Tampopo [+ Cedar Grill]

I plan on taking my Mom for lunch at Tampopo on Friday. What is there speciality and what would you recommend? Does it get crowded for lunch ? Thank you so much

I haven't been there but I noticed the postings on Metromix.com re: Tampopo. Several neighborhood people recommended the sushi. With the name "Tampopo" I hope the noodles/udon/ramen are like the movie of the same name!

For me the main attraction is big slices of well-prepared sushi and sashimi. Bento boxes and such are fine, too. I don't know that there are standout dishes, it's more in the manner of a reliable, friendly neighborhood place that does everything pretty well (and big portions) more than a blow-your-mind experience.

LTH,

Had a nice light dinner at Tampopo tonight, just a few maki, the umeboshi were very good, and agedashi dofu. Often we get sushi, sashimi or ramen and my wife loves the sukiyaki. Here's a link to an old c-h Tampopo post of mine.

Main reason I'm posting is on the way out I noticed Tampopo is waving the corkage fee on Wednesdays. Also, the restaurant just South is now B-Reg, a Middle Eastern restaurant. I just popped into B-Reg for a menu, but is seemed bright, clean and I noticed the veggies in the case looked particularly fresh and crisp.

Enjoy,
Gary

Tampopo
5665 N Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-561-2277

B-Reg Cafe
5657 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773-506-2050

G Wiv wrote:the restaurant just South is now B-Reg, a Middle Eastern restaurant. I just popped into B-Reg for a menu

B-Reg? That is a weird name, kinda hip-hop. Is it from boreg? What kind of "middle-eastern" is it?

d4v3 wrote:B-Reg? That is a weird name, kinda hip-hop. Is it from boreg? What kind of "middle-eastern" is it?

d4v3,

No hip-hop I could see, but I might not recognize hip-hop if it fell on my foot. The music was a tad loud, and there was a big flat screen tv on the wall, but the overall physical space was modest. Far as what kind of Middle Eastern, my take out menu gives a hint in the form of both Lebanese Burger and Lebanese Salad.

I was there less than a minute, just picked up a to-go menu, didn't chat at all, my wife was waiting outside as we were going to Tampopo for dinner. So I am not really in a position to provide further specifics.

Enjoy,
Gary

B-Reg, whatever it meant, disappeared quickly, but attuned as I am to any change in signage on my normal path, I spotted a place called Cedar Grill last night, two doors down from Tampopo, and urged it on G Wiv today, only to learn from him that he had already posted about its previous name though he had not, as yet, tried the food.

When we got there he recognized one of the women behind the counter from his visit to B-Reg and we soon learned that little had changed except the name. The food is a short list of fairly basic, but well prepared, middle eastern classics. Freshly made hummus could have used more garlic but was likable enough. Chick-pea falafel, freshly-fried, was one of the best versions I've had, though the fava bean kind when you can find it is best.



Skewer chicken, lightly marinated in some sort of white goo (not yogurt, they made a point of saying), was very pleasantly done and came with a side of house-made toum, garlic dipping sauce, as well as the inevitable 5 quarts of rice piled on the plate. When we asked about the toum we got an obviously proud explanation from one of the women how they made it in-house-- no egg, no mayo, just oil and garlic and a little lemon, whipped in the Cuisinart.

Kibbe was cinnamony, freshly fried as well, crunchy and delicious:



Kifta was all right, stuck inside a rolled pita, but a little dry and less flavor than many I've had. We did get a certain impression that at noon, you were getting a little of last night's food rewarmed, and that dinner might be busier and thus fresher.

Cedar Grill, which is no relation to the Naperville restaurant of the same name posted about elsewhere, is a nice addition to the Lincoln Avenue strip of Korean and Japanese restaurants.

Cedar Grill
5657 N. Lincoln
773-506-2050

G Wiv wrote: Here's a link to an old c-h Tampopo post of mine.

Here's a working link (I think) I thought I's supply since there is a lot of good info in there and tampopo has always been a favorite of mine as well (and the movie is my personal top 5)

Mike G wrote:Chick-pea falafel, freshly-fried, was one of the best versions I've had, though the fava bean kind when you can find it is best.

Mike,

Agreed, the chick-pea falafel was quite tasty, nice crunch, good flavor, though I'm not of the opinion that fava bean falafel is intrinsically better than chick-pea, a well made version of either is a thing of beauty.

Cedar Grill Chick-pea Falafel



Mike G going in for the Falafel shot.


Kibbe was quite good, maybe my favorite dish of the meal, Cedar Grill seems to have a nice touch with the deep-fryer.

Cedar Grill Kibbe



Hummus was fine, though as you say, a bit bland, which may be a style choice on the part of the chef.

Cedar Grill Hummus


Marinated chicken, which was cooked on a gas grill, went well with the garlicky toum. Hummm, I wonder if they make french fries a la ZouZou/Semiramis.

Cedar Grill Chicken Kabob plate


Service was good, the owners were friendly, prices reasonable, all in all a nice addition to upper Lincoln Ave.

As I noted upthread, there is a new Korean restaurant on Lincoln whose signage simply states Korean Restaurant. I wondered if this was the shuttered 24-hour Korean Restaurant on Lawrence, it's not. The actual name is Crystal Korean Restaurant, and from the brief amount of time I spent in the place, on the way to Cedar Grill, seems like a likeable Korean restaurant with, if the 15 or so people there at noon are any indication, good food.

Enjoy,
Gary

Cedar Grill
5657 N. Lincoln
Chicago, Il 60659
773-506-2050

Crystal Korean Restaurant
5800 N Lincoln
Chicago, IL 60659
773-275-0489

G Wiv wrote:Service was good, the owners were friendly, prices reasonable, all in all a nice addition to upper Lincoln Ave.

Nice pics, Wiv, but I didn't see any bread.

How was the bread?

E.M.

Erik M. wrote:How was the bread?

Erik,

Bread was good, though not remarkable. Thin, soft style pita, slightly warm and served in a cloth napkin lined basket.



Kefta Kabob sandwich was rolled in the same pita, pickle was included in the sandwich, a la the old Shawerma King, though I am in no way making a comparison between the two sandwiches.

Cedar Grill Kefta Kabob sandwich


Enjoy,
Gary

LTH,

Had a very nice light dinner tonight at Tampopo, inexpensive as well. Possibly the best agedashi dofu in Chicagoland, a maki roll and two hamachi nigiri. I rounded out the meal with a bowl of Kitsune udon while my wife centered on the maki.

Add to this a few panchan, Daniel the owner is Korean, lovely crisp tempura green beans, which were on the house*, green tea and one glass of wine made for a reasonable and delicious meal.

Nato is now available as an appetizer, hummmmmm nato, and Wednesday and Thursday are bring a bottle, or two, with no corkage fee wine nights.

Enjoy,
Gary

*My wife and I have been going since Tampopo's first few months in business and Daniel often sends out a little something, as he does with most regulars

Tampopo
5665 N Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-561-2277

recently have eaten at tampopo again a couple times after a long absence (not really sure why) and just wanted to mention again how much i love their agedashi tofu and ramen.

LTH,

Had dinner at Tampopo last evening, agedashi dofu, gomae and smattering of sushi, light, healthy, a good start to summer eating. We were going to pass on dessert until the waitress mentioned Black Sesame Ice Cream, which I had not heard of, so, in the interest of LTH science, I ordered a scoop.

The small orb of black sesame ice cream had a grayish cast speckled with bits of black and evoked flavors of woodsy mushroom and over-ripe fruit. Not overly rich with a pleasingly dense texture. I really liked this ice cream.

Maeda-n, the manufacturer, speaks to the health benefits, tastes great and good for you, ship me a case.

I'm going to check H-Mart and Mitsuwa

Enjoy,
Gary

mitsuwa has it, at least at the ice-cream counter, don't know about h-mart

had some last week

GWiv--

I had some black sesame ice cream at the ice cream outlet of Pastry House Hippo a few years ago and it changed my life. The next time I went, they didn't have it, and I was crushed. If your quest for this delicious flavor doesn't work out, you should know that it's pretty easy to make black sesame ice cream by toasting/half crushing the seeds and infusing them in a semi-lean custard base. Having an ice cream maker helps, of course.

That being said, I'm a huge fan of both ice cream and instant gratification, so if you find some somewhere, do tell.

zim wrote:recently have eaten at tampopo again a couple times after a long absence (not really sure why) and just wanted to mention again how much i love their agedashi tofu and ramen.

Zim,

Agree wholeheartedly about Tampopo's agedashi todu and ramen, though last week, inspired by an article about udon in this months (November 2007) Saveur I could not resist a bowl of Tampopo's satisfying tempura udon.

Tempura Udon


Tampopo, along with Katsu, always stock natto, healthy and delicious, a natto hand roll a day helps keep the doctor away.

Natto Hand Roll


Upthread I mention Tampopo's black sesame ice cream, which they were out of for quite a while. Fortunately it's reappeared.

Black Sesame Ice Cream


Tampopo is a gem, solid, reliable, always tasty with a friendly interactive owner and reasonable pricing. A place I'm happy to have be but a short drive from my house.

Enjoy,
Gary

Tampopo
5665 N Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-561-2277

G Wiv wrote:Tampopo is a gem, solid, reliable, always tasty with a friendly interactive owner and reasonable pricing. A place I'm happy to have be but a short drive from my house.

Sister was in town last week, fatigued from flight delays, her not me, she was revived by a leisurely meal at Tampopo. Round of maki rolls, tempura squid legs, cold tofu with a drizzle of soy, tempura green beans, best in the city agedashi todu capped off by a round of sushi for my wife and I as my sister can have an allergic reaction to raw fish.



Tempura Green Beans


Business was slow due to weather conditions and the ever genial Danial chatted with us off and on and, as a perfect cap to our meal, sent out a round of mochi ice cream, which my sister absolutely loved.

Tampopo is one of those places I can't recommend highly enough, not hip, no saketinis, simply reliably good food served in a comfortable setting for reasonable prices by one of the nicer owner/chefs in Chicago.

Daniel, Chef/Owner Tampopo


Enjoy,
Gary

Tampopo
5665 N Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-561-2277

LTH,

Bride and I had dinner at Tampopo last week and I was telling Daniel (chef/owner) how well Dempster Fish Market's unagi hand rolls matched with the suggested Korean hot sauce (gochujang). Daniel asked if we would like to try a "very Korean" roll. Which elicited an enthusiastic Affirmative.

Maki of fluke (outside) shrimp (middle) and Korean shisho (sesame leaf) artfully decorated with slivered jalapeno and gochujang. Roll was tight and crisp with a minty snap from sesame leaf and lingering sweetness from shrimp.

Korean Roll



Nigiri of red snapper with ponzu sauce and slivered jalapeno really popped flavor wise.

Red Snapper/ponzu/jalapeno Nigiri.


Enjoy,
Gary

LTH friends,

Had a huge craving for Hwae Dup Bap tonight and decided to go to Tampopo. Received a huge bowl complete with all the requisite hwae dup bap fixin's: rice, variety of raw fish, roe, shredded romaine, iceberg, radish, cucumber, perilla leaf, sprinkled with dried seaweed. And to accompany, a huge squeeze bottle of seasoned gochujang (cho gochujang) to squeeze away to your heart's delight. At $11.95, I think it's a very good price for such a huge bowl of food. I also forgot how hwae dup bap makes me sweat!
My fiance (a vegetarian) says their vegetarian sushi (an oxymoron of sorts, I know) is very well thought out and flavorful. A favorite of his is the sweet potato tempura maki and veggie futomaki.
Also, I don't think it's been mentioned here, but at restaurant.com Tampopo is one of the restaurants where you can buy at $25 gift certificate for $10.

Sharona

LTHers--

Read through the Tampopo posts and decided I have to tell you guys about my experience there yesterday. In one sentence, ridiculous value for money, including freaking grilled salmon head! Got your attention yet?

So lately, I have been making many long overdue "maiden visits" to restaurants on my eternally lenghthening "must go to" list. So, yesterday was Tampopo's day, I was with a friend who also had never been.

I was in a sashimi mood, and my friend was in a tempura udon mood. I did yesterday what I rarely if ever do though, which is to order the generic "sashimi combination". I always figured it was a cheap way for restaurants to make money, The customer has no control over what gets served, this is a sucker bet, etc. Although some restaurants will list what you will get, many do not, and Tampopo was of the latter.

What *was* written on the menu however, IIRC was..

"small sashimi combination, 30 half size pieces of sashimi (chef's choice) 35.00" I believe that medium was 45 pieces and 50.00, and large was 60 pieces and 65.00

So, here is our order
1.Agedashi tofu
2.Tempura Udon, with tempura on the side (I believe the traditional style is to serve it with the shrimp tempura in the soup, this is how you will get it in many japanese places unless pre-specified; why people would go to the trouble of frying tempura then plunking it into a soup to get soggy is beyond me)
3.Small Sashimi Combination
4.One order of uni--why? because, for lack of a nicer term, I am an uni whore.

I will try to be brief about #'s 1-3. Agedashi tofu, true to GWiv's word was best I've had in this city, maybe ever. Lots of grated daikon in a simple but very tasty dashi based broth, and large amount of perfectly fried tofu (not crispy, but enough to have a very nice texture to the outside)

Tempura Udon--noodles slightly overcooked, but broth fantastic. Tempura came on the side as requested--included one long long shrimp, one huge ring of calamari, a brocolli, a sweet potato, and suprise--what looked like anaheim or serrano pepper; batter was light, flaky, and not greasy.

Sashimi--the types of fish were tuna, salmon, sea bass, squid, yellowtail, and possibly white tuna, although not 100% sure about that last one. Also included to my suprise in its own separate section, was the meat that surrounds the dorsal fin of the bass (I call it the brill, don't know the official term for it, anyone who has had whole bass will know what I'm talking about). This flesh from here was texturally much different, rather crunchy, a nice contrast, with a very mild flavor similar to the seabass. This tells me someone back there is paying attention, and *cares*.

Oh, and btw, the "one order of uni" was served as a heaping portion easily enough for hmm 2.5 pieces of nigiri uni, very fresh and exactly what I needed.

Also included, was 4 types of "panchan"; two types of kimchi, bean sprouts, and a tasy macaroni salad, all of which was refilled happily and plentifully. Don't recall if the mac salad had Kewpie mayo or regular american mayo though, I was distracted as you will read below.

So, I feel like I am *way* ahead of the game at this point, and am a very happy little boy.

Next, a plate of fried squid, "popcorn style"; Tasty, but I have to be honest, not quite as good as the "squid crack" served at Shui Wah (needed more seasoning), but very good nonetheless. My native Korean dining companion didn't understand my reservations, she practically finished the whole plate.

But next, comes a plate of thick, cold slices of uncooked tofu, in a delicate soy/ponzu sauce topped with ribbons of green onion--simple and delicious. What's going on?

Impossibly, next, out came the piece de resistance, a large plate of salmon parts, which included a large part of the back bone, with lots of attached meat (I believe that one of the truisms of meat eaters is that meat close to bone is tastier and more fun to eat, regardless of the fish/fowl/animal). I stared and stared and couldn't believe my eyes, they also included the collar, and also half of the freaking head! Yes! Needless to say I picked it clean. The head of any animal IMHO often makes for incredible eating, and this was no different. Fatty, juicy, meaty, I was in heaven.

Kind of like Andrew Zimmern from travel channel when he is deconstructing the suckling pig in Spain, he cut his lip on the piggy's skull trying to get to the brain, anybody watched?

(fyi, they left out the fish portion containing the eyeball, and front part of the lips of the fish, which in males, grow nastylooking when they reach adulthood)

I can't believe my fortune at this point. I have had my share of hamachi-kama (mostly at Katsu, and Kamehachi downtown) but I've never had the salmon version.

Here is an interesting tidbit some may not be aware of. In Korea (and to a lesser extent, in the US) there is an restaurant entity known as "service", pronounced by many Koreans as "sub-bi-suh". As many people know, Tampopo is Korean owned, and we had spent the whole time conversing in Korean with our server (who I suspect is Daniel's mom, the guy you saw on ABC7 hungry hound).

Anyways, in some restaurants, if a customer has placed a large order, or if there is a new customer that the proprietor wants to make a regular, extra unordered dishes will come out at no charge from the kitchen, often items that are not on the menu. So this whole time, I am assuming that all of the unordered but *completely* enjoyed extra dishes are coming out as "service".

In the midst of thanking our server profusely, she nonchanlantly mentioned that all of the extras come as standard, *with* the sashimi combination order! Woo-gd-hoo!!!!

Just to give perspective, the food that we redceived (as above) could have fed 4 hungry LTH'ers, and probably 5-6 "regular" people. We had to take home 1/2 of the sashimi (still very fresh that night), 1/2 of the tempura, and leave most of the noodles (the broth having been consumed for taste). Final bill, 60.75 before tip, which of course, was very generous.

So, this represents another possible dining option. For 60 bucks, at least 4 people can leave very very happy.


cheers

heartdoc wrote:Impossibly, next, out came the piece de resistance, a large plate of salmon parts, which included a large part of the back bone, with lots of attached meat (I believe that one of the truisms of meat eaters is that meat close to bone is tastier and more fun to eat, regardless of the fish/fowl/animal). I stared and stared and couldn't believe my eyes, they also included the collar, and also half of the freaking head!

Wow!

Salmon collar at Tampopo, I'm a long time regular and have never been so graced. I tip my hat with a thank you for the heads-up, or in this case, heads-grilled.

I'm of the opinion Tampopo is a mildly underappreciated gem, thanks for the interesting and detailed post on your experience.

Enjoy,
Gary

Despite the server stating that all those items accompanied the sashimi combo, I still suspect this is a case of "service."

I hope someone else gets the same offer.

We've experienced on two occasions "service" in Korean restaurants - once at our inaugural visit to Hae Woon Dae and once in a Korean restaurant in Baltimore.

heartdoc wrote:In one sentence, ridiculous value for money, including freaking grilled salmon head! Got your attention yet?

HeartDoc,

Thanks for the heads up on salmon head at Tampopo, really quite delicious.

Salmon head, collar, part of backbone


Enjoy,
Gary

GWiv--

I'm really glad you enjoyed it, and secondly glad that it actually came out. Otherwise, I would have been batting 2 for 2 on the misinformation front. Just to get another data point, was wondering if the goodies came out unsolicited, and if they were indeed part of the aforementioned sashimi combination.

Cheers

LTH,

I'm a long time fan of Tampopo, friendly owner, good food, price on the low side for skill and quality and the occasional hit it out of the park deliciousness. On a recent snowy Sunday evening smoked salmon skin maki rolls provided particularly pleasurable palate punch, crisp, rich, lightly smoky, merest hint of soy and wasabi for accent. We tried the first at Daniel, Tampopo's chef/owner, suggestion and immediately ordered two additional maki rolls.

Mike Sula's take on the delicious treat may be found on the Reader Blog

Smoked Salmon Skin Maki Roll

Photo by Mike Sula


In light of Ginkgo's End of a Long Relationship about Matsuya, might I suggest Tampopo as a possible substitute. Though I should add I've been a satisfied customer of Matsuya for years and last I went, about a year ago, it was same as always.

Enjoy,
Gary

Gary,

That maki is, indeed, a beautiful thing. I don't know why, but ever since I discovered the magic that is grilled salmon skin (maybe circa 1987) I've always preferred to eat it in handroll form. I can't really say why, but that last bite of the end of the cone that has a bit of rice, a bit of crunchy salmon skin, a hint of eel sauce and (hopefully) crunchy nori is my absolute favorite way to end a sushi-based meal.

G Wiv wrote:In light of Ginkgo's End of a Long Relationship about Matsuya, might I suggest Tampopo as a possible substitute. Though I should add I've been a satisfied customer of Matsuya for years and last I went, about a year ago, it was same as always.

I am also a fan of Tampopo, but I think a more suitable substiture for Mitsuya would be GNR Winner Sunshine Cafe or GNR Winner Renga-Tei, though I think Sunshine Cafe is closer in spirit to Mitsuya.

stevez wrote:I am also a fan of Tampopo, but I think a more suitable substiture for Mitsuya would be GNR Winner Sunshine Cafe or GNR Winner Renga-Tei, though I think Sunshine Cafe is closer in spirit to Mitsuya.

Steve,

I'd agree with Renga-Tei, though as Sunshine, which I dearly love, does not offer sushi I think Renga-Tei is a closer fit. Though I admit I'm really splitting scallions here.

Josh, far as salmon skin handrolls, a favorite of mine as well, and nice description of the last bite of the cone, but the big flavor smoky crunch worked well in this case. Though next time I may just have to try a smoked salmon skin handroll and maki side by side, just for the sake of LTH-Science.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:I'd agree with Renga-Tei, though as Sunshine, which I dearly love, does not offer sushi I think Renga-Tei is a closer fit.

Could be, but to me Matsuya was never a sushi place as much as a cooked food place. The availability of sushi was only added in later years.