Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

SHREWSBURY: LUNCH IN A BENTO BOX

072815fuji4-500x375-6111304The Bento Box lunch special at Fuji in Shrewsbury. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

By SUSAN ERICSON

072815fuji2-220x141-2437220Our hearts skipped a beat five years ago when Trader Joe’s announced it would open a store in what was then called the Treasure Island Mall in Shrewsbury: we thought we’d never again see the inviting teak interior of Fuji.

This was before the Greater Red Bank Green caught up to the public appetite for sushi and became fairly saturated with Japanese, Asian and fusion-style restaurants. Fuji was one one of the few, and among the better. Fortunately, Trader Joe’s simply bumped the restaurant out of its spot  in the Route 35 shopping center – and into one with a lighter, more organic decor. And the restaurant is as busy as ever, owner Jenny Chen-Ng tells PieHole.

072815fuji1-500x318-5229533Jenny Chen-ng, owner of Fuji at the front desk in the inviting space. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

With errands to run, Pie Hole realized that a takeout lunch was the best option, and indecisive about what to order, a bento box seemed the consummate answer.

Unfamiliar with a bento box? It’s a more refined and somewhat elegant approach to brown-bagging in Japan. Traditionally a laquerware box divided into multiple sections to accommodate different parts of an entire meal, it contains one or more proteins, such as fish or chicken, plus rice, pickled vegetables and fruit, often artfully arranged. Newer, decorative plastic versions of the bento box can now be found universally.

Fuji’s lunch special bento box consists of a choice of sushi roll from the maki category, an appetizer, and shrimp, salmon, steak or chicken teriyaki. It also comes with miso soup and a typical iceberg lettuce salad with carrot ginger dressing.

We opted for the shrimp tempura appetizer, a tuna avocado sushi roll and the chicken teriyaki, and the bento box was filled to the brim. In transit, the teriyaki sauce sloshed into the wasabi and ginger compartment. Wet condiments aside, the sushi held up nicely and was tasty.

A container of soy sauce, not those annoying little hard-to-open packets, was included in the bag along with a container of tentsuyu, the traditional tempura dipping sauce. Two large shrimp, green beans and sweet potato coins filled up the appetizer portion of the box.

The entire lunch was a little too much to consume in one sitting, and we missed the customary rice and pickled vegetables. For a quick takeout meal, though, Fuji did a good job on the bento box, and at $13 for that much food, it was a reasonable deal too.

Fuji is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. It reopen for dinner at 4:30 p.m.

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...
WHAT? NO redbankgreen NEWSLETTER?
Apologies to redbankgreen newsletter subscribers: the daily email hasn’t gone out for two days because of technical issues.
RED BANK: TIRED OF SKEETERS?
RED BANK: Tired of mosquito bites every summer? Monmouth County has a free program to help eliminate skeeter breeding grounds.