Fudo — Restaurant in Chamblee

I was REALLY expecting to like this place, but too many corners were cut. Menu descriptions are far more imaginative than the actual sushi received.

Most things contain way too much fat and rice/"crunch" for their own good. And it's not to hide poor quality fish because the fish is actually great.

To run down some opinions of the food we ordered...

-House Salad: Dressing great but extremely over-dressed, literally just lettuce and a few slices of radishes

-Miso Soup: Fine, but tastes just like shiro miso and liquid smoke were added to some water, kinda what I come to expect

-Assorted Tempura: Everything tasted like they used the basic tempura box mix - no flavor at all and EXTREMELY greasy. I'll at least recommend serving it with spicy mayo for those who can get passed the dripping of oil.

-Dynamite Shrimp: I mean, you can't go wrong with this, but it's also an issue when it ends up being the best thing you eat

-Pickled Veggies: Actually quite nice and helped break up the the fat and heavy carb in the meal.

-Epi 2 roll: I was excited to try the combo of tempura eel and mozzarella in a hand roll, and while it was nice, it wasn't memorable or exciting either, just fatty.

-Spicy Mega Tuna: Not gonna lie, I think I swallowed a small bone in my first piece, but it was buried in so many crunch flakes that I'm not 100% sure. Didn't have issues after, but I was disappointed that I couldn't pick out any of the flavors mentioned on the menu.

-Legally Blonde Fried Roll: I usually don't like fried rolls or cream cheese, but I assumed the lime-wasabi yuzu would provide levity and is what drew me to order it. It tasted like any other fried sushi I've had. Even the cream cheese that I usually find too pungent made no flavor appearance here.

-Mission Impossible Roll: I expected this one to be the most diverse in terms of flavor, given that there were fried capers and tempur kani sticks, kani stix also being something I don't like but figured I'd try for the tenpura novelty. But it tasted like the other rolls- heavy on the rice and fried. Even the sauce that came with it tasted like some sort of key lime pie dessert sauce, really strange but undetectable in the mix of rice and tenpura.

Let me temper with some positivity by saying the drinks were GREAT! Service was also pretty good aside from a long lag towards the end.

Two other comments are for parking- chaotic but nothing unusual for ITP, & the patio- not sure why it was closed but it wouldve been nice to eat a bit away from the chaos of the inside of the restaurant.

I would not return here as we spent about $200 for 2 people and were not satisfied by much flavor-wise. If I could do it over, I would have spent the money at 8 Sushi Lounge (my go-to); the prices are similar but the quality of fish is higher and the quality of flavor execution is off the charts!

Unfortunately, I won't be returning. Why cover up good fish with starchy rice and tempura? Truly an uncommon problem with sushi...

Bottom Line: I would come back. Great food, great service, creative menu.

Atmosphere: Low-light ambience with decent natural light. Dark theme. Quiet. Very spacious.

Food: We started with the $12 Dynamite Shrimp, $12 Pan Seared Dumplings, and $3 Miso Soup.

The Dynamite Shrimp reminded me of the Bang Bang Shrimp from The One Sushi+. I liked this one better because it had more of a spicy kick.

I expected the pan dumplings to be fried. They were cooked well, but without the thin crunchy film served on top of it, it lacked a crisp that would have been much more satisfying.

The Miso Soup could have had a stronger natural flavor, but there was this other unusual flavor that made it very good. It was very smokey. I’ve never had miso soup in Atlanta that incorporated smoke. Very good touch.

We got four rolls and one temaki(hand roll) for our entrees:

The $16 Pokémon Roll (Spicy Tuna and Avocado Topped with Crab Salad, Salmon, Spicy Aoli, Kabayaki Sauce, and Crunch) had good color and flavor. Not much to say about it.

The $14 Bumble Bee Roll (Shrimp Tempura and Cream Cheese topped with Avocado, Crab Salad, and White Yuzu Sauce) was nice and simple. The shrimp was cooked perfectly and crispy. The crab salad was much softer and more tender than The One Sushi+.

The $14 007 Fried Roll (Spicy Tuna, Avocado, Kani Stix, and Shrimp Tempura Topped With Crab Salad and Kabayaki Sauce) was BIG. This is one of those mouth stuffers or eat it in two bites type of rolls.

$14 X-Men Roll(labeled X-Men: Dark Phoenix on the online menu) (Salmon, Yellowtail, Spicy Tuna, Crunch, and Spicy Aoli topped with Black Tobiko) was less than I expected. I love raw fish and I love Tobiko, but I can tell I wouldn’t have been satisfied with only this.

The $10 Prison Break Ep 8 Hand Roll (Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail, Scallion, Jalapeño, Mango, White Truffle Aoli, Masago, and Crunch) was my favorite. The flavor of truffle was a bit strong, but I have yet to dine at a restaurant where they have mastered the balance of truffle incorporation. So much going on in this hand roll and so much that just works together.

Service: We came during lunch when it wasn’t busy and we were seated immediately. The waitress was very polite and our food came out very quickly after placing each order. She came by frequently to check on us and make sure our water was topped off.

Overall: I had a good experience. I think that my lack of satisfaction with my roll stems not from it being bad, but from my preference of having fish on top of the roll as well as inside. I would definitely come back. There are a few nitpicky things here and there, but I’d choose this one over The One Sushi+ if you’re in The Brookhaven area. Also a bit cheaper...

This area has really changed since I moved to Atlanta eight years ago. Fudo is a casual restaurant located in a work live play community in Chamblee serving up Japanese cuisine. There are free parking spots but on a busy night the first level will fill up pretty quickly so you may need to park in the garage on the second level. This spot is very cozy; however, they do have outside seating available when the weather is warmer so you may want to make reservations to avoid a wait. There is something on the menu for almost everyone, they have vegetarian rolls, and stir fry dishes for people not interested in sushi.

I attended on a Friday night around 6pm and the place was packed! We had a party of 7 and our server was Grace, she was attentive and made sure our water glasses stayed filled and we each received our correct dish. Everything on the menu sounded absolutely delicious, it can be a little overwhelming trying to decide on rolls, so I recommend taking a look before arriving. I haven’t had sushi in months and was really looking forward to this meal so I may have gone a little overboard.

To start with, I had the stuffed jalapenos $7 and shumai $6, and an Acapulco cocktail $12. OMG both appetizers were so delicious, the stuffed jalapenos were my favorite! Two large jalapenos cut in half, so you have a total of four halves stuffed with crab salad and mozzarella cheese, the jalapenos had a crispy crust.  The shumai were steamed and contained shrimp served with a mustard sauce. If tequila is your liquor of choice, the Acapulco cocktail is a MUST.

I ordered two rolls for my entrée: Hunger Games Roll (spicy tuna, fried asparagus, topped with tuna, spicy aioli, torched jalapeno yuzu, and serrano peppers, and siracha) $15; this roll had a smoky taste, and all of the flavors went perfectly together. Bang Bang Shrimp Roll (shrimp tempura, cucumber, topped with ebi, avocado, and kabayaki sauce) $12. Everything was perfect! I can definitely understand why many people rate this restaurant 5 stars, everything I tried was excellent! I will definitely be back to try more rolls and probably get the Hunger Games Roll again and save room for the toffee dessert that is out...