Sushi in the Western Suburbs

I've read lots about great sushi in Chicago here but am having a hard time zeroing in on any in the Western Suburbs. Can great sushi be found somewhere outside the Chicago city limits heading west, and if so, where? Money is no object.. I am being treated by family who owes me big time
Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

Give Sushi Nest a try in Elmhurst:

http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/dini ... 2121.venue

The just-opened Blu Coral in Woodridge is from the same people who own Starfish in Chicago and Swordfish in Batavia. Folks I know who have gone to the other two restaurants have been pleased, so I'd imagine Blu Coral would also be good.

Amazingly, the restaurant was featured in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal weekend edition...they must have good PR people!

Just wondering whether anyone has tried Blu Coral. It happens to be my birthday, and probably is the one day out of the year when I can convince my wife to go out to a sushi restaurant (she's not a fan). I went to their website, and it looks like an interesting place. I'm not familiar with Starfish or Swordfish, do these guys have a good reputation?

Swordfish in Batavia is quite good in a very hip urban type setting for a Batavia strip mall sharing a building with Caribou Coffee. We've tried a variety of things and all is fresh but nothing is jumping out at me to trigger a memory.

We have tried Swordfish and you're right.. what we remember most is the hip, urban setting.. not the meal or the menu. I remember enjoying it but not being wowed enough to go back again, let alone choose this as our sushi "home". We have no trouble with strip mall restaurants that are worthy. That's where our favorite California sushi spot lives.

With that said, we're open to experimenting with Blu Coral or any of the other sushi spots suggested. When we visit we'll be sure to report back! Thanks for all the feedback.

I second the Sushi Nest in Elmhurst. The sushi is excellent and the staff is very helpful, even to folks new to sushi.
Sushi Nest
142 N York St
Elmhurst, IL 60126
(630) 833-5088

Another good place, although I don't know if it's technically the western burbs is Bistro Nami in Clarendon Hills.
http://www.bistronamisushi.com/
The sushi is very fresh, and they have some interesting rolls to try.

My absolute favorite place is called Nobu's Japanese Restaurant in Schaumburg. I have a Japanese/American friend who lived in Japan for 10 years teaching English to Japanese folks. She recommended this place to me and her exact comment was "the best sushi I've ever had that was not in Japan." Good enough for me. It's not trendy or hip, just very good. No website though.

Nobu's Japanese Restaurant
1318 N Roselle Rd
Schaumburg, IL
Phone: (847) 839-8622

this thread is a good place to start. on the first page there are many burbie sushi joints mentioned including kurumaya, sankyu, sakura, etc.

also, for a completely quaint experience, try:
Abashiri Japenese Restaurant
185 E Lake St
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
(630) 295-9502

Japanese owned & operated, nothing fancy, but an alternative to the bigger shops in the area.

I've had a pretty good meal or two at Sushi House in Wheaton, at Danada.

They've even got private sections where you can ditch the shoes, sit on the floor and enjoy something a little closer to authentic, all while just a stones through from joints like Chilis and Cozymels and Houlihans-oh my.

Sushi House
116 Danada Square West
Wheaton, IL 60187

Sushi House is OK but for really good, fresh fish and nice sized pieces I prefer Nagano in Lombard.

Nagano
1005 E Saint Charles Rd
Lombard, IL 60148
(630) 629-2469

In St. Charles we have a place with little boats that is pretty fun, called House of Tokyo. Their only failing is that they totally collapse when they exceed a critical customer load, and they do not collapse gracefully. Except when that happens (usu. at lunch) they're great. Everyone i've taken has always enjoyed themselves.

House of Tokyo 2762 E. Main St., St. Charles, 630-587-8711. next to Butera Market. I've been to HoT more than i've been to all of the other places out here combined, it's my fave. It's also a very good place to introduce people to sushi. Also has teppans.

Sushi King/Sushi Yama (i think Yama) 2400 E Main St Ste 107A St, Charles, (630) 443-8890, East Gateway shopping plaza. Nice, pleasant, small no complaints.

Ju Rin 1772 S Randall Rd Ste 190, Geneva, IL Tel: (630) 262-9590 behind Borders Bookstore. Ditto above. They also have a second store about 5 miles north of Rt. 64, also on Randall Rd.

Sw*rdf*sh I give this place an F-minus because they were not open half an hour after their door sign hours and when i walked in (with Barb) they threw us out with a "we're not ready! Get Out!". Unforgivable. F-minus. I have had their food and it's absolutely not any better than House of Tokyo, Sushi Yama or Ju Rin or any generic "hip, urban" sushi joynt in Wicker Park. Feel free to spend your money on the "hip urban atmoshphere"*, something they flog in every week's newspaper ad, but it's basically a clip joint targeted at the aspirational sushi neophyte who thinks $$$ = ...something. Did i mention F-minus? *not a dig at yogimon et alia, their "atmoshpere" (and their pricepoint) are their only distinguishing characteristics.

We used to have Mr. Miyaki next to the giant sports bar across from the Kane Co. fairgrouds, but mercifully, they folded.

For quick take-out there is, of course,

Mitsuwa Market 100 E Algonquin Rd. Arlington Heights. witha large fridge case of prepackaged machine-made treats. (and a food court)

Asia Supermarket 1512 N Naper Boulevard, Naperville behind the McDonalds. Small food court too.

Finally made it to Blu Coral. My first impression was that this restaurant is trying very, very hard to be hip and trendy. While I'm not necessarily averse to that, Blu Coral's attempt to replicate a hip, city sushi restaurant in a Woodridge strip mall doesn't really work, IMO. While the decor is tasteful -- and the music, surpisingly, wasn't too loud -- the mostly middle aged suburban clientele (some with small kids) really seemed out of place. Those in attendance who actually were reasonably hip and trendy, including the front of house staff, seemed to have a bit of a smug, self-important attitude.

I'm not an authority on sushi, but I thought that the sushi actually was quite good. I ordered several pieces of nigiri sushi (yellowtail, tuna) and two maki/handrolls -- the spicy tuna and a "calamari tempura." The sushi seemed really fresh and the maki were quite tasty. The menu was very large, which made ordering a bit of a chore and a bit confusing. However, I stuck to the basics and wasn't disappointed.

One thing that I was disappointed with was the service. While it was a busy Saturday night, the poor service really bordered on unacceptable. While our server was friendly and cordial, she frequently disappeared for 20 or so minutes at a stretch. Our second drink order probably took about 25 minutes (no exaggeration) to be received by our table. The server was very apologetic, but as a result of her inattentiveness it took us more than 2 hours to finish a basic sushi meal, get our check and leave. (Not that we were in a hurry, but the long wait for drinks left us irritable and annoyed with the whole scene.)

To sum things up, I definitely thought that the sushi was better-than-average, but the next time I have a taste for sushi I'd probably head to a traditional spot that offers reasonably attentive service and a little less of a scene.

Diannie wrote:Sushi House is OK but for really good, fresh fish and nice sized pieces I prefer Nagano in Lombard.

Nagano
1005 E Saint Charles Rd
Lombard, IL 60148
(630) 629-2469

Went to Nagano last week. It's freshness is far above the sushi house and any other places in the western suburbs. I won't hesitate to go back. Small and divey, yet has a charm to it and the service is excellent.