happy birthday em!

It was Em's birthday this week and fortunately, J&I managed to convince Pang (aka Em's 'occasionally lazy' boyfriend) to go out and celebrate. The birthday girl had decided on Jap and after a late Friday night for everyone, we found ourselves seated for lunch at about 2 @ Genki in Atarmon. Em had wanted to go Sushi-ya which is next door but a rather unfriendly waiter advised us that 'You'll be waiting too long if you want to get a table'. Fine, we didn't actually need to have to eat there; let's head next door!

Anyhow, a few of us had been to Genki before so there were no dramas about the change of location. Genki offers a wide selection of Ramen, curry, bowled rices, teriyaki; I suppose some of the more traditional Japanese dishes. Sushi-ya has the sushi and the more fancy dishes like tataki, soft-shelled crab, salads and so forth. Personally, I'm agreeable with all Japanese food and a big bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen was exactly what I needed to feed my hungry and grumbling stomach.

Gyoza to share; leading us to discuss 'How on earth do you divide 5 dumplings between 4 people?'. The ideal solution: the restaurant to serve 8 dumplings when they see there's 4 people at the table.

Pang's Katsu Curry Rice; eaten in a flash!

Em's bowl of Ramen with the huge piece of seaweed hanging out of the bowl. I loved Pang's comment: 'I thought that the piece of seaweed was meant to be A3-sized'. Well, Em decided to dunk the whole thing into the soup to make it easier to eat.

Justin's Ramen; from memory, a combination of Soy bean and chilli paste. Yum!

My Tonkotsu Ramen; served with Pickled Ginger and Pickled vegetables. The soup reminds me of that soup you get at Peking Restaurants. Yum yum!

My final comments. The serving sizes are extremely generous! We agreed that each bowl of Ramen is at least 1.5 serves of your 2-minute noodles. The bill, including drinks came to just under $60. Anyhow, after lunch you can duck into the Antique store which is across the road; lots of little knick knacks in there (even the guys had an interesting time looking at the selection of items in the store). Plenty of parking nearby for those who are driving and restaurant is just outside Atarmon station for those coming by train.