The grill show's great, skip the wine list
Valley River / North Eugene · Eugene · Japanese, teppanyaki, sushi · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · June 30, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Fuji Japanese Steakhouse’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Fuji reads like it was assembled from a Costco run circa 2008 and never revisited. Copper Ridge as the house pour tells you everything you need to know before you even flip the page. This is a list built to check a box, not to complement the food.
About 15-20 wines spread across California bulk brands, a token Italian section, and a couple of Pacific Northwest entries — the most interesting of which is the Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, which at least makes geographic sense next to teppanyaki. Kendall-Jackson, J. Lohr, Robert Mondavi, and Estancia dominate the list, all solid grocery-store names that won't offend anyone but won't excite anyone either. The Umberto Fiore Moscato d'Asti and Kinsen Plum Wine are the only real nods to the cuisine being served. There are no small producers, no Oregon wines despite being in Eugene — a genuinely baffling oversight — and zero sense that anyone thought hard about what drinks well with hibachi fire and soy.
Nearly the entire list is available by the glass, which sounds generous until you realize most of these bottles retail under $12. Prices top out at $8.50 a glass for the Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay, which is fine for what it is, but you're paying restaurant prices for wine you could grab at the gas station. There's no rotation or seasonal program to speak of — what's on the menu today has almost certainly been on the menu for years.
Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling — $7.50/glass, $26/bottle
Yes, the markup is still steep at 226% over retail, but this is the one wine on the list that actually belongs here. Off-dry Riesling cuts through the soy, ginger, and butter that fly off a teppanyaki grill better than anything else on offer. It's the right call at the wrong price, but in this context, it's as good as it gets.
Kinsen Plum Wine
Most tables skip this entirely, defaulting to a Chardonnay out of habit. Don't. Plum wine is sweet and low-alcohol, but served lightly chilled alongside something salty and savory off the hibachi grill, it works in a way none of the California reds really do. It's also just fun — lean into the setting you're actually in.
Estancia Sauvignon Blanc
Retails for under $9 and priced at $30 a bottle here — that's a 234% markup for a perfectly ordinary California Sauvignon Blanc with nothing special going on. There is no version of this purchase that feels good. If you want a white, the Riesling or Pinot Grigio at least put up a better argument for the price.
Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling + Hibachi Shrimp
The shrimp comes off the grill with garlic butter and soy sauce, and the slight sweetness and bright acidity in the Riesling does real work here — it refreshes the palate between bites and doesn't get steamrolled by the salt the way a Chardonnay would.
The Bottom Line
Fuji is a genuinely fun night out — the teppanyaki show is the main event and it delivers — but the wine list is strictly an afterthought, with steep markups on uninspired brands and zero connection to the cuisine or the local Oregon wine scene. Order the Riesling or the plum wine, enjoy the fire, and don't overthink it.
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