Mt. Fuji Amsterdam — Restaurant in Town of Amsterdam

I stopped in for an early Sunday dinner, (sushi, not teppanyaki) and I really wanted to like this restaurant. For a strip mall location, the decor - ambiance was pretty good, the server and chef seemed agreeable, and the fish in the sushi cooler appeared fresh as I sat down at the spacious four-seat sushi bar (photo), which could easily fit eight.

It started going downhill as I looked through the big colorful menu with lots of photos of other chef's creations - coupled with the waribashi and fork in the cloth napkin. This always makes me concerned of who the expected patrons are. As usual for a first-time visit, I ordered a couple of maki and some nigiri. But they were out of menu highlighted toro, and uni, and suzuki. Two chefs and the server insisted those items were not very popular, and so, were not available - also, they weren't sure when the next deliveries would happen, if ever. Then why are they on the menu?

As I was waiting for my main, I was served a forgettable soup and teabag tea (not brewed). I looked around and felt lucky that the restaurant was mostly empty, because the closest of a half-dozen teppanyaki / tables was only about 8 feet from the sushi bar. I'm guessing that this is not the quietest area when the restaurant fills up. At least the TV behind the bar was muted.

My main arrived as two plates. Strangely, the server ordered the chef to "just put a few of the nigiri on a plate," to quickly serve me, because she thought I was hungry. I guess this partly explains the simple presentation of at least part of the main, but I found it odd that the server can dismiss the chef's work so easily.

If I just wanted to immediately stuff food in my gullet, just because I was hungry, I would have gone into the Walmart/Subway sandwich shop next door.

Maybe I should have. When my main was finally presented (photo) on chipped plates, I was disappointed. The under seasoned rice was falling apart not just in the nigiri, but off of the maki as well. Sticky rice that doesn't stick together severely limits it's appeal.

I found the maki construction poor with the not spicy salmon puree as the worst offender. The fish itself was not bad for the nigiri, but the hotate appeared strange. The smell was acceptable, but the cracks may have indicated that it was not as fresh as I had hoped. The egg cake seemed a little too dried out, but edible.

Most of the fish I tasted was acceptable, but the failure of the rice, in every single bite, had an outsized effect.

This restaurant is at least 45 minutes from Albany, too far to travel back until they fix a few things.

2019...

Climbing to the top of the mountain.

Could have sworn I've reviewed this location prior, but apparently not. It has been quite some time since I have been here, with the last being when Mt. Fuji first opened and that was a dine-in experience at their hibachi tables.

Now I've partaken of the take out sushi, and while I don't quite recall how I felt previously, I think I'd say both times have been pretty great.

Ordered online using their dedicated site going with an order of the Calamari, a Spicy California Roll, and a Monster Roll. Coming to just over $34 after tax and tip.

I was actually surprised at how small the calamari proportion was, as I was expecting something more akin to a basket size, and all I got was more like a sampler size. I get it is an appetizer, so you don't want to fill up on it, but I was not expecting to be filled up by the sushi alone. Speaking of, the spicy california roll was very fresh and had a lot of avocado. It lacked really any flavor, even the spicy sauce didn't do much besides add heat, so I had to use the leftover chili dip from the calamari and some soy sauce to liven things up. The monster roll however was perfect! Nice and full of yummy ingredients, a fantastic flavor that blended together with the others, and it was hefty. This was the real winner of the group.

Considering their large sushi roll selection, I'll probably be back to try some...

Went to this establishment for my birthday recently and will not be going back. Why? We were charged a mandatory tip on our bill after already tipping the chef in cash but the other couple at our table were not charged a mandatory tip. The other couple even spoke up on our behalf but were silenced. When we asked why we were charged the tip we were told because it was a party of 5. We weren't with the other couple and didn't know them. Then, we were told it's because we came too close to closing time and it was an inconvenience to the staff. We got there before 8pm and the sign says they close at 930pm. We left before 9pm and there was a party of 10 still being served in the back corner when we left. When we got the receipt to sign, we were asked a third time to leave a tip... really? The food wasn't great, service was awful, and we were treated poorly. I had the worst case of food poisoning the next day and had to take a day off work. Oh and I have a food allergy that I told them about and had to take Benadryl in the car on the way home because I was breaking out in hives. We love supporting small businesses but won't be supporting this one again. Enter at...