Sushi in Chicago

[annarborfoodie]

My husband and I are escaping the corn to head up to civilization on Saturday. We both would love to get sushi (and for those of you who have met me and know about my fish allergy - I usually get a spider roll minus crab stick ).

I did a search and didn't turn up a thread dedicated to sushi in Chicago. I did find one mention in the "2006 Favorites" thread - Tsuki. That looks like the kind of place we're looking for - not too pricey but a nice evening out and good sushi. Any other recommendations?

[kobykoby]

Don't know too much about downtown - I'm in the area on business off and on and spend most of my time in the Lincolnshire ... suburban area - but I would recommend Sushi Kushi Toyo in Lake Forest - its quite authentic

[betsygee]

Hi:

When I lived downtown Chicago, I loved to hop the train and/or bus and head up to Wicker Park to go to:

Blue Fin, 1952 W. North Ave. (near Damen), 773-394-7373, & check out metromix.com

They'd often have amazingly fresh tuna options ... sometimes $$ but always great. The service is fun and lighthearted, the menu explanatory, the sushi chefs cool to watch. The atmosphere is more, as the reviews say, 'date-like' but I never knew what that really meant. I usually went alone and had a fine time. Music is contemporary ... all around a fun atmosphere for fantastic sushi (there's a great martini special there during the week, too).

Have a great time; I miss living there a lot!

-Betsy

[jesteinf]

I am a huge Tsuki fan and would highly recommend it. I haven't had a lot of their non-fish items, but the ones I have had are quite good (especially the house smoked duck). Mirai is another great choice for outstanding sushi. You can't go wrong with either one.

Tsuki

1441 W. Fullerton

(773) 983-9288

Mirai

2020 W Division St

(773) 862-8500

[molto e]

I have not eaten at Josh's picks, but I am a big fan of Kaze.

[jesteinf]

Kaze is good, but a lot of their sushi is "doctored up" with different sauces and toppings. I'm not into that style, but their fish is very good.

[molto e]

Kaze is good, but a lot of their sushi is "doctored up" with different sauces and toppings.  I'm not into that style, but their fish is very good.

←

Josh,

I like the "dressing or sauce" that accompanies some of the sushi at Kaze. They do use HIGH quality fish so I take it as an enhancement and it is not done to hide poor fish quality. Which place that you listed do you feel serves the highest quality fish?

Thanks,

Eliot

[jesteinf]

I'm at Tsuki all the time and I've always been impressed with the quality of their fish. On the infrequent occasion that I've been less than satisfied, they've been happy to replace whatever I've been eating with something way better. I haven't been to Mirai quite as often, but every time I've been the fish has been outstanding. Again, I think Kaze has excellent fish (maybe half a step below Tsuki and Mirai), I'm just not into the other stuff.

One other place that hasn't been mentioned is Heat. I've only been once, but I really enjoyed it. It's basically omakase so there is sashimi, sushi and cooked courses. Price depends on number of courses. We did their longest menu last year and for the two of us the meal was around $300 IIRC. Expensive, but I would definitely go back for a special occasion. For extra novelty, they have fresh kill sushi. Didn't try it though as the only fish on offer was tilapia.

[rickangell]

If you're willing to take the short trip to the northside, Katsu at 2649 W. Peterson is the best place I've found in Chicago. The couple that own the restaurant are lovely people, the fish is very good and there are great specials (if they have the savory egg custard, the Japanese name escapes me, or the Matsutake soup, please try them).

If you're willing to travel further, Kuni's at 511 Main Street, Evanston, is a very good, traditional sushi restaurant. I go there often, so my view of the fish is probably colored by the fact that, like all sushi restaurants, maybe all restaurants that have an owner who knows how to do business, they take especially good care of regulars.

I enjoy both and hope you get a chance to try them.

[nr706]

I can second the recommendation of Kuni's - IIRC, Kuni was the head sushi chef at the old Hatsuhana - Chicago's first "upscale" sushi bar. This place is far less pretentious. And, it's easy to get to - just off the Main St. stop of the Purple El line.

Another favorite of mine, for more contemporary sushi, is Indie Café, a BYOB that also offers well-prepared Thai dishes. Don't hold it against them that there's a slight hipster buzz here - the sushi's still good.

And tho I've never been, many people I know swear by the work of Sushi Mke, at Tanoshii, in the bustling Andersonville neighborhood. Also BYOB.

Indie Cafe

5951 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago

Tanoshii

5547 N. Clark St., Chicago

[budrichard]

Kuni's hands down. We have been served by Kuni since he was at Hatsuhana in the 1970's. Kuni is clasically trained in Japan and has stuff for regulars.

Heat and Mirai are also very good.

Be aware that most Sushi bars are like MCdonalds now, run by Korean's not clasically trained. They can be good but if you have to fill out a little form, its not authentic Japanese.

Katsu gets high marks. Sushi Kushi in Lake Forest is good but they are used to dealing with individuals with no knowledge of Sushi/Sashimi and you have to tease anything worth while out of them.

BTW, if you have fish allergies why go?-Dick

[annarborfoodie]

So, we ended up at Tsuki. We were debating between Tsuki and Mirai, and decided to save Mirai for a time when my cousin who lives in Wicker Park could join us. We really enjoyed the food, but the service left something to be desired... We had an 8:00 reservation, arrived a few minutes after that, and were seated immediately. There did not appear to be anyone waiting for a table at that time, or when we left, and there seemed to be one or two open tables all night. We got the impression that they were running low on serving plates - they snatched ours away as soon as the last piece of sushi had been picked up. With our last plate, I had to stop them three times because we were still eating our last pieces and wanted the ginger. They also seemed to be short on menus - the server left one on our table in case we wanted to order something else, but it was later snatched away by a roving hostess. It felt more like a chain restaurant where they're trying to rush you through than a "date night" restaurant. We were out the door in a little over an hour, and we had drinks, appetizer, sushi, and dessert. Speaking of drinks - I had a ginger martini that was fabulous. I had never had anything like it - it was full of grated ginger, with a slice of ginger floating on top. The best part was the last sip, with a drop of liquour-infused ginger. We did enjoy our dinner, but we'll try Mirai before we return to Tsuki (at least on a Saturday night).

[jesteinf]

Hmmm, sorry you didn't have a great experience. I will say that they sometimes get a bit overzealous in clearing plates, which can definitely be annoying.

[liv4fud]

what is your opinion on oysy?

I m new relatively speaking to the whole world of sushi.

And one of the things that's the biggest turn off - is $$.

oysy's has been the only place where I have been able to eat on a consistent basis.

my whole obsession with raw food started with sashimi platters @ benihana... continued at an all you can eat place @ Virginia beach and trying to put my sushi fix using oysy's

any other suggestions in the downtown chicago area which are manageable $$-wise and good sushi. don't know if oysy's is good sushi