Taste of Lincoln

Had the opportunity to venture out to Fuji Sushi at 15th and Pine Lake Road on Thursday night. First, I am a sushi-snob–and let me explain that. I won’t eat sushi just anywhere. I have concerns about quality if buying sushi at Target. That is most likely absolutely unjustified as I’m told Target has good sushi. But with that in mind, I have never ordered sushi at any Lincoln establishment, opting instead to make the drive to Blue in Omaha. So when I had the chance to visit Fuji after hearing very positive reviews, I was hopeful that Lincoln had a place I could go. And I was not disappointed.

Three of us shared orders of the vegetable roll, spicy salmon roll, Alaskan Roll, Unagi Maki and Hawaiian Maki. We also had edamame to start. Forgive the blurry photo, but I wanted to be able to show how we were presented with the rolls. All were so good. The spicy salmon was indeed spicy with chili sauce and an unidentified sauce. We had to scrape off the sauce to not be engulfed in flames of chili heat. The Hawaiian Maki was my husband’s favorite piece of sushi ever with cream cheese, shrimp tempura, mango, asparagus and peanut. It was a pleasing combo of sweet and salt. The Unagi Maki was my favorite with bbq eel (don’t sqeal–it’s good. tastes like chicken.) Drink menu was a bit limited. Be prepared to wait once you order. That’s not a slam in anyway, but it takes time to put together sushi and it won’t immediately arrive at your table. It’s a small intimate space with maybe 10-15 tables so if you go on a weekend, I would be prepared to wait for a table.

Have I been under a rock, or did everyone know that Shadowbrook Salad Company has closed? At least I think they are closed as their web site is down and their phone not in service.

I try to keep my criticism to something constructive.  It’s going to be tough…

Right from the start, we didn’t have a positive experience.  The interior was very institutional and drab.  I realize it must cost a fortune to open a restaurant, but go to Hobby Lobby and get some fake art for now.  This reminded me of a waiting room from the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

No one seemed willing to help us.  We stood in the middle of the room waiting for someone to help.  I finally went to the counter and asked if we seat ourselves.  She gave me a confused, “sure”.  Rather than bother her any more, I grabbed menus on my own.

My kids shared a grilled cheese.  It was the best meal at the table, served with potato chip crumbs from the bottom of the bag.  They wanted chicken strips, but our server said they don’t have those anymore because they took too long in the toaster oven to cook.  Wow…

My wife had a bean burrito after getting a recommendation from what seemed like the owner.  It was boring and drab.  To the point it made Rosarita in the can seem more authentic.

My drive to go here was to try the breakfast burrito.  I’d read about in the Journal Star and I’m a sucker for a good one.  Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.  Maybe it was my views of how one should be constructed, but hopefully others will like it.  The draw was the special sauce.  To me, there was nothing Mexican about it.  It reminded me of watered down Big Mac sauce actually.

If I make it back, I’ll stick to the pancakes and coffee.  Hopefully those are good.  The funny thing was, we went across the street after our meal because we were still hungry.  Watch for that ironic review next

Breakfast Burrito

View From Front

This bit of news was found on the Biz Buzz Blog about Qdoba opening downtown: http://journalstar.com/business/biz-buzz/article_3e493d5e-1b0e-11df-9a3e-001cc4c03286.html