Japanese with a flair
By Bella English, Globe Staff, June 30, 2005

You know you're doing a good job when your old customers follow you to a new place. Fuji 1546 -- so named because it's at 1546 Hancock St. in Quincy Center -- moved its operation a mile or so down the street from its previous digs seven months ago and has been busy ever since. The old place, Fuji, is still there, and run by new owners. The new place is run by Fuji's previous owners, Jimmy Liang and Peter Tse, friends since their days at North Quincy High, who know both food and construction.

Their own design and construction company renovated the space, previously occupied by an insurance company, into a 4,000-square-foot, 112-seat restaurant with a long, sleek bar up front and a dining area with sushi bar in the back. The walls are blue and green and orange, with hanging lights and blond furniture, giving the place a contemporary feel. There's a huge TV screen, the better to watch the Red Sox. And for extreme Sox fans, there are mini TVs recessed inside the bathroom mirrors, so you can watch while you wash your hands.

But it's the food that counts here, and the partners have tweaked their old menu to include creative offerings without forgetting that they're in Quincy, not downtown Boston. ''People like basic Japanese food, and we're also trying to offer Japanese food with a flair," says Liang, who is active in Quincy's growing Asian community. Start with the kani shumai ($4), meaty crabmeat dumplings that arrive steaming hot, served with a side of mustard sauce. They're crisp and light. Ditto for the ebiten ($6.50), gently fried shrimp with a side of spicy soy sauce. The spicy tuna maki ($5) passed a true taste test; every piece was devoured by a teen at our table who was reluctantly trying her first sushi. (''It's our biggest seller ever," says Liang. ''More than Budweiser.") For a more sophisticated take on the dish, try the new spicy tuna roll ($10): the tuna surrounded with lettuce, asparagus, and thin noodles wrapped in rice paper. The tuna tataki ($9.50) is seared, thinly sliced bluefin accompanied by cucumber slices and seaweed. Wrap it all up together and dip it in the homemade ponzu sauce, a citrus soy sauce. The fish melts in your mouth. If you're tired of miso, the Japanese standby soup, try the chawanmushi ($5), an egg custard soup that is hard to get right; it often ends up lumpy. Here, though, it's smooth, and at the bottom of the bowl you'll find chunks of seafood and vegetables. The sushi and sashimi here reveal the freshest, top-quality fish. You can order appetizer sizes or entrees. For the latter, try the hamachi sashimi ($12), which includes several pieces of velvety yellowtail tuna, or the maguro sashimi ($12), which is unadorned, flavorful tuna. Liang and Tse, both sushi chefs with 25 years of experience between them, trained two others: Ming Cao and Tommy Li, who turn out works of edible art, beautifully presented and accompanied with various sauces to complement the fish's flavors.

We loved the hokkai yaki maki ($6.50), a spicy scallop mixture -- the significant heat comes from a seven-spice powder -- served gunkan style, or wrapped in nori seaweed. It's a pretty dish, adorned with squiggles of wasabi. Try the caterpillar maki ($8.50), rolled sushi with eel and cucumber and avocado on top, fashioned to look like the insect, including squid bits for the eyes. Perhaps our favorite of all was the spicy tempura maki katsu style ($10): sushi that contained lightly breaded shrimp, which added a nice crunch, along with spicy mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, cucumber, avocado, and flying fish roe. The mix of fish and veggies makes a nice summer dish.

For those who don't like sushi, there are plenty of other choices, including ebi tempura ($13.50): fried shrimp and vegetables in a light batter, which comes with rice, soup, and salad. There are plenty of teriyaki dishes, such as the sake teriyaki ($12), perfectly grilled salmon in a teriyaki glaze instead of sauce. And don't leave without sampling a buckwheat noodle dish: Hot or cold soba, or the thicker udon noodle, all $9. The tempura version is hot and comes with shrimp tempura. The tenzaru version is a cold noodle, saturated with soy sauce, and served with a side dish of shrimp tempura. Scallions and a few peppers are scattered throughout.

Lunchtime offers various sushi and tempura specials, along with bento boxes, which offer a little sample of various items.

Dessert here is limited to ice creams made by Christina's in Cambridge: Ginger, red bean, mango, green tea, sesame, and the like, all $2.50. Fried ice cream, one of my favorite oxymorons, is not on the menu, but they'll make it for you.

Liang is into fun as well as food and has come up with several specials. Every day from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., sushi is a dollar a piece. Karaoke is every Tuesday night, and there's a DJ every other Wednesday. The waitstaff, reflecting the clientele, is half Asian, half Caucasian, and is very helpful with an extensive menu, much of which is difficult to negotiate if you're not familiar with sushi and sashimi terms.

Or you can always holler for Liang -- he's the one in the baseball cap.

TASTE & TELL : Fuji 1546 raises the bar for Japanese cuisine
By Tom Jablonski The Patriot Ledger

First, I would like to thank The Patriot Ledger and all the readers for this opportunity to explore this new and exciting challenge as a restaurant critic. I do hope to rise to the occasion.

With this in mind, I wanted to make my first review a local establishment. I'd been planning to try Fuji 1546 since it opened in Quincy last October.

After running Fuji, a small, very successful restaurant in Wollaston with a cult-like following, its owners realized they would like a larger space, and they sold the original Fuji.

Their new effort, Fuji 1546, is not your average Japanese restaurant. Owners Peter Tse and Jimmy and Tony Liang offer a crisp, contemporary décor that is both cutting edge and comfortable. Peter and Jimmy also serve as chefs, while Tony is in the dining room.

The unique bar marries warm, honey-colored wood with steel edges, then flows back into softer chrome curves. Dashes of primary colors throughout add to an imaginative use of space that makes the large room cozy and intimate.

I visited on a weeknight, trying to beat the weekend crowds, and found the place almost filled to capacity with only a few bar stools vacant. The noise level was an octave or two higher than my liking, but everybody seemed to be enjoying their experience.

You will not find kimono-garbed waitresses here; instead you will get smartly dressed wait staff in black-on-black outfits adorned with the artistic Fuji logo.

I didn't get the warmed hand towel that other guests received along with their menus, but my waitress rebounded nicely the rest of the way.

The menu offers a large array of appetizers ranging from $4 to $10, all quite creative and not found in most Japanese restaurants. They include fried clams ($10) in a tempura batter with Fuji cocktail sauce, composed of ketchup, wasabi and soy; and tempura striped bass ($8.50), a lightly battered fish served with a citrus soy sauce. Five soups from $2 to $9 go from your basic miso to dobin mushi, a Japanese bouillabaisse served with lime on the side.

Seven salads from $4 to $12 all sounded appealing, including a Caesar salad topped with baked macadamia nut-crusted ahi (the Hawaiian name for yellowfin tuna). Each salad had a similar Asian twist.

A variety of sushi, sashimi and entrees would satisfy both the connoisseur and the more conservative diner. My maiden voyage as a food critic was a solo venture, but I brought my appetite with me and we both left content.

I opted for the appetizer dish gyunegimaki ($6.50), thinly sliced beef rolled with scallion and cheese, grilled and drizzled with teriyaki sauce. Adding cheese to this dish is one example of the way Fuji 1546 has tailored menu items to appeal to an American palate. My first bite prompted me to question the waitress about the type of cheese that was used. I had a feeling she was just guessing that it was American, and questioned her answer.

She went as far as betting me 50 cents that it was, so I took her up on the bet. Tom, up 50 cents. She found out it was cheddar and doubled-down that I couldn't pronounce the dish.

Let's just say that this was a winning start to my meal, although the beef was more swimming in sauce than drizzled.

The term ''sushi'' refers to the sticky rice used to create these savory snacks. I know there are many people who still haven't tried it, so please allow me to answer five common questions about sushi:

1. No, you don't have to use chopsticks.
2. Not all sushi contains raw fish. Just ask your waitperson for cooked fish or vegetable maki, if you prefer.
3. Wasabi is an intensely hot green paste made from a plant called the Japanese horseradish. Traditionally  you put a dollop of paste into a saucer of soy sauce to make a fiery dip.
4. Yes, you can eat any garnish on the plate, such as a cucumber rose.
5. There is no wrong way to dip your sushi.

I chose three orders of sushi, which came with two pieces per order:
uni (sea urchin, $4), tobiko (flying fish roe, $4) and unagi (eel, $4.50). I've been an avid sushi fan since 1977 and these were the best I've had. The rice was perfectly seasoned, the seaweed crisp and most importantly the freshness was evident. My biggest surprise was the generous portion.

A lime-soy marinated filet mignon ($22), garlic-marinated lamb chops ($20) and blackened tuna steak ($24), all received equal consideration as I chose my entree, but I selected the Roast Pork Loin ''Char Siu'' Style ($16), pork marinated in a Fuji barbecue sauce slowly roasted, glazed with honey. It had just a hint too much Chinese five spice, but overall was delicious. The white rice and steamed al dente vegetables, including thinly sliced carrot, red pepper, green beans and broccoli florets, finished off an attractive presentation.

My dinner was accompanied by a cup of miso soup and a small salad of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and broccoli sprinkled with a sweet-tasting sour plum dressing. The soup was exceptionally flavorful - surprisingly, not overly salty - and garnished with cubes of tofu. Other entree options included deep fried tempura and grilled beef, chicken and seafood, a few noodle dishes and a variety of sushi and sashimi combination plates.

The wine list offered reds and whites from Australia, France, Italy and California ranging from $16 to $52, sparkling wines from $18 to $65, and the house wine, Echelon, by the glass ($4.25), along with an assortment of sakes and beers, mostly Japanese.

I tried the chilled Karatomba premium sake ($13.95) and was quite pleased. Served in a small, blue, fancy carafe with an ice cavity to keep it chilled, it went particularly well with the sweetness of the pork.

I was full when dessert time came so I was not too disappointed when I found that three of the five choices (all ice cream, all $2.50) were not available that evening. The flavors included mango, red bean, green tea, coconut and ginger.

I chose the red bean ice cream, an uneventful ending to an excellent dining episode.

Later in the evening, Fuji 1546 becomes a nightclub, with a calendar of karaoke, DJs, live jazz and blues starting this fall.

Fuji 1546's food, décor and staff are extraordinary, and it has raised the bar of Asian dining on the South Shore.

FUJI 1546 - 1546 Hancock St Quincy, 617-770-1546 -  www.fuji1546.com
Handicapped accessible. Plenty of off-and on-street parking. Hours: 11a.m. - 1 a.m. daily. All major credit cards. Wireless internet connection available.

Copyright 2005 The Patriot Ledger - Transmitted Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Eating Suburbia
If you thought the only great restaurants were in the city ... think again. Plus, nightlife where you least expect it - close to home.
By Jane Black, Editor

Fuji 1546 For all its fresh seafood, the South Shore has lagged behind the rest of the world in one crucial area: sushi. Well, no longer. Fuji 1546 opened its doors last year, and area raw-fish lovers haven't looked back. The urbane, colorful room sends out maki and sashimi of a quality on par with Boston's better sushi bars - gems including uzaku (eel and cucumber with rice vinegar) and tender, spicy scallops. There are very good cooked Japanese dishes, too, from udon with shrimp tempura to lime-soy filet mignon. And with the friendly staff, free WiFi, and groovy tunes, the bar area is a great hangout, until you're feeling hungry again. 1546 Hancock St., Quincy, 617-770-1546.