Fuji Sushi

Sushi in the rough!. If you wanted good food at diner pricing, you'd look for a diner next to a gas station. If you want excellent sushi and surprisingly good wine at diner pricing, look for Fuji Sushi behind the gas station! It's not actually behind a gas station, but pumps front the mini-mall in which Fuji stands apart. Finding it is the difficult part. You must be going south on RT 1 (Newburyport Turnpike) and slowing down a mile before the I-95 interchange to spot the station and mini-mall. Road signage is thankfully prominent. What Fuji lacks in curb appeal is more than compensated for by the friendly and courteous wait staff and sushi chef, clean facility, and mouth-watering rolls and combos of every description. It's small so you won't be competing with a lot of other customers for build time, but there is a well-lit sushi bar for those who appreciate the creative aspect of preparation and like to chat with the chef. If he looks tired (he didn't) it's because he begins each day at 6:30am buying his carving stock at local fish markets. There's a loyal local clientele who have come to see beyond the exterior setting - which is woefully below the chef's deserved place in the pantheon of sushi all-stars - and are vocal in their appreciation.

Three of us (big eaters) shared a combo plate and 3 rolls with a total of about 42 pieces along with 3 glasses of quite good quality wine and 1 green-tea ice cream for about $85. We were stuffed, gratified, and already planning our return. Value is right up there!

While their website is long on showing their appetizers, it's totally devoid of showing/listing their creative rolls which deserve billing of their own.…