**** (4 stars)
This small, attractive robata bar is marching to their own drummer. We went for lunch and had bento boxes which were decidedly different from others in town.
The miso soup is served with a tofu custard in the bottom of the bowl that you mix in. The salad of mizuna greens is dressed with a potent vinegar. A large seafood croquette is nicely crusted on the outside, and filled with a hot mixture of salmon and whitefish. The main item–we had a chicken skewer and teriyaki salmon–is nested on white rice. There are also some house made pickles.
The best item we had was the salt cured cucumber appetizer, which was lightly picked and nicely seasoned.
Sushi is not available at lunch time.
Sumi Robata Bar
702 N Wells St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 988-7864
https://www.yelp.com/biz/sumi-robata-bar-chicago-2