Salmon skin is the only bacon I allow in my sushi.

As stated, smoky, crunchy and delicious.

Having a Saturday off, Mrs. Trpt and I went to Tampopo today for lunch. Why we haven't gone before is a mystery, it's close by and we've passed it a million times. Everything was fresh and flavorful, the soft-shell crab as succulent as any I've ever had, the sushi well above average. (The only drawback:fake crab). The tab was reasonable as well, $57 before tip, we'll certainly be back sooner rather than later. A hop skip and jump to Mekato's down the street to pick up some pastries and it was a full LTH afternoon.

trpt2345 wrote:A hop skip and jump to Mekato's down the street to pick up some pastries and it was a full LTH afternoon.

There's a Mekato's located near Topolobampo? Address please.

stevez wrote:There's a Mekato's located near Topolobampo? Address please.

Steve,

trpt2345 was posting about Tampopo, not Topolobamop. It's early, I'd guess another cup of coffee is in order.

Mekato's is, as you know, just South of Tampopo.

Enjoy,
Gary


Mekato's Colombian Bakery
5423 N Lincoln
Chicago, IL 60625
773-784-5181

Tampopo Japanese Restaurant
5665 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773-561-2277

Topolobampo
445 N. Clark St
Chicago, IL
312-661-1434

G Wiv wrote:Steve,

trpt2345 was posting about Tampopo, not Topolobamop. It's early, I'd guess another cup of coffee is in order.

Man, maybe coffee and an eye exam.

stevez wrote:

trpt2345 wrote:A hop skip and jump to Mekato's down the street to pick up some pastries and it was a full LTH afternoon.

There's a Mekato's located near Topolobampo? Address please.

Tampopo. Not Topolobampo.

Does anyone happen to know if a carryout menu for Tampopo is available online? I've had no luck on the usual third party sites, and it doesn't appear the restaurant has its own website.

Thanks!!

alessio20 wrote:Does anyone happen to know if a carryout menu for Tampopo is available online? I've had no luck on the usual third party sites, and it doesn't appear the restaurant has its own website.

Tampopo menu

Thanks Gary!! I am eternally grateful--a bowl of ramen might just cure my ills.

With Tampopo nominated for a GNR, we decided to stop in for a late dinner last weekend, when we were in the neighborhood. Even though, based on this thread, we had pretty high expectations, they were exceeded, and we ended up having a wonderful meal . . .


Tempura Green Beans
Hot, crispy and satisfyingly tender.



Agedashi Tofu
Very supple firm-variety tofu -- lightly dusted and fried -- in a flavorful broth that included some deeply aromatic ginger and fresh scallions.



Spicy Tuna Roll and Assorted Sushi
Great, fresh-tasting fish all the way around and the sesame seeds around the tuna roll were well toasted, which really accented the flavor of the tuna nicely.



Dragon Roll
As if this roll, which had tempura shrimp at its center, needed the added richness of the eel and avocado -- delightful overkill.



Tampopo Roll
The namesake roll, which included that excellent, spicy tobiko on top.



Spicy Pork
Moderately spicy and balanced off nicely with a touch of sweetness. I suppose that if the jalapenos had been spicier, the dish might have played differently but it was absolutely fine as it was. This was served in a bento box, with some delicious pickles, a salad dressed in citrus/ginger dressing, some steamed rice and some slaw.

I really enjoyed this first visit to Tampopo. The freshness (especially of the fish) was clearly evident and the flavors were fantastic. I think Tampopo is a rare find by any measure, and especially at this price point. Service was friendly, helpful and welcoming. I cannot believe how long it took me to make this initial visit (so many restaurants, so little time) but if it hadn't been nominated for a GNR, I'm not sure it would have even been on my radar (so, thanks again LTHForum). In any event, I look forward to returning to Tampopo on a regular basis.

=R=

Last night, my father joined RAB and I for dinner at Tampopo. None of us had ever been before and thank GWiv for nominating the restaurant and providing us with the inspiration to go.

We all greatly enjoyed our meal and think we like Tampopo even more than Renga-Tei, which I find to be similar. I like unfussy, more traditional Japanese food better than modern club-like sushi spots - - and Tampopo is all of the former with none of the latter.

Highlights were the Age Dashi Tofu (which we wouldn't ever have ordered had we not seen Gary's stunning pic at the top of the GNR nomination thread) and the katsu donburi. The tofu dish was light, piping hot, and covered in wonderful ginger. While waiting for our next course, I couldn't help but spoon up all the fragrant sauce. The katsu donburi was equally good, and again featured a wonderful sauce, probably what makes this dish stand out from similar dishes elsewhere.

The sushi we had was solid, but unremarkable. I'd call it fresh, but not pristine, and decently, but not expertly, cut. We ate every bit of it, though, enjoying the ample tuna sashimi plate and a few spicy maki rolls. The yellowtail sushi was one of the best bites of the night. If I had to find one problem, it would be that the sushi slices were actually too big (not a problem I usually have in a sushi restaurant).

Sushi is one of very few foods I actually crave and have no doubt that Tampopo will be on my short list of sushi places to return to.

Ronna

With all the talk and GNR nomination lately Mrs. Trpt and I went to Tampopo last night for the first time in a while. Wow, I've missed it. Just echoing all the comments that have been made, everything we had (mostly sushi, a few appetizers) was super fresh and well-presented. I'll have to try the tofu sometime. And we stuffed ourselves for fifty bucks (plus tip). I don't even want to go anywhere else for Japanese at this point.

We also made the short trek to Tampopo today, thanks to the GNR award. My favorite part was the panchan-style trio at the beginning (panchan being the main reason I love Korean food), consisting of creamy macaroni salad, bean thread in soy sauce, and delightful pickles. My hubby had the udon with tonkatsu sauce, and I had the enormous Tampopo ramen. I mean, really, enormous! The egg cooked onto the soft-shell crab was a nice touch, and the broth was full flavored and nicely fishy. The service was friendly, the small children nearby were adorable and well-behaved, and the tab was small. A true GNR!

lemoneater wrote:. . . I had the enormous Tampopo ramen. I mean, really, enormous! The egg cooked onto the soft-shell crab was a nice touch, and the broth was full flavored and nicely fishy.

I had this dish for lunch last Saturday and it really impressed me . . .


Tampopo Ramen
Enormous and delectable. The broth was deeply flavorful with no excessive saltiness. A joy to eat.

We had a bunch of other delicious dishes, too -- juicy marinated salmon collar, a variety of ultra-fresh sushi, tender, crispy-fried pork and meaty mushroom maki, to name a few -- but my favorite might have been this maki . . .


Spicy Tuna Roll inside/out with Masago
A great cominbation of flavors and textures. I loved the way the toasted sesame seeds (mixed in with the masago) highlighted the tuna.

We were also really impressed by a dish we didn't order but that looked great . . .


Salad with tuna, salmon, cabbage, seaweed, greens, etc.

I just can't wait to get back to Tampopo. I just love the food and the vibe at this welcoming neighborhood spot.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:We were also really impressed by a dish we didn't order but that looked great . . .


Salad with tuna, salmon, cabbage, seaweed, greens, etc.

Hi Ronnie,
That dish is called hwe dup bap (회덥밥) and it's a Korean-Japanese staple, usually only served in Japanese sushi places run by Koreans. It's actually a rice dish and not a salad, similar to the Japanese chirashi (but in my biased opinion, better), topped with raw fish, and veggies and served with a vinegary spicy chili paste, cho gochujang (초고추장). Tampopo's version is fantastic and iirc served with three kinds of raw fish, romaine lettuce, shredded radish, Korean sesame leaf, dried seaweed, raw garlic, shredded cucumber all on top of rice with a drizzling of sesame oil. I especially like to eat it during the summer months. You can also think of it almost as a Korean-Japanese version of bibimbap (just not the kind in the dolsot).

We visited Tampopo for the first time last night and came away with a mixed opinion. Appetizers (seaweed salad, tempura squid) and sushi were solid renditions at decent prices, although I agree that the fish-to-rice ratio with the nigiri is far too high. This isn't really a problem with fish that are also served as sashimi (after all, the fish is what you're paying for), but with uni I think the ratio is actually quite important. For the same price, I'd much rather have 2 pieces with half the uni on each piece.

Unfortunately, the chashu ramen was really disappointing. The noodles themselves were okay, but the pork was terrible: dry and chewy (much too lean of a cut for this dish). The broth was also pretty unremarkable, not particularly deep or complex.

The other problem was that it took a really long time to receive the food. We waited about 20 minutes for the appetizers, then another half or so for sushi, and another 15 minutes for ramen. Almost 2 hours from beginning to end. We did notice some LTH regulars in the house. Was last night particularly slow?

BJY wrote:We did notice some LTH regulars in the house. Was last night particularly slow?

I was among the table of LTHers that you saw. You should have introduced yourself. To answer your question, last night was uncharacteristically slow and lax on the service side. In fact, we waited a very long time for our food and there were a couple of items that we never even received. I'm quite sure that was a one-off experience because the service has been fine every other time I've been there.

Tampopo was featured on this week's episode of Check, Please! and was very well-received. 2 of the participants loved it and one of them contended that while it was ok, the 'regulars' in the restaurant were getting maki that was more tightly rolled than his (not sure how he knew this but whatever). In any event, it was great to see the place featured and I hope it drives some additional business for them.

Tampopo on Check, Please!

=R=

My wife and I are both getting over sinus infections, so soup at Tampopo really hit the spot last night. Between the two of us we had the Tampopo ramen and the tempura udon. Both were excellent as always. It was pretty dead though. We were there pretty early - probably from 6 to 7 - and there were only 3 or 4 other tables full during the course of our visit. It seems like they could use a bit of extra LTH love.

Not only do I swear by Tampopo... Over a year later and I still can't get over the sushi portion sizes. Mekatos is great. Frank (from Frank's Men's Hair Salon) has been my barber for a while and I always left meter time to grab a squeaky corn arepa or a buñuela.

http://www.chicagofoodies.com/2005/08/mekatos.html

Sharona wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:We were also really impressed by a dish we didn't order but that looked great . . .


Salad with tuna, salmon, cabbage, seaweed, greens, etc.

Hi Ronnie,
That dish is called hwe dup bap (회덥밥) and it's a Korean-Japanese staple, usually only served in Japanese sushi places run by Koreans. It's actually a rice dish and not a salad, similar to the Japanese chirashi (but in my biased opinion, better), topped with raw fish, and veggies and served with a vinegary spicy chili paste, cho gochujang (초고추장). Tampopo's version is fantastic and iirc served with three kinds of raw fish, romaine lettuce, shredded radish, Korean sesame leaf, dried seaweed, raw garlic, shredded cucumber all on top of rice with a drizzling of sesame oil. I especially like to eat it during the summer months. You can also think of it almost as a Korean-Japanese version of bibimbap (just not the kind in the dolsot).

Made a trip to Tampopo last week and finally got to try this dish, which was awesome. I loved the way the rich chunks of fish were balanced by the rice . .. and the lettuce, of which there was quite a bit. This actually eats as a very light dish -- even like a salad -- and I can easily understand how it would be a great warm-weather dish. We all tweaked our individual bowls with what I believe was go-chu-jang.

The rest of our meal was terrific, too (please, forgive the sketchy details and lack of pictures; this was primarily a social occasion). We enjoyed Tampopo's nearly flawless version of agedashi tofu, which was delicate, redolent of ginger and utterly compelling. We also had a tasty scallop (and spinach?) appetizer that was in served in a clam shell and topped with a thick egg custard. It reminded me of the 'golden shrimp' at Ron of Japan, only much better. Wasabi shumai were tasty and really packed a noticeable wasabi punch. The kitchen sent out a bunch of tastes for us, as well, including some crispy fried pork, marinated and grilled salmon collar and tempura'd vegetables, all of which were outstanding.

We finished up with an eyes-bigger-than-our-stomachs selection of inventive and delicious maki -- Alaska Roll, Scallop & Scallion Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll inside/out with masago and a variant of a spider roll the name of which I cannot remember at the moment -- and a huge bowl of the Tampopo ramen, pictured above. Wow! What a great meal.

The quality at Tampopo remains high and the prices cannot be beat. It's such a gem and it never fails to deliver total satisfaction.

=R=

OK so this is my first post here, but someone's gotta say it: Tampopo is not a Great Neighborhood Restaurant. It is not even a good restaurant. It is a bad restaurant.

I ate there tonight with my girlfriend, and we're assigning letter grades:

1. Complimentary course of Miso Soup and Pickled Veg
The miso was fine but not really distinguishable from the reconstituted stuff you find in Asian supermarkets. The pickled veg was almost totally flavorless. It came with some kind of gross macaroni and mayonnaise thing. Grade: C+.

2. Highly touted Agedashi Tofu
This was definitely the best dish; not excellent or anything but not bad. Good in a fun, snacky sort of way. The only dish we actually finished. Grade: B+

3. Chashu Ramen
This is typically my favorite ramen dish, but Tampopo ruined it. The noodles were soggy and overcooked by at least two to three minutes. The pork was dry (I would use the word sere but it sounds too pretentious) and almost totally flavorless. My girlfriend looked up from her bowl halfway through: "I don't know why I'm eating this; I don't even want it." Grade: D

4. Nine pieces of Sushi a la carte (tuna, mackerel, yellowtail, tamago, unagi, octopus and two kinds of roe)
Let me not mince words here: Tampopo's sushi was fucking terrible. The tuna was dense and tasteless, the mackerel stunk (literally), the octopus was slimy and the roe was nearly inedible. The tamago was boring but at least inoffensive. The unagi alone was passable, but only because of the sauce. Also the portions were enormous, which leads me to conclude that the chef, and many of the posters on this board, seem to have completely misunderstood the concept.

Sushi is a delicacy: you pay a high price for a small amount of extremely high-quality fish. At Tampopo you pay a low price for a very large amount of extremely low-quality fish. The fact that you get a wallet-sized slab of tuna for $2 is not a selling point; it is a red flag. Sushi is not something that lends itself to low prices; if you really want it fresh, you're going to have to pay for it, particularly if you live in Chicago. There is just no way around this. At Tampopo you are getting large quantities of the same farm-raised crap that is sold at Jewel Osco by the pound. Grade: F

Overall meal grade: D-

I know that a lot of people love this place, and I hope I don't come off as a contrarian or a troll. I respect this board and have been following it since it broke off from Chowhound. I also love Japanese food. I have been going to Katsu for years and know it to be consistently excellent; yes, it's twice as expensive as Tampopo, but there's a very good reason for that. Fresh fish, like college tuition or chemotherapy, is not an area where you should look to be saving money.

I gather the owner is a really nice guy and that the service is generally excellent. Maybe that's true. I don't have anything against him. But to put Tampopo on the GNR list is an insult to the integrity of this board.

melmoth100 wrote: OK so this is my first post here, but someone's gotta say it: Tampopo is not a Great Neighborhood Restaurant. It is not even a good restaurant. It is a bad restaurant.

While I realize displeasure is a great motivator to post, I'd be interested in a few restaurants you feel belong on the GNR list? Whats your current favorite?

G Wiv, I lived in Chicago from 1997-2005, and moved back just a couple of weeks ago. I used to post regularly on the Chowhound board, before they were acquired by CNET and it was just a big, ugly, unsearchable pre-php newsgroup. This was back when Operetta was open, Charlie Trotter was the city's best chef, Grant Achatz was just another line chef at Treo, and Honey One was still in the hood. My friend told me about LTH a couple of years ago and I have used it for menu planning on my two or three annual Chicago visits.

I have eaten at maybe 1/3 of the restaurants on the current list, and my favorites would be Katsu (which I eat at every time I come to Chicago), La Pasadita, Podholanka, and Spoon. Also a big fan of some restaurants not on the list, including Taqueria Santa Rita, Taqueria Traspasada (love their black salsa and their goat consomme), the Puerto Rican food trucks in Humboldt Park, Dat Donut and Harold's (the last one is a flagrant foul; even though it's a chain Harold's is an absolutely excellent restaurant and definitely belongs on the GNR list.)

Regarding Tampopo in particular, in the interim four years I lived in NYC, which, with large, stable immigrant populations, generally has WAY better Japanese food (and Chinese food) then Chicago. (Although far worse Mexican food.) (And no Harold's.) So my standards are definitely higher then when I left, particularly for sushi. I mean, I'm not trying to be a snob, and I don't think everything has to be flown in on the Concorde from Tsukiji to be worth eating, but cut-rate sushi in general is a sucker's game to me; would you eat a $2 tin of foie gras? Or beluga caviar? Given the time and expense that's needed to prepare those foodstuffs correctly, how could an ultra-cut rate version possibly be any good? Wal-Mart sells a pound (A POUND) of farm-grown Chilean Salmon for $3... and predictably, it tastes like crap. Russ & Daughters Deli in NYC sells a pound of wild-caught Danish Double Smoked Salmon for $48 dollars, and it tastes like heaven. Wal-Mart's version is literally 1/16th the price, but do I care? No. It is not even close to 1/16th as good.

My sense is that Tampopo is trafficking in the same area of the market. My favorite sushi place in NYC was Azabu, which was located in the basement of another, inferior TriBeca restaurant. The omakase runs $125 and consisted of maybe 11 assorted pieces of sashimi and nigiri; each was served individually as a single course, prepared by trained Japanese chefs directly before your eyes. Tampopo is selling a cut-rate version of this for 1/5 the price; but like the Wal-Mart salmon (and that is literally what you are getting here) the reduction in quality is so immense that you are actually still getting ripped off.

I mean there are good cut-rate Japanese places; all the ramen joints, all the yakitori joints, or even a homecooked fish place like Chiyono in New York. These places serve excellent food at great prices. But they don't serve sushi, and I think it's because they actually understand what sushi really is, what it's really meant to be, and they wouldn't taint that by serving you Z-grade raw fish.

Last night my husband and I had dinner at Tampopo with a couple of friends. He and I were underwhelmed, but our friends liked it quite a bit.

The reason for the disparity is obvious: my husband and I picked cooked dishes (tonkatsu for me, zaru soba for him) and our friends had a combination of fish sushi for the husband and veggie sushi for the pregnant wife. Our friends praised the quality and freshness of the sushi, and the wife liked the many veggie options. We, on the other hand, had buckwheat noodles that tasted like...wet, and dry-as-a-bone pork and cold, dry rice. Perhaps I mistook the dish for another - I seem to recall that "tonkatsu" at Sunshine Cafe signified a warm bowl of rice topped with sauced pork. It's been awhile, though, so I may have just mis-ordered.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote: I seem to recall that "tonkatsu" at Sunshine Cafe signified a warm bowl of rice topped with sauced pork.

Tonkatsu is always going to to be a breaded pork cutlet. Sometimes it will be served over rice (katsudon = katsu + donburi). It shouldn't be sauced, but there should be sauce available.

gastro gnome wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote: I seem to recall that "tonkatsu" at Sunshine Cafe signified a warm bowl of rice topped with sauced pork.

Tonkatsu is always going to to be a breaded pork cutlet. Sometimes it will be served over rice (katsudon = katsu + donburi). It shouldn't be sauced, but there should be sauce available.

I knew it was going to be breaded, that's how I recall the Sunshine Cafe dish. Perhaps the sauce was on the side there as well, I don't recall, but the sauce at Tampopo was a faintly unpleasant plum, which was not at all what I was expecting. Again, I'm not sure whether this was my fault in ordering incorrectly, but I do know I didn't enjoy the dish.

The dish I've enjoyed in the past at Tampopo was the katsu curry, which is a katsu cutlet with rice, all topped with Japanese roux-based curry. Maybe you might have better luck with that next time!

Sharona wrote:The dish I've enjoyed in the past at Tampopo was the katsu curry, which is a katsu cutlet with rice, all topped with Japanese roux-based curry. Maybe you might have better luck with that next time!

That sounds much closer to what I was aiming for. Thanks!

I'm guessing you just don't like tonkatsu sauce, which is basically Worcestershire sauce with more fruit and vinegar. In that case, katsudon would be a good choice for you.

Of course, the fact that the cutlet was overcooked is a separate issue.