Chizakaya

Had an excellent reason to drop by Chizakaya last night. It was on my way home (not really, but I was up north!)

I had noticed this place a few weeks ago, when I was across the street at a photography class. They opened last week, but I did not want to risk a bad first impression because of opening pains!

I arrived around 7 and chose a seat in the front dining room. There is also a bar you can idle up to, or a communal seating area in the back. It was relatively empty when I arrived: 2 tables occupies and a few people at the bar. When I left around 8:30pm, there were no tables left... On an Wednesday night! My waitress was very cheerful and helpful and recommended a light tasting beer to start. Then we started to get crazy!

My choices were: Puffed Pig Ears, Crispy pork with poached egg, 1 skewer each of beef tongue and beef cheek (tongue and cheek! Get it?!), chawan mushi with foie gras, basket tofu, crispy chicken thighs, ramen, rice pudding (dessert), and yuzu cake with green tea ice cream (dessert).

Yes, I overordered just a tad, but with no regrets! Photos will be coming soon!

Amuse Bouche (complimentary) - Edamame, with dashi foam, hijiki and a piece of crispy fish skin. Edamame was plain, hijiki was hard to eat (a few pieces at the bottom of the plate). Star was definitely that fish skin cracker. Slightly greasy and fishy with a good crunch.

Puffed Pigs Ears - think thin crackers that taste just like chiccarones but with extra crunch. I have no idea how they do this. It was a generous portion for $4, dusted with toragashi (which I could not really taste till the end), served with a jalapeno "vin" (vinaigrette). A very nice way to start the meal

Crispy Pork with slow cooked egg - I see what they were trying for... pork belly sliced thin and fried. Not too crispy, but the pork had a slight jerky like texture. The poached egg was beautiful, served with some soy, I used it as a dip for my pork and downed the rest in one gulp!

Beef Tongue and Cheek kushi yaki - Very good. How good? I ordered extra to go and they never made it home! Tongue was thinly sliced and well cooked: not tough, perfectly tender. A squeeze of lemon was all it needed. Cheek was tender and sweet. I was very happy that I have found a place for kushi yaki in the city! The menu also has the standbys (chicken, meatballs, etc etc), but they have some very interested items like japanese turnips, chicken skin (normal for me, but maybe not for everyone!), etc.

Chawan Mushi with foie gras - You can get it with or without the foie gras ($6 additional). But there was a lot of foie in my chawan mushi. maybe a 2-3 inch piece cut into 4 pieces. Perfectly cooked, pink in the center. The egg custard itself was perfectly steamed. Not overcooked, great silky texture.

Basket Tofu - Made in house, the tofu is not the silky tofu you'd expect. It's thicker and grainier. Think mashed feta-ish... You can taste the freshness, and the soy, served in a basket with soy sauce on the side.

Crispy Chicken Thighs - Served with a mizuna salad and a dashi mayo. Not a fan of the mayo, so I avoided it. Chicken was very crispy, exactly like Japanese kara-age, but I guess Crispy Chicken Thighs sound better. Mizuna salad was simply dressed with a lemon vinaigrette, and refreshed your palate between bites of the rich chicken.

Ramen - I had high hopes... noodles were silky and soft, but I prefer a firmer noodle. Fish paste balls were house made with some octopus thrown in. Crispy pork (same as the earlier dish) was thrown in, but I could have done with less. But the star? That egg... I could have 10 eggs and call it a day...

The kitchen sent out a complimentary dessert (maybe coz they thought I wasn't full yet!) of chocolate sesame ganache with soy sorbet. Very rich in the beginning, but as the ganache squares started to melt in your mouth, the flavor of the sesame came out. The soy sorbet was extremely well done and reminded me of really fresh soy milk (dou jiang), which basically it is! Really good stuff.

At this point I was stuffed. So I had my 2 desserts to go:

Yuzu cake with green tea ice cream - Did not have a chance to try the ice cream, since it would have melted. But the nice people there told me they owed me one serving for my next visit. The cake... the cake... I opened the container in the kitchen the minute I got home. Just for a look... took a nibble, and 10 seconds later it was gone. Light, not too sweet yuzu sponge cake served with some matcha (green tea) crumble topping...

Rice pudding - It's actually rice pudding with taro root, and coconut shavings on top. A little heavier than the cake, but not too sweet.

So there you go... An excellent dinner, great waitstaff, and really talented chefs... I am happy I went, and will definitely be back to try everything else I missed!

Chizakaya
3056 N. Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL
773-697-4725

This is great to hear. I really, really want izakayas to catch on here and it was a travesty that Mizu closed so quickly. I look forward to trying Chizakaya soon.

I was also at Chizakaya on Wednesday night..sorry I missed you Crazy C. I was in the front room as well, but I think the next time (which will be very, very soon), I'll sit in the back room by the kitchen with the communal tables.

I have to say, and I say this boldly, the meal I had last night was one of the best meals (if not the best) I've had in a new Chicago restaurant during the past six months. I love the fact that the chefs have attempted an inspired menu that balanced traditional Japanese "pub grub" as befits the izakaya name, and inventive offerrings.

The standout of the night for me was an astounding hamachi sashimi with bone marrow "butter" and umeboshi. I approached this dish with trepidation thinking that the fish would be smothered by the assertiveness of the bone marrow, but I was so surprised that it didn't. The fish was gently brushed by the bone marrow flavor.

I agree with Crazy C that the crispy chicken thighs was an excellent traditional preparation of the kara-age, crispy, flavorful with the mizu marinade, and not greasy at all. I also loved the teriyaki chicken livers, so lightly breaded yet very warming and comforting in their assertive flavors, and being Filipino, the puffed pork ears, crisp sheets of pork ears. These could rival the Publican's pork rinds.

Grant Achatz was impressed with his dinner, I guess, since he was tweeting about it on Tuesday night.

I didn't try the sake, but Chantelle Pabros, who surprisingly left her L2.0 sommelier role early this summer is responsible for Chizakaya's wine/sake/cocktail/beer program.

I think it's a must-go!

Checked out Chizakaya last night with Petite_Gourmande and am thrilled to welcome them to my curiously restaurant deficient W. Lakeview neighborhood!! Loved the interior--dark, minimalist but with some great mural work on the upper walls and reasonably quiet except for the music although the room wasn't full. We were there around 10:30 after a night of prepping salads for the picnic and decided to sit at the bar. Turns out, the bartender is also the son of the farmers who provide the glorious eggs gracing several of the best dishes. Loved that.

We ordered pretty much the same things that Fusion Fan and CrazyC posted about with much the same reaction. I really enjoyed the ramen but I agree that the noodles could've been a bit firmer. Still, I could eat this dish VERY regularly. The chicken, the porkbelly with egg and the lacy fried pig's ears were my favorites and I can't imagine eating here and not re-ordering them again and again. The custard with foie gras, the basket tofu and the hamachi w/bone marrow were all good although I'd try other things next time. The beef tongue and chicken skin skewers were a miss for me--the tongue would've benefitted from CrazyC's suggestion of a lemon spritz and the chicken skin wasn't nearly crispy enough. Both were take off the bill because they noticed we didn't finish them (as opposed to every other plate/bowl which was literally licked clean).

Our farmer/bartender provided excellent sake recommendations (it's a small but nice list) and I tried one of the specialty cocktails that now I don't remember except that it was supposed to contain ginger beer which they evidently didn't have on hand and, instead, substituted canada dry (!). It was still good although sorely missing the bite that the ginger beer would've provided.

Looking forward to the Sake dinner this Wednesday to try more of their offerings!!

Wife and I look forward to having this in the hood and with your positive review we will be going sooner than later!!! It is literally a block and a half from our house!

DB

A few months ago I called Chilam Balam the Veerasway of Mexican cooking, and noted that such a description meant that I liked it. I think a similar description applies to Chizakaya, though I like it less. I don't have much izakaya experience, but the small plates here seemed like prettied-up bar food cooked by fine dining chefs who are experimenting with Japanese flavors. There's nothing wrong with that, but the experience left me longing for a trip to Ginza or Sunshine. Or Toons. Those places don't specialize in izakaya, but they do have sharable plates, and what they lack in skewers they make up for in spades with soul. The best thing I tasted at Chizakaya was raw hamachi with a touch of super-rich bone marrow and lots of acid to balance it out. Next best was probably the skewer of meltingly tender beef cheek in some kind of sweet marinade. At the $3 the skewer seemed like quite a deal, but it was about 3 small bites of food - maybe an ounce of cheek. Six tiny (but delicious) turnips were also 3 bucks, and a couple of pieces of skewered chicken skin that needed more fat-rendering were the same price. I don't often complain about portion size, but it was notable here. Right down to the teeny tiny shot glasses they use for water, which kept the on-the-ball busboy busier than he should have to be.

Avoid the clams in beer broth, as they were gritty and the broth had an acrid taste. And I still think the best thing anyone can do with pig ears is give them to a dog. Chizakaya's ears may be the best preparation this side of Petsmart, but they're barely appropriate for human consumption.

Overall, I thought the food at Chizakaya was good, but I've got to think there's more to izakaya than this. I hope they do well and encourage other izakaya places to give it a try in our fair city.

Kennyz wrote:And I still think the best thing anyone can do with pig ears is give them to a dog. Chizakaya's ears may be the best preparation this side of Petsmart, but I still think they're barely appropriate for human consumption.

I will presume that this was a tongue in cheek or is it in ear comment about pig's ears. It is best for me to presume so. Given that the Asians, the human variety, have been consuming pig's ears for thousands of years.

petite_gourmande wrote:

Kennyz wrote:And I still think the best thing anyone can do with pig ears is give them to a dog. Chizakaya's ears may be the best preparation this side of Petsmart, but I still think they're barely appropriate for human consumption.

I will presume that this was a tongue in cheek or is it in ear comment about pig's ears. It is best for me to presume so. Given that the Asians, the human variety, have been consuming pig's ears for thousands of years.

Not tongue in cheek at all. I don't like pig ears. Not one bit. I've had them in countless preparations, and the best thing I'm ever able to say is that the chef turned them into something I can almost get down. Zillions of people from any continent whatsoever are free to disagree with me. I think people should eat ears only after they run out of testicles, kidneys, weeds, hair, and acorns.

Kennyz wrote:I don't like pig ears. Not one bit. ... I think people should eat ears only after they run out of testicles, kidneys, weeds, hair, and acorns.

Before or after hearts?

-Dan

Kennyz wrote:Chizakaya's ears may be the best preparation this side of Petsmart, but they're barely appropriate for human consumption.

Banner quote.

dansch wrote:

Kennyz wrote:I don't like pig ears. Not one bit. ... I think people should eat ears only after they run out of testicles, kidneys, weeds, hair, and acorns.

Before or after hearts?

-Dan

For the record, it's only the heart of a big cow that I dislike. Chicken, duck, veal, and even the occasional pig hearts are tasty. Heart before ear, for sure.

Kennyz wrote:Not tongue in cheek at all. I don't like pig ears. Not one bit. I've had them in countless preparations, and the best thing I'm ever able to say is that the chef turned them into something I can almost get down.

That's the whole point, the artistry of turning something presumably inedible into something more than palatable, delicious even. As with a lot of raw ingredients are inedible, toxic even, until they are cooked. The reverse is true, where the cooking process kills the beauty of the ingredients, like cooked-to-death green beans that turns into canned gray matter. However, I am speaking specifically about how palatable an ingredient can be, or enhanced even more due to the artistry of cooking. Something as basic as flour for you to turn into a beautiful foccacia for the picnic.

I can't argue with the fact that you don't like something and voice your opinion. I love dogs, and I think some people regards dog as higher beings than other species, so it is a delicacy that you are missing out on.

Kennyz wrote:And I still think the best thing anyone can do with pig ears is give them to a dog.

I think they do, don't they? Dogs can spend hours gnawing on one. Through the artistry of cooking it takes us minutes or seconds rather to snarf down a bowlful with a refreshing beverage.

That's the whole point, the artistry of turning something presumably inedible into something more than palatable, delicious even.

If that had happened, sure. As Kennyz said last night, though, "This is like a chewy potato chip," and that was about the most you could say for it. And the vinegar dip for them was just way too pungent.

It may be the best pig's ear in town, not counting the one from Ream's I brought back for my dog a few weeks back, but it's still not something I see much reason to get excited about. It's cartilage. There are better things on pigs. Almost anywhere, in fact.

guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Had 'em again tonite and a rather large group was fighting over them. Looking to see who took a larger one or, heaven forbid, more than one, as the bowl was being passed. Reminded me of the 80's

Guilty as charged, I really liked them. Sorry for elbowing you out of the way

a noble battle

I like them pig ears better than Publican's pork rinds, though the "jalapeno vin" Chizakaya serves it with is, to be gentle, wan; we liked it much better with a swath through the mayo at the bottom of Wednesday night's amuse (a 'chip' of fried walleye skin).

I'll be curious to see where this place goes--and whether it'll make it given its location, cuisine, etc. A few things we had were at proto-brilliant level: the deep, nutty flavors of the hamachi-bone marrow were novel and true; the congee--more a risotto than anything--with crab and corn had a haunting lime note that was quite beautiful. But we also had some typical new restaurant ridiculousness: I would put airquotes on "pickled," "vegetable," and "assortment," given we got maybe a half-dozen tiny veggies with barely any pickled impact; the eggplant dish, drowning in white miso goo, was inedible, and a ridiculous $5 for four cross-slices of eggplant (though with a dish like this, who can really finish it?).

With the addition of a tasty but greasy chawan mushi, a small bottle of sake, and tip, this was a $91 meal--and we were still hungry.

I had the pleasure of joining several LTH friends for the Master Sake Brewer Dinner at Chizakaya. The sake pairing was very well done, where the food enhances the sake experience, bringing out to surface hidden tasting notes. Of course, the sake on their own were excellent, but even better with the food. All in all, the food was very good, with a couple of misses for me. The sake pairing was excellently matched by our lovely sommelier, Chantelle Pabros, who you might know from L20.



Snapshot of the menu:



We were greeted with the a glass of the good starter sake, clean and crisp, something to firth up my palate : Yuri Masamune, Honjozo, Saiya Brewery, Akita

First offering was the contentious and barely human worthy pig ears.



Blurry image of crispy sticks of sweet Hiroshima potatoes. Very good, but not great finger food.



Besides the pig ears and potato sticks, there were passed hors d'oeuvres of grilled yakis: Chicken negi, harkurei turnips, and beef cheek. Tasty and served well as hors d’oeuvres, but due to City code and ordinances, they don’t have the license to operate a wood/charcoal grill for the yakitories, which is the beauty of these little gems.



For the first course, we were served: Shichi Hon Yari, Junmai, Tomita Shuzo, Shiga
This sake had a light golden hue with the a little body to stand up to the food, especially the soy in the basket tofu, which brought out more depth in the sake, and rounded out the edges.



Hamachi, bone marrow, umeboshi



Basket tofu, bonito, garlic blossom



Sake for the second course was brewed by a woman master brewer, which has not been legally allowed until just 3 years ago: Yuho, Junmai, Mioya Brewery, Ishikawa



I am not a big fan of bao, and the shishito bao with braised pork shoulder didn’t do anything to sway my opinion of boa. The texture of the bao was too heavy and doughy, and the pork shoulder didn’t add much to it.



This sake was elegant with a pretty floral and sensual bouquet, which stood up well to the slow poached egg. I really liked the crispy texture of the pork in the smooth richness of the poached egg.



The brew master from Saiya Brewery, Mr. Kataro Saito, presented his sake for the next course: Yuki No bosha, junmai ginjo, Saiya Brewery, Akita

http://images5b.snapfish.com/232323232% ... 3337nu0mrj[/img]



Walleye Pike, Ginger, Scallions



King Crab, Asian Pear, Miso



For dessert, Mr. Tsuyoshi of Nakao Shuzo presented his sake: Yuki No Bosha Akita Komachi, Junmai Doiginjo



Mason Horowitz, from http://www.chicagosake.com, serves as the representative and translator for tonight’s sake breweries:



Yuzu cake, green tea ice cream



All in all a great time with LTH friends as always, we met some nice people at the communal table, loved the sake, and had the pleasure of meeting the sake master brewers, Mason, and sommelier extraordinaire, Chantelle.

Thanks for the report on the sake dinner. I had intended to be there and called to RSVP, but thanks to my always reliable AT&T service, I had about a dozen voicemails delivered three days too late, including the call back from Chizakaya. I'm probably better off, as I've gone from excited to visit to less so with the early reports I've read and heard.

Really enjoyed the dinner--it was well-executed, particularly given that the place just opened. The sake tasted was lovely (and poured generously!), the food was mostly terrific and the company was excellent! I have to disagree with Mike G and Kennyz--I've enjoyed the food on both of my visits. Many of the items served at the dinner were those that I sampled on my previous trip and I was impressed by the consistency for a restaurant so new.

And the eggs...every dish containing them is a treasure

I'm happy to have Chizakaya in the neighborhood!

boudreaulicious wrote:I have to disagree with Mike G and Kennyz--I've enjoyed the food on both of my visits.

That's not disagreeing with us. I'm pretty sure both of us enjoyed the food too. I know I did.

I am excited to try Chizakaya, if for nothing else, the slowly poached Onsen Egg described above. I just enjoyed one at O Ya in boston (described here), and absolutely loved it. At O Ya, it was poached at 62 degrees Celsius in an immersion circulator for about one hour and the texture was unforgettable.

Kennyz wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:I have to disagree with Mike G and Kennyz--I've enjoyed the food on both of my visits.

That's not disagreeing with us. I'm pretty sure both of us enjoyed the food too. I know I did.

Must've read something wrong I did agree that some of the items you ordered weren't my faves either (I think we can all say that the the chicken skin is an experiment that, without charcoal, doesn't work).

And BR--no idea how they're preparing the eggs-just tasted silky, rich and delicious to me. And the fact that they come from the bartender's family farm makes it that much better. He remembered MH and I when we came in on Wed. and promised that he was bringing us some of the family's personal egg stash after the weekend. That alone is enough to get me to return!

Kennyz wrote: And I still think the best thing anyone can do with pig ears is give them to a dog. Chizakaya's ears may be the best preparation this side of Petsmart, but they're barely appropriate for human consumption.

My dogs don't like pig ears.

trpt2345 wrote:

Kennyz wrote: And I still think the best thing anyone can do with pig ears is give them to a dog. Chizakaya's ears may be the best preparation this side of Petsmart, but they're barely appropriate for human consumption.

My dogs don't like pig ears.

Have lots of replies to this, all of which would be pulled by the Mods. Exercising much restraint.

Kennyz wrote:

trpt2345 wrote:

Kennyz wrote: And I still think the best thing anyone can do with pig ears is give them to a dog. Chizakaya's ears may be the best preparation this side of Petsmart, but they're barely appropriate for human consumption.

My dogs don't like pig ears.

Have lots of replies to this, all of which would be pulled by the Mods. Exercising much restraint.

That's no fun!!!!

One day I'll start my own "Witty LTHForum Replies That Would Get Pulled" forum.

Kennyz wrote:One day I'll start my own "Witty LTHForum Replies That Would Get Pulled" forum.

I thought that's what Twitter is for.

I was there on Tuesday and absolutely loved it.

There was an amuse bouche of crispy walleye skin and aioli. I was a bit tentative, but anything well fried is good. Then, onto the meal: hamachi with bone marrow. and a nice glass of Daishichi Junmai Kimoto, followed by ramen with salty braised pork belly, poached egg, and fish ball. So THAT'S what ramen is supposed to taste like: The broth was rich and textured. It had a sort of crema on the top, salty, meaty, and full of umami-ness.

I need to go back with a large group so we can order all the skewers from the middle section of the menu and more starters and noodles.

Kennyz wrote: Six tiny (but delicious) turnips were also 3 bucks, ...

At the Green City Market on Saturday, Heritage Prairie Farm was selling turnips this same size: 4 bite-sized turnips for a nutty $3. Turns out Chizakaya's turnips are an incredible bargain.