Genkiyaki — Restaurant in Lakewood

3.5 stars

My inner fatty went Berserker Rage on me on a Friday night, so I tried to appease it by rollin down Del Amo Blvd. to GenkiYaki.

Genkiyaki is a local teriyaki spot, offering combo bowls, udon, yakitori and what they are really known for, their tacos & fries.

The spice levels go as thus A)Ninja B)Death C)Zombie. I'm a fan of spicy, but I wanted my initial visit to start at ground level and work my way up with every subsequent visit. Perhaps I'll take the heat challenge and have my name on the wall of fame someday.

Ninja taco- Delicious lil bugger! Tender morsels of chicken & ribeye, with onions, cilantro and GenkiYaki's teriyaki sauce on a mini corn tortilla. I usually find teriyaki to be too sweet for my taste, but GenkiYaki's version had just the right amount ot sweetness to not be outside my preference. In addition, being the least spicy, the Ninja taco had a little kick to it! I'm just imagining the heat of the next 2 levels. Unfortunately, I finished the taco in one bite, but costing only a $1, it's not bad on the wallet.

Ninja fries- All the best of the taco on top of french fries! Chicken, ribeye, onions, cilantro w/ a healthy dousing of nacho cheese. It also had a little kick to it, causing my nose to run a lil bit. I enjoyed the Ninja fries, but they don't usurp the special place that Alberto's Super Fries has in my heart. I prefer real cheese over nacho cheese & the portions are larger at Alberto's. However, if you're here, then order one of these bad boys.

Service was kinda slow. Only one person was working the register, taking calls, giving out the take out orders and handing diners their food at the tables. I felt bad for the dude, as I would get flustered with all he had to do. Also, the toilet was broken, which can pose an obvious problem. I left my liquid gold for anyone having the desire to do a urinalysis. Good thing I didn't have to #2 ;p Parking is hit or miss in a private lot shared by Domino's, Foggia Italian Deli, Friar Tux etc.

GenkiYaki is a legit food option in the area. The teriyaki used in the Ninja tacos and fries has the perfect balance of savory/sweet and the prices are quite reasonable, with varied food options if tacos and fries aren't your thing. I hope service can be sped up a bit and perhaps have the bathroom looked at more...

I really do love the teriyaki at this place so it pains me to write this review right now.... I am not sure if I am the only one who noticed but this is the second time that I receive my "large" size chicken teriyaki bowl with the actual food placed in the TOP portion of the container which is actually the lid to close it. If you take a look at the container, you will see that this is clearly done on purpose in order to cut costs. The lower part of the container (where the food is actually supposed to go) is bigger in volume in terms of the height probably by about 1/4th of an inch. This is a very sneaky practice by the owner. I brought it up to the kid working there and he was like "oh well we have always done it like that..." and when I asked what time the owner would be there, he literally shrugged his shoulders and said he "doesn't know" because the owner has other businesses. I understand trying to cut costs, but hey, if you're going to charge me 50cents to use my debit card, please provide me that with the good food that you have in the correct part of the container and don't think that customers will not notice! Not all of us are naïve. I'm giving this place one star due to the sneaky practices. I'm sad but I'll just take my business...

The tacos were pretty decent, but also quite small, so I wouldn't only get tacos unless you weren't that hungry. I was way more impressed by their nachos and fries (I got the nachos, a friend got the fries; both were large, both were great.) I'm still saddened they were out of the sweet potato fries, though, which is what I'd been there to try. But I'll probably be back sometime to try them. Definitely don't get the death taco unless you -really- like eating spicy things (another friend said she did, and ordered one; she couldn't eat more than a couple bites, so I tried it. I also couldn't eat more than a couple bites. I can't even begin to imagine what their zombie taco is like, other than pain.) Food didn't take super long to get out, but it wasn't as quick as I might have expected, either. Edit: came back later, they weren't out of sweet potato fries this time. As expected, their sweet potato fries were even tastier.

Also, a fun fact I just learned (I was there for a third time today): you -can- order tacos with sauce halfway between the normal not-spicy-at-all sauce and their horrifying death tacos, for no additional charge. And they...