Davis: Fuji Sushi Boat Buffet

Located in Davis, Fuji Sushi Buffet is an hour some drive from Berkeley.  So back in undergrad, it was a special occasion kind of thing.  Or a huge craving kind of thing.  

Two weeks ago, my family suddenly had the crazy notion of driving up to Fuji for lunch on a Friday (from San Jose, the drive takes over two hours):

We picked up our piano teacher's daughter (who's a student at UC Davis) along the way and brought her with us.

I remember the first time I went to Fuji back in undergrad we had to leave Berkeley really early in the morning and arrived at Fuji around 9:30 am.  Even at that hour there were already people in line, waiting for Fuji to open at 11:00.  If you missed the first round, the wait could go up to two hours.  We really were pretty crazy then.

Thanks to another Japanese buffet opening up in the area, there isn't much of a line at Fuji nowadays.  Though things aren't as crazy as they used to be, there's still a bit of traffic:

Another change from my undergrad days is the price.  Prices have gone up two bucks to $13.99 for lunch and $18.99 dinner.

At the back of the restaurant, there's a sushi boat counter.  People seated at the table can walk up to the counter and order directly from the sushi chefs or pick from the sushi boats at the ends.

Giant rolls can be found at the top of the counter.  We brought a few plates back to our table, among other goodies:

We snagged nigiri and other rolls off the sushi boats:

There's a sign at the side of the sushi counter where you can order fried stuff.  Here we got agedashi (tofu) and soft shell crab:

There's also salmon collarbone on the sushi boats:

You can order sashimi straight from the sushi chefs.  We get 6 people worth at one time (we're baller like that):



Oh, and you can also order a variety of hand rolls (salmon skin here):

For $13.99, that's a lot of food.  Okay, so the sushi may not be the best quality (the rice wasn't as good as I remembered), but it's still a good deal.  Especially with all you can eat soft shell crab and sashimi.  So bring buffet-worthy friends with you when you go to Fuji.  Definitely not wimps who get orange slices after only one round (yea, I'm talking about you, Awkward B).  Gotta get your money's worth, you know.

Every time I leave Fuji, I feel like my stomach is coated in salmon - that's how much I eat.  It's not a pleasant sensation and one would think I would learn my lesson after experiencing it once.  Nope.  Every time.  I'm not sure if the accompanying sense of triumph is worth the discomfort, but I do know I always leave with a desire to avoid sushi for a long, long time.


Fuji Sushi Boat Buffet
213 G St
Davis, CA 95616
(530) 753-3888
http://www.fujisushiboat.com/