trip so should be fun to compare both within days of each other