***UPDATE*** Meiji has closed.

Meiji Sushi Restaurant - Chicago, IL: Miji is an elegant sushi restaurant located in the distinguished West Loop of Chicago. This Chicago restaurant serves contemporary Japanese cuisine under the supervision of Chef Ishi. Meiji has been rated as one of Chicago's "Best New Restaurants" by the Chicago Magazine. The interior of this Chicago Sushi restaurant is done up in comfortable colors of neutral browns, greys and wood grain hues.

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Meiji has an elegant, yet simple wood and metal décor. This Chicago restaurant has a lounge area and a bar in front. The dining area is well appointed with dark brown booth seats along its two sides with tables and chairs. This allows for a seating of 14 people on each side. Medium colored wood floors, tall ceilings with exposed wooden beams and exposed brick walls set the tone of this Chicago restaurant. The sushi chefs display their talents behind the 4-seat sushi bar located at the back of the restaurant.

My partner and I visited Meiji on a Wednesday at about 8:30 p.m. Apart from us, there were only ten other guests, a clear indication that we were not in the most popular spot in Chicago. Lounge music played softly creating a soothing atmosphere without being overpowering. This Chicago Sushi restaurant offers a variety of Makimono, Nilgiri and Sashimi, Zensai and desserts. The restaurant favorite is the White Dragon makimono. This roll is comprised of unagi and toasted almonds topped with white tuna, avocado and jalapeno. The wine list at Meiji is very small with just a handful of white and red wines.

We started our dinner with a tuna, salmon and yellow tail sushi. There was nothing impressive about these. However, it was easy to share these as the pieces (two per order) were of decent sizes. The Futago, Spider Roll, Fire Dragon and Shogun made up the rest of our dinner. The Futago was made of spicy salmon, spicy tuna, masago and cucumber topped with tuna and salmon. This double tuna and salmon roll lacked any flavor. The Spider Roll was served next. It was made of soft-shell crab, masago, spicy mayo and cucumber and was served with the restaurants homemade spider sauce. Needless to say, neither of us liked the sauce much and decided to use the soy sauce instead.

The Fire Dragon, the next roll on our list, was made of chili marinated tuna and masago topped with unagi and avocado and then drizzled with sweet unagi sauce. This dish evoked mixed feelings among us. Even though we both agreed that this roll did not quite stand out, it definitely was one of the better rolls we had during the course of this meal. The Shogun was made of shrimp tempura with cream cheese, masago, avocado, scallion, tempura crunch, wasabi mayo, tobiko and unagi sauce. The deep fried shrimp tempura was over cooked to the point that it had a bit of a burnt taste. For drinks, we ordered a craft of sake called Typhoon. While this was surely not the best sake we have ever had, it complimented our meal well. Also, at $29.00 the sake was reasonably priced.

For dessert, we chose the ginger crème brulée. The ginger definitely gave this dessert a unique taste, something which set it apart from the numerous crème brulée we have had in the past. Once again, this dessert did not impress us much.

Service throughout dinner was friendly and courteous. My only issue with the service was that they delivered only one roll at a time. Personally, I like all the rolls to come at once so that I can pick and choose which to eat when I’m dining, but again that is my personal choice.

The atmosphere in this Chicago Sushi restaurant was simple and relaxed and the half-empty restaurant kept it quiet so that we could enjoy our conversation without the noise that has become a characteristic of most of the sushi restaurants in Chicago. But, the food across the board was mediocre.

Overall, I was disappointed as I had heard good reviews about this Chicago Sushi restaurant. I am surprised that Meiji has managed a Zagat rating as one of the top sushi restaurants in the United States. This Chicago restaurant is definitely not a place I would recommend if you are looking for great sushi and maki rolls. I might go back for a quick lunch, but not for dinner, as the food just doesn’t justify a return dinner visit.

What I liked: Nothing much

What I didn’t like: The average food

Rating: Between Bombastic and Not

Address and Telephone Number:
Meiji Sushi
623 W Randolph St
(Between Jefferson St & Desplaines St)
Chicago, IL 60661
Neighbourhood: Near West Side
Phone: (312) 887-9999
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