Genji

$$

We had dinner tonight at a fabulous Japanese restaurant in downtown Ottawa. We wanted to have a light meal before catching a movie at the World Exchange and this place is just around the corner. I had been here once before, in the summertime. I remember the food being good, but unfortunately I also remember it being scorching hot in there. I don't think their AC was working at the time. My opinion of the place now? I definitely want to go again, soon. I would have liked to stay a lot longer tonight too. The atmosphere is very serene, the service is good and the food –fabulous. My only regret is we weren't there to stuff our faces, because the dishes on the menu were all very tempting. I started off with the Gyoza, probably my favourite dish on any Japanese menu, pan-seared dumplings with beef and vegetables with their house dipping sauce. These were probably the best gyoza i've had anywhere, not greasy at all. Then I had the Spicy Tuna Tempura Maki, a tempura fried tuna roll with green onion, cucumber and Japanese mayo. They were heavenly. My husband ordered the Kaiso Salad, 3 assorted seaweeds with Genji sesame dressing, delicious! And the Vegetable Tempura, also amazing. I had a couple pieces of that as well and the veggies were cooked to perfection, the beans still had a nice crunch to them. Another dish that caught my eye but that I didn't order was the Tosa Tofu, dry fried tofu wrapped with bonito flakes, I saw a picture of it and it looked great. Oh, and I forgot to mention, they started us off with an amuse-bouche of marinated salmon that was quite yummy. I'm looking forward to my next visit. Their soups and salads range from $2.75 to $8.95, appetizers from $3.95 to $13.95, maki from $3.95 to $15.95, nigiri from $3.95 to $9.95, sushi and sashimi from $6.95 to $29.95 and mains from $9.45 to $22.95. They also do catering and take-out.

www.genji.ca