Torajiro

I found myself at Diversey and Sheridan last night at about 7pm, in need of dinner and with little time to spare before a meeting. While I love the babaganouj at Pars Cove, I didn't think I had the time for that place, so I noticed an empty Torajiro Sushi, a tiny, unassuming sushi bar below ground. I ducked in.

I sat at the bar and asked the chef what was best today to which he replied, "Tuna. Salmon."

"Anything else?"

"Yellowtail"

Disappointed, but not surprised, I ordered a few bites: A hamachi/scallion maki and the following nigiri: maguro, sake, tako, and ikura. I wasn't expecting the best, based on the empty seats and the uninspired recommendations.

Perhaps it was my lowered expectations but I was pleasantly surprised: Each piece was delicious. Skillfully prepared and extremely fresh.

Also, I took particular note of the spicy sauce that flavors many maki. Some places slather on way too much, or the consistency is like ketchup. In my opinon, you should never notice the texture of this sauce, only the flavor. It should be hidden inside the roll, never oozing out or covering the ingredients. Torajiro had it right. The burst of spice and flavor came out seconds after the piece was in my mouth. I never saw or felt a drop of the sauce, I was only hit by the flavor.

Has anyone else had a chance to check out Torajiro? I wish I had more time to poke around the appetizer menu, but the few quick bites that I had were perfect.

Torajiro Sushi
432 W Diversey
773-477-5000

Torajiro is my go-to when in the neighborhood. Added bonus: it's BYO. The chef trained in Tokyo and knows his stuff.

I love Torajiro.
If you'd evaluate by dollars spent (ala billboard music awards)... this would be my #1 Chicago restaurant. Everything is good. Sorry to say.

Service has gotten better but it's a one man show and it's worth the wait. The only downside is the AC isn't that cold in the summer. Bums me out at least.

It's been awhile since I've walked out of any restaurant with downright anger. But that's exactly what happened last night at Torajiro.
I like to evaluate several variables when dining out; such as the warmth of the servers and room, cleanliness, condition of serviceware, music, but most importantly, the quality of the food. Very few places I've ever been to fail on all fronts. Being the eternal optimist that I am (NOT!), I can usually find some redeeming characteristics of a dining experience.
Unfortunately, I can say without hesitation that Torajiro possesses not one feature that would lure me back. I would never recommend it under any circumstances to another unsuspecting sushi lover.
I easily had the single worst bowl of chirashi anywhere. Every component of the bowl—the flavorless grade D rice, the soggy, paperthin pieces of fish, the curiously bland seaweed and boring gari, spoke volumes. Do you know what it said? It said, "You know and I know that I stink".
The fish truly tasted like it had just been removed from the freezer and didn't have time to release the water from the ice crystals.
The uni was ridiculously iron-y. Even I, who would unequivocally say that sea urchin is amongst the top 2 or 3 culinary delights of the world, had to discard it like a mealy apple at a college cafeteria.
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Some can make the point that Torajiro isn't bad for the cost. But even with this in mind, I still thought that it was a total rip off.

I have no trouble admitting that this was the single worst sushi experience I've had in perhaps a decade, maybe more.

The sorriest commentary you can make about a restaurant is that you needed to go home and have a couple of egg sandwiches.

I had mine over-easy.

I wonder if it's the same guy running the show.

Gosh, we're really surprised to hear you had such a terrible experience at Torajiro. Maybe Peter (the chef/owner) was really having a bad night? He studied with a sushi master in Japan, and this is one of the few sushi places in Chicago that has (by japanese standards) correct sushi (unlike many of the korean or Thai owned sushi places in Chicago). Usually it's very good, correct sushi rice and fresh fish and relatively inexpensive. Please consider giving it another try. Or at least, tell him how disappointed you are with your dish. They sometimes struggle for business and he would appreciate knowing what went wrong.

The thing I most remember most about our terrible experience there was the completely indifferent service. If the place was mobbed, it would have been one thing but the fact that we were 2 of only 3 people in the place had to basically get my own menu, pour my own water, and wait several minutes to put the order in, while the waitress read her newspaper the entire time, really irked me. Actually, the capper was how she took away my inedible piece of uni and didn't think for a second about asking if there was a problem with it (worst example ever...anywhere).
For an uni man from way back, that's just plain wrong.

Nonetheless, I will definitely retry it soon since we all have our bad hair days.

PIGMON wrote:Nonetheless, I will definitely retry it soon since we all have our bad hair days.

Well, ummmm, uh, I mean, uh, actually, while I applaud your decision to revisit, I would just ask you to keep in mind that not all of us have the, um..."wherewithal"...to have bad hair days.

Thanks for being willing to give them another try. I know Peter has had lots of trouble finding good help, and that means that the service can suffer. Make sure you relay any feedback directly to him.