Sushi Wabi – Chicago, Illinois: It’s not easy to find truly good sushi at reasonable prices especially in Chicago but Sushi Wabi offers just that. Because it was located in the happening West Loop area, I thought Sushi Wabi was just one of those trendy fusion Japanese restaurants, more interested in creating a cool and hip atmosphere for the cool and hip kids to hang out rather than serving honest-to-goodness delicious and super fresh sushi.

We went there for dinner and the place was packed. Because we had reservations, we were quickly shown to our table along the wall at the back of the restaurant; there were about 14 tables in all, 12 of which were occupied. There was also a sushi bar that could seat about 20 people. The marquee displayed various kinds of mouthwatering sushi, 6 to 10 pieces per order.

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Typical of contemporary Japanese restaurants, the interior was stark, sleek, immaculately clean, but still very much stylish. There was a nice mix of people—young and old, professionals, couples, tourists, as well as the hip set. Lounge music played in the background, immediately making us feel relaxed and at-home.

As we looked over the menu, we ordered my favorite Japanese appetizer, edamame. The menu was very impressive. They had a wide selection of sushi and almost 30 maki rolls to choose from. We ended up ordering their signature dishes:

The Dragon Roll, which consisted of tempura shrimp, unagi, avocado, masago mayo, eel sauce, and sesame, was oh-so-good we ordered another one.

The Tarantula Roll, which consisted of soft shell crab, fresh crab, cucumber, avocado, green onion, chili sauce, red tobikko, masago mayo, and sesame, was not very good. It didn’t have much structure and harmony and was overpowered by the mayo and chili.

The Caterpillar Roll, which consisted of hamachi, unagi, avocado, daikon sprouts, eel sauce, red/black tobikko, and sesame, was average-tasting and lacked flavor. While it was nice, it came nowhere close as good as the Dragon Roll.

We also ordered sushi which came in three big pieces per order, and was very satisfied with the freshness, taste, and price. Their sake menu was also something to rave about, having almost 20 different kinds to choose from. We tried the Sho-une, a medium body, dry sake, as well as the Sayuri, which was sweet, creamy and unfiltered. Because I am not a sake connoisseur, I never realized there was that much difference between various types of sake; it was a fun experience to be able to sample a couple of different ones. I'm not sure which one I liked better, but I think the Sayuri had more of a kick to it.

I can honestly say that Sushi Wabi impressed me much more than I anticipated when I first arrived. Not only was it a fun and cool place, but the food, the sake and their wonderful service made me want to come back and try it again. My rating for Sushi Wabi, Bombastic!

What I liked: Atmosphere, Dragon Roll, Sake

What I didn’t like: Tarantula Roll

Rating: Bombastic

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