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Genki Sushi, a closer look
Aloha!
11/28/09 - Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving, and are all prep'd for the next several weeks of the Holiday season - can't wait! It's the most wonderful time of year, for sure! And Turkey Day was great for us once again, except perhaps a bit quieter - as you know, I've been in self-imposed quarantine, so the house was uncharacteristically void of little tykes running all over the place, along with big tykes making merry outside. Had the flu not so rudely interrupted my week, I could possibly have chosen to do this Closer Look on Turkey with fixin's instead of a past visit to sushi specialist Genki!
But speaking of thankgiving, just wanted to give thanks to Kumi for taking care of me all this time. This is one scary-tough gal. She's gotten sick but once in her entire life, as a toddler, and now literally laughs in the face of any sickness or disease, including swine flu! She absolutely refused leaving me isolated through it all! When she wanted to gimme a hug and kiss, I had to literally push her face away because I didn't want her breathing my germs! While I strictly forbade mom coming anywhere near me - somehow, someway, and after about five years worth of experience - I can only believe my wife when she says "I'm too strong to get sick," shadow boxing and throwing kicks clear above my head while speaking!
Yeah, these people do exist, you know...
Meanwhile, many of you out there may be tired of the constant lines awaiting at just about any of the Genki Sushi Restaurants in and around Town. Fear not, because if you can find the Aina Haina Shopping Center (easy to do!), situated a couple of short miles from the Eastern end of the H-1 Freeway, where it turns into Kalanianaole Hwy., chances are that you won't have to deal with much of a crowd. The outlet is the latest of many Genki restaurants to open-up, and for whatever reason (maybe folks just don't know yet!), there's usually plenty of tables available right away.
I love the Aina Haina Shopping Center. It's just a mellow, quite scene here, is all. I'm wondering how the new Foodland Farms super-store, located right next-door, will turn-out when they finish renovations sometime early next year - it's supposed to be a lot more upscale, featuring more gourmet products, organic foods, and other fancy fare. As a former Foodland Aina Haina employee, working in the Produce Department for many years, I know it'll probably be gorgeous, as CEO Jenai Sullivan Wall (yep, ol' Sully's own daughter) was a regular here, not on business but to do her own house-hold shopping!
Considering the Aina Haina district just came out in the paper the other day as having the highest incomes on the island per household, it doesn't take a genius to know that an upscale Supermarket and a modern sushi outlet would most certainly do well here - at least on paper! Who knows how things will actually turn out over time, yes?
Not that Genki Sushi has much to worry about, however. It may seem like a little neighbor next to the giant Foodland, but in terms of pure financial size, Genki Sushi is actually listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and boasts of hundreds of outlets all over the world, poppin' out stores so quickly, and with such seamless ease, that they may as well be the next McDonald's of the sushi world! I mean, having just opened and everything, you could tell that the army of waitserver's were young and probably acquired their sushi knowledge through a company manual they picked-up just last week, but still, the whole mechanism of the store, the whole design of the place, the whole atmosphere and presence - it just felt like it came from a well-orchestrated system, a proven process, a scripted blueprint. And I mean that all in a good way, of course! Experience pays-off, and there's a reason franchises are so successful today. I mean, I do love the underdog, and the quaint-little mom-and-pop restaurants that live on a shoestring, but I can also get into places like this, places with enough financial backing to produce new-fangled stores with clean walls, bright colors, and fresh, modern looks. Has its own appeal altogether, yes?
You probably already know that Genki Sushi is a conveyor belt-style sushi restaurant, using a system sometimes called kaiten, or revolving sushi. Simply grab whatever you want, from whatever passes-by on the mechanized distribution belt. Plates are color-coded for price, so a red-rimmed plate will be of a certain price, a yellow of another price, and so on and so forth, with prices ranging from between $2+ to $7+ per plate. Plates are counted at the end of your meal, but you may wanna watch out for something - upon ordering off the menu from the waitstaff (yes, you can do that, too), they will log the order down on your tab immediately. Upon grabbing something from the revolving line, however, they don't. The thing is, at the end of the night, when your plates are tallied and registered, be sure you separate the special order plates, as they may count them again and charge you a double whammy! At least, that's what happened to us on this particular visit! But no worries, as I simply pointed it out to them, and they were quick to apologize and refund us our money.
But one thing I do appreciate about the newer Genki restaurants is that they feature entire tables with direct access to the revolving line, and not just a single row of diners, bar-style, as in the older designs, where regular tables are situated behind and away from the line. I mean, part of the allure of coming to a conveyor belt-style place like this is snatching plates off the line, and the fun and anticipation of wondering and watching for newer, more exciting pieces to come down the pike. If not, it's just the same as going to a regular sushi restaurant and ordering from the waitress. What's the sense? Of course, if you're sitting on the outside, you may have to jump all over your friend or ask him to grab passing plates for you, but still, I think it works better this way. Be sure to keep an eye-out, or your favorites may pass right on-by!
Here at Genki, you won't find some of the more lesser-known fish types normally found at the best sushi or izakaya spots on the island, such as hirame (halibut), shima aji (jack or trevally), aji (Japan akule), or suzuki (sea bass), but you'll still find plenty of options, like salmon, ahi, hamachi, tamago (egg), ika (squid), and unagi (eel), to name a few. No ama ebi (sweet shrimp), but they do carry regular, cooked shrimp, and even offer a few higher-ticket numbers like ikura (salmon egg) and uni (sea urchin). I'm not sayin' nuthin' bout quality issues on the last two, but hey, they do carry 'em!
Our party of three musketeers started with a trio of salmon - the first, plain; the second, with onion and mayo; and the third, slightly yaki'd, then topped with green onion and mayo:
Once again, you can't expect top-knotch quality here with these prices, as you can probably already tell that the colors on these fish weren't the greatest. But you know what? They still work, especially the last plate - a little bit of flash-torching on-top, and it's aaalll good! I ain't no sushi snob! Besides, the safest choices for raw fish at any sushi house are probably ahi and salmon, as you know that they are always popular and therefore tend to have the quickest turn-over rates.
And speaking of ahi, you'll always, always find many variations on this fish, as here in Hawaii, we are sooo blessed to have a super-abundance of this most beloved and cherished delicacy. Such is not the case in many other locales around the world, believe me! Here's a simple hoso-maki (thin roll) set of ahi:
Then there's the ahi variety marinated in a mix that could include shoyu, rock salt, and/or sesame oil, then tossed with another varying mix of items such as onion, ogo seaweed, round onion, green onion, inamona (ground kukui nut), peppers, and more. Hey, that sounds like... You got it! Hawaii's gift to the world, Poke, is a staple so popular in the islands, you just can't go far without it popping up somewhere! This one is prepared gunkan-style, a situation where the nori is wrapped completely around and slightly elevated above the rice balls themselves, leaving a kind of compartment, where softer, more delicate items can be placed.
Yet another popular type of ahi found everywhere is a spicy variety, mixed in a combination of mayo, hot Sriracha or other chili sauce, and crunchy-little tobiko (flying fish roe). One of the many ways it is served here at Genki, and certainly one of the most attractive, is over an inari sushi piece, the whole of which is then covered with kabayaki glaze and green onion. Inari is the term for sushi rice packed inside of the soy product aburage, which is a deep-fried wrapper allowed to cool, then stored moist before use, with a slightly sweet, slightly vinegary wetness.
At Genki Sushi, the whole creation is called a spicy bomb!
Veering from fish, next was an order of ika (squid). To this day, I still wonder what the hubbub is all about concerning this creature. To me, the taste is about as bland as can be, and the texture, chewy with a slight touch of nothing special:
Kumi has long raved and ranted on the virtues of fresh squid from Japan, the kind where they slice and dice the entire body while the tentacles are still moving and color pigments, still flashing wildly off-and-on as it sits there helpless on your plate. But after our past Kyushu trip, I did get a taste of tentacles still moving in the mouth, and you know what? Yes, the presentation was utterly impressive and the freshness beyond reproach, but the taste? Still... I just don't get it!!! Gimme 'em dusted and deep-fried, instead!
Actually, our only deep-fried item of the day came in the form of deep-fried oysters, covered in panko breadcrumbs and crisped to a golden-brown. Not bad at all:
You know, poke stops around the island have really developed over the last decade or so. In the beginning, you only had ahi, tako, and imitation crab poke, but now, the variations are so many, there could be 6-10 styles of ahi alone! Who knows who makes up which combinations, but once a new creation shows up, it doesn't take long for word to spread! One such mix showing up everywhere these days is the abalone salad, usually coming with yellow tobiko (stained yellow with ginger) and a few different types of seaweed, all making for a pretty color combination and a crunchy, refreshing ocean taste. No, you usually can't taste much abalone, or you'd probably be paying triple the price!
And finally, I was just saving the best for last! It was actually a special that wasn't even on the menu at all, a hybrid Godzilla-like monstrosity that combined a bunch of tricks and varieties into one impressive show-piece:
First of all, sitting unseen under all that dynamite topping is an ura-maki (inside-out roll) of crispy shrimp katsu. Then, the dynamite consisted of a spicy scallop, with a mayo/tobiko cream that was slightly torched for a slightly burnt effect. And finally, drizzled-on was not only a sweet chili sauce of red, but a sticky kabayaki sauce of deep, dark brown, all finished with garnish of green onion.
I love when they use shrimp tempura, but the katsu coating around the shrimp is an even bolder statement, and stands-up much better to the layers of other bold flavors included in this dish. Make sure to ask them about this one - you'll love it!
I believe we only spent around $60 for the three of us, which is not bad at all for the spread above (a couple of other plates not shown!). It's a fun, casual environment, almost Starbucks or Jamba Juice-like, and as long as you don't get all snobby and try comparing them to an Imanas-tei or Gaku, you'll be allright!
Hope you all had a great and fantabulous Thanksgiving yesterday. With only three of us at the house because of me getting over the influenza, we have a ton of left-overs sitting in the freezer - garlic-infused turkey, home-made stuffing, buttered mash potatoes, real gravy - eeeh, not so much variety this time, but still, waaay too much for the three of us! I'm feeling much better now, and more thankful than ever for my health, happiness, and loved ones around to share love and life with!
Time to get out and make merry this fine Holiday Season, yes?
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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