(718) 638-8866 ● 331 Flatbush Ave (above 7th Ave) ● Brooklyn ● NY ● 11217
Directions: Brooklyn bound B or Q on weekdays or Q anytime to 7th Ave; or 2/3 to GrandArmy Plaza or Bergen. I am always searching for the perfect Sushi restaurant. As I’m originally from California, many people assume that’s where I acquired my love for raw fish, which is not entirely accurate. Although my first taste of raw Shiro Maguro (or Albacore) was in California it was not in a restaurant. We prepared it the day my dad came back from a three day fishing trip while the Albacore were running and I found the experience somewhat strange. Then when I was in high school I went to my first sushi restaurant and also had a friend who would prepare California rolls for picnics (thanks Rona!). But I didn’t become an avid sushi lover until I began working in midtown NYC back in 1998. For dinner we would order Japanese at least once per week. Of course I began by just ordering “training sushi” (California rolls, unagi, shrimp tempura [READ: “cooked”] and so on. But after I started ordering the raw stuff and got a taste for the texture and the flavor (which eventually included ordering beer and sake when out with two of my best fiends and fellow sushi lovers PT & Erica), I became hooked. In more than a few periods of my life since then my sushi habit probably surpassed a more than heavy heroine addiction (in dollar value only of course). So what about Geido?
Park Slope’s restaurant market is as fierce as it gets outside of Manhattan with restaurants failing all the time. But a few like Geido have become fixtures in the neighborhood and have cultivated loyal if not devout followings. Geido is a sushi style Japanese restaurant in Brooklyn disguised as a taco bar in Laguna Beach. The décor is rugged, loud and yet somehow muted and tasteful with lots of interesting or at least expressive graffiti on most of the walls. The wait staff is most often friendly, attentive while usually busy as hell. But what really makes this place “cook” is Osamu itamae: this guy knows how to cut sushi. I highly recommend the sashimi as well as the rolls and for the experienced, ordering omakase will never fail to mesmerize. Now, usually I find a large menu means the restaurant can’t do any one thing well. This is certainly not the rule at Geido with an expansive menu and specials board including many hot and traditional Japanese menu items; there are too many favorites for me to list. The sake menu is not huge but still offers many yummy selections including Soju. And the prices are a bit lower than what you might expect for a dinner of this quality. But what really brought my attention to this restaurant during my first visit back in 2003 was the sushi rice. When I was a novice but avid sushi lover and living in Laguna Beach, I would go out with some of my more experienced sushi loving friends and they would always talk about the rice. They would have discussions about it and critique it as one of the most important areas of sushi. For me it was all about the fish. Growing up a fisherman’s son gave me a keen nose for fish. I could tell what was frozen and if so for how long or rather if it had been frozen for too long. Before flash-freezing changed the fishing industry (a.k.a. Frozen at Sea or F.A.S.) I would never order fish from a restaurant or buy from a regular grocery store. This is how I became known among my friends for being able to pick good sushi restaurants. I was focused on the fish but the subtlety of the rice eluded me. Geido is the first sushi restaurant whose rice really made me take notice. The texture and the flavor of the rice are absolutely perfect. Be prepared to wait if you go during peak hours. Geido is also closed on Mondays and does not open for lunch.
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