When you're trying to stay low carb, there are certain restaurants you tend to avoid. Two types of restaurants people often avoid are Italian and sushi places. Carbs. Carbs everywhere. The good thing about sushi places is you can always just get sashimi. That's when they slice raw meat or fish thinly and serve it with ginger and some wasabi and call it a day.
Don't get me wrong; I'm all about some delicious thinly sliced fish. However, when it's $7 on average for 3 small pieces of raw fish, I'm not exactly rushing out the door. Without the rice, avocado, seaweed, and whatever else goes into sushi, to me, paying the same price or more for just the fish doesn't quite seem worth it.
Well, lately I've been venturing out of my usual restaurants to prove that just because you're low carb does not mean you are locked forever into burger and steak houses.
Fuji at Assembly is an adorable little place right near the AMC theater. We decided to try it before our movie. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw several low carb options mixed in with the many not low carb choices.
Appetizers
Spicy Sichuan Fish and the Sichuan Garlic Bacon from Fuji at Assembly
We went with the Spicy Sichuan Fish ($14) and the Sichuan Garlic Bacon ($10). The spicy Sichuan fish is made of white fish simmered in a spicy broth with Chinese napa, onions, red and green peppers and tofu. Some low carbers stay away from tofu, but tofu is roughly 2 carbs per 0.5 cups so split between 2 people it's not bad. Oh, and it has a bit of kick.
The soup was a lot bigger than we expected when it came out. We ended up taking a lot of it home as leftovers and enjoyed it the next day.
The Sichuan Garlic Bacon is a monthly special found inside the cocktail menu. It isn't available all the time, but if you're able to get it - DO IT. It is fried pork belly, thinly sliced, wrapped around cucumbers with a garlic Sichuan sauce poured over top.
Main Entrée - Wok Tossed
Salt Fried Pork Belly from Fuji at Assembly
As my main dish, I chose the Salt Fried Pork Belly ($16) with chives, ginger, and peppers. Like the soup, it was larger than expected when it arrived at our table. I declined the rice that came with the dish on the side, and honestly, I don't know how people would eat all of it if they were eating the rice too. The dishes were a decent size and delicious. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought the restaurant was a family style place. Even though it's not, we ended up sharing the dish.
All-in-all, I'd say this place was worth it. I think I may even try and recreate a version of the salt chive pork belly for an episode of The Keto Show. If you're looking for a nice place for a date night, give this place a shot. It did appear to have some low carb cocktail options, but I wasn't drinking that night, so I cannot attest to their taste.