Agami in Uptown

Who's eaten here? Which menu items are a must try?

I have eaten there a few times and have enjoyed everything I had. They do traditional sushi/sashimi very well, but the non-traditional/specialty rolls seem to be the where the emphasis is. These are tasty and fun and some are quite elegant. The Green Turtle roll is as rich as it is cute. I haven't tried more than a couple of dishes off the non-sushi menu, but the veggie tempura is good, not spectacular. The gomaae is light and flavorful. The asparagus beef rolls are fantastic! They do a good job over all. The service is good too. The place itself is interesting. May be a bit too visually busy for some, but for others (younger crowd) it's got a hip vibe to it. They have excellent, if a bit pricey, drinks. They have a a nice set of desserts that are also as pretty as they are delicious.

I really liked it but I only eat rolls. My favorite was the crispy tuna roll which is one of their specialties. We also had spicy tuna and spider rolls and they were very good. The presentation of all of the rolls was pretty spectacular. They also have a lot of cooked items that looked interesting and a nice cocktail list. I had a plum wine martini that came with a slice of fresh plum which was a nice touch. We went there on a Thursday night and there were only a few other tables which was disappointing. I'd like to go back but will probably go on a weekend night or later in the evening to ensure more of a crowd. The space seems very large and with only a few tables full it really lacked energy.

Has anyone been to Agami on Broadway? I have been there three times and the sushi is amazing! However the restaurant is never crowded. I am beginning to worry that they may go out of business.

My favorite menu items:

Steam Gyoza
Kamikaze: tuna over spicy tuna (seriously this just melts in your mouth! So Good).

Green Turtle: fresh water eel, avocado & tempura crunch topped with shrimp &wasabi tobiko decorated with wasabi & eel sauce to look like a real turtle

Millennium Maki: shrimp & asparagus tempura with fresh water eel, cucumber, masago, avocado & spicy chili sauce rolled in crunch topped with creamy wasabi and eel sauce

Pear Martini
Sonoma Martini

I can't remember the dessert I had but it was a Lycee and Berries parfait with a Champagne cream. So good!

Here is the menu link:
http://chicago.menupages.com/screenmenu ... &areaid=26[/url]

What you had sounds good. Thanks for the descriptions!

My friend is having his b-day party at Agami on Broadway this weekend. Is this restaurant stronger in terms of the sushi aspect or the hot kitchen entrees? Or maybe they're excellent in both? Thanks!

We always go before concert etc. very good sushi but sadly never crowded. Must try the PEAR martini, they use a pear puree that is awesome.

I second on the Pear Martini being outstanding!
I also love the Quail Egg Oyster Shooter.

hi,
just a quick report from our dinner here on Wednesday night - first time there.

Had a super white tuna carpaccio, which was excellent. Six thin slices, coated in black sesame and drizzled with chili/sesame oil. We also had vegetable tempura which was good, a little heavily breaded but still good. We shared 12 pieces of sashimi, and the quality of the fish was great but they were cut WAY too thick. I had trouble eating them due to this - it's a texture thing - if they were cut more thinly they probably would have had the proper "melting" consistency, but I had to chew a lot and that grosses me out a little bit.
We ordered too much, because we also had a few rolls. Nothing spectacular, but good enough to finish them the next day for lunch.

We didn't have any alcohol and the bill was almost 100$ Like I said, we ordered too much. We'll probably be back, and order less next time.
PS. this place gets a ridiculously high Zagat rating, like a 26. I'd rate it a 20-22.

4712 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
773-506-1845

I second the green turtle roll.

I also tried the o-toro, and, although it was enjoyable, it wasn't the highest quality of o-toro. Also, I was surprised by how much wasabi they put on it-- when I have o-toro I want to taste the fish.

I don't remeber other items that I specifically ordered, but I remember leaving Agami and feeling overwhelmingly pleased. I rode the train home that evening in a state of such bliss; so happy, so excited, and all because of the food. I think maybe o-toro has this effect on me.

I ate dinner at Agami on Saturday. I don't often make it to this neighborhood but wound up there because my friend heard they served "spicy tuna rice crispy," something she's eaten a lot in California but hadn't yet seen in Chicago. This particular dish wound up being too spicy for me, but she reported it as good but not quite as good as the other versions she's tried.

But that's not the reason I wanted to write about this restaurant. It's because of one of the other rolls I had - the green turtle roll which was one of the best I've ever eaten! I almost ordered a second it was that good. We also had the seaweed salad, which I would recommend and another roll I can't remember. They also have a nice-sized specialty drink list - I got some sort of mango cocktail that I really enjoyed.

The service was also great - friendly, attentive and helpful - although the prices were maybe a bit high. Despite all the positive things about the restaurant, it was nearly empty. There were only two or three other groups there in addition to us - and we got there at 8 p.m.! Hopefully this restaurant will be able to make it as I know I'm going to want that green turtle roll again.

I really liked Agami, the two times that I've been there. Their sushi is fresh, and the staff is very friendly and helpful. My first time there was at least a year ago, and two of us ordered a lot. More recently, we went around 9pm on a Saturday night for a snack. It was not very crowded, but there was a wait for anything from the sushi bar. We only ordered a couple of maki rolls, and we both really liked the King Kong.

I went to Agami last night (Friday) with my husband. Agami means fish gills in Korean. The waiters and bartender looked Korean to me, so I am going to venture out to say that this may be owned by Korean. We arrived around 6:30 and was told there was a wait for 15 min and were asked if we wanted to sit at the bar. The restaurant didn't look busy at all. I had a pear martini. It was different but not worth $12. As soon as I got my drink, we were told our seats were ready. I ordered green turtle and my husband tuna carpaccio dish. The meal was pleasant, but once again not something I would pay the price again. We didn't try any fresh sushi. The rolls did sound pretty interesting and crowd pleasing. Overall, I might recommend this place for special occasions like birthdays for young people, but not when I crave authentic chirashi.

Hwa

My regular sushi haunts used to be Bob San, Sushi Wabi and Star Fish (just to give you a better sense of my sushi tastes) but now I always recommend Agami to friends as my favorite sushi joint. Great service, ambiance and high quality fish. My favorite is the Spicy Scallop roll (raw). The one on the menu will come cooked but the scallops are so fresh it's worth ordering raw. Also the jalapeno spicy tuna roll if you can handle heat. You can't beat a piece of two of their salmon sushi or one of the chef's specialty pieces of sushi to whet your appetite.

On the spur of the moment last night, a friend and I decided to try Agami. Seating for two at 7:30 pm on a Saturday was not a problem. It seems as if this restaurant may have been too ambitious, in terms of space, given the neighborhood. It is good to read that other posters have actually had to wait for a table, because it seemed dead last night.

Overall, the food was terrific, but my sense is that their strength lies in nigiri and sashimi. The quality of the fish was terrific, and I was happiest with the simplest preparations. For example, we tried one of their "signature nigiri" preparations--zuke salmon with enoki mushroom sautéed in butter, white truffle & olive oil--and the texture was fantastic. It melted in your mouth (though the truffle oil got lost in the preparation, which is rare when it comes to truffle oil). I also had a piece of super-white tuna nigiri that was great.

We had a couple other items--a roll and a few appetizers--and thought they were good, but not great. Based on a few of the dishes, it seemed as if they overcomplicated the food. For example, we had the filet mignon tataki (filet mignon slices drizzled with wasabi mayo & citrus soy, served with jalapeno salsa) and felt as if there was just too much going on. I was expecting simple slices of beef with a light topping, but this was closer to a composed salad. The beef was in a ball in the center of the plate, mixed with the mayo, soy and salsa, surrounded entirely by thinly sliced tomatoes. I can't remember where the lettuce came in, but it added to the confusion. You could hardly tell what you were eating in each bite.

It's also worth noting that the price are high, particularly on the rolls. For example, their specialty makis are in the $14-16 range and their signature makis are in the $16-20 range. (Though, in their defense, we ordered 1 signature maki and it was huge...maybe 10 pieces.) Wine is also expensive. I spotted a Pine Ridge Viognier/Chenin Blanc on the menu by the glass for $9, and know that a bottle retails for about $12, tops.

I would definitely try Agami again, but would steer toward the sushi, avoiding rolls and other menu items.

Kitchen Monkey wrote:The Green Turtle roll is as rich as it is cute.

Contessa18 wrote:Green Turtle: fresh water eel, avocado & tempura crunch topped with shrimp &wasabi tobiko decorated with wasabi & eel sauce to look like a real turtle

dippy-do-da-egg wrote:I second the green turtle roll.

The one thing I remembered from this thread for my first visit to Agami yesterday was to order the Green Turtle. But I forgot that the roll is plated to look like a turtle, so with our four plates of maki laid out in front of us, I took the mound of wasabi closest to me to dissolve in soy sauce. I remember pausing for a split second, thinking that it was somewhat odd that the wasabi was shaped as a sphere and flecked with just two black sesame seeds. After I had completely dissolved it, my friend pointed out that I had just destroyed the turtle's head. I am not cut out for cute food.

Nor am I usually drawn to maki, but my friend is a fan of Agami, and with the kitchen appetizers, signature and specialty maki half-off on Sundays, it seemed like a low-risk outing. We had the seared tuna appetizer with sweet mustard and jalapeño on lettuce and asparagus. This dish would have been a lot better without the lettuce, which drowned out the paper-thin slices of tuna, but otherwise I enjoyed it. I also liked the Mini Godzilla (spicy tuna over spicy octopus), but the tuna was overly mayo'd.

Aside from feeling bad for decapitating it, I didn't enjoy the Green Turtle. I'm not keen on the taste of eel, and the maki pieces I had had a tough texture, like misplaced crustacean shell. I much preferred the use of crustacean and eel in the Dragon Festival roll (whole soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado and spicy mayo wrapped with fresh water eel topped with orange tobiko, drizzled with chili oil and eel sauce). The crab had a nice, pronounced crunch, and the roll was very lightly sauced. We also had the Spicy Garlic Delight (scallops, avocado, cucumber, spicy garlic tempura, topped with spicy snow crab, then oven baked and drizzled with unagi sauce), which was neither spicy nor garlicky. I liked that it was less busy than it sounded for the scallops were very good and didn't need the interference.

I ate enough maki yesterday to last me probably a decade, but overall I liked what we ate, and it was a tremendous deal. I'll go back to try more of the menu. On an early Sunday evening, the place was surprisingly relaxed and casual despite the flashy lounge decor. I noted a few families with young children and felt completely comfortable there in bike clothes and somewhat haggard from a long, wet, windy, hot, dusty day on the road.

I noticed no one posted on this thread in a while, and since I was there over the weekend and the place was fairly empty, I thought I'd try to give it a shout-out.

Last week I ordered take-out from Agami for the first time and it was great! I had a Spicy Scallop roll, the Spicy Tuna over Crispy Rice appetizer and a Spicy Salmon roll. Usually I will order in from Wakamono or Blue Ocean, but I wanted to try something different and I'm glad I did.

I decided to try dining at the restaurant with two girlfriends for dinner on Saturday. The place is decorated with very vibrant decor and has a nice loungey feel to it. It was mainly empty, but it made for a great atmosphere for catching up with my friends. We sat in one of the giant red booths in the front. I ordered "the Pear" martini, and it was delicious, made with asian pear puree. Between the three of us, we ordered several rolls as well as the Spicy Tuna over Crispy Rice appetizer (my favorite) and some miso soup. The fish was very fresh, I particularly enjoyed the Toro Roll and the Spicy Blue Crab roll.

Overall I really like Agami and will plan to take out/dine-in there more often.

With an expiring Groupon in hand, we headed to Agami for dinner last night. I had a sake sampler and Mr. X had a St. Germain cocktail. Shrimp shumai (steamed) were good. Miso had smokiness to it -- I kept looking for bacon. I meant to ask about the miso but never did. We split the Sushi Deluxe (6 pieces of nigiri plus a choice of specialty roll). The nigiri included fatty salmon, big eye tuna, seared albacore, super white tuna, striped sea bass and one more I can't remember. The three pieces I had were good, especially the salmon. Our specialty roll was the Red Alert (Shrimp tempura, spicy crab meat, avocado, cucumber, red tobiko), which was tasty. We also split a signature roll -- the Tuna Gone Wild (big eye tuna, super white tuna, albacore tuna over spicy tuna topped with sliced jalapeño, ponzu & honey wasabi sauce). This was made with the black rice, something I hadn't had in sushi rolls before. Texturally, I didn't enjoy this roll and rice as much. Service was friendly and thorough. William (I think) was helpful but not overbearing with suggestions and helped steer us away from overly sauced maki preparations. We'd return.

Public service announcement: "super white tuna" is neither "super" nor "tuna". It's escolar if you're lucky and oilfish (a natural laxative that causes "stomach distress" in sm quantities) if you're not. Problem is, they're nearly identical when filleted (which is how the vast majority is processeed) and often misrepresented when sold. Bon appetite.