Fuji Sushi

Fuji Sushi: Five thumbs up.

Menu Highlights: Rainbow Roll, KC Roll, Sweet Potato Roll

Price Range: 5-15 dollars per roll, depending on complexity/ingredients.

Review: The best sushi in Gainesville isn't even in Gainesville. It's in Jonesville. If you had to call the space between Gainesville and Newberry something, you'd call it Jonesville. A perfectly boring name for a perfectly uninspiring piece of land. Regardless, it's the home of Fuji Sushi, my favorite sushi place of all time. This restaurant turned me on to sushi. It made me realize what GOOD sushi was. The rolls are ample, the fish fresh and beautiful, and the prices completely reasonable.

I think that great sushi is analogous to a swimming pool at the perfect temperature; you don't really notice getting into the water, it's simply refreshing. When the pool is too cold, it's hard to get in and when it's too warm, it's uncomfortable. Similarly, bad sushi is just wrong. You notice it. The fish tastes old, the seaweed is chewy, the rice is too dry. Am I making sense?

Anyway, there are plenty of fancy sushi places in town (Dragonfly, I'm looking in your direction) that appear upscale and hip, but fall short when delivering quality rolls. Fuji is the opposite. Housed in an unassuming storefront in a Publix shopping plaza, it's the last place you'd expect to find quality.

The KC roll is a wonderfully refreshing choice of salmon, fish roe, and cream cheese wrapped in thinly sliced cucumber and served swimming in ponzu sauce (citrus+soy). The sweet potato roll has crispy tempura fried sweet potatoes wrapped up in rice and seaweed. Again, unlike other sushi restaurants (Ichiban, I'm looking at you now), the sweet potato roll is never soggy and chewy. It's always just right.

In fact, that's how everything is at Fuji, just right. I always assume they choose not to use a piece of fish or avocado if it looks old or unsightly. This is because they never end up on your plate. Other cheaper places surely don't follow this practice, as it costs money. But all in all, it's decisions like these that keep me coming back to Fuji.

Bottom line: Freshest, tastiest sushi in town and worth the drive!