Cafe Furaibo: A review

Was in the neighbourhood for a doctor's appointment when I was struck by a craving for miso soup. Recommended by the office, I stopped by Cafe Furaibo. Imagine my surprise upon walking in, when I saw an old acquaintance from my restaurant days...

Ordered a miso soup, salad, 2 makis and dessert (she comped the dessert).

My two makis were the Furaibo and the OC, since I wanted to try something new. Furaibo was pretty good: fried shrimp, avocado, cream cheese, tempura crumbs and had thin slices of tamago (sweet egg) on the top (like a rainbow roll). This was drizzled with unagi (eel) sauce.

The OC maki, I did not care for... Fried crab stick, boston lettuce and pickled ginger inside the roll. Somehow the ginger in the roll threw me off... Not a fan of pickles, unless it's Cathy2's... =)

Dessert was a tempura ice cream. Easily the highlight of the meal. Homemade green tea ice cream battered and fried and drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce. The batter was a little thick, but when the ice cream started melting, it was like a tasty wafer dipped in green tea "sauce".

Prices were reasonable. The rolls were $6-7 each, I think... The soup was a buck and the ice cream was $4. Newly opened, so no liquor license.

There were some interesting items on the menu. Interesting not because they were exotic, but because it seemed to be more home cooked. For example, Japanese hamburger steak, and according to owner, Japanese curry rice.

Maybe they may be up to doing a meal focusing on Japanese home cooking? If there is interest on this board, of course...

All in all, a nice little neighbourhood restaurant... Not Katsu in any way, but good decent sushi in a great space. The sliding doors in the dining area would be welcomed in sunnier days. I would eat here again, not because of I know the owner, but because this is the only place I know of in the city with Japanese home cooking and the sushi is reasonably priced.

Here, I'll answer my own question:

Cafe Furaibo
2907 N. Lincoln Ave.
773-472-7017

I ate here last night before heading over to the Elbo Room...

Had the miso, beef and asparagus app and a few rolls. One thing that stood out was the yellow tail/mango/asparagus roll. Tasty and the type of thing that would set you back a minor fortune at one of overpriced joints like SushiSamba. I also had the pickled daikon radish roll, which was a nice change of pace from the fish rolls. The service was very friendly - the lady asked us how we found the place etc.

If anything, the negative would be a lack of focus on fish. There were probably only a few varieties available total, but all that we tasted was fresh. Also, She was very accomadating to a couple next to us, who basically created their own rolls when ordering. Next time I'll definitely try one of the entrees, some of it looked very tasty.

I've eaten at Cafe Furaibo a couple times now and have been pleased each time. Love the miso soup and the soft shell crabs have been quite good. In addition to the good food, I have been very impressed with the owner's customer focus. She has been extremely welcoming to us each time we come in and has even given us complimentary dishes to try. It's been a while now, so I forget exactly which roll is was, but she brought us a full order of some sushi selection and also an order of edamame. She thought we might like to try another kind of sushi beyond what we ordered and she thought our young daughter might like the edamame. She's trying hard to get her restaurant going and I have to compliment her on how well she treated us each time we ate there. Definitely will be going back.

I highly recommend this place for a non-pretentious not so pricey sushi. Excellent customer service and they have one of the best sushi chefs in the city (former head sushi chef at Sushi Wabi.) Some very innovative rolls and fresh fish.

I'm a big fan.