“We’re easy to find, hard to leave.”
Let me just start off by saying if you are someone who enjoys taking and posting pictures of your food like myself that Yuzu Sushi and Robata Grill is like a dream come true. Located in West Town right off Chicago Avenue, Yuzu offers creative sushi rolls, robata dishes and more in a manga-decorated setting. Did I mention that it’s BYOB? I found myself here a couple of weekends ago celebrating with some coworkers the ending of one chapter of our lives and the beginning of another. Yuzu came highly recommended from one of said coworkers and believe me when I say it did not disappoint. The restaurant itself was on the smaller end and if you don’t want to wait I suggest making a reservation ahead of time. I splurged a little which doesn’t happen too often so I didn’t feel too guilty. I ordered the Tuna Poke, a Dragon Roll and the Strawberry Crepe Cake with Sesame Ice Cream and the total came out to $37.
The Tuna Poke consisted of Hawaiian tuna with avocado, green and white onion, Japanese chili pepper, soy sauce, and sesame oil. I’ll be the first to admit that had I not done some research before arriving I probably wouldn’t have ordered this on my own but it came highly recommended and for good reason. The Dragon Roll, which was pretty standard, consisted of shrimp tempura, unagi, avocado, cucumber, tempura crumbs, spicy mayo, and sweet soy sauce. It was truly a work of art and I almost felt bad for eating it but it was phenomenal nonetheless. I can now fully understand why it is one their most photographed rolls. The Strawberry Crepe Cake with Sesame Ice Cream was the only part of the experience that wasn’t top notch. They had run out of almost everything on their regular dessert menu which made for slim pickings. It wasn’t bad by any means but I would not order it again. With that being said, I also had the opportunity to try the Tator Tots and who would have thought that a Japanese restaurant would have some of the best that I’ve ever had.
Whenever I find myself back at Yuzu (and I’m sure I will), I would love to kick things off with some Bison Tacos or just about anything off of their Robata Menu. I’m always interested to see how different cultures put a unique spin on items that are traditionally not their own. I would then love to follow that up with the Motown Effect or Dopest Roll and cap things off with a Mochi Flight (something I regret not doing during my last visit). If you read my Wildfire Review, this is another one of those restaurants that I truly believe you could close your eyes, randomly point to just about anything on the menu and still be happy with whatever came out.
When it comes to Yuzu Sushi and Robata Grill, I give it a 4 out of 5 sporks. I don’t know if it’s because at the end of the day I really haven’t been to that many restaurants or if it was just that good but it was arguable one of best culinary experiences I’ve had to date. Everything not only looked amazing but tasted that way as well. Check it out!
Jakub's Corner 