Newly opened Fujiyama Mama on The Peak – so-so Japanese fare

The logo of Fujiyama Mama looks fun – a geisha face with funky bug-eye sunglasses, and a pair of chopsticks and thunderbolt in her chignon. The concept of the restaurant is Japanese with a rock ’n’ roll vibe, and the decor continues the theme with vintage album covers on the back wall and ’80s music videos playing near the entrance. A nice touch are the place mats shaped like black vinyl records with the geisha logo in the middle.

Nostalgia aside, Fujiyama Mama is also an izakaya, where diners drinkwhile nibbling on dishes.We visited soon after it opened, and the execution of the menu items we tried was inconsistent, and some dishes were unavailable.

We were excited to see frozen draft Kirin beer on the menu, but when it arrived, it wasn’t stone cold, nor did it have a thick foam head, so we sent it back. Things improved with the raspberry shochu julep (HK$68), a refreshing concoction served in a glass with a small ice cup, and decorated with two raspberries, and the grape mojito (HK$78) made with sake, grapes, mint, lime and soda.

We started the meal with the beef tongue with spicy ponzu (HK$78). The dish was cold, whichwas disconcerting and we didn’t finish it.

The kimchi gyoza lollipops (HK$68), deep-fried dumplings on a stick that we dipped into a lemon garlic mayonnaise sauce, were better.

Fujiyama sashimi with five selections (HK$398) was fairly average, and included toro, salmon, botan shrimp and hamachi.

Next came the robata grilled wagyu skirt (HK$198) with garlic kuro-shichimi (seven spice powder). The beef was tender and thinly sliced, but it was lukewarm.