For those of you who live in or frequent Bristol, you will know there are several restaurants serving sushi in Bristol. We’re talking about restaurants like Yakinori on Park Street and Bento Boss along with Nomu on Whiteladies road. We’ve not been to Noa, Obento, or Kibou yet but we know they are serious about sushi too. On a recent trip back to Bristol to see friends, we tried out Fujiyama in Clifton village. This is a restaurant that has built up a reputation for traditional Japanese food over the years. Not only can you eat sushi but you can also get popular dishes like Karaage or Donburi rich bowls.
Fujiyama interior and atmosphere
I’d forgotten how hilly Bristol can be and walked up from the Harbourside. It certainly gave me a good appetite by the time I arrived at Fujiyama! The restaurant is on Regents Street just before the turning for Royal York Crescent and opposite from Bar 44 Bristol. Our table was on the basement level which I did not realise was so spacious. I actually prefer the basement as it’s cosy and feels more relaxed than the ground floor.
What did we order first?
We started off by ordering a seaweed salad, a plate ofTakoyaki, and some sushi a la carte. As it was my friend’s first time to eat sushi, we thought it might be best to try a few nigiri and see what she liked. The first thing to arrive was the seaweed salad with its sweet and savoury dressing. It tasted great and the sesame seeds and yellow Takuan (picked daikon radish) gave the dish extra texture and flavour.
The nigiri sushi plate arrived next. We’d ordered tuna, salmon, and sweet shrimp nigiri plus some California uramaki rolls. The tuna nigiri was good quality and we both really liked the sweet shrimp. However these salmon nigiri didn’t quite hit my expectations and I found it just above average. The california rolls of course were delightful and the presentation of all the sushi was great. As the sweet shrimp was a hit with both of us, we got a lovely plate of amaebi (sweet shrimp) sashimi to mix things up.
Next to arrive were the Takoyaki which can be described as octopus dumplings or balls. As I explained to my friend who was trying it for the first time, the octopus pieces are small and you’ll mostly taste the savoury batter. Fujiyama’s Takoyaki were good – the octopus was soft and the batter was not too sweet. However they could have done with a tiny bit more Takoyaki sauce on top.
Salmon Sake Don
This donburi ricebowl came with salmon sashimi, a generous amount of flying fish roe, sliced avocados, and salad items. It had a slightly rough presentation, but the main thing was the salmon sashimi was of high quality and all the other ingredients were fresh too. There was also a little kick from the Shichimi spices which added an extra dimension and went very well with the dish.
Fujiyama Rating for Sushi in Bristol
We would give 4.3 stars out of 5 stars for the sushi and our experience at Fujiyama. Like the menu, the majority of the dishes we had were authentically prepared and all the food was accessible even for sushi first-timers! The staff were also extremely friendly and attentive, and in line with Japanese Omotenashi service. Possibly this was even a case of Bristolian Omotenashi? Honestly we felt well looked after throughout the evening.
When it comes to the sushi itself, Fujiyama has a good range of nigiri, uramaki, and temaki rolls. Compared to some of the other sushi restaurants in Bristol, there is plenty of variety when it comes to their sushi. Not only can you get salmon or tuna, but there are scallop, surf clam, sea bass, eel, mackerel and shrimp. For this reason, we would recommend Fujiyama if you are in the mood for sushi and want to try a new restaurant.
Have you been to Fujiyama? Please feel free to comment below and let us know how your experience was. Also if like authentic Japanese food and you don’t know Kansai Kitchen near Gloucester Road, please have a read through our review.
