Ahhhh sushi. God I love it. If I was on death row and had to choose my last meal – it would be sushi. Well ok, and my mom’s mashed potatoes & gravy. BUT you get the idea. It’s something about the savory yumminess that melts in your mouth after eating a piece of sushi that is just so refreshing and satisfying. I am definitely not surprised how popular sushi has become over the past few years. Sitting at a sushi bar and seeing those men carefully cutting and forming these tiny pieces of fish really makes you appreciate all the hard work and love that goes into your meal. Christ, now I’m hungry…
With that said, I have hooked my best friend Neeky onto sushi. So every few weeks we check out a local favorite or try out a new place around town for our sushi fix. She happened to mention a place over in Brookline that I had never heard of before, called Genki Ya. What got me excited is that this place only focuses on organic quality Japanese cuisine. HUGE bonus points!
Side note: If you are unaware of what organic/all-natural food is, you must read Larry Cook’s The Beginner’s Guide to Natural Living. It will turn your world upside down, and you will never look at an apple the same way again. Shop at Whole Foods!
Moving on…Neeky and I arrived on a Friday night to check this place out. Not only did we get a parking spot right in front of the restaurant, there were also 2 empty seats at the sushi bar just waiting for us to sit there! I am already loving this place and I haven’t even looked at the menu yet! But once I did, I was very impressed with it. First of all, I guess I am a kid at heart – because I LOVE menus with pictures! I think its genius when restaurants do this, because don’t we eat with our eyes first right?? Even there take-out menu has pictures! Ok I’ll calm down now, anywho… what initially caught my eye was there “fruit” maki rolls. How come I didn’t think of this? They also feature Acai juice, which if you are living in a cave is a berry-enriched drink that has about 30 times the level of antioxidants that a grape juice has. Anti-oxidants = good for your body.
Ok let’s get to the food: I ordered a Genki special, as my appetizer, called Genki Ichiban – which is spicy tuna & tobiko layered over fried seaweed & rice. It’s basically a de-constructed spicy tuna roll. I also ordered the typical Rainbow roll and split the Fruit roll with Neeky. Now the Genki Ichiban appetizer was supposed to arrive first, but unfortunately I got everything else before that. My rainbow roll was very tasty with a good helping of raw fish on top. As we all know, I don’t like when chef’s skimp on the food. As for the Fruit roll, I was disappointed. While the combination of mango, banana & avocado was great…the rice just didn’t seem to pull it all together. I though long & hard about what they could have done to make it taste better – because it’s such a unique twist on a sushi roll. So my recommendation to Genki Ya would be to either use sweeter rice, or drizzle some honey and cinnamon over the roll itself. It just wasn’t sweet enough.
So after much anticipation I got my appetizer of the Genki Ichiban. WORTH THE WAIT. Wow, I was blown away by how delicious and different this was! It was sooooooo decadent; it literally just melted in my mouth. I still have dreams about it! You get the crunchiness of the fried rice (I think they just took rice, wrapped it in seaweed, and fried it) and the softness of the tuna all in one bite…YUMMM. I couldn’t even finish it. I know I would have if I got it first though!
Event after our filling dinner, the restaurant was so gracious enough to give us a small sampling of their green tea ice cream & tapioca. Our waitress told us to mix them together and enjoy! And we did! And we damn well enjoyed it!
In summary, any health-conscious sushi lovers (or any sushi lover) would definitely appreciate what Genki Ya has to offer. They offer 3 types of rice: sushi rice, brown rice, and even a multi grain rice: I ordered all my sushi with the brown rice and man, that is the way to go. Not only is it way healthier than white rice, but you can’t even taste the difference! I also really liked the vibe of this restaurant. Even with all of the high-priced, modernized sushi places in Boston, there is nothing like going to that hole in the wall place that only seats like 15 people at a time, which is how Genki Ya operates. I would absolutely check this place out when you are craving sushi – and call me when you do!
Info sminfo: Genki Ya, 398 Harvard St, Brookline MA, 617.277.3100
They don’t have a website, but here is the menu:
http://www.foodler.com/MA/Brookline/Sushi/Genki-Ya-Organic-Sushi/3984.html
With that said, I have hooked my best friend Neeky onto sushi. So every few weeks we check out a local favorite or try out a new place around town for our sushi fix. She happened to mention a place over in Brookline that I had never heard of before, called Genki Ya. What got me excited is that this place only focuses on organic quality Japanese cuisine. HUGE bonus points!
Side note: If you are unaware of what organic/all-natural food is, you must read Larry Cook’s The Beginner’s Guide to Natural Living. It will turn your world upside down, and you will never look at an apple the same way again. Shop at Whole Foods!
Moving on…Neeky and I arrived on a Friday night to check this place out. Not only did we get a parking spot right in front of the restaurant, there were also 2 empty seats at the sushi bar just waiting for us to sit there! I am already loving this place and I haven’t even looked at the menu yet! But once I did, I was very impressed with it. First of all, I guess I am a kid at heart – because I LOVE menus with pictures! I think its genius when restaurants do this, because don’t we eat with our eyes first right?? Even there take-out menu has pictures! Ok I’ll calm down now, anywho… what initially caught my eye was there “fruit” maki rolls. How come I didn’t think of this? They also feature Acai juice, which if you are living in a cave is a berry-enriched drink that has about 30 times the level of antioxidants that a grape juice has. Anti-oxidants = good for your body.
Ok let’s get to the food: I ordered a Genki special, as my appetizer, called Genki Ichiban – which is spicy tuna & tobiko layered over fried seaweed & rice. It’s basically a de-constructed spicy tuna roll. I also ordered the typical Rainbow roll and split the Fruit roll with Neeky. Now the Genki Ichiban appetizer was supposed to arrive first, but unfortunately I got everything else before that. My rainbow roll was very tasty with a good helping of raw fish on top. As we all know, I don’t like when chef’s skimp on the food. As for the Fruit roll, I was disappointed. While the combination of mango, banana & avocado was great…the rice just didn’t seem to pull it all together. I though long & hard about what they could have done to make it taste better – because it’s such a unique twist on a sushi roll. So my recommendation to Genki Ya would be to either use sweeter rice, or drizzle some honey and cinnamon over the roll itself. It just wasn’t sweet enough.
So after much anticipation I got my appetizer of the Genki Ichiban. WORTH THE WAIT. Wow, I was blown away by how delicious and different this was! It was sooooooo decadent; it literally just melted in my mouth. I still have dreams about it! You get the crunchiness of the fried rice (I think they just took rice, wrapped it in seaweed, and fried it) and the softness of the tuna all in one bite…YUMMM. I couldn’t even finish it. I know I would have if I got it first though!
Event after our filling dinner, the restaurant was so gracious enough to give us a small sampling of their green tea ice cream & tapioca. Our waitress told us to mix them together and enjoy! And we did! And we damn well enjoyed it!
In summary, any health-conscious sushi lovers (or any sushi lover) would definitely appreciate what Genki Ya has to offer. They offer 3 types of rice: sushi rice, brown rice, and even a multi grain rice: I ordered all my sushi with the brown rice and man, that is the way to go. Not only is it way healthier than white rice, but you can’t even taste the difference! I also really liked the vibe of this restaurant. Even with all of the high-priced, modernized sushi places in Boston, there is nothing like going to that hole in the wall place that only seats like 15 people at a time, which is how Genki Ya operates. I would absolutely check this place out when you are craving sushi – and call me when you do!
Info sminfo: Genki Ya, 398 Harvard St, Brookline MA, 617.277.3100
They don’t have a website, but here is the menu:
http://www.foodler.com/MA/Brookline/Sushi/Genki-Ya-Organic-Sushi/3984.html
I agree with Emily, stick with brown rice sushi. We had a great experience at Genki Ya and look forward to eat there again very soon. Nice work Em!
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