Three new restaurants bring exciting fare to Flint area

Published: Saturday, January 16, 2010, 8:23 AM

Ron Krueger
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Sarah A. Miller | The Flint Journal Cooks prepare food at the sushi bar at Fuji Japanese Bistro and Buffet in Flint Township.  

It is a good omen that I can begin 2010 writing about new restaurants, three to be precise.

Two involve buyers picking up foreclosed properties, which supports the adage that opportunity knocks during tough times.

I start with Fuji Japanese Bistro and Buffet, 3022 S. Linden Road, Flint Township.

The first thing you see upon entering the former Mr. Brown's Backyard Bar & Grill is the sushi station. Diners who buy the buffet package have a choice of two dozen sushi and sashimi bites prepared right there.

I see genius here. Sushi has gained popularity, but many people would not readily walk into Sagano Japanese Bistro up Linden Road, take a seat at the sushi bar and order. At Fuji, they don’t have to know the names of items. They can simply pick what looks good.

With individually purchased sushi items costing $2-$3, sushi lovers can easily make back the buffet price by selecting eight to 10 pieces. But buffet buyers also can move on to four other stations that include tempura, soups, pot stickers, noodles, teriyaki and a Mongolian-style station offering steak and salmon.

My friend Ann Marlin, who lived in Japan for a year, pointed out that an all-you-can-eat concept goes against Japanese culture. But of course, Yanks will find what Fuji does to be the best of two worlds.

Marlin was pleased to find self-serve green tea and red bean ice cream. In Japan, those flavors are as popular as chocolate and cookie dough are here, she said.

We were amused that one station included items such as hot and sour soup, fried rice and battered chicken nuggets that can be found at any Chinese buffet in town. With so many more novel items to choose from, I don't know why that stuff is there except to offer comfort to diners who aren't sure what the better stuff is.

This brings us to price. The buffet list prices are $11.99 for lunch and $17.99 for dinner, which starts at 4 p.m. Fuji is knocking off 15 percent at least until the end of the month.

There is no issue of value. It is just that the tab for four can hit $80 in a facility with 280 seats. Co-owner Jason Wang said the family’s Madison Heights restaurant has done fabulously well for a year.

Fuji hikes buffet prices by a couple of bucks on weekends. I told Wang I have never heard of such a policy.

By the time you read this, Fuji may have posted its liquor license, allowing diners to order a cup of sake or a Bud Light with dinner.

The phone number for Fuji Japanese Bistro and Buffet (www.fujibistro.com) is (810) 732-3888. Hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

No less as intriguing a dining option — and less expensive — can be found a half mile away at Ba Doy Ow at 2113 N. Linden Road, in Lincor Plaza.

Ba Doy Ow means “I’m hungry” in Taiwanese, explained owner Yilan Eastman. She calls the storefront’s fare the street food of the large island that is part of mainland China but with independent leanings.

Leading its menu are three types of savory steamed dumplings, each with a slightly different shape and fillings. One is filled with pork and various vegetables, another with crab or pork and the third with shrimp, chicken or pork.

First-time visitors are advised to try a combo meal offering a sampling of different items. The price of these meals ranges from $5.89 to $7.19.

After two visits to Ba Doy Ow, I found I still would have been a little hungry after my combo but for a treat called bao. Bao has a sweet dough exterior and can be ordered filled with sweet red bean or sweet taro, or with leek, spinach or pork.

A fascinating feature of the restaurant is the three dozen teas that can be ordered hot or cold. There always is a tea of the day, which removes any decision-making for yours truly.

I thought I knew about everything I wanted to know about Ba Doy Ow until chatting with Ami Simms of Flint Township and Debbie Chenail of Swartz Creek, friends who are regular patrons.

“You have to try the chicken soup, tea eggs and steamed rice,” Simms said. So I did.

Taiwan-born Eastman explained that many new mothers on the island eat nothing but the soup for several weeks after giving birth. “It builds their health and helps them lose the extra weight,” she said.

Ba Doy Ow is open from 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-8:30 p.m. Saturdays. Call (810) 732-5031.

More good news is found in Argentine Township with new operators of the spacious restaurant/bar at 8291 Silver Lake Road, on the north shore of Lobdell Lake.

Barb and Dean Nitsos opened Navistarz Christmas week, bringing a gift to Fenton-Linden area folks who frequented the former Pier between 2004 and 2007.

The Linden couple is making full use of the wood-burning oven and display kitchen installed midway through the run of The Pier, another foreclosure victim.

You can order all manner of specialty pizza pies, including pulled pork, buffalo chicken and the Linden, combining Alfredo sauce, bacon, artichokes, chicken and cheese.

The rest of the preliminary menu sounds like standard pub fare. It includes grilled salmon, barbecued chicken and several pasta dishes.

Nitsos said the yellow-and-blue color scheme of Navistarz is not a call to University of Michigan fans, but a motif of a Florida boathouse favored by the couple. They also will have to explain the restaurant's name, which isn't about monster trucks, but satellite-based positioning.

Navistarz is open from 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Tuesday and 11 a.m.- 2 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Call (810) 458-4385.

Don't add salt

The Holly Hotel will host its annual “salt of the earth” dinner next weekend. A different specialty salt will be used in each course, which includes salt cod chowder, encrusted rockfish, hangar steak and salted almond wafers.

Go to www.hollyhotel.com or call (248) 634-5208 for details.