Some time
ago I wrote a short guide to sushi and gave a recipe for a
budget, home made sushi (available here). Now the time has
come for a review of one of my favourite sushi bars - Genji Sushi in
Kraków.
Genji Sushi
is a two-level restaurant: there's a light, quite spacious room on
the ground floor and several smaller rooms in a dark, slightly musty
cellar. Both levels are full of Japanese bric-à-brac and
decorations, which create an oriental feel. The restaurant's name
derives from a Japanese book from the 11th century
considered the oldest novel in the world. 'Genji Monogatari' or 'The
Tale of Genji' is a story about life and love affairs of Prince Genji
written by a Japanese noblewoman, Murasaki Shikibu. I think the
restaurant's name is an interesting choice - on the one hand, it's
quite simple and eye-catching, on the other - it alludes to one of
the greatest pieces of literature in Japanese history.
Eating sushi
isn't a very cheap pastime but it isn't as extravagant as one may
think, especially if you have a Kraków's discount card, Karta na Plus. Usually one sushi set in Genji (from PLN 35 up) will allow
to satiate an appetite of a not-too-hungry person. If you're starving
however, you should choose a set with lots of fish and tempura
(deep-fried batter. Very tasty but also very fattening! :)). You can
also order a starter, for example miso soup with soybean paste (PLN
5). Its taste is quite distinctive but if you like tofu, you should
like it as well (but, honestly, I don't...). Fortunately, wantang
soup with dumplings (PLN 13) turned out to be much tastier and more
nourishing.
My favourite
dishes are uramaki (or 'inside-out roll') with crunchy tempura
shrimps and nigiri ('hand-pressed sushi') with butterfish.
Butterfish, as its name suggests, is as tasty and soft as butter (but
watch out because butterfish can sometimes cause indigestion). In all
the sushi sets, thanks to the perfect balance of light food (such as
rice, fresh cucumber, nori seaweed) and more nutritious ones (fish,
seafood, tempura), you can taste a strong flavour of umami - one of
the five basic tastes, described as meaty, fatty or simply delicious.
We went to
Genji a few times and on each occasion the food was equally fresh and
tasty. The waitresses are very friendly but I have a mixed feeling
about the waiting time. Once we had to wait for our food for over an
hour (!), because apparently the restaurant was inundated with
guests. But next time we visited Genji, we told the waitress about
the delay in the past and she made an extra effort to cover over the
bad impression - our food was served in no more than 10 minutes.
Genji Sushi is a perfect place for a romantic date in one of the
dusky cellar rooms, a dinner with friends or simply a quick lunch
with delicious sushi and umami.
Address: ul.
Dietla 55, Kraków (Kazimierz)
Strona www:
genji.pl
