May 23, 2022
Every 21st of the month is my payday. The same day I first stepped foot in this country. Honestly, I seldom treat myself with food or things I yearn for because I am a practical thinker and I would rather save my money in my bank account than treat myself with something fancy or whatever. Traveling is the only inexpensive treat I could give myself. It's because the public transportation here is very convenient and the Mass Transit Rail fares are very affordable to any part of Hong Kong.
Since I wasn't able to travel yesterday because my buddy wasn't available, I opted to stay at my favorite park after eating lunch, just a few walks from our place. It's the same park I featured in my travel blog yesterday. If you haven't read it yet, you can check this link below.
A Virtual Tour To The Walled City Of Kowloon
Flexing my new bucket hat before stepping out of the house 😁. Wearing a different hat just for a change. I thought black won't suit me, but it does suit me with a white shirt on.
Where will I go next?
The mall next to the park was where I went after. The weather wasn't that perfect, rather gloomy, yet perfect for an ordinary walk as I don't need to bring an umbrella, lol. I purposely went out earlier than my usual time because I was expecting more customers queueing in the restaurant. It's one of the most visited restaurants inside the mall, especially during holidays.
Do you know this place? It's Genki Sushi restaurant 🤗!
You probably have seen this logo in places with Japanese restaurants. Genki Sushi is a chain of big Japanese restaurants established in the late '90s that expanded in different parts of Asia, Europe, and some Western countries. Here in Hong Kong, Genki Sushi is operated by Maxim Caterers, the owner of a famous Maxim bakeshop where we usually buy fresh bread.
The Genki Sushi branch in KCP Mall Kowloon City just opened last year, if my memory serves me right. Before, my boss usually brought me to another city just to eat sushi because there wasn't any branch near our place. Gladly, this branch opened so we don't need to go to another city every time we want to eat some sushi.
I'm not a sushi fan before as I don't like eating raw seafood. But because of my boss' family, I became a fan of sushi. But only eating ones I like as I don't like the taste of other kinds of sushi.
Given that Kowloon City is a busy place, they opened a more spacious Genki Sushi branch. There are tables good for up to four people, and there are single rows for those who opt to sit next to each other and those who come to the restaurant alone.
Since I have no company, the queue for single customers (literally single though) was faster. Then I looked for my seat on this row. (I just didn't mind the couple in red and white out there, lol.)
To place orders, customers must scan the QR code on the given receipt on its app. I purposely downloaded its app before entering the restaurant using the wifi of the mall of course.
The core menu of Genki Sushi is as follows:
Among all the sushi above, I dislike shell sushi as I don't like the taste of raw shell seafood, as well as some sashimi and raw shrimps. I set a budget of HK$100 and chose 4 kinds of sushi and 1 bowl of cold udon noodles. Even if I want to fancy treat myself, I still set an amount as I don't like spending money on food extravagantly.
Let's go to my table.
The very first food they served was a bowl of cold udon. And while waiting for the rest, I enjoyed sipping their unlimited matcha green tea and surfing the internet while being connected to their wifi. I purposely didn't eat the udon and waited for other orders so I could take a photo of them.
Orders are delivered by a cute automatic small train like a toy to designated table numbers. Kids do love seeing the small train delivering the ordered food. I was about to video the small train delivery but I got busy with finishing my existing blog on my phone, lol.
My last order finally arrived after almost 10 minutes of waiting but I ate one of the sweet beancurd sushi as I got bored, lol.
Now let's check what kinds of sushi are on my table.
Some sushis are produced by machine, but I like the ones produced by hand like in Genki Sushi restaurant. Sushis are usually made by wrapping small slices of fish and other seafood with rice or seaweed or what they called nori. And other varieties of sushis were probably made in later years. By the way, not all sushis are raw, some are cooked too.
Sushi Orders
Sweet Beancurd Sushi
From the name itself you probably have an idea of what this is. This is one of my favorites because I like eating any kind of beancurd food. This sushi is Genki rice wrapped with a sweet beancurd sheet. I am unsure though of what kind of sweetener they used to make the beancurd sweet, but I like how the sweetness compliments well with the beancurd.
Surf Clam Salad Sushi
This salad sushi consists of finely chopped carrot, cucumber, and clam. I also tasted some Tobiko or caviar in it and some pieces of imitated crab meat and shrimp. All mixed in mayo sauce with some other seasonings that only Genki knows, lol. The surf clam salad is placed on top of the sushi rice wrapped with nori or seaweed. This kind of sushi was inspired by the usual surf clam salad with some additional ingredients and added to Genki's Gunkan menu or the boat-shaped rice sushis.
California Hand Roll Sushi
I ordered this kind of hand-roll sushi because it was the cheapest. I was expecting a more flavored California hand roll but seems like this one lacked something. Nonetheless, it wasn't bad at all, it was still yummy. The ingredients inside consist of meat crab in seasoned mayo sauce with some caviar. Then along with the rice, meat crab, a slice of avocado, and thin slices of cucumber, all wrapped with toasted nori or seaweed sheet.
Non-sushi orders
Takoyaki
Takoyaki in Japanese is an octopus ball in English. It is derived from Tako which means octopus and yaki is probably the Japanese term for the cooking process. This is my favorite on Genki's hot food menu as it has distinctive flavors. I regretted not eating these takoyaki balls after it was served as they weren't crispy on the outside anymore when I ate them, still hot inside though.
Takoyaki isn't sushi but is part of Genki's hot food menu. This is one of the famous Japanese snacks. It is crispy on the outside with soft batter on the inside and it is perfect to eat while it's hot. It consists of diced octopus, some bits of tempura, pickled ginger, and onion. Two kinds of sauces were drizzled on top of takoyaki balls. Mayo sauce on the half side and takoyaki sauce on the other half, with thin slices of seaweed flakes on top. I wasn't sure of the brown-colored flakes, but google says it's bonito flakes.
Cold Udon with Sesame Sauce
The first served order was eaten last, lol. Because why not? It was literally cold anyway, I just made it colder, lol. The cold udon, from the name itself, is obviously cold udon noodles topped with a piece of skinned shrimp, thinly sliced cucumber and omelet egg, shredded crab meat, and caviar on top.
Just pour the sesame sauce on top, mix, and enjoy the cold udon!
The sauce only has a mild flavor and I was expecting a tastier one. Or I probably needed more sauce to totally coat the udon noodles and make it tastier. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the last dish.
Do you know that pickled ginger is also served in sushi restaurants?
They are free by the way. You can order as much as you can. My first time eating pickled ginger here in Hong Kong was in a Genki restaurant too a few years ago. And every time we are visiting one, I am always looking for it.
This is supposed to be mixed with the soy sauce to add some sweet, sour, and spicy flavor but I always opt to eat it directly in between food without dipping it into the sauce. It somehow reminded me of atsara or Filipino-style pickled ginger. The purpose of eating pickled ginger is to cleanse the palate so you can enjoy your next sushi. Some use this to get past the burning taste of wasabi, just like my boss who loves eating sushi with a lot of wasabi on her sauce plate.
Aside from sushi, there are more choices of food on Genki Sushi, such as salads, soups, and other hot food, appetizers, desserts, and drinks. For the drink, if you wanna save money, you better just drink the free and unlimited matcha green tea prepared by yourself on your table.
Burp! I was done eating after an hour, with three plates, one tray, and one bowl, on my table, lol. This cost me a stash of HK$101.90 from my pocket.
What I like about Genki Sushi is its fresh food. Their rice is harvested from their own rice field in Japan and some seafood products from their own farm.
I opted to have a walk at the Kowloon park behind the mall after buying cold green tea from a tea shop. I felt too full after eating the udon so I needed to burn the food I ate.
(Check out my travel blog about this park here A Virtual Tour To The Walled City Of Kowloon)
Then I looked for a perfect spot where I could sit down and relax while having face time with my family abroad. This was where I spent my whole afternoon.
I decided to become inactive on all platforms yesterday as I wanted to give myself more "me time." But later in the afternoon, I opted to finish my travel blog as I know Monday will be a busy day. I stayed at this park until night it looked more stunning at night.
And guess what my dinner was? Still hand-roll sushi I bought from a supermarket. It tasted yummy too and was cheaper compared to the ones in Genki.
So literally, this day was a Sushi Day for me. A worth it self treat I should say.
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madam yung sushi at takoyaki talaga bet ko pero yung cooked sushi heheh...