Sushi today at Genki.  Genki (1610 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley) is an unassuming place in an ugly area (San Pablo Avenue – enough said) that we passed daily – sometimes multiple times – since 2000.  Today we stopped.  Matthew and I agree that our meal was very good.  We sat at the sushi bar so we could keep an eye on the goings on with the fish and were treated to friendly service and banter.  We both had one of the basic sushi combos for about $10 and ordered two deluxe rolls.  The combos were good in that the fish was very fresh and the fish to rice ratio favored the fish.  I mean, if you can’t serve a decent piece of tuna, I really don’t care about the flaming eel and blowfish roll.  While the lunch combos might be a better value at Yammy (El Cerrito Plaza), for example, Genki’s is solid.  The salad is a little odd, though, because the dressing sort of sits on top in a little lump.  I don’t know what to make of this but it tasted good.  The rolls were fabulous – and huge.  These kinds of extravaganzas cost about ten bucks wherever you go, but Genki’s were the largest I have ever been served.  We had what they call an Island Roll, with shrimp tempura inside and salmon, avocado and lemon on the outside.  The other one had shrimp within and spicy tuna and tobiko outside.  Oh, man, so good — so pretty.  If I were wealthy I’d eat this kind of thing all the time.  We’ll  be going back soon for more rolls.

Island roll at Genki in Berkeley