FUJIYAMA TEXAS — Restaurant in Honolulu

I really wanted to like it......but honestly I think I just overdid it with the fried food. Dined on a Saturday night at 6pm. I had called in to make reservations as many have stated it can get pretty packed, especially on weekends. The servers and staff all greeted us as we entered and were super friendly. They did give us a heads up that it was 2 hours max for dining. We were seared at a table in the back, but I've heard it's pretty fun to sit at the bar seats to watch the chef cook. There is a drink menu on the table, paper ordering sheet to mark what you want, and condiments. There are also QR codes to scan for the entire menu so you can see what to mark down on the paper, but this annoyingly wouldn't scan or work on my phone (nor did it work for the party next to us). Luckily I perused the menu beforehand from their menu and knew what I wanted.

We ordered the fried potatoes with cream cheese dip and edamame to start. The potatoes resemble steak fries and were delicious with the cream cheese dip. So good that we ordered a 2nd round. The edamame was pretty standard, but desperately needed as it was the only non-fried item we'd be getting. As for the fried skewers, we got the beef, chicken tender, chicken wing, shrimp, soft shell crab, scallop, shumeji mushroom, and cheese. The soft shell crab, scallop and shrimp were probably my favorites. The beef skewers were disappointing the first round because they came out well done. Ordered a few more afterwards and they were perfect medium rare.

Most of this was dipped in the house kushi katsu sauce. There was also a small dollop of yellow mustard provided, the spicy kind. Honestly though, I dipped them into the cream cheese dip provided with the fries and that was delish. Total meal came out to around $90 for 2 after tax, which also included a glass of draft beer. Honestly for the cost and how heavy I felt after eating all that fried food, I'm reluctant to come back. However if I do, I'll definitely be cutting it with some other fresh items, maybe a salad or...

We came after a friend’s recommendation. Since it was last minute on our part, we did not make a reservation. We only waited a few minutes to get seated for three. We arrived just before 8 and it looked like all seats were taken and the bar was almost full. After being seated, the tables cleared out a bit more, and we looked over the menu. We added our orders to the sheet on the table, but it took at least 15 minutes for us to get the server’s attention to take our order sheet. When he did, it seemed he wanted to take it as quickly as possible as we couldn’t get our full drink order in. We ordered the Takoyaki, Yakisoba, 10 Piece Platter, Ahi with Avocado, and Donburi. The woman who served us our food was kind enough to share with us what was on the platter, and offered to top the Takoyaki with kewpie mayo. However, the other person serving our table did not ask if we needed anything in the time we were there. We waited at least 20 minutes to get our check (which we had to walk up to the register and ask for ourselves). It is also worth noting that this same server had been talking with his friends (who he was serving next to us) and making plans to meet, and showing them extra care throughout their meal. This server/lack of service is the main reason for my 3 star review.

Aside from the service, the food was great. The yakisoba, takoyaki, and the platter were really good. I really liked the Kushi-Katsu (the mochi and prime rib especially)! We also had Dry Asahi on draft to go with our meal and it was served in a cooled mug which is...

Who would have thought that Fujiyama Texas would be located in McCully? It was a great surprise for me and family to experience a kushi katsu izakaya. Oh we went for dinner but all the posters around the restaurant indicate Japanese breakfast and lunch served also. Lots of parking, we walked into red and white lanterns hanging and an irraahai welcome! That was just the beginning.

We decided on bottles of beer but they offer pitchers and a tower of beer. I guess I’ll have to go back to drinking drink that with thirsty friends.

Pupus included sashimi platter and a few platters of 10 sticks of the variety kushi katsu. The mix of seafood - scallop, fish cake, shrimp, beef & chicken sticks, lotus, sweet onion, daikon, cheese, and mochi! They offered tasty dipping sauces-ponzu, mustard, and tonkatsu! All were delicious.

Can’t forget the plate of sashimi. My favorite was the salmon served with strips &. daikon, and ahi and tako. The rice set comes with a large bowl of rice, miso soup and a little dish of picketed radish. We almost ordered the dango but I’ll save it for the next visit.

I kept looking for the hint of Texas. No one spoke with a twang in their voice, no indication anyone was from the lone star state. I asked the waiter and he said it was just a random choice.

Cool very cool. He told us Fujiyama is the owners hometown! Love it! I will keep this on my go to list for dessert!

How about...