FOOD

Fuji is a buffet for the seafood-loving Asian buffet aficionado, and the center of gravity is unmistakably the sushi bar. Several sushi chefs work behind a long display, continually replenishing traditional rolls, specialty rolls and an extensive dinner sashimi selection. Salmon, tuna and white tuna can all appear among the sashimi, while the roll selection is broad enough that simply trying to survey the entire case can become its own first lap through the buffet.

Among the most memorable pieces are Fuji’s sushi tacos: crisp seaweed wrappers folded around generous fillings of salmon, tuna or spicy tuna. They sit comfortably beside more conventional rolls and sashimi, but they capture something essential about Fuji—the sushi section is not a token concession added to a Chinese buffet. It is one of the restaurant’s defining attractions.

Directly opposite the main sushi display is another section easy to underestimate: the prepared salads. King mushroom salad brings an earthy, savory bite, joined by seafood salad, squid salad and a rotating assortment of other Asian cold preparations. It makes an excellent bridge between sashimi and the hot buffet and adds another layer of seafood to a restaurant already saturated with it.

The hot line keeps that emphasis going. A whole sweet-and-sour fish arrives beneath a glossy tangy sauce, with tender pieces of fish pulled directly from the bone. Steamed flounder offers the opposite experience—generous, juicy fillets with the clean simplicity of steamed fish. Large salt-and-pepper shrimp, boiled shrimp cocktail, fresh oysters and additional rotating fish and shellfish dishes can turn a single seafood plate into several completely different trips.

Then comes the dim sum, another part of Fuji that pushes the buffet beyond the usual suburban Asian lineup. Dumplings and shrimp shumai share space with beautifully steamed BBQ pork buns, their soft white dough surrounding a savory-sweet pork filling. Sticky rice with meat and chicken feet extend the selection into more traditional territory and reward diners willing to keep exploring rather than defaulting to familiar favorites.

The soups deserve the same curiosity. The pickled fish soup is particularly distinctive, generously filled with fish, ginger and greens in a tart pickled broth. It is the kind of dish that could easily be overlooked beside the enormous sushi and seafood displays but helps explain the breadth of Fuji better than another tray of standard buffet food ever could.

Those standards are here too—and sometimes that is exactly what the plate needs. General Tso’s chicken, cheese wontons, lo mein, fried rice, black pepper beef, chicken with broccoli and chicken wings provide the dependable Asian-buffet comforts between excursions into sashimi, whole fish, dim sum and seafood.

Fuji also finishes more strongly than many Asian buffets. Cakes and cheesecakes share the dessert area with fresh fruit that can include lychee and sliced kiwi, while self-serve scoop ice cream allows the meal to end with as many combinations as the buffet itself. Green tea ice cream is the natural final note after a meal that has spent so much time moving between Japan, China and the wider world of the Asian-American buffet.