I love Sushi! G hates Sushi (. Our first date ever was at a Japanese restaurant in New York City. I wanted to share the delicious bundles of seaweed, rice and raw protein goodness that I had grown to love, find comforting even. I wanted her to like it at least half as much as I did, but no dice. Sure, there are plenty non-sushi offerings at Japanese restaurants, but I think somewhere in G’s mind is embedded the thought Japanese = Sushi. Consequently,  ever since that fateful night it is a rare site to see the two of us dining at a Japanese restaurant…unless I successfully bat my lashes and get my way.

A Groupon deal came up for Fuji Restaurant several weeks ago after we had planned a short 2-day getaway to Shakespeare country, Stratford-upon-Avon. I smiled with glee, batted my lashes and voila! Last week, we redeemed the Fuji Groupon. We got £63 worth of outstanding food for a ridiculous one third of the price.  Drool over our delectable delights after the break.

To G’s relief, there were plenty of non-sushi items on the menu, and for me, well, there was just plenty! Naturally, I busted a gut and could not afford space for dinner later that night–before or after 3 hours of King Lear. Here’s our culinary overload:

This soup’s broth was creamy, without being heavy for a starter. But of course the best part was all the Dashi, shitake, oyster, shimeji & enoki mushrooms. Oh, and spring onion. I could be a vegetarian if everything I ate had mushrooms in it.

This is what I came for and it did not disappoint.  A maki roll featuring eel is a must-have whenever I feast on sushi. This roll featured cooked eel, cucumber, omlette, wasabi fish roe & eel sauce. I could have eaten a second (I’m greedy like that).

For the main dish, G had 200gm of  lamb cutlet smoked with green tea, cumin, rice & sea salt. It was served with s teriyaki sauce and pretty much nothing else. We were not aware that vegetables weren’t included. In the name of Atkins, we had a protein fest.

This goes in the best-thing-I-ever-ate category. Seriously good. Pork belly marinated for one night in ginger, leek, chilli, garlic, tamari soy, mirin, sake & sugar. Slow cooked for 8 hours. Pan fried & served with ginger salsa, garlic chips & spicy miso sauce. Does that not sound like heaven? I don’t know what it is about Japanese restaurants, but they consistently give me foodgasms with their pork belly dishes!

The piéce de resistance: “the exotic pot”.  This dessert of mango ice cream & raspberry coulis is decorated with passion fruit sauce& dessicated coconut. It was a perfectly sweet way of ending a protein-heavy meal.

If you live in Stratford or are planning a visit to the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre, don’t sleep on this Restaurant. It is nestled near Stratford’s high street and a short walk away from both the Avon and the RSC.