Category Archives: Illinois

Oysy Sushi

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Exterior

Sashimi: snapper, hamachi, salmon, eel sushi

White Dragon – white tuna, shrimp tempura, yellow tobiko, cucumber, avocado

California Sunset – imitation crab, avocado, mayo and cucumber, seared salmon, topped with a shies leaf and ikura, miso dressing

Emerald – lightly saute‘ed scallop, asparagus, cucumber, green caviar, and spicy sauce

Summer – Tuna, masago, red snapper, cilantro, avocado, green pepper, chili oil, spicy sauce, lime juice

***** (5 stars)

This stylish and spacious restaurant on Grand can get very busy, so the best place to eat during the summer is on the sidewalk. The menu is extensive, with many rolls, some cooked dishes, and all the sashimi and sushi selections you can imagine.

Beer selections are limited, but there are some nice wines and quite a few sakes.

We liked everything we had, so much that we couldn’t pick a favorite. We tried:

An assortment of sashimi: snapper, hamachi, salmon, and eel sushi. The eel was the best I’ve had.

White Dragon roll – white tuna, shrimp tempura, yellow tobiko, cucumber, avocado. A very attractive roll, and the white tuna was excellent.

California Sunset roll – imitation crab, avocado, mayo and cucumber, seared salmon, topped with a shies leaf and ikura, miso dressing. This roll was best eaten disassembled.

Emerald roll – lightly sautéed scallop, asparagus, cucumber, green caviar, and spicy sauce. The asparagus provided a nice crunch.

Summer roll – Tuna, masago, red snapper, cilantro, avocado, green pepper, chili oil, spicy sauce, lime juice. This one probably had the best overall combination of flavors, which united to be more than the individual components.

So far this is the best sushi place I’ve found in downtown Chicago, and I am including the high end names in that comparison.

Service was prompt and friendly.

Oysy Sushi
50 E Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 670-6750
http://www.yelp.com/biz/oysy-sushi-chicago

Tortoise Club

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The “Red” Room

**** (4 stars)This may look like any of the hundred other steakhouses in River North, but the food here is a cut above (no pun intended) and it’s not all about steak.

The bar can be pretty loud after work, and the patio gets crowded on nice summer days, but even when full the dining room has some reasonably un-boisterous corners.

We started with the excellent smoked salmon, a generous serving with bagels and condiments, and the hamachi crudo, which was topped with peppers with just the right amount of spice.

For entrees we also enjoyed the rich and tasty Oak Aged Bourbon Barrel Meatloaf, which came with some very creamy celery root mashed potatoes. The Lake Superior Whitefish had a really nice crust and a pleasantly citrus-tinged beurre blanc.

The Not Your Father’s Root Beer float was the perfect dessert.

Wine markup seems a bit steep, although there was a nicely priced Scotch flight the week we visited.

Tortoise Club
350 N State St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 755-1700
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tortoise-club-chicago-3

M Burger

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**** (4 stars)

When you can’t decide between a hamburger and a grilled cheese sandwich, M Burger’s secret menu comes to your rescue. Ask for a bacon cheeseburger “Roman style” and you’ll get both. Yep, a bacon cheeseburger with two grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns.

If that sounds insane, it is pretty extreme. However I must say that both the burger and the grilled cheese are top notch, and the combination weirdly satisfying.

Fries and shakes here are just run of the mill. Pricing is quite reasonable.

I like this location’s ample outside seating, which is nicely shaded. That’s a good thing, since the dining area inside is about two feet wide!

M Burger
161 E Huron St
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 254-8500
http://www.yelp.com/biz/m-burger-chicago

El Hefe

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**** (4 stars)

My second visit to El Hefe was much more successful than my first. I really liked the food, and the service was good.

I was a bit hesitant to try this place because of its reputation as a noisy dive bar and a jam packed disco. But that’s at night. At lunch time it’s just a Mexican restaurant. It was still noisy on my first visit, but the place was empty on a Friday at lunch during my second visit.

The nachos are a very generous pile of just about everything you’ve ever seen on nachos. The underlying chips are thin and crispy, and the only fault I found was the use of liquid cheese rather than melting real cheese under a broiler.

The guacamole and chips are also a very generous serving (and were free, because of a yelp check-in. Deal!)

I really liked the two tacos I had: pastor, and crispy fish. Both were on small single tortillas and piled high, so you have to eat at least half before you can pick them up.

My companion said the quesadilla was one of the best she’s had, and since she makes the best quesadilla I’ve ever had, that was high praise.

The margaritas are served in a 20-ounce glass, but they’re more than half ice cubes.

Service was friendly and efficient.

El Hefe
15 W Hubbard St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 548-6841
http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-hefe-chicago-3

Bohemian House {BoHo}

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**** (4 stars)

If you’re looking for something different, BoHo offers excellent Central European food in a funky yet stylish environment. We tried it for Sunday Brunch, and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and attentive service.

We sampled the Hungarian Langos, a pice of fried potato bread with garlic butter, sour cream and shredded gouda. It was good, but one slice was plenty. The Pork Schnitzel Sandwich was more to out taste. Served open face, it was a stack of rye bread, sauerkraut, the schnitzel and Emmentaler cheese, topped with perfectly cooked sunny side up fried egg. Rich, but tasty. The beer flight provided an interesting accompaniment.

We finished with an order of doughnuts, which are really beignets, served with two dipping sauces.

While the menu is not extensive, there’s enough variety to bring me back to check out their other offerings of this interesting cuisine.

Bohemian House {BoHo}
11 W. Illinois
Chicago, IL 60654
(779) 333-0236
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bohemian-house-boho-chicago-3

Vermilion

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***** (5 stars)

Vermillion offers very interesting food in a trendy, upscale atmosphere with a nice soundtrack.

They bill their food as a fusion of Indian and Latin, but it seemed to lean much more to Indian, although none of the items were traditional Indian, each had a unique and interesting spin.

We tried an extensive assortment of tapas, appetizers, and one entree, and enjoyed all of them. There is also an interesting wine list with about half the selections available by the glass.

Service was friendly and attentive.

Vermilion
10 W Hubbard St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 527-4060
http://www.yelp.com/biz/vermilion-chicago-2

Japonais by Morimoto

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**** (4 stars)

This is certainly one of the better sushi restaurants in Chicago, although it perhaps can’t live up to the prestigious name attached to it. The decor and vibe of the place is top notch, from the downstairs bar (the Blue Room) to the upstairs dining rooms.

The food features many of the items you’ll find at Morimoto in New York City and as far as I could recall they were nearly identical. Fish quality is, of course, excellent.

We had the multi course omakase, which is a bit different than other omakases in that you can pretty much pick your own items, so it’s just a way of bundling the items you’re interested in, at a reasonable price of $130 per person. Portion sizes were large, and we definitely left feeling well stuffed with sushi!

The best item we tried was the hamachi crudo, thin strips alternating with pimentos. The hamachi tacos were also quite good.

A few of the specialties didn’t live up to expectations, including the Caesar salad, which just was voted best salad in Chicago, but seemed rather pedestrian to me. Perhaps it’s just that I don’t like Caesars that are served deconstructed, leaving the prep work to me.

The vaunted Duck Duck Duck was also a bit lackluster, although there was nothing wrong with any of the (more than 3) duck preparations on the plate.

We also had octopus, both raw (supposedly live, but I think the octopus would disagree) and cooked, beets, a large platter of sashimi, and spicy crab legs.

The trio of sorbets was a nice light way to end the meal.

The wine list is extensive, and there is a nice selection of Champagnes, the perfect match for sashimi.

Service was friendly and attentive, although several times during the meal there was an attempt to deliver two dishes at once, a physical impossibility on such small tables and with such large dishes. This is apparently caused by them having three kitchen and no coordination between them, which seems very odd for a restaurant of this caliber.

Overall I enjoyed the meal, thought it was reasonably priced for what it was, and would go back. But I’m still looking for a truly great Chicago sushi restaurant.

Japonais by Morimoto
600 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 822-9600
http://www.yelp.com/biz/japonais-by-morimoto-chicago-2

State and Lake Chicago Tavern

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**** (4 stars)

At first glance this place appears to be a fairly ordinary tavern likely to have a sports bar menu, but the food and ambience are both better than that. The stylish surroundings and pleasant lighting create a relaxed dining environment, and the menu offers some interesting and healthful items.

Yes, they’re known for their hamburgers and pretzels, but I had something completely different. I started with the charred broccoli, a generous serving that’s lightly seasoned and nicely cooked, although I could have done with a bit more char.

As a main course I had the Cobb salad. I like it when a Cobb is served un-tossed, as was the case here, allowing me to pick and combine ingredients at will. The perfectly seasoned avocado, bacon, cubes of Parmesan cheese and house-made ranch dressing were standouts.

Service was friendly and attentive. Altogether the meal was a very pleasant surprise.

State and Lake Chicago Tavern
theWit Hotel
201 N State St
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 239-9400
http://www.yelp.com/biz/state-and-lake-chicago-tavern-chicago

Elephant & Castle

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elephantandcastle

*** (3 stars)

This Americanized English pub has a pleasant atmosphere and good service.

There  are about a dozen authentic English pub dishes, and a larger selection of American sports bar type items. I only tried the pub pretzels, which we extremely doughy and covered in oil. I can’t recommend them.

There is a decent selection of draft beers, and a somewhat limited bottle list.

Elephant & Castle
185 N Wabash Ave
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 345-1710
http://www.yelp.com/biz/elephant-and-castle-chicago-3

Crêpe Bistro

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**** (4 stars)

This intimate creperie offers authentic French crepes in all the usual savory and sweet flavors. There is a full bar and an interesting selection of reasonably priced cocktails.

Service is friendly, but a low staff to patron ratio means it may take a while to place your order. So just go and relax, like the French do.

The L-shaped restaurant has a few tables and a bar in the front, and a more intimate sofa and chair seating area in the back. There is full meal service at the bar, too.

Crêpe Bistro
186 N Wells St
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 269-0300
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cr%C3%AApe-bistro-chicago-2