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Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese
Neighborhood: Queen AnneMon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
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This place can be a little hit and miss. The big draw IMHO is the $1 sushi specials which rotate monthly. Usually 3 items. For a while they had their famed Genki Roll included in this $1 special and I couldn't stay away. They have since switched the special twice and neither of the monthly trios have been worth writing home about. The nigiri is not bad but not super fresh either (somewhat expected in these Kaiten (conveyor belt) establishments).
Service is also hit and miss. Requests from the kitchen take longer than they should, but the staff is always friendly and attentive and makes sure to greet you as you enter and wish you well as you leave.
Bottom line, if your looking to get filled up on sushi for $5-$10, this is a good choice. If you looking to spend more $$$ for some super fresh and innovate sushi, look elsewhere.
Genki is a conveyor belt sushi place in the same vein as blue c sushi and I love sushi. I was not a fan of this place: we asked three times for a spider roll off the menu and never received it. There was a $1 tuna sushi special which looked like beef jerky and didn't taste much better. I think its better to not even have a $1 tuna dish if its going to be that bad. Selection was the same as at Blue C sushi and if I knew the service was going to be almost nonexistent I would have rather gone there.
Parking is easy as this is in the same building as QFC under Lumen. There wasn't a long wait on a Friday night. I'm hoping this was an off night for them and will try to go back as my friends seem to like it.
i wonder what happened to them?
Last time my boyfriend and I went to the place, it was different.
Unfortunately, it was different an unwanted way.
Their Sushi - wasn't as fresh as they used to be. Plus, now they have a sushi rice machine, so they are more like "Sashimi on a rice ball."
Their Service- We didn't get a glass of water for like 10 mins. After 10mins, we ended up with ordering green tea. Also, the waiter did not seem to know about the menu. For example, I ordered a mackerel without knowing there are two kinds. The waiter got me the expensive one without telling me.
Moreover, the thing bothered me the most was that one of the sushi chefs kept talking to his coworkers while he was making sushi.
I didn't feel it was an appropriate manner for sanitary reasons.
I didn't feel comfortable with that especially because they use uncooked ingredients such as raw fish to make sushi.
It was disappointing experience after all, and it may be time for us to switch back to our Sushi Land.
Genki Sushi is open now. (I think Grand Opening is in January.)
I tried with my bf and his friend…
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The value of this place to me has gone way up since introducing the $1 monthly specials.
Before that, the price hike from sushiland right up the street wasn't worth the atmosphere and lemon garnishes, or enduring the weird customer service.
If you order from the kitchen, expect it to take about 15 minutes. When you're ready to be tallied and pay, have a white flag prepared to get someone's attention.
Other than that, prepare to nom on some pretty tasty food which, if you know how to order, is much less expensive than in other sit-down places.
Good: parking, no waiting, spider roll, sweet shrimp
We must have lucked out- came here Friday night at 6:30/7pm, easy parking and got seats at the conveyor belt right away. (The group right after us had to wait.) The food was ok - the sushi rice seemed kind of mushy to me but the hubby said it was alright. The spider roll was yummy. We ordered the shrimp from the kitchen because the heads come out deep fried on the side. yummy We picked up a plate of fried chicken bits and man was that salty! We ate 1 piece each and left the rest. (that was the only thing we could not eat...) Everything else was standard sushi fare. Looks clean - fun music kind of reminded me of a club. The bathroom is a journey though... into a land far far away. Enjoy the walk and leave a trail of rice to find your way back!
3rd best Takoyaki in Seattle. Ordering it takes ages, and while it comes to you hot the batter on the inside is rather clumpy, not gooey. I want goo.
Servers here are the slowest I've ever encountered and one straight-up looked me in the eye and turned away when I was trying to wave her down. However I can't complain about the $1 monthly specials. Amazing.
Faith Y. says, "I can still smell the natto on your breath" fifteen minutes later. Sorry Faith, you're going to have to deal with my pungent breath because I love me some fermented soy! The slimy snotty texture mixed with the strong distinctive taste is an absolute delight. Perhaps, I'm not really making the best case for it if I'm describing it as snotty, but it's definitely worth a try because it is a delicacy of Japanese cuisine and very high in protein. But as a warning, your dinner companions might make you eat like 10 Tic-Tacs (thanks, Faith) afterwards. But note that it's a really good deal for Natto here too -- $1.80 for two pieces!
Shrimp Tempura (Special of the Day -- $1.00) -- SCORE! SCORE! SCORE! SCORE! Pretty basic tempura + avocado roll, but I love it. One SCORE! for every plate I consumed.
Japanese Braised Pork ($1.00) - fatty pork in sauce! Good - I don't recommend it if you don't like fat though.
D.I.Y. (Do-It-Yourself) California Hand Roll ($2.20). They keep the nori in the plastic like a Kraft American single, so it doesn't get soggy while it's spinning around the kaiten.
Unagi ($2.20) - very sweet sauce on the unagi, but usual fare.
Overall, pretty standard -- wasn't wow'ed, but will definitely come back.
I really like this place. The sushi is FRESH and made with a high degree of quality. Its no Shiro's but for a 'conveyor belt' style sushi joint its the best quality I've tasted. I went back in August and they were running a monthly special, spicy tuna roll and Ebi nigir for $1 a plate -- deal! The ebi was fresh and the sushi rice was on point, perfect balance of rice vinegar and the rice was cooked perfectly. They also offered some unique side dishes that were tasty. My favorite was Takoyaki and Tofu Steaks - very tasty. You can order off the menu if you don't want sushi but I wouldn't recommend that.
The wait service was not so great, a bit slow but friendly. The sushi chefs were great and very attentive. The joint is small and located right outside of the QFC (not the best location). The sushi chefs all wear a white coats and white chef hats which made it feel more authentic for me. Overall the joint serves fast and fresh sushi...and peep the monthly deals, they run a different one each month. So if you're tired of Sushiland and Blue C this joint is a great alternative...I'll be back.
If you come here, it doesn't hurt to print these coupons out! One for 20% off Dine In and one for 15% Take Out! http://www.valpak.com/...
We ate here twice (once for lunch and once for dinner) and it was decent sushi conveyor belt experience.
I'm used to the sushi boats of SF, but the conveyor belt holds alot more plates.
The sashimi isn't the freshest unless you see the Japanese Chef cut it - which on our dinner trip it happened!
The selection was good and there were monthly specials like $1 Mackeral and Pork Belly (yummy).
An observation of the clientele, on both trips, the locals ate 5-7 plates each (mainly the $1 plates and always split the bill) ... you Seattle folks are CHEAP - that included the gay Asian and White couple, the 3 college kids, the 2 UPS drivers, and the 2 white guys that couldn't decide how much tip to give them IN COINS!! OMFG!!! On the other hand, the "dumb" tourists ate $20-25 per person (that included us) and seem to enjoy the food.
A tad more expensive than Sushi Land, but the coupons helped :P
One last note...not that it ruined the experience or "authenticity", but the sushi chefs and wait staff included all nationalities under the rainbow. In SF, if a Chinese or Korean person opened a Japanese restaurant, they would get roasted for not being authentic. With that type of yelp logic, then this place should get one star, but I'm not the norm and I had a good time here.
Ok...so this place has gone downhill in my mind...I gave it a 4 before but now it is a 2, on the verge of a 1.
As we were seated it took me awhile before I grabbed anything...a lot of the dishes just looked kind of meh. My friend loves mackerel and since there was plenty of that going around he was elated. I eventually grabbed a plate of seared salmon and wasn't too excited by it. I normally am gobbling up raw salmon...the more the merrier in my mind but on this visit it wasn't appealing as the same two plates kept circling the chefs over and over for more than 30 minutes.
I am not removing stars because of the lack of salmon...heck I could have just ordered it if I wanted to, direct from the source. The reason I am lowering it to a 2 was because of a last minute choice by my friend and what the waitress said to us next.
The chef had brought out a small whole fish from the fridge...removing the head, innards, and then began slicing through creating very pretty pieces for nigiri sushi. My dining partner's eyes widened with excitement and snatched the first dish that came around. As he ate his face turned into that face that no one wants to see...the face that says, "Why does this taste like this?" he didn't even have to say a word...I knew that the fish was not fresh. What made it even worse was that the small piece of skin that was still attached had scales...SCALES on it and a small bone in the flesh.
My dining partner and I still had a few items in front of us and were looking for something else to cleanse his palate of this nasty fish. All of a sudden the waitress came out and said, " You want the check, right?" WTH? If my plates were empty and I was sitting around looking for you then yes I want my check...if I have food on my plate and am looking at the conveyor belt what exactly made you think I wanted my check?
In my mind bad fish is a serious offense...if your main food item is fish you better know damned well how to clean it and decipher if it is fresh. I was mortified. This is the first time that I have ever gone to any sushi establishment and had scales on any piece of fish served. That plus the waitress just made the whole experience memorable...but in a bad way.
Given the fact that I liked them so much the first time I am willing to go back but I fear it may be the last time I ever eat sushi there again.
Luckily I read the reviews so I knew that I needed to go through the QFC in order to find this… Read more »
This place has several things going for it that could very well give it sustainability in this already sushi saturated city. First off, the "no-longer-novelty" sushi train dining experience has because ubiquitous enough that folks see it as a casual alternative to the sometimes "event" like vibe of top quality sushi dining. But it's always been the case that the sushi train just never had good sushi, just fish that is "literally" on its final victory lap around the track.
Regardless, the monthly specials at Genki offer a "ya never know what ya gonna get" type of excitement that you usually only get at the craps table. The salmon sashimi special was a huge surprise. A couple of bucks for a couple of pieces of sashimi; tough to say no to.
Based solely on the food, I'd give this place three, maybe even four stars. The sushi isn't amazing but it is perfectly respectable, the prices are low, and the appetizers are tasty. And yet...
The WORST service I have had in any restaurant in a very long time. The waitresses ignored us, brought the wrong things, forgot the things we ordered, then argued--i mean, really got *itchy--when we asked them to remove charges from our bill for items that we didn't order or didn't receive. We seriously considered dining and dashing because it took them 20 minutes to bring our bill.
Not worth this kind of abuse for average conveyor-belt sushi.
I'm a fan!
Pricing is reasonable, presentation of all dishes were nice, and the quality of fish seems better than Sushi Land's across the street. There's much more variety and an assortment of things on the conveyer belt as opposed to the same dishes all stacked in a line going round and round.
I also love that the restaurant has parking in the QFC parking lot because finding parking around that area can be a pain around dinner time. Don't expect this one to be similar to the Genki in Hawaii though! I heard it is significantly different, but not in a bad way.
I had high hopes of this place, saying it was THE kaiten sushi place to go to. (They probably haven't heard of my current favorite place, *ahem). But that's ok b/c I like trying new places out.
Lets start off by just saying that this place is definitely above sushiland... but that's not saying much yet. They have a decent variety of items, hot and cold and rolls of sorts. Not as much variety as another place... but more than the other sushi places i've been to. The agedashi tofu was pretty good fresh. The marinated piece of pork would've probably been better had it been hot still. The soup they served that night was pretty darn good. Overall, the food was alright. The decor of the place was pretty nice. Free parking under QFC was also a plus.
Unfortunately... no place is without faults. This place probably has one of the smallest conveyor belts... ever. Seating around the conveyor belt is limited although you can sit at tables and have servers serve you. However, I've heard the service isn't that great at the tables. Having gone on a Sat night, I was hoping for an awesome variety of food. There were some good items as listed above... but not enough to really wow me. If this is their Sat night service with full staff... they really aren't putting out enough different items. They would put out like, maybe 3-4 dishes of one item, and if it was good, it probably wouldn't even make it around one circle (given that their belt was so dang short). Chances are, you're better off ordering something, while snacking on whatever is on the belt.
All in all an enjoyable dining experience, but not an awesome one. It's hard to go from "the other place" to this one, but I don't want to dog on this place too much. It's pretty darn good and probably a better choice over the place just across the street from it. *Ouch burn... take it sushiland*
***OH, another thing I just remembered... What the heck is with the pricing of these plates??? @_@ I mean, why am I being charged 2.20 for california rolls here? and 2.90 for other stuff... and then they've got the cryptic $7 plate that never made any appearance during my visit. I kinda don't get why they don't keep the pricing more simple... maybe it's just to make people too who are too lazy to keep count, to not calculate how much they've eaten... Who knows. But it certainly is a little strange.
I actually really like Genki Sushi. I find the servers and sushi chefs here are much more courteous and friendly than at other sushi places. The seafood is always fresh. The parking is plentiful and free. The prices aren't too bad, especially when you can print coupons off of http://valpak.com. Plus they have monthly specials that you can load up on for cheap. I have been here twice, and enjoyed both times.
Food is the same quality as Sushi Land. Bleh. The decor is slightly better, and the servers are nicer.
I don't think I want to try anymore low-end kaiten sushi places in Seattle. It's just not fulfilling. I'll pay the extra $20 and go somewhere decent.
First thing first: This place is a great deal. Free parking and $1 sushi. Decor is not bad, even if the location leaves a little bit to be desired. Its odd more then anything. They have a full bar, but I was a little worried to order from it due to the lack of a bar tender.
The only problem I found was the service. It was slow and a few of the servers seemed a little unfriendly. However, the prices and quality more then made up for it.
noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
BAD GENKI! BAD!
Ventured here on a weekday evening.
What a colossal waste of time, various servers screwed up our order 3 times, and kept bringing us someone else's food.
This is what we get as we chose a table over waiting behind 10 people for seats at the belt.
The rolls tasted less than fresh, the water stayed empty, and the waitress did not know what TEKKA MAKI WAS!! argh.
To top it all off they charged us for an extra un-named item of 5.00 that we never ordered or saw. The waiter was pretty annoyed with us asking questions, maybe it was his revenge.
Not going back @ night. sniffle.
The extra star is for the torchlight parade view and awesome free parking, which you can use to visit OTHER neighborhood eateries.
Perhaps it was because we were attending Kaiten while the President of Genki was there.
Perhaps it…
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For kaiten sushi, this place is my favorite so far.
Genki's not quite as cheap as SushiLand just up the street, but it's as tasty, cleaner, has better ambiance, free parking in the QFC lot, and there are monthly specials which make the prices even more reasonable. For example, I had decent eel nigiri for a $1.
Feedback for Genki:
Lose the funky patterned plates which do not give any logical correlation to the pricing. Colors would work better, i.e. light to dark means least to most expensive. I kept having to look at the pricing guide on the wall to figure how how much flowered plates cost vs. how much the black and gold checkered plates cost.
Also, the variety of plates available tends to vary during the day. That's to be expected to meet demand and you can still order anything on the menu, but keep it in mind in case you are the type of person who wants to see the food first for quality and freshness before you decide to eat it.
Some of the plates don't have a plastic cover while on the bar, which I find a little concerning, and it would be helpful if all of the dishes were labeled for more customers who are less familiar with sushi.
The Genki chefs are friendly and will make you anything off the menu and add a custom twist if you request.
In comparison, the last time we were at SushiLand and asked if they can make a spicy scallop roll, they said "ugh, we don't do that". Meanwhile, they had plenty of spicy scallop nigiri making the rounds. All they had to do was roll up the same ingredients ... I'm just sayin'....
Blue C seems to have gone downhill in quality lately (at least the one at uvillage). The portions keep getting smaller and the prices keep increasing. In addition, the wait times at Blue C make it a test between patience vs. hunger management every time we go.
Genki is great for kaiten. It's got what you need: tasty, clean, casual, cheap, quick.
Genki has tasty sushi! There's a lot of variety on the conveyor belt, including vegetarian options; it's reasonably priced; and the fish is very good.
The service at Genki isn't great. Each time we've gone, there's been confusion over who is responsible for our drinks and non-conveyor belt orders. It feels like the servers are all inexperienced. Even when there aren't many people in the restaurant, it's hard to get the attention of a server for a refill. On a busy Friday night, we were never approached by a server once we were seated. Other people in the restaurant were really upset about the service that night, and it seemed like they weren't really able to handle a full restaurant. Hopefully these kinks can be worked out as the staff gets more experience.
I definitely recommend going at a non-peak time -- you'll have the best chance of getting what you want off the conveyor belt, and you'll get a little attention from the servers.
I love the sushi here! It's always fresh and the variety is great. As mentioned before, the prices are a little higher than Sushi Land. But there seems to be a lot of specials and a nice $1 menu, so if you're trying to be frugal (and I usually am) it isn't too difficult at Genki. Also the last couple of times I've dropped by, they include a 10% off coupon w/ my check. Every little bit helps, right?
Service is fine, the food is great, and parking in the QFC garage when I don't feel like walking makes this place a winner in my book!
You can't beat Genki's price for sushi. It's not gourmet quality, of course, but for $20/person you can eat large pieces and get your fill on the cheap. They have a rotating $1 special (has been unagi, sake, etc. in the past) and a nice atmosphere. Sometimes they can be a little slow in replacing popular items - but overall it's a solid choice and sound value.
The reason why I decided to give Genki a try in the first place was that my friend's brother, who is very knowledgeable about food, went to Genki and didn't recognize half the food on the belt. Sure enough, for the first time ever in a kaiten sushi place I had to ask the sushi chef what a few of the non-specials on the belt are. There were some pretty interesting and delicious things there---I remember this roll that had some kind of sweet shrimp paste in it that I ended up really liking.
In terms of prices Genki seems to be pretty cheap, especially with their specials. $1 eel maki/sushi? Nom nom nom. Really, I could've eating nothing but eel maki for the evening. Luckily, they also had small bowls of extremely cheap udon for variety.
Speaking of variety, I really do like the variety of Genki's offerings. Maybe they don't really have more items out on the belt compared to other kaiten places but they have a range of more Hawaiian (or, perhaps, just more popular in Hawaii but still very Japanese) offerings like the garlic salmon sushi (salmon sushi with garlic blowtorched[!!!!!] on top of the salmon; sushi, garlic and creme brule, together at last!) and cheap fried fish. Also, they had that Japanese fried vegetable cake thing that was not tempura, which I grew up on in Hong Kong but haven't been able to find in many places in the US.
There were two problems I had with Genki, though, that prevents it from getting 5 stars. First, there aren't many seats by the belt. Scientifically it's because the belt is convex and thus encloses a large area while minimizing perimeter. I'm sure convex belts are cheaper to make but it does really mean that many seats were not close to the sushi. The place was half empty when I went there and we still had to wait ten minutes for a booth at the belt. The second problem is that their plates are hard to distinguish from each other. Instead of red = $6, blue = $5, etc. it's checkboard-pattern plate = $3.20, stripled plate with laces on the decal = $2.45, etc., which makes it hard to made split second "should I get this" decisions.
One other thing I love about Genki: it's another fine example that you don't need Japanese/Oriental sushi chefs to have good sushi.
Final note: the path from the sushi place to the bathroom is like this white, long hallway with pipes. If you ever played Mirror's Edge, it's exactly like the game and you really really want to walljump to the pipes above you. Don't.
When I was living in Honolulu, there was a Genki Sushi location on Kapahulu Avenue about two blocks from my house. Genki is a big sushi chain there, so when the Seattle branch open, I was happy that I would finally get to try it out. Then came the mixed reviews on Yelp, which kept me away until now.
It took the urging of a couple co-workers to get me to try it out. Genki is located in the relatively new QFC near Seattle Center. There is a free lower level parking lot and the restaurant is on the second floor near OfficeMax.
I was not sure where Genki placed in the order of kaiten sushi places, but I was pleased to see that it is the middle ground between Sushiland and Blue C Sushi. Prices are slightly above Sushiland, but the selection is superior here. There are a wide selection of sushi choices here, including nigiri, sushi rolls and hand rolls. There also numerous appetizers and hot food choices here.
There was a decent selection of $1 menu items including monthly specials, which included unagi rolls, unagi nigiri and agedashi tofu. All of which I enjoyed. They also had a tempura California roll that I enjoyed. There were a few issues to be sure here including a few items circulating on the conveyor belt for a while and one part of the floor seemed slightly grimy.
Though, overall the food here was good and I am jumping from Sushiland over to Genki (at least in regards to supremacy over Queen Anne) in my choice for kaiten sushi.
Came here late night (10-11pm) with my kids after a visit to the Space Needle (just a couple of blocks away). The server was very attentive with water, special orders, etc. The miso soup was excellent and the sushi was fresh and delicious. My son special ordered Tako Yaki, which he had seen on Katamari. This is an octopus dumpling with sauce and fried onions on top and OH MY GOODNESS was it good!!!
The cream puffs, coffee Jello, and mango pudding were great desserts. The atmosphere was also nice, with good music and friendly people. And our bill, even with an 11 year old and a 13 year old scarfing down many plates of sushi, was not awful! It helped that we got many of the $1 specials (shrimp on rice). Yummy yummy.
I recommend Genki Sushi highly... But I'll admit that the great server may have made all the difference. (The sushi chefs, however, were also courteous and quick!)
Went here for dinner with my fiance and friends. The food was okay. They didn't have very much of a selection out on the belt and the chefs behind the kaiten seemed more concentrated on the tables that had ordered rather then the people sitting up front. For most of the night the belt was at max 2/3 full and at its lowest about half full of items to pick from. The sushi itself was good. Though the nigiri pieces weren't made very well and fell apart as soon as you touched them.
I ordered a few items from the kitchen that needed to be fried up. Takoyaki, Chicken Kaarage, and Agedashi Tofu (which they called Tofu Steaks for some reason). Took about 20 minutes for them to come out and the Takoyaki was warm on the outside and ice cold frozen on the inside. I talk to the waitress about it and had it sent back in. Got a new set which was okay, warm on the inside and warmer on the outside. The takoyaki are premade frozen balls that they fry up. I'm not sure if the other fried items are premade as well.
The selection of sushi is okay. They have a lot of seafood ones but tend to put out more of the common ones like shrimp and some tuna. Didn't see much salmon, eel, mackerel, yellowtail, or scallops. Wait staff wasn't bad that night. They were attentive and took our orders pretty quickly. Overall I would have liked more stocked belt with a bit more variety.
First place I go for sushi. Free parking, close, and great food. I go there enough for most all of the servers know me and already start preparing what I usually order. Super friendly and a much cleaner/classier place than the sushi land across the street.
Okay... same rating but I'll tell ya that the economic downturn has resulted in lower prices and more $1 specials. Another visit here and we our bill came our in Sushiland territory. I'd really give a 4.5 due to the value and quality.
Tako for $1 was fresh and delish. Kampyo maki and takuan maki were very good. The chawan mushi is still my wonderful comfort food with bay shrimp, surimi and some nice slices of shitake.
Every time we go here the food is great and the service is also very good. Now that they have a few more tasty $1 plates it's hard to stay away. It makes me want to try the happy hour due to the specials and the nice sake selection.
I'm still in the honeymoon stage with Genki Sushi. I've been a longtime fan of another kaiten sushi… Read more »
Ambiance - B+
Staff - A
Food - A-
Price - A-
Okay - I had to update my review as I went back for my 2nd visit last night to celebrate a friend's birthday, so there were 3 of us and this gave us more of an opportunity to try more varieties of sushi choices to share.
We sat in the booth tables by the conveyor that are so big you can probably fit 6 people (comfortably) .
I was a little disappointed to notice that spilled soy spots were along the booth chair backs and so noticeable that no one had cleaned up the spill and the soy had dried on to the white leather interior ... tch tch... bad oversight.
Finally got to try some newer experiences:
- fried salt/ pepper salmon bits $1 - SO GOOD... like eating it by itself or taking a bite when eating another bit of sushi to give a different texture taste.
- Spider roll (soft shelled crab) - perfectly cooked and crispy... good flavors
- Fried almond Jumbo shrimp - I was battling with this one, thought I could eat like the softshell crab, but NO...this one I had I found out from the server that it was prepared incorrectly before frying. The chef forgot and should have cut open the tail before battering. I learned that I should have been able to just pick out the meat with my chopsticks/fork, but instead I was trying to force out the meat and causing a mess. I was surprised the server didn't make the attempt to correct this chef faux pas and correct by providing me another one or taking off the bill. Well, I should have ASKED!
and still the $1 monthly special sushi is always a good deal! You don't even have to wait for happy hour, $1 menu items are served all time! COOL!
I do have to recommend next time, that they need a picture menu as it's confusing what's going around the conveyor, i found it funny when asking what was on one of the plates...and sometimes the sushi chefs took a while to figure out what was the fish or the roll that was made.
For the 3 of us , we were stuffed and ended up paying $20 per person including tip! So, CHEAP!
Also, parking is currently FREE in the QFC parking lot below... I hope people don't start taking advantage of this for events around Seattle Center! hint!
Ambiance - A
Food - A (-)
Staff - A
Price - A
Great neat, clean and cool contemporary style interior…
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Another kaiten (conveyor) sushi bar. But..this one to me has a bit more charm and atmosphere than rivals sushiland and blue C. This was my 1st and only visit but their offerings seemed a little more diverse and are perhaps a little better value. For example I've never seen a natto roll at sushiland, Genki had a spicy tuna roll for $1.
Service was good but a little inconsistent, we either had multiple people or nobody. Overall I like it as another place to get a quick inexpensive sushi fix.
Visited Genki on two seperate occasions and had two night and day experiences.
The first time we went on a weekday and there were a fair amount of customers, but even so the waiter brought us drinks right away and was fairly attentive. The sushi selection was pretty typical, with a few nice surprises thrown in (though often on the pricier side). Everything seemed very fresh which is always a must in conveyor belt sushi.
The second time however, it took 5-10 minutes for the host/hostess to even realize we were there to be seated. We never even had our drink order taken and no one ever checked in on us to see if we need something extra like miso soup (which I was actually really looking forward to that day). Normally I'd assume this level of service would be when they were super busy, but this was a mildly busy day and not even 3/4 of the seats were filled.
So with that they get their stars for the freshness of the sushi and that's it. Never going back.
First of all, this place is great because it's right down the street from my house! I've been to the chain in Honolulu, and I must say that the one in Seattle is different; in a good way.
The atmosphere and decor is much more modern and hip; they play pop music and have a bar. Happy hour twice a day is always a good sign too! The sushi is always fresh and they have a huge selection on their menu. With rolls and sushi ranging from $1.00-3.80, its a pretty good deal for decent sushi. I have to say between Sushi Land and Genki, I would definitely choose Genki.
One downside I have with the restaurant is the service. Now I'm not one to demand immediate service and I totally understand when it gets busy, but the waitstaff could be a lilttle more prompt. A friend and I had to wait for about 20 mins. the other night...when there were plenty of open tables and seating around the sushi-bar. And when we did get seated, we waited for another 10 min. to get water and soysauce plates. However, our waitress was not rude and the delicious sushi was worth the wait.
I'd definitely recommend Genki to sushi-lovers on a budget, and those who are not trying to dine and dash.
Oh man, where to start? lol
Sure, it's sandwiched between the condos and QFC, but hey, it's not like everyone can pick the perfect spot, right (especially in downtown)? The design is clean, kinda uppy, modern, nice bold flair with a sweet art piece. The "detached" (down the hall) bathroom is a short walk but I think it's shared with the other stores. This belt is ring-style; it's a rectangle with the bar seating and 2 big group booths on one end. You also have a separate area aside just for ordering.
Today's lunch was pretty good; place was about half-full but enough to keep ordering busy. Variety going around the belt was sufficient for the balance of the moment (more ordering than belt-pulling). So, sometimes at these kaiten places you gotta figure the belt may not be at your expectation sometimes because they may be getting orders recently more than people just pulling, if u get that. The presentation on everything was nothing short of great. The $1 special salmon nigiri cuts weren't that good, but I mean can't really be snotty about that one---especially if most everything else was nice. There DOES exist great variety on the menu.
Service visits weren't too lackluster, slow or not, whenever they come they're really friendly and both I've had (the short sprite and Rie) speak Japanese and it was cool hearing them speak to alot of Japanese customers who sat next to me.
Mm, green tea ice cream. I'll be back. XD
If you want sushi that's more affordable and/or faster, then conveyor belt (kaiten) sushi is for you. DON'T go to Sushiland, as that place is horrible. Go to Genki, just a couple blocks over, where they speak English! Prices are very comparable, but the quality is actually pretty good for what it is. It's a nice restaurant with friendly waitresses and sushi chefs that don't mind questions and take special orders. They offer a good selection on the conveyor belt itself, with the addition of more options on the menu.
I've only been one time, opening weekend, for happy hour. This is a great place to kickback for some casual sushi consumption. It's right above QFC, next to OfficeMax. Hope you have a big bladder though, because you practically have to hail a cab to reach the bathroom.
The quick:
1. Best kaiten zushi in Seattle (vs. Blue C and Sushiland)
2. Order the "Saba no Bo Sushi"...the best.
3. Order from the sushi chef, 2 types at a time...the 3rd might get forgotten.
The long:
We ate at Genki Sushi on a Sunday for lunch.
I've been to the one in HNL which is more like Sushiland. This one's interior design is more upscale. I think I've read in the Times or PI that some of the ones in Japan are this way.
They seemed to have a good variety of non-sushi items on the belt. Which is cool since we order our sushi from the chef, which is common to do in Japan.
The variety of fish was better than Blue C and Sushiland. They even had engawa, which is rare for most sushi places to have. The fish was fresh and the fish-to-rice ratio was right on. The fish was cut thick enough that you couldn't see though it (lesson to learn, Blue C?).
We plan on going back this weekend to see if the results are consistent.
5/3 - went back again. Lot more variety on the belt. Sushi just as good as the first time we went!
Genki loses 1 star from my previous review because of our recent experience with the service. The wait staff is very friendly, but sometimes they disappear and you have to wait several minutes to find one walking by to place your order.
Maybe it was the time of day when we arrived (around 3PM on a Saturday), but the coneryor belt was practically EMPTY! I love conveyor belt sushi because it's basically instant gratification. That was all thrown away when we had to order 3 rolls because there was but Nigiri on the conveyor belt. Even with the coupons you can find in the ValuePak, I'm not sure we'll be back any time soon. They have some work to do first.
Last night was the second time we've been here. I really do like this place...a lot more than… Read more »
Genki? Ie!
I heard about this place through a friend who knows how much i love sushi. First off the location, not so great. It was like a stain on the wall, it's so easy to pass by and not notice it. QFC dominates the location of the restaurant. I went with some friends and we were all very hungry after a long day at work. We had to wait for two others to get there before being seated. Why are the seats that are meant to be in the waiting area all the way in the dining area? Our friends were super late so we basically stood around with no knowledge of the "waiting seats". Finally our friends arrive and I assumed we were going to be seated right away since a lot of people had finished their dinner and left while we were waiting. Wrong! Why did it take 20 minutes to get us seated when obviously there were plenty of room around the conveyor belt?
I wasn't at all impressed with their selection. Most of what was on the belt were tempura. I prefer nigiri over rolls and the only one on the belt was the seared salmon nigiri. Why do I have to order nigiri off the menu? it should be taking a journey on the belt to my mouth. And what's up with the hot dog roll? Is that a new delicacy in japan? My friends ordered udon and miso which were cold and the portions were incredibly small. The whole time my friend and I were saying we'd rather go down the street to Sushiland.
Pros: Seared salmon nigiri, green tea ice cream, and the song on their website.
Cons: portions, limited variety, and delayed seating.
The space is very clean, and this is how I feel it compares to the other conveyor belt spots in Seattle:
in comparison to sushiland:
More authentic--less simple. At sushiland you get a lot of the plain jane stuff (although the fact that they always seem to have sea urchin brings me back over and over). Here, you have a selection that is much more off the beaten path, while being very Japanese still. Sushiland however, is still a lot more affordable--but you pay for that in the fact that you have about 5 different rolls that constantly rotate in front of you.
In comparison to blue-c:
Again, more authentic. The prices are a bit closer, but likely a bit cheaper. Blue-c has a lot of fusion-type things which can really bother me sometimes. Here, you can request that, but it's still a bit better and cheaper.
I really liked Genki. It's much different from it's counterparts in Hawai'i (a lot fancier and I believe a little more expensive), but they offer Japanese sodas and desserts that you won't find at other conveyor belt spots. If you order directly from the server you'll get all sorts of different roles and dishes that you'll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in Seattle.
I'll be back!
Genki sushi logo might look like Mr.Yuk the poison control logo but there is nothing Yuk about Genki. It has been my first time at Genki for lunch (found in the QFC) but I am wanting to go back.
They have a restaurant area or the conveyor belt,I did the belt.
Their conveyor belt has sushi and non sushi items plates that start at $1.50 to 5.00,the averaged is $2.50.
They have delicious sesame chicken that was well repaired with great seasoned sauce but could of been a served warmer.
They serve Fresh sushi, rolls,shrimps served with their heads on the plates(that's what they look like?) calamari and great signature dishes.I only been to a couple sushi establishments but I can tell the difference of Genki and it's quality .
The Staff is friendly,helpful and talkative . The chief preparing sushi told me that they have a great happy hour with $1.00 fish and inexpensive drinks.
The ambiance is modern and upscale but feel comfortable coming in with t-shirt and jeans.
Pretty darn stinkin good! I went here in Singapore and was so pleased to see it came to seattle! I drove by and accidently saw the place. This place reminds me of an fancier sushiland that makes very pretty, attention detailed conveyor sushi. Nice people who work here... I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a quick lunch/dinner... They have good happy hour deals i saw but I havent gone to it yet, need to come back here for sure.
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