Maybe it’s inevitable for any restaurant over the course of its lifetime – that it’s hard to keep up a really great thing night after night and year after year. My memory seems to remember that this regal place in Brookline served up some pretty amazing sushi when I was living in Coolidge Corner 5 years ago. Remembering this fact, Aimee and I recently returned with my parents and Taylor with some pretty high expectations. Perhaps it was my experiences with some other sushi restaurants since the last time I dined at Fugakyu, but we came away a little let down.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to make it sound all bad, I guess the maki was just a little bit underwhelming.  This could have everything to do with the fact that I’ve become somewhat of a sushi snob, and really appreciate great sushi when I can get it.  For what I had become accustomed to at Fugakyu, perhaps my favorite Boston sushi restaurant in the past, it was just a little disappointing.

Let’s start with the scenario: the sit down service was great.  We made a reservation and they had our table ready and waiting – a very cool private booth that had a closing door and sat 6 of us.  We decided not to really beat around the bush too much when ordering, and after a couple apps, decided to do the big ‘Fugakyu Boat’ packed full of sushi and sashimi.  We also ordered a few add-on rolls to sample in addition.  Basically, we ordered a ton of fish.

Drinks: There’s just something about sushi with an ice cold Sapporo, isn’t there?  Don’t get me wrong, I love saki too, especially the hot stuff, but I think sometimes you just have to have a beer.  We all ordered one of the two, not screwing around at all.  Both were excellent as expected.

Appetizers: I apologize for not taking better pictures of the apps we ordered, but they were a little underwhelming to say the least.  I’m used to proper awesome homemade dumplings, like the kind you get from Mary Chungs or Wang’s in Somerville.  These were not only small, but the dough was sort of thin and they seemed overcooked.  We also ordered some crab tempura, which was ok, but nothing impressive.  In any case, I won’t get into the apps too much, I’ll move onto the main event, the sushi.

Entree: Onto the sushi, and the boat that was brought to us barely fit on the table.  It was an awesome presentation, full of rolls, nigiri-sushi and sashimi.  I’ll start with the latter:  There were three huge pieces of salmon (sake) sashimi, and three more huge pieces of yellow tail (himachi) sashimi.  The sashimi was the best part of the whole boat for sure.  The salmon was easily cut in half with one chopstick and was so buttery it felt sinful.  Hard to believe that is so good for you!  The hamachi had a wonderful texture and was absolutely delicious – completely void of any fishyness except for that sweet flavor you hope for in yellow tail.

There was some interesting nigiri on the boat as well.  Aimee quickly called dibs on the octopus, but I managed to snag the other piece.  It was rubbery, as you would expect from octopus, but pretty tasty.  Again, there was salmon and yellow tail nigiri, tuna, and then there were a few less common varieties like mackerel and squid.  The mackerel had a pretty fishy flavor and I couldn’t help thinking about using it for bait to fish for stripers this summer.  The squid was a little chewy, but actually surprisingly delicious.

The maki was the most disappointing part of the boat for me.  The best rolls of the several selections was the spicy salmon and the eel and avocado topped maki with sweet potato on the inside, which was absolutely delicious.  If Aimee and I get take out sushi, we will actually often order two spicy salmon makis because we love them that much (we’re thinking about serving them as apps at our wedding).  Fugakyu’s spicy salmon has crunchy tempura mixed in it and is covered with scallions, giving it great texture as well as flavor.  This version was a little greasy actually, a product of too many tempura flakes and too little fish.

The other rolls we were offered included the crazy maki, which is has shrimp tempura on the inside, wrapped with cucumber and avocado – delicious, but rather uninspired.  The rainbow maki looked beautiful, but was somehow less impressive than either Aimee and I remembered from past experiences at the restaurant.

Overall, I still think Fugakyu has a lot to offer the sushi restaurant industry in Boston and I am certain that I will go back to eat here again, but perhaps the sheer size of the restaurant has made them a little less careful about their execution.  I don’t know, but I almost feel like the chefs at Fugakyu need to put their heads together and innovate some truly inspired dishes that will keep their menu fresh.  There’s no doubt in my mind that there are some excellent chefs that work at Fugakyu – I’m hoping that they get the opportunity to really show their flair. Maybe I’ve just become a sushi snob.

There are two huge floors with many separate rooms at the restaurant, all of which are usually full from Thursday to Saturday night.  Perhaps when turning out that much sushi, the chefs sometimes forget the most important ingredient – a little love.