RESTAURANT REVIEW:

This is one of four reviews in a series of healthful lunchtime alternatives to fast food.

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Sushi will usually get me in the door for lunch, but when I am in a hurry, I don’t want to languish over a crunch roll while waiting for another dish to come out.

During the week, I seek quality Japanese food that is available quickly.

That, I think, is somewhat achieved by Fuji Grill. The restaurant, located in a large shopping mall on Beach Boulevard near Adams Avenue, has several choices of food establishments for lunch, but most of them require sitting down and ordering.

When I have the time, that is fine, but with the amount of work I have these days, I want something I can get and take back to the home office, plop down at my chair by the desk and eat while I am trying to complete the next project.

What I like about Fuji Grill is there are four distinct categories for lunch and that each have unique meals.

My favorite of the four was easily the Fuji Grill bento. The Japanese meal box, as it is commonly known, has compartments that hold a main dish in the largest section and two other compartments for additional items.

There are 10 bento meals, and they range from $5.25 for the veggie bento of broccoli, cabbage and carrots, and up to $8.50 for the barbecue eel bento.

The accompaniments with the main dish are edamame, which are boiled soybeans, and a small salad. The salad has imitation crab on it, and is much better than the usual wilted lettuce with heavy ginger-soy dressing.

I would recommend the eel if you are daring, but if you want to take a safer route, go with the chicken and Tokyo steak. Both are surprisingly tender. The grilled salmon is also a healthy option. If you don’t think you have enough food, you can always add a piece of shrimp tempura for $1.35.

Fuji Grill also offers nine sushi bowls. These range from $6.50 to $7.50 and include poke tuna with seaweed and the tataki bowl, which is imitation crab and seared tuna.

I had the baked scallop bowl and was pleased. The imitation crab and bay scallops went well with the rice and for $7.50 I am not expecting fresh crab and large scallops. They also add rice and tiny strips of seaweed, as well as orange roe (fish eggs).

The next category is salads. There are five of them and are reasonably priced at $4.95 to $6.95. The chicken seaweed salad looked the best of the bunch, though I might be swayed by the spicy tuna salad.

The last section is sushi, and there are nine to choose from.

I was shocked that a place this small would have imaginative sushi, but there it was.

The cherry blossom roll is a spicy tuna roll with tuna on top. The red dragon roll has spicy tuna with eel on top. There is also a crunch roll and a volcano roll, which is a California roll with baked scallop.

I would totally avoid the sushi specials.

When I was there, California rolls and Spicy tuna rolls were offered at $1.99 for four pieces.

Pay the extra 46 cents and get the same rolls that don’t taste like they are on clearance because they are about to spoil, which is probably pretty close to the truth.

Other than that pitfall, this is a perfect place for lunch on the go. They do have tables, but seating is somewhat limited because of space constraints. If only they had a drive-thru.

FUJI GRILL

Address: 19752 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach

Phone: (714) 593-6400

Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty dish: none

Alcohol served: none

Dress: casual

Family friendly: yes

Credit cards accepted: Visa and MasterCard

Rating: ** 1/2 out of 4

JOHN REGER reviews restaurants for the Independent.