Mizu Yakitori

The Bobcat randomly decided to search through Yelp for Japanese restaurants several weeks ago, and Mizu Yakitori was one of the few he found & wanted to check out. I actually preferred trying Wasabi first (the other place he found), but this was closer to the bar we were supposed to stop by afterwards.

The space was pretty big -- the entrance leads to a room with sushi bar on one side, and tables on the left (completely empty on a Saturday night). The hostess/waitress lead us to another room where 5-6 out of 12 or so tables were filled. When she lead us to the 2-top tables by the windows, I asked if we can be seated in the half-booths (away from the windows) instead. She said they needed to save those tables for groups of 4. It was 8:30pm, I really doubt all of these empty tables would suddently get filled. Plus, I saw groups of 2 guests seated at those tables (which is why I even asked in the first place). But I didn't want to throw a fit.

Our waiter came around (nice guy) to take our orders. Their main dishes are a list of grilled skewers & sushi rolls, but they also had apps & a "specials" menu. In opposite order:

chicken soft bones skewers -- chewy, crunchy, delicious
grilled whole squid - probably a little too much for us by this time, but it was good.

from "specials" - toro (fatty tuna belly) and fatty salmon belly. $6/piece and $10/piece. Kinda pricy, but we really wanted to try the fatty salmon, since I don't think we've ever had it. Both were soft, fatty, creamy, delicious. It was a big slice of fish on top of a small ball of rice (just the way we liked it).
We always get gyutongue (beef tongue) if we see it on the menu. This was a bit more tender, less chewy. Reminds me more of a lean slice of steak than tongue. A little on the saltier side but good.
We ordered duck & japanese negi (green onions/leeks), dark chicken, chicken skin, chicken gizzard. They serve the skewers with 3 dipping sauces (if you want to use it) -- ponzu, tare, mustard. They also offer homemade soy sauce.

As much as I wanted to use the sauce, I was quite satisfied with eating these skewers as is. They've already been seasoned with salt & we like the squeeze of lemon.
"specials" - giant sea scallops in a buttery lemon sauce. We actually liked the little chewier muscles of the clam on the side, rather than the actual scallop, but it was good.
Thought we'd try the alcohol-free Kirin beer (I believe this is the first time I saw it offered at a restaurant in states). It actually tasted pretty good. I like having beer (or in this case, "pretend-beer") with yakitori. For some weird reason, I started to feel like I'm slightly buzzed after I finished this beer, even though I obviously shouldn't...
hirame (flounder) carpaccio was pretty good. Thick slices of sashimi.

Ankimo (monkfish liver) was like a leaner version of foie gras. We liked it served with ponzu soy & radish. I had this several times at different restaurants. I feel like they're either excellent or very meh. This turned out to be on the 'excellent' side of the spectrum.Our waiter was really nice, attentive, informative, diligent. The only thing I was annoyed with was not being able to be seated where we wanted to be... I was FREEZING my ass off. And of course, BARELY any more additional guests walked through those doors after us, so there were plenty of half-booth seats available. I'm not sure why she had to be stingy about it.

We're excited that the Bobcat found this place, and will definitely be back!

Mizu Yakitori Sushi Bar & Sake Lounge
315 West North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614
312-951-8880

Cocoro

We loved this place! SOO glad we found a restaurant closer to our hood (in the city). They had a free appetizer offer (anything on the menu) if we ordered shabu shabu or sukiyaki. We usually eat shabu shabu at home, because it's so easy to make. But we had a spectacular experience during our visit to Japan last year, so we kind of wanted to relive that moment (even though we knew this restaurant wouldn't be able to deliver the same). For apps, we chose their scallop sashimi (flown from hokkaido), and set of 5 shio yakitori skewers.

They also had hot sake special & $5 drinks special, so we indulged in both.

Scallop Sashimi from Hokkaido Japan $15.50

Japanese style broiled skewered set (5 skewers) - came with 3 chicken thigh, 2 chicken skin. They also have asparagus/bacon skewers and others, but we just left it up to the chef. The chicken thigh was tender & juicy with good salt flavor. Chicken skin was indulgently chewy & crisp.

Shabu-Shabu (selected rib-eye beef and vegetables to be lightly boiled in a pot by yourself, served with salad, rice and dessert) $56 for two people

Our waiter forgot to bring salad, but we weren't too hungry so we didn't ask for it. The sweet owner / lady came by to show us how the shabu shabu should be done (vegetables first because they cook longer). The beef was flavorful, delicious dipped into sesame sauce/ponzu & eaten over rice. Vegetables were all fresh.

I'm not sure whether or not you can choose off of the dessert menu, but I chose the green tea ice cream, and my husband got the homemade chocolates. She ended up bringing more out for us because we said it was delicious. She said the chef melts meiji chocolate & mixes it with other ingredients to achieve a creamy center that wasn't too sweet.

Hot Sake $7/bottle (originally $8)

Lemon Chu Hai $5 (originally $9.75)

Martini $5 (originally $7.50)

Saketini $5 (originally $8.50)

Apple Martini $5 (originally $8.50)

Cocoro

668 North Wells Street
Chicago, IL 60654-3717
(312) 943-2220

cocorosushi.com

Kurumaya

Kurumaya
1201 E Higgins Rd Elk Grove Vlg, IL 60007-1600 - (847) 437-2222

Yokohama Japanese Restaurant

Yokohama is our go-to Japanese restaurant in the West suburbs. It's not as good as the restaurants in the Northwest suburbs, but it's decent enough.

cold sake
amuse on the house: japanese mayo-based pasta salad
Ika Uni Ae: sea urchin with sliced raw squid - simple & delicious. I love uni.
Geso Shogaitame - pan fried squid legs with ginger soy sauce - the sauce was very delicious, squid was perfectly cooked. this would be delicious with beer.
kaki fry - crisp, light, deep fried oysters
yakitori shio - tender chicken skewers (salt flavor) - way better than teriyaki sauce.
uni!!

13 West Burlington Avenue
Westmont, IL 60559
(630) 810-0022

Takashi

We finally made it back to Takashi for his ramen brunch. Everything was deliciously well-made, using fresh ingredients, but the prices are billed accordingly. Bobcat prefers Mitsuwa's ramen, probably because it tastes closer to his beloved tonkotsu ramen.

Pork Belly Snack
Steamed Bun, Hot Mustard

Gyoza

Pork Dumpling, Hot Chili-Soy Vinaigrette

Miso Ramen
Hokkaido Style Ramen Braised Pork, Bean Sprouts, Sweet Corn, Wakame
Shoyu Ramen
Classic Tokyo Style Ramen, Braised Pork, Barbeque Egg, Marinated Bamboo Shoots

Regardless, it's good. If we're feeling slightly extravagant, gourmet, we'll definitely go back. Actually, I'd go back to check out their udon & soba regardless. Out of the two, miso tasted heavier, slightly spicy, which Bobcat preferred. I wanted to check out the 'gua bao', especially since the bun is home made...it tasted good, but I prefer the original Chinese version. Gyoza was tasty, went well with ramen as always.

1952 North Damen Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647-4565
(773) 772-6170

Nobori

Since we got out early from our dentist appointment in Wilmette, we yelp-apped nearby restaurants, and found Nobori. Bobcat called his mom, and she said it's a decent Japanese-owned place ran by Mexican employees.

The place is small, clean, rather empty around lunchtime on a Saturday. They had lunch specials that came with salad or soup (we got one each). Ramen came with your choice of roll. I also ordered 2 pcs sushi just to see how good or bad it was.

Simple salad with a nice ginger dressing:

Mediocre miso soup:

Sushi actually tasted better than it looked:

Decent ramen...

decent oyster donburi...
Nothing exciting to recommend, we probably won't be back.

1821 Waukegan Rd

Glenview, IL 60025

(847) 729-0422

noborisushi.com

As a side note, we stopped by the ice cream shop next door that advertised super creamy & fatty ice cream from Wisconsin. Tasted like any ole ice cream.