Cycle 14 – Item 123
8 (Mon) May 2023
Negitoro Temaki
3.0
at Fuji
-Daechi, Gangnam, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with Mom & Dad, W
Fuji is a Japanese restaurant. Specializes in table d’hôte meals, ranging in prices from 150,000 won for the basic sushi course to 350,000 won for the omakase sashimi course.
Today is Parents’ Day in Korea.
As with any special dining occasion involving my mother (see most recently 14.047 Dimsum Hahaha), the challenge is finding a venue that (a) charges exorbitantly high prices, giving her the opportunity to proclaim that it’s too expensive for her humble pecuniary standards, even though deep down she feels that she deserves to be so spoiled; and (b) serves a cuisine that she’s familiar with, giving her the opportunity to provide her expert opinions on the food, which invariably never lives up to her high culinary standards.
The food was pretty good. In contrast to the cliché dishes served at Koreanized Japanese restaurants (see for example 14.112 Guk Set), each course here was thoughtfully conceived and expertly executed, with premium ingredients, some beyond the ordinary – e.g., basashi (horse sashimi) (see generally 7.265 Negibasashi Maki), which of course nobody ate but me. I found myself looking forward to what the next course would bring. For the final course, I requested negitoro maki in lieu of noodles; the kitchen complied, though in the form of hand rolls, not cut rolls, but still a fine way to end the meal.
(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)