Genki Sushi | Tokyo • 5 comments • Conveyor Belt Sushi in North America is probably a terrible idea, but in Japan even this cheap spot had sashimi that was better than most sushi in San Francisco. At 129 Yen for 2 pieces of nigiri, we may have gone back to this cute restaurant more than once. The color of the plate determines the price of what's on it, but I think even the priciest pick was only 259 Yen ($2.15 USD when we visited). There's all you can drink green tea, and games you can play on the screen. I also love their grumpy logo; it speaks to me. - Mina P.S. I posted a video from our visit in my instagram stories today. See it here.
koi • 10 comments • We discovered Koi in Las Vegas, were reunited with it in Los Angeles, and knew we had to go to it's New York location. We haven't ordered anything there that we didn't like and the service has always been above par. Whenever there is an opportunity to get green tea ice cream, we take it (in Japan, you can buy mini Häagen-Daz in green tea flavor!) Neither of us were familiar with mochi before we ordered dessert. Our understanding is that mochi is usually a cake. The ice cream that we got had a "skin"of mochi and it was kind of strange - not bad, just different. In truth, you just go to Koi for the crispy rice, because it's the best thing you will ever taste. I think they have one more location in Thailand. Bangkok, here we come! {Crispy Rice topped with Spicy Tuna Tartar} + {Creamy Rock Shrimp Tempura wrapped in Soy Paper} {Green Tea Japanese Mochi Ice Cream}
haru • 15 comments • The meal at Haru Sushi's Upper West Side location was just what we were looking for. I would honestly eat sushi every single day if I could. We try to sit at the bar when we can, because after reading The Sushi Economy, we have it in our heads that you get better sushi that way. Whether it's true or not, it's always neat to see the sushi chefs at work. Haru was recommended to us by a friend. We're always pretty reluctant to just walk into a sushi restaurant because it's the type of food that can easily be made very poorly. What are your favorite sushi restaurants? ...so that we know when we're in your neck of the woods.
asia de cuba • 21 comments • We celebrated Mina's birthday in Guayaquil. As mentioned earlier, there was a strong Asian influence in Guayaquil so we chose a restaurant called Asia de Cuba for the 'festivities'. We noticed that people in Mexico, Central America, and South America eat dinner a lot later than us North Americans, so, often, we were the only people in the restaurants. It was kind of nice. The food was excellent - really fresh, and well prepared. The innovative menu offers several dishes from all over the world from salmon ceviche to sushi to steak. The restaurant housed brightly colored decor and furnishing and it was nice to get out of our beach attire, get dressed up and have a proper meal in a trendy restaurant. We finished the night off with 4 different flavors of crème brûlée - our favorite dessert. - Alex
japanese in ecuador • 11 comments • We're not too sure why there was such a Japanese influence in Guayaquil, but we were glad there was. Stores, shoes, and sushi - Mina was especially happy about the sushi. She thought she would have to wait a lot longer until she was able to have some quality sashimi again.
