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a short diary of some part of my life.

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I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite. The salmon nigiri looked incredibly fresh. Wait! There’s also a fresh otoro. A feat considering how bad sushis are in Jakarta, Indonesia. Famous establishments like Sushi Tei should be ashamed of themselves. Genki is not only much better in all categories (rice, vinegar, fish, cut…) but also in pricing.

Absence of Sour Smell

The absence of sour smell was a good sign when I entered the restaurant. Initially, I had a low expectation because Genki in Seattle was good but somehow they restaurant decided to lower the quality due to dwindling customers number. They were right, once the price and quality were lowered, more and more customers were coming to the store. It was a great decision for the restaurant but for a sushi aficionado like me, the decision drove me away.

Operation

I spoke to (I believe) Genki Indonesia manager, a Singaporean. He spoke a great deal about how Genki operates in Indonesia. I admires the efforts. They basically import everything from Japan, from the Kamikaze rice to the tea they serve. I’m not asking for super great sushi like Tsukiji’s. I’m asking for decent quality sushis and if they can, maintain the quality and price just like they are now.

Complete Makeover

There was a sushi restaurant by Genki Sushi in Grand Indonesia. It was closed. I guess it coincided with the return of Genki in Singapore. If I remember correctly, the menu that Genki offers is completely different than the ones I had in Seattle. It’s possible that they revamped the whole restaurant and how they operate.

The App

As you can see in the photo above, Genki hands out iPad Minis with custom app for ordering. The app is smooth and flawless. Everything in it is crystal clear and easily understandable. Customers are allowed to order four dishes at once. It’s not crash-prone. I have tried ordering multiple items in sequence and it’s rock-solid!

No More Servers!

We are entering the age of automations. They don’t use servers to serve the dishes. Genki uses a minuscule ‘toy’ train to deliver the ordered dishes. It’s a pretty neat and fast way to deliver. There is also a hot water tab that you can use to create your own cup of green tea. Again, no server involved unless you ask them to come to you.

Take Aways

Most restaurants when they do take aways, the meals do not taste nearly as good as what you usually get when you dine-in. This is not the case with Genki. The sushis are more or less the same in cut, quantity, and quality.

I sincerely hope that Genki can maintain the quality they are offering now. In rare cases, after having been there four times, I’ve seen uneven cuts and inferior fish quality. Jakarta really needs a decent sushi restaurant. Genki can fill that role.

They are located in the Foodhall area, just below Sogo department store in Plaza Senayan.

I’ve meaning to write something about the world’s most famous fish market. I didn’t quite have the push to do it until I had dinner over at a local Sushi Tei (which sucks).

Rant

If you couldn’t make a decent sushi at all, then you should sell sushi at all. All you do is depleting the number of fishes in the ocean. The Japanese do consume fish but their consumptions do not really affect the number of fishes in the open ocean. The alarming depletion can be partly blamed to those who make poor sushi. Off course most of that depletion are mostly cause by us, human who consume practically everything we gather off the ocean.

Super-Duper Clean Fish Market

I went to Tsukiji on December 2012, during that time, the local government is planning to move the existing market to a new place. Many protested but given how clean, tidy Japanese are, I’m sure they will make it right. I was very surprised when I first arrived. It looked like any traditional markets, but boy, the cleanliness, I don’t think there is one that betters this, even one in Seattle (Pike Place Market).

Other than the cleanliness, there is nothing unique to see, maybe I didn’t get a chance to watch the fish auction. There is always next time.

Next Time, Check Holiday Schedules!

I didn’t bother to check their holiday schedules before I boarded the plane to Japan, so I didn’t plan ahead. When arrived, I noticed that they were having holiday. I waited out (not camping on site), until they are open. The day they are open, I went to Tsukiji at 4.30 AM, knowing that there are several sushi restaurants, I was very ecstatic. Why the rush? Well, it turned out they are very famous so the wait line is pretty bad. It can be up to 2 hours. Guess what, I waited 5 hours to get 5 seats! That’s the longest wait time I have ever experienced, not to mention the super chilly temperature and occasional wind. Brrr…

5-Hour Wait Time

What happened? They were having holiday, so people did not come, just like me. There are many people just like me, who have been waiting for the restaurants to open on that day. To make it worse, one of their competitors was still closed. So, there you go, 5 hours!

5-hour wait is pretty dreadful for most things, but not this! This was well worth the time spent on standing still. The sushi are all awesome. All others suddenly look amateurish. This is the real deal. Let me share some pics of the sushi (even the photos look delicious):




To top it off:

‘Unusual’ Fishes

There are plenty more that look rather unusual. I’ll post a link to them some time this week.

The name of the place is Sushi Dai. It is one of the most celebrated sushi restaurants in Tsukiji. I’m sure there are more who serve great foods. I wished I had more time.

Taste

Let me explain a bit about the taste of the sushi above.
Forget everything you have had in the US. I have tried virtually every single sushi restaurants on Yelp that gets great reviews. Nothing comes close. Perhaps it has something to do about the quality of the fish. At Tsukiji, there are many ‘weird’ fishes that you don’t normally find at your local sushi restaurants. Perhaps it has something to do with the cutting techniques. I guess the former plays a much larger part of the experience.
The salmon is probably the best I have tried, It’s actually tasty. Imagine that with sushi and they don’t put anything, unlike at Nobu. The otoro is also the best I have tried, again, nothing comes close. The rest is similar. It’s like having a meal after a whole day of starvation. I couldn’t stop ordering. I had two rounds of omakase. I felt bad already that I needed to stop to make way for other people, otherwise, I would have sticked around.

I Will Definately Go Back

I will go back again, perhaps not for the sushi but for the fish auction. I will try other places that get great reviews. Perhaps more Japanese restaurants that locals visit. Did that once and it was a great experience. I ate a raw chicken meat that tastes like fish. Imagine that!