Gen Sushi (Montvale, NJ)

I wrote this a while ago and forgot it. Whoops.

Never thought I would get a sushi recommendation at the bookstore.

Mags and I were in the cookbook section of Borders when she blurted out, "You know, I haven't had sushi in a while."

I was flipping through the Momofuku book and automatically responded with "That's surprising."

"So yeah... let's get sushi."

Still going through the book, debating if I should buy it. "I guess so, where's a good place around here?"

So we're standing in the cookbook section trying to think of a place to eat, when one of the workers rounded the corner and walked toward us.

"I've heard of this really good place up in Montvale. I can't remember the name, but it's in this shopping plaza with the antiques place." She then proceeded to mention something Anthony Bourdain said about not trusting discount sushi. We thanked her for the recommendation and headed back north.

Gen has been open for eight years. And considering how long I've lived in this area, I keep forgetting it's there. Maybe it's because it just happens to be in the same shopping plaza as Peter Wong's, and I don't venture very much past that. Or maybe it's people like Matt who think it isn't that great that has kept me away.

But it was late, and we were hungry. So Gen it was. This first thing we noticed when we headed in? A cop car pulled up to the front of the restaurant, and asked the delivery guy if it was too late to order something. Mags and I thought he was going to say something about the cars parked there, but I guess his stomach came first (and if you were wondering, it wasn't too late to order dinner).

Their dinner service was winding down and only a few tables were occupied. The host/delivery guy brought us to a table in the back, to get us away from the draft. It was much appreciated and we had a nice view of the fish tank (right behind it is one of their hibachi tables, they've recently expanded so they might have a couple more). We took a quick look at their menu (which looked pretty big at the time) and placed our orders.

buttered squid. amazing.

winter roll. fried sushi. they really love their crab. i love it too.

green tea ice cream. very green tea flavored, and creamy to boot. may give peter wong's green tea a run for their money.