As you walk down the south side of Portage Avenue between the Bay and where Broadway joins Portage you’ll find a couple of all you can eat Sushi restaurants.So far the sushi places I have tried have been off the main drag, so I decided I wanted to give them a try.  I started off with Sushi Gen which is just across from the University of Winnipeg.

The decor of Sushi Gen is typical of any number of modern restaurants. There is though, a small alcove where you can remove your shows and dine in traditional Japanese style.  For the sake of the other patrons I kept my shoes on and chose a table.

Sushi Gen offers two all you can eat buffets.  The lunch buffet is $16.99 and the dinner buffet is $25.99.  You also have a two hour table limit to enjoy the buffet.  Compared to the prices and quantities served at other sushi restaurants I’ve been to, I’d say you need to bring a reasonably healthy appetite with you if you wish to get your money’s worth here.

Having said that, one of the things I did like about the place was that the portion sizes were a little smaller than I have gotten at other sushi restaurants, which gave me the opportunity to try a wide variety of menu items. Overall I found the quality to be quite good.  The Miso Soup has a rich tasting broth. The Seaweed Salad had a nice sesame taste along with an enjoyably chewy texture.  The rolls were rather run of the mill, with the shrimp in the Dynamite Roll being a little dry and overcooked.

Un-Photoed Favourites

The Pan-Fried Beef Noodle, I really enjoyed. Particularly the beef which was nicely seared on the outside and rare on the inside of the strips. My favourite item on the menu, and another one I didn’t photograph, were the Tempura Mushrooms. In this case no photo, because I inhaled them when they arrived. They were nice and crispy on the outside and the mushrooms were still meaty inside the batter.

I also tried the Tempura Shrimp, because everyone seemed to be ordering it, but didn’t find it to be anything particularly exciting.  The hand rolled sushi on the other hand was very fresh. Of the three pieces I tried I liked the Inari best, with its sweet crepe shell and warm rice filling.

Sushi Gen Overall:

As I said at the start of the post, this is the kind of place you need to bring an appetite to if you wish to get full value for money.  One thing I noticed many other people commenting on was how slow the service was.  I didn’t find it to be particularly slow, but I didn’t find it particularly fast either.  The restaurant was reasonably full, but when I got there most people were finishing, so I may have just timed it right.  You need two things at Sushi Gen. An appetite and a willingness to spend two hours grazing. It’s worth it.