Located on SE Belmont, Cody Auger’s sushi restaurant Hokusei featured one of the best omakase, or chef’s choice, menus in Portland, Oregon. It’s no wonder, then, that Auger decided to play to his strengths when opening his new restaurant, Fukami Sushiya.
Soon after revealing that Hokusei would close, Auger also announced plans to reopen the same space as an eight-seat chef’s counter, with two tables available for larger parties. Fukami Sushiya offers two omakase menus and one nigiri a la carte menu, allowing the chefs to offer a wide range of high-quality fish every night.
Even a seasoned sushi enthusiast might be forgiven for feeling slightly overwhelmed at the sheer number of choices available at Fukami. Upon seating ourselves at the counter, it took ten minutes to read through the extensive cocktail, sake, wine and Japanese whiskey offerings, only to settle on several bottles of Orion, a Japanese beer on the menu.
The four-course omakase was perhaps one of the most authentic Japanese experiences we’ve had, starting with steamed monkfish liver – the Japanese equivalent of foie gras – served as a cool, jelly-like appetizer. The salad consisted of deep-fried Oregon morels, served with carrots, onions, fiddlehead and miner’s lettuce, dressed with vinaigrette. Many of the ingredients were plucked from the chefs’ personal gardens, or foraged from around town.
Ten pieces of some of the more exotic fish we’ve ever come across followed, much of which recently arrived from Japan. Some of our favorites included the sea bream, cured for an hour with salt and kombu, or kelp; lightly-seared rosy perch; Japanese cherry trout, which tasted like a sweeter version of Northwestern salmon; and a Hokkaido scallop, the creaminess of which was accentuated by a dusting of sea salt mixed with dried scallops.
Each piece arrived one at a time, encouraging lively conversation along the way (the Orion helped). Although one piece of sushi at a time doesn’t appear to be much, we were startled to discover that by the end of the meal, we had just enough room left for dessert, a version of Japanese panna cotta—a light, creamy gelatin served with roasted soy flour and a black sugar syrup that allowed the memory of the meal we’d just enjoyed to linger.
The omakase isn’t cheap—the 10-piece version goes for $65, while the 15-piece version with appetizer, salad and dessert is $95. But for one of the most delicious and intriguing menus available in the Portland area, it’s well worth the price for an intimate night out.
