A restaurant that really deserves to be my recent sushi roundup is Genki Sushi in Stellenbosch, but I didn’t get there before the deadline for the story (in February’s Wine magazine). The other day I popped in for lunch and am now happy to report that Stellenbosch has one of the Cape’s better sushi spots.
It’s a small place, hole-in-the-wall interior and seats that range out onto the lovely inner town square it’s on. Inside the sushi counter dominates, where owner Arata is very hands-on, working alongside his other chefs. His sushi sidekick also has his name emblazoned on his tunic – “Handsome” it says. The floor is a ruddy wood, the tables are black, and the ceiling is covered in white paper lights for a distinctly Oriental ambience (Handsome notwithstanding!). It’s less a restaurant than a sushi bar for quick meals.
The menu is supplemented by a blackboard, and kicks off with “Japanese tapas”, items like: tako sunomono (boiled octopus salad with wakame and cucumber – delicious); yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno (as at Nobu); yakitori; crispy bang-bang prawn; and “kudu-shi”, which I also tried – thin cooked kudu meat on sushi rice, very good indeed. The rest of the menu is dead-ahead hand-rolls, sashimi and sushi in a la carte or platters, and the quality is high. Rice is tender yet firm, the fish very well prepared. It’s also refreshing to see some “alternative” ideas to the tuna and salmon maki standards.
Wine list is small and short, but workable, and the service is willing and friendly. So if you’re in the area, do take a look.
Mon-Sat lunch and dinner. De Wet Centre, cnr of Bird and Church Streets, Stellenbosch. 021 887 5699
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One Comment
Great spot. Simple. Unpretentious. Well priced.
Ate here last night, outside in the courtyard, place continuously buzzed and turned over with walk-ins.
No fuss, attentive service. Clean, fresh flavours, well excecuted across the board.
SA really needs more restaurants of this ilk and for them to be well enough supported to survive.
No over-the-top decor, ludicrous stem ware, crockery and cutlery to push up the prices.
To be sure, the luxury establishments have their time and place, but it is sometimes difficult to escape the feeling that too many start-ups these days have the food experience too far down the wish list when planning the venture.
Thanks for a great site JP, you seem to attract a fairly knowledgeable, realistic and even handed audience too, a miracle in its own right in these days of anonymous, vitriolic posts.