Fuji

[lfabio2007]

If I may reply, I wouldn't say that Zento compares favourably to Fuji. Mind, I've only been to Zento once and Fuji does have its (small) issues, but what I had at Zento, while fresh and correct, was extremely... standard and almost seemed rushed in presentation. IMHO, etc, etc, etc.

[mrbigjas]

of course you may reply! and i agree with your zento opinion.

i'm just trying to gauge the extent of hyperbole in 'no excuse to eat sushi anywhere else in a 30 mile radius' -- really, give up on anywhere else, or what?

[dagordon]

of course you may reply!  and i agree with your zento opinion.

i'm just trying to gauge the extent of hyperbole in 'no excuse to eat sushi anywhere else in a 30 mile radius'  -- really, give up on anywhere else, or what?

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I think Zento is the best in the city, and can satisfy a sushi craving. But omakase at Fuji with Matt serving you is just on a totally different level, so much so that I couldn't opt to go to Zento now knowing what's available at Fuji...

Of course there was a bit of hyperbole in the 'no excuse' comment -- you have a kid, and if you just don't have the time to get out to Haddonfield then you don't have the time. But I personally would grab a slice somewhere or have a bowl of cereal for dinner rather than go somewhere in the area other than Fuji for sushi.

I should mention that I didn't reserve an omakase meal last night -- I made a reservation at the bar, and when I sat down in front of Matt we didn't even say anything about what we wanted, and the food just started coming out... It was like the year and a half or whatever between last night and our last meal at the old Fuji hadn't occurred.

Oh, and we brought our own chopsticks, and at the end of the meal our server offered to clean them for us; very classy.

Oh, and on the way in we noticed in the coat closet a large bag on the shelf with 'Georges Perrier' written on it. Didn't see him there, though.

[Mummer]

It was probably filled with water...

Oh, and on the way in we noticed in the coat closet a large bag on the shelf with 'Georges Perrier' written on it.  Didn't see him there, though.

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[lfabio2007]

As a late reply, I'd tend to agree on the 'give up anywhere else' unless 'anywhere else' is about 85 miles roughly north-east.

We were back to fuji, though we didn't do omakase. Unfortunately we weren't at the bar and I have to say... the bar is better. Significantly.

[Chris Hennes]

Thanks to Katie Loeb's kind offer to drive, I was finally able to make it out to Fuji last night. I will preface this by stating that I am a relative novice when it comes to sushi, and certainly have no reasonable access to it where I live. Until last night the best sushi I had ever had was as a part of the Omakase at Morimoto, and that was the best by a very large margin. Well, no longer. I still hold Morimoto in high esteem, as the meal was quite delicious, but Fuji was truly extraordinary. I hope that in the future I can temper my enthusiasm with visits to some true sushi Meccas, but wow, last night's meal was great.

A lot of the dishes posted above look familiar, or at least like variations on the same theme. I had a number of "firsts" last night: monkfish liver, uni, and truffle salt(!) all featured in the meal, none of which I had ever had before. We simply entrusted ourselves to Chef Matt's care, and he delivered round after round. The fish was impeccable, the rice noticeably better than any I had had before, and the uni blew my mind.

I know, this is a totally worthless review since I am woefully unqualified to judge sushi quality, but it was nevertheless the best meal I have ever had. Please forgive my naive enthusiasm... I love trying new food (the company was pretty good, too ).

ETA: Last night anyway, there were three back-of-house employees that we saw: Chef Matt, his son, and one other guy who appeared to be doing basic ingredient prep. Matt did most of the the work for our plates, which were almost exclusively sushi. And I forgot to mention the Amberjack in my list of "amazing things I had never had before."

Edited March 21, 2008 by Chris Hennes (log)

[Capaneus]

  I know, this is a totally worthless review since I am woefully unqualified to judge sushi quality, but it was nevertheless the best meal I have ever had. Please forgive my naive enthusiasm... I love trying new food (the company was pretty good, too  ).

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That was an insanely good meal, Chris, no qualification necessary. Yasuda-shmasuda, where are SushiGourmet and NGIT now, huh?

The oysters were excellent, but, you know, they are minimally prepared, really. The tuna tartare was perfect, but, given that it was a fairly subtle, conservative preparation, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect at that point. But the rest of the meal just kept building from great to greater... Man that was some truly fine grub.

Now if only Philadining would post the pictures from their meal Tuesday night, we could get some sense of whether this is just how good the place is, night-in, night-out, every night.

I figured he'd be in a happy, accommodating mood, now that he's unloaded his Muscadet...

Oh, and Luigi is exactly right, in that at the moment Fuji is really two restaurants: the counter and everything else. I hope sometime soon the additional staff catches up with Mat sufficiently that that stops being the case. Jesse Ito seems to be an earnest study, so here's hoping genius is hereditary.

[philadining]

Wouldn't dream of drinking that Muscadet without you!

(bet ya didn't see that one coming, did ya?!?)

(yes there was another piece, I was getting confused - shooting, eating, shooting, eating, wait, did I shoot that one?!?!)

and for dessert: Jesse's Creme Brulée

and a brought-in, but ridiculously good chocolate fudge cake.

Crazy good meal.

[Capaneus]

Wouldn't dream of drinking that Muscadet without you!

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Don't you threaten me, young man!

So there's some overlap, besides the sushi, which could be expected. The uni-and-unagi combo dealie, which was one of the highlights, as well as the first two courses. Our meal was entirely meatless, though. And there's a great deal that was not repeated, and looks really delicious.

This could bear some further exploration.

[Tim Dolan]

Pictures like that are the reason that I wish I liked sushi. Looks awesome. Gotta give it another shot sometime...

[percyn]

I recognize most of the dishes, but would appreciate a description of this course

[philadining]

I recognize most of the dishes, but would appreciate a description of this course

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I wish I had been paying attention, I'm not completely sure about the details, except that this course was one of the highlights for me. The sashimi was all good, the inherent flavors of the fish shining through the contrasting or complimenting sauces.

On the left was monkfish liver, topped by... I don't remember... it was good!

Next to that was salmon with citrus. That was absolutely delicious.

Next, I'm pretty sure that was saba...or... well, one of the hikarimono, with an egg-yolk sauce, almost like a hollandaise.

And on the right, I just can't remember what fish it was, but in a ponzu-ish sauce.

I was pretty involved with just eating and enjoying each them, I should have paid more attention to what they were!

[lfabio2007]

I have been culpably absent because I'm buried in work, but I'll say: we did Kaiseki, they said they 'don't do Omakase any more'. Dinner was very good, but not to the caliber of what I see above. How did you persuade Matt Ito to do Omakase?

[Capaneus]

I have been culpably absent because I'm buried in work, but I'll say: we did Kaiseki, they said they 'don't do Omakase any more'. Dinner was very good, but not to the caliber of what I see above. How did you persuade Matt Ito to do Omakase?

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I don't think there's a real trick, Luigi: you sit at the bar; you let Mat know you know what he can do; and you ask if he'll cook for you (or, if he's in the back, wonder out loud whether that would be possible); then you pay the tab with a smile.

He seems to be down to just himself, his son Jesse and a prep cook. It probably means that if you go at a busy time it will be hard to get him to commit his full attention, which is likely why they don't do omakase as a matter of course.

I think the key steps are "Slow time" and "Sit at the sushi bar". I'm sure it helps if you become well known: go often, and maybe once or twice with other regulars.

[lfabio2007]

See, I tend not to wonder out loud . That's probably my failing, but I'll make sure to try. As to going with other regulars, sure: I even promise I won't get lost on the way to the report. Let me know when .

[philadining]

Kumamoto Oysters

Daikon Roll, Uni, Uni Sauce

Octopus, Tobiko, Black Pepper

Maguro

Sea Bream

Yellowjack

Chu-Toro

Scallop

Monkfish Liver, Uni, Caviar

Spicy Tuna

Amberjack

Kohada

O-Toro

Uni, Unagi

Even better than the last visit? Yep...

[Chris Hennes]

Uni, Unagi

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That one on the right is my new favorite "dessert" ... I had never had uni before and that was the last course when we were there a couple weeks ago. Incredible, just incredible.

[lfabio2007]

...as I was saying...

[Carlson1105]

Went to Fuji for the 1st time on Saturday night. Most of the food was very good. Wasn't really craving sushi, so we opted for the dinner menu. Miso soup and the salad were very good, as were the gyoza appetizer. I had the sizzling steak which was accompanied by a hot stone to complete the cooking on. My wife ordered the sea bass, pan seared in a garlic sauce. She took one bite and said she couldn't eat it because it was way too salty. She tried it without the sauce and said it was still to salty. I tasted it and agreed it was inedible. It was cooked fine, right temperature, just way too salty.

The waitress came over to check on us, and my wife told her the problem. She said sorry and walked away. Another waitress came over and asked how we were, and she told her the same thing. We shared my steak and asked for the check when they took away our plates (with almost all of the sea bass on it. They brought the check which had her fish still on it, and we just chuckled and laughed it off. They did however charge us for a california roll, which we ordered but never got. I told the waitress and she took the check back. A 3rd waitress, who seemed like she was in charge, came back and said that everybody likes the sea bass, and maybe next time we should get it without the sauce, (which was not the problem). She then brought the check back and explained that they took half the price of the bass off. Kind of strange, maybe they were just half sorry.

I will give Fuji another try, since everything else we had was good, but in good faith, maybe they should have comped the un-eaten meal. She basically told us she was sorry we didn't like it without admitting any responsibility. I should have had her taste it.

[jmbrightman]

We also went to Fuji for the first time Saturday night. The place was surprisingly empty, given the level of eGullet love. We sat at the sushi bar, and had the Kumamoto oyster appetizer (good), the pan seared soft shell appetizer (great, one had me wanting another), then the sushi and sashimi samplers, still hungry so we finished with another soft shell crab and a shrimp tempura roll (excellent). We were planning to order omakase, but the menu stated only weekdays, order in advance (while the party next to us was clearly enjoying omakase).

[lfabio2007]

We went back to Fuji about a month ago. Everything was fine, but with the variety that I see posted here (and that I don't usually get to experience) I will launch an idea I had mentioned a while ago: how about organising a Fuji dinner-for-egulleters?

[Fujito]

[philadining]

Those are gorgeous photos! Fujito, are they from a professional photoshoot at the restaurant?

Wherever they came from, they're very effective: I'm suddenly craving some Fuji sushi!

[Alec Hart]

Hello Fujito,

What is on the shrimp tempura? Both pieces, the one in the foreground and the one in the background, look as if they have been crusted with something. Admittedly each one with something different.

-- Alec

[Jeff L]

Uh Oh, a serious contender to our resident food porn photographer extraordinaire.