Genji Japanese Restaurant

This is one of my favorite, go-​to restaurants in downtown Ottawa. It is not super cheap, but the quality is there. Also, the atmosphere is generally very mellow and relaxing.

Pretty much anything is really good there. Sushi are the highest grade I could find in Ottawa but be prepared to pay big time for it. It’s $$$

Was there late, ordered rainbow maki ($ 13) and miso soup ($ 3.5) to go. Back to hotel and was disheartened to find mere 6 small bites in the box.
pros: reasonably good maki, fish was fresh.
Cons: portion way too small for the price charged.

Yay! I’m a fan. Genji must’ve been paying attention to all of the Unilocal reviews. I was there today for lunch and may I say was pleasantly surprised. First, I will start with the service. The service was above par — professional, courteous and quick. Everything from being greeted at the front door all the way through to receiving the bill at the end was smooth and timely (but not rushed if you know what I mean).
The food was delicious which I was pretty much expecting based on the reviews I read. I had the Maki Set Special (no substitutions) served with miso soup & salad
Maki Set (8 pc California roll, 2 pc Futomaki, 4 pc spicy salmon roll) all for $ 13. Great value. It was delicious and I must say that the spicy salmon rolls were probably the best I have ever had. Fresh and delightful. Yummy.
The restaurant is located on Lisgar street in downtown Ottawa. Not far from the Ottawa Public Library just in between Elgin and Metcalfe street. Maybe not the fanciest Japanese place that I’ve ever seen but we were sold between the delicious food and the rice paper walls/​partitions in between the tables — gave great privacy between people and it felt like we had a ton of privacy.
We made reservations for lunch on a Thursday but didn’t really need them. Genji wasn’t as busy as I had predicted it would be. Probably because the time of year and sub zero temperatures.
All in all I would recommend to a friend and I will definitely return in the future for my next sushi craving.

We went to Genji while visiting Ottawa from San Francisco. It received quite a few very positive reviews so we decided to try it on a Saturday night.
Ordered nabeyaki udon, tempura udon and salmon teriyaki. Also ordered sake (salmon) maki and tekka (tuna) maki.
Udon dishes came out well. Tempura was fine. Gave it a 3 stars because the batter was not sufficiently puffy. It may not make it in Japan but was O.K. measured by American standard. One thing more positive was not the dipping sauce came with grated daikon (radish). At most other restaurants you have to ask for it. Sometimes the restaurants have no clue what it is.
Salmon teriyaki came out quite dry and hard. Over-​grilled?
Service was acceptable. Although the restaurant was not full, there were 2 tables with 8 and 9 guests each. Service was bit slow partly because it had only 2 servers. They were very busy. Large groups might be the cause for a noisy place.

Possibly the best Japanese place according to a picky Asian from Shanghai. They offer courteous service and fresh material. Slowness? Uh look around before wining. It is always crammed during weekends.

I love this place. I have eaten/​ordered out of here many times and I have yet to be disappointed. The price for sushi is comparable to other restaurants of the same quality. Of course you can find less expensive sushi, but it isn’t always as good. Either way, the sushi is great at Genji! The staff here have always been friendly and professional. When I am waiting for my take out order, they give me some tea while I wait.
The restaurant itself is clean and relatively nicely designed — nothing special. There is no private lot, but there is plenty of street parking available. Sometimes you may have to park a little farther away and walk as the street can get packed quickly on Friday/​Saturday night. There is no patio.
My only complaint with Genji is the time it takes for service. It is a little on the long side. It isn’t a large restaurant, so sometimes I wonder what takes so long. However, while it is a bit long, the wait isn’t ridiculous. I can deal with it.
I’m new to Ottawa and I understand that it is a bit difficult to find good sushi. This place has great sushi so stop looking.

The food is pricy and the service is super slow. We have to wait for 45 mins for our food. It was such a small portion and we have to look for another place to have a proper dinner. To compensate the waiting time, they gave us 10% off our bill which I am not happy with. I will not come back to this place and I don’t recommend it to any friend.

Just found my new favorite sushi spot! Woo Hoo for me! So I ordered the Genji appetizer which was a tempura fried shrimp & seaweed dumplings, which I enjoyed very much. Then proceeded to order way too much sushi for just myself but was convinced at the time that I’d be able to eat all 18 pieces… whaaaatt? Ordered my staple avocado roll with the rice on the outside, the spicy tuna tempura and the sweet potato roll. Needless to say, I brought 6 pieces home already knowing that sushi is never that great the next day but Genji is an exception to the rule. It was still good (to my wonderful surprise). Not sure if I would order the sweet potato one again but it was certainly good enough to try once. Also, someone was kind enough to give me her last piece of the salmon pizza sushi which went into my doggie bag and was delish!
Finally, having been to full to order dessert (and truthfully not much of a desert person) I simply HAD to sample a bite of the green tea crème brule… OMG it’s all I can think about and can’t wait to go back!

OK — wow. This is good sushi. In Ottawa. Finally.
The restaurant is clean and fairly nice, the sushi is fresh, and the service is good. There’s no patio, and it’s a bit off the beaten path, but it’s worth a visit. It’s very difficult to find good sushi in Ottawa, and this is almost certainly the best I’ve had. Hopefully, they’ll be able to keep the quality up!

Best sushi in town! Very creative with dishes. Nice variety for people who don’t like sushi as well. Great service as well.

The first thing I have to be totally honest about is that I’m a Vancouver girl. I know that means I have a higher bar for sushi than most who haven’t been eating it for years. That being said, I am totally open to other options.
We went here after work on Friday and it wasn’t packed so we just sat at an open table, which was great. They bring you a little appy to snack on while you decide. That was also really lovely.
I had some tea, which was decent and a Ohitashi which is spinach with a sesame sauce. Similar to gomai but not. I have to be honest, it was too watery. It wasn’t the end of the world but for $ 6 it could have had more flavour.
I then had Sakura which is a sashimi dinner. It included rice, miso and a salad. The salad was quite good, it was the usual lettuce with random japanese dressing. I enjoyed it and the miso.
Everyone raved about the sushi here, so I figured it was safe to go for the sashimi which is my favourite thing at sushi.
It was okay. The whole sashimi platter was $ 25, which even by Vancouver prices for 16 pieces of sashimi is decent. My only complaint was that the fish was really watery. I don’t know how that happens but I wasn’t blown away.
Then when the meal was over they dont bring you your bill, you just go up and pay.
All in all it was okay, it certainly felt like ‘fine dining’ they pay a great attention to detail in the service and plating and everything, I just felt that the price point to quality left a little to be desired.

Very nice décor and vibe for an intimate evening or date. Very modern design but maintains some traditional japanese elements. Good bar and sake selection. Food, much like downtown, was a little sub-​par – so don’t come in expecting a Japanese flavour explosion. Recommended if downtown for dinner. They stay open till 10.

Genji is one of the better sushi restaurants in Ottawa. I’ve never had a bad meal or received poor service. The dishes are beautifully presented, the fish, rice and vegetables are always fresh and flavourful and the menu is extensive. Genji offers many vegetarian options. They are one of the few restaurants that have ume-​boshi, a Japanese pickled plum, on the menu.
My only «gripe» would be the price. Genji is possibly the most expensive Sushi restaurant in Ottawa. None the less, it’s totally worth it.

I have to say, I ended up at Genji out of desperation. I was staying at the Lord Elgin and was quickly running out of time to grab a bit before closing time and could find few within walking distance that caught my eye. The funny part, though, is that I actually came here four years ago and completely forgot how good it was.
Despite being that awful customer who strolls in for dinner 40 minutes before closing time, the service was impeccable. Friendly, helpful, and no indication that they were trying to rush me out. Of course, I was trying to be good by ordering quickly and paying for my bill when the food came, but they insisted that I relax and take my time. Nice touch!
The menu is pretty big! More than just your standard sushi selection, you can get lost in the options. I went with the tempura sweet potato roll dotted with a gorgeous berry sauce, the spicy vegetable roll, and the green dragon roll (asparagus, cucumber, enoki mushroom wrapped with avocado).
What? I was REALLY hungry!
I didn’t even notice, but I guess my meal took a little more time than they had hoped to prepare so after about eight minutes, my server brought out a complementary bowl of miso soup. What I loved was that it wasn’t apologetic but rather: «Your sushi is almost ready. Here. Have some soup.»
You can’t argue with that!
I find Genji sushi consistently has more distinct flavours than other rolls I’ve had. Each roll is distinct in its own right which makes bouncing in between maki so much more fun and delicious.
This is definitely on my list for my next Ottawa visit and probably every single one after that!

Went here on a recommendation from some friends for a 5-​year wedding anniversary celebration. I have to say that I was a little disappointed in the atmosphere… I think I was imagining something more like festival japan or Suisha Gardens but what it lacked in surroundings it made up with fabulous service and great food.
My husband got a combo meal for one and I ordered a few rolls and makis a la carte. I tried out the lobster roll. It was good, but wasn’t the explosion of flavour I was anticipating. Do try the sushi wine. It was very refreshing!
I thought the prices were very comparable to any other Japanese restaurant that I’ve been to and we’ll definitely be going again!

There are two main things that I appreciate about Genji — they deliver (Fridays and Saturdays only) and they carry sashimi items on their menu that other sushi bars rarely do. They have octopus, butterfish, scallops, sea urchin, and raw sweet shrimp. Some sushi bars in Ottawa will have the first four, but I have yet to find another place that carries sweet shrimp, which, unlike the cooked shrimp you usually find, is raw and very small, and yes, actually sweet-​tasting.
I first heard about Genji when I came across their menu online. It was a really cold, windy, and icy winter day, and I was craving some sushi but just couldn’t make myself go out for it, so I was looking for any place that delivered, and I found Genji. I ordered their Umi Sashimi Moriawase, which is a 20-​piece sashimi boat that comes with soup, salad, and rice. The fish was very fresh and tasty, and it came with a really good selection, including the sweet shrimp and butterfish — my favorites. This was actually the first time I tasted sweet shrimp, and though it looked a little strange, it was quite fantastic. The only problems I had with Genji were that the sashimi slices were fairly small, so they weren’t very filling, even with 20 pieces and rice to myself, and on top of that, it cost over $ 30 without tax, delivery charges, or tip. It really satisfied my sushi/​sashimi craving, but not so much my hunger.

I’ll sheepishly admit that this place was my first introduction to sushi and it wasn’t that long ago. Come on, I grew up on a farm! But I think I picked a good place to pop my raw fish cherry.
Genji is tucked off Elgin Street on Lisgar so it relies a lot on word of mouth instead of the passerby so I think that’s probably why they maintain such good quality.
Being a sushi newbie I decided to just try the beef maki and I never thought I’d leave this place having tasted some of the best prepared beef I’ve ever had. That’s coming from a kid who spent 18 years on a farm and lived in Alberta!
The prices are a little high but my sushi loving friends tell me that’s normal for Ottawa.
I have also tried the spicy tuna rolls. Although I didn’t enjoy the texture I did think it was prepared and presented really well.
I do encourage the sushi lovers to check it out and I do recommend it to a lot of people but if sushi isn’t your thing order one of the alternatives like the amazing beef.

One of the better sushi places in Ottawa, that’s for sure. Don’t know if it’s the best, I haven’t tried enough to really say that, but it’s better than Kinki’s and Wasabi in the Market.
It’s downtown, off Elgin street on Lisgar and a bit away from any other restaurant or bar, so you really have to be looking for it to know it’s there.
Service is good, every time I have been the fish has been fresh (kinda important in a sushi place) and I always order nigiri sushi and not the rolls with mayo, hot sauce, etc, so I really notice when the fish isn’t top grade stuff.

I went with some friends who live nearby and love it. It really is a hidden gem. Turn off Elgin onto Lisgar. Once you think you’ve gone too far, there you are. Lots of sushi options. Everything we tried was fresh and tasted good. Some trendy hybrids (sushi with seared beef, chicken, sushi pizza, etc.), may scare the purists, but I had a good traditional eel roll as well as a trendy spicy shrimp roll (dynamite?) and found both of them to be very good. The beef wrapped «stampede» ordered by my friend didn’t work as well for me, but others claimed to love it.
Service was attentive and friendly and a few complimentary appetizers at the beginning of the meal were nice. Prices were not out of line with other sushi restaurants downtown and were, perhaps, a little less.
Highly recommended.