It was a perfect day for a drive – Fujiya House, located in the massive Central Park complex in the new part of Fredericksburg, had run a Groupon that day, we had just played tennis, and my young dining companion loves teppanyaki, so why not?
You’ll never find this place without a GPS since it’s in the middle of the largest stores the world has ever seen – Wal Mart, Best Buy, Sports Authority – there are dozens and dozens, but if you find yourself craving teppanyaki while driving up I-95, you can do a lot worse than this.
I got a Kirin Ichiban ($7 for a large, $4 for a small), and Matt got his usual Diet Coke ($2 with refills). Forget the appetizers, because you won’t need them here (and I would certainly steer clear of the sushi).
I got the better combination of the two, Filet Mignon & Ahi Tuna ($24), as opposed to New York Steak & Shrimp ($20). You start with a very bouillon-based broth, with a sickly little shrimp in it, and that’s followed by a salad with typical dressing. Then come two shrimp as appetizers, and your choice of fried or steamed rice (out of our entire table of six people, I was the only one who got the steamed rice, and I’m glad I did because that fried rice is the most unhealthy thing there is!)
My order of preference for the four grilled items was 1) Ahi Tuna, 2) Filet Mignon, 3) New York Steak, and 4) Shrimp (Matt preferred the Shrimp to the fairly tough New York Steak). Make sure to get the Ahi Tuna either rare or medium-rare – I ordered mine medium-rare, and it was perfect.
Our chef was a ham! He told the corniest jokes (he rolled an egg across the grill and said “egg roll,” he threw some butter through the air into the fried rice and said “butterfly,”) and he did unspeakable things with the eggs using his spatula (including flipping one up into his hat). He wasn’t the fastest hibachi chef I’ve seen, but he was funny, and of course, tossed shrimp into peoples’ mouths at the end of the meal (and yes, I caught mine).
If you go anywhere near here with kids, check out the place called Fun Land – it’s a HUGE indoor amusement center, with a large outdoor portion that includes two go-cart tracks. The little bugger had the pole position and would not let me pass him, despite the fact that I was flooring it the entire time (he was cutting off the inside curve, so I was helpless, and since there was a “no bumping” rule, I just had to sit there and take it.)