Fugu Sushi — Restaurant in Ormond Beach

Me and my wife went on Saturday July 4th. Let’s start with service. Service here was like dinning at a 5 star restaurant in New York or Chicago. Something that, as a local, you don’t get here in Ormond or any of the surrounding areas. Everyone, from the greeters at the front, the bar tenders, to the waiters, and the sushi chefs were top notch. We sat at the bar a while and waited on our seats at the sushi bar. Lisa was the bar tender and she was so polite and knowledgeable. Most of the time the staff at a sushi bar have no clue about sake and the differences. Not Lisa, she knew and was able to tell us about the different kinds they had and how they tasted. You could tell she was a pro. We got our seats at the sushi bar and Corey was our waiter. He greeted us promptly and was quick to get us our drinks. Corey was a real pro. When we go to eat sushi we like to take our time as sushi should be an experience, not just a meal. We just happened to be toward the end of the sushi bar and could see all the great food coming from the sushi chefs as well as the kitchen. As with most great restaurants Fugu had a person that checked that each order was correct before the waiters even touched it. Not only was he checking the accuracy of the order but making sure it was presented properly on the plate. I was able to get some pictures of some of the items and have included them in this review. Now let’s get to the food. Everything is fresh here. No imitation crab here. We started with some edamame. To be honest it was just ok. Not enough salt for my liking but others may find it perfect. The sushi chef suggested Shishito Peppers appetizer and boy he was right. These was awesome. Not to spicy and very flavorful. Next we had the Sunomono Salad. This was delicious. The salted cucumbers and king crab were perfect. Next we had our sushi. I had the Maguru, Toro, Hamachi, Suzuki, and my favorite Uni. I had these as sushi not sashimi. Each piece was like fireworks going off in my mouth. Everything was fresh and at the perfect temperature. Yes I said temperature. Some sushi places have the fish either way to cold or to warm. The temperature of the sushi affects the taste in my opinion. This was perfect. Like I said before Uni is my favorite sushi and Fugu did not disappoint with theirs. It had that sweet taste up front with that salty taste at the end. It was to die for. But I have to say the Toro was a close second. This was like butter and It just melted in your mouth. My wife likes the rolls and she had the Tomoka roll, the Snow Crab California roll and the Shrimp Tempura Roll. Our favorite was the Tomoka roll. But because they do not use imitation crab the Snow Crab California roll was great also. We saw the Happy Ending Roll coming out of the kitchen a lot and we want to try it next time. We finished with Mochi ice cream for dessert. This is made fresh in house and wow was it good. I included a picture of Oki Seafood Tower that someone ordered. It looked amazing and would be perfect for a group. Also included is a photo of the Fugu Cioppino soup which looked delicious. Our bill was pricey but it was worth every penny. It’s so good to have some fine dinning sushi here in Ormond. The Executive Chef here is Frankie Hernandez and he should be very proud of what he has created. Every part of this dinning experience...

This review is long and meandering much like our experience at Fugu. I'll start to say it was a Sunday evening and the place was half full. A waitress seated us, gave us menus and fixed a very wobbly table. After we ordered from her, a very long wait for two appetizers, brought out by a different person. Another long wait before our entrees arrived. Brought out by another different person. Staff seemed to be all over the place, inside, outside, going from random table to table, aren't they assigned sections??? I don't know. We were helped by at least 5 different waitstaff. I'll pause here to say that we've been several times and the food is always delicious BUT the portions are VERY small. We both weigh under #140 and despite each having an appetizer , main course and dessert, we kidded about going to Sonic's on the way home to grab a bite to eat. One waiter in particular seemed to be helping us towards the end and he was excellent. Staff doesn't give their names so I can't give credit where credit is due in this case. It was a bit confusing as far as the staff, kitchen was a bit slow, but as I said we like the place and will go again. Time spent there 90 minutes. I notice at many restaurants here that if you don't order alcohol service is spotty (or at the Garage, non-existent). We are not alcohol drinkers so sometimes we feel slighted when it comes to service. Everyone wore their masks properly with the exception of the owner who wandered around the dining room the entire time with...

We stubbled across Fugu this past weekend. We arrived and were pleasantly surprised by the edgy art design. We asked for sushi bar seating. The staff was wonderfully attentive. We requested a Omakase (Chefs choice) menu for us and they more than delivered! We love good sushi and have had the opportunity to eat it at some of the finest locations in the USA from Sushi Yasuda in NYC to Sushi Hashiri in SF. The Executive Chef Frankie took the lead in our menu. The fish quality was fantastic. From the Toro to the Uni! Top shelf ingredients are hard to come by at most sushi restaurants but even more rare was the personal vision Chef Frankie had with some of our dishes. From the roasted jalapeno relish soaked in ponzu for days that was served on the Sashimi to the Toro with peaches and goat cheese for his version of "Peaches & Cream", his tasting menu was first class. We also had some A5 with a wonderful truffle tasting dipping sauce... We were not expecting this fine dining level sushi here in Ormond. Its worthy of being a destination sushi restaurant for people living in North Florida and even the Orlando area. We were watching the rest of the menu being delivered while we sat at the bar and saw a bunch of really wonderful plates. We cant wait to come back for our next...