Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouse

(menu)

For #5 on the tour I visited Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouse.  There are a few places in Pottstown where I consider myself a regular so I feel like I should disclose that Fujiyama is one of them.  Maybe that makes me biased, I'm not sure.  I do know that my visit and my account of it are probably colored by many past visits.

Fujiyama offers sushi and hibachi among other things.  They have a small downstairs bar, a sushi bar with several tables in the back, several hibachi tables on the first and second floor and a second floor bar that is larger, has more tables, a deck with tables and a stage for music.  I got to Fujiyama around 6:00pm on a Friday night and I sat at the upstairs bar.  The bar is new in the past year and the deck has a nice view where you can watch the sunset.

Dave is the bartender at the upstairs bar.  The bar is usually open Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.  Dave is very nice, but not who you would expect to see behind the bar at a sushi restaurant.  He will talk sports with anyone, especially local high school sports.  His local cable show on the subject makes him somewhat of a local celebrity.

I ordered a Pinot Grigio as usual.  Their wine selection is maybe sub par.  The wine isn't terrible, but don't go there looking for a selection.  They also do not carry any craft beer although I know there is an effort to change that.  They have Sapporo on tap and at least one other Japanese beer in bottles.  They do have a full liquor selection as well.

They have recently added a bar menu that has a different variety of selections from the regular menu. I ordered #4 on the Sushi Specials.  12 piece sashimi, miso soup and white rice.  I requested a substitution of the vegetables they serve with the hibachi dishes for the white rice, but I failed to notice if there was an upcharge for my change.  I will pay better attention next time.

These are photos of the same sashimi with the two sides I ordered.  The wait was a little long and the veg and sashimi came out without the soup.  Once I mentioned it they corrected the mistake quickly.

It's a pretty basic meal.  The sashimi at Fujiyama is always right on.  It's a typical selection of tuna, salmon, white tuna and striped bass.  I assume that these selections have the highest turnover vs other things on the a la carte sashimi menu since they are included in the specials.  Regardless, they have been fresh every time I've ordered them.  Good texture, nice and cold.  I think the striped bass sometime has connective tissue which makes it hard to bite apart, but I think that's the nature of the fish and not anything lacking in the knife skills.

The hibachi veg is one of my favorites.  There is something about the sauce they put on them that I love.  I guess nowadays we call it 'umami'.  I call it awesome and mouth-watering.  The vegetables were cooked perfectly as well.  Firm, a little crunchy.  I always think overcooked vegetables are a crime so this is one of my favorite sides - no doubt the vegetables were fresh.

I am not a connoisseur of miso soup, but this one is pretty good in my opinion.  Sweet, cloudy and a little grainy like you'd expect.  They add some small cubes of firm tofu and greens.  I believe the 'greens' in their soup is seaweed and it has a great, firm texture and a slightly bitter taste like you would get out of other dark green vegetables.

There was live music when I was in.  On that particular night it was Ryan Conroy, playing acoustic guitar and singing.  It was great dinner music for sitting at the bar and hanging out.  Not too loud or heavy.

Definitely check it out.  If you're into the live music you can find their schedule online or on Facebook.