When I’m reviewing a restaurant, I love it when something surprising happens. And recently, Fukuro Bar & Sushi surprised me in the best way.
My friends had raved about the sushi. So my family and I — all sushi lovers — decided to make a night of it. When we arrived, the late afternoon sun was slanting through the restaurant’s big windows, so the hostess asked if we’d like to wait just a few minutes so she could get us a table not in direct sunlight. Of course! Plus, it gave us the chance to sink into the bar area’s caramel-colored leather chairs, check out the décor, and read the menu.
Fukuro is, in a word, stylish. Its dark textured walls, ceilings and tables help show off the cool art — much of it James Bond-themed. There are wavy glass lights and a stunning bar with backlit and artfully displayed glass bottles rising to the ceiling. I also love a good place setting, and the pottery-style plates and humble blue cotton napkins with elegantly long silverware were a nice contrast to the modern décor.
I’d say the menu is stylish, too. The 15 signature rolls are riffs on films, like the Wise of Oz, with fried asparagus, sweet potato and baby broccoli, topped with avocado, or the Star War, which is crispy rice, topped with salmon, tuna, yellowtail and avocado, with serrano pepper, rice pearl, and kabayaki sauce (also known as eel sauce). The 14 nigiri or sashimi options include salmon and tuna, but also bream, Wagyu beef, white trevally and greater amberjack — and platters too if you want to enjoy a variety of fish.
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On the menu’s flip side, there are 14 L’Entree, and once we were seated, the waiter was quick to explain that these are appetizers, while Le Plat are meals. The salmon tasting appetizer — with seven varieties of the fish — was on my short list, as was the yellowtail bliss, which dresses the fish with sweet mayo, Japanese dressing and truffle oil. Meanwhile, the actual entrees include everything from Asian-style tender short ribs and Wagyu beef to lamb to seafood.
The menu was rounded out with two dessert options and an impressive list of bourbons, scotch whiskeys, Japanese whiskeys, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, sake, beer, wines and cocktails, including the Fukuro 75, a blend of blue drumshambo (a type of gin), crème de violets, framboise, lemon and grapefruit seltzer.
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It didn’t take us long to order, and as our server poured out dishes of their housemade soy sauce, our meals began to arrive. I ended up being the only one at our table to order sushi, starting with the tender and lightly dressed salmon and scallop nigiri, which had a burst of heat from the dab of wasabi on the rice. Buttery salmon is always a favorite, but if you’ve never tried scallop, you should. Often it’s served diced and mixed with Japanese mayo, but here it’s in its purest form: light and fresh, with a clean seafood flavor.
The kamikaze roll is shrimp tempura with avocado, topped with bluefin tuna, a spicy aioli and a crunchy topping. A pretty slice of dehydrated orange was on top, giving it extra flair. I personally didn’t find the aioli that spicy, but loved the sweet kabayaki sauce that was on the plate, which really complemented the sweet shrimp and the creamy avocado.
For my last roll, I chose the Sunlit, which to me is the perfect roll for spring and summer. It’s filled with bluefin tuna, mango and avocado, and topped with salmon, more mango sauce, crunchies and masago (fish eggs), along with edible flowers, making for a dramatic presentation. It’s sweet and fruity, something I’ve never really had before in a sushi roll. Dipping it in the housemade soy (which is terrific by the way — tasting less bracing and salty but with a more lively flavor) gave it perfect balance. I liked how different and fresh it was.
But here’s the thing — as much as I liked the sushi, the entrees the rest of my family ordered wowed me too. My husband had the lobster mapo tofu, which featured the lumps of seafood and crispy fried tofu drenched in that rich and spicy sauce, presented inside a lobster tail. Our young daughter made the bold choice of the miso black sea bass, tender fish in a sweet and complex miso sauce, served with a really terrific meaty mushroom — and she loved it.
But my brother’s was my favorite. The sanbei braised chicken is lightly fried chunks of chicken, braised in a sauce seasoned with garlic, ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce. It was served in a clay pot, atop a flame. My brother wished the base had been rice instead of noodles, but the bite he shared with me tasted like food my aunt or my mom would have cooked for us growing up.
So I love that I came for the sushi. It truly is fantastic and inventive. But I’ll go back for the entrees. And that’s the great thing about trying new restaurants—you never know what might surprise you.
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Fukuro Bar & Sushi
5100 Washington Road, Evans
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Entrée cost: $24 to $42; sushi rolls start at $18 and nigiri at $8
