Dao Sushi & Thai - Burr Ridge

I had been wanting to get over to Dao Sushi & Thai since they opened, and yesterday was finally the day. Spur of the moment, and a rare lunch away from my desk so no pics.

Interesting and modern space with a bar and a sushi bar. Contemporary and hip looking spot. I could see it being busy at night and on weekends. As it was for a Wednesday lunch it was pretty crowded. Friendly service, and I liked the food. I dont claim to be a sushi expert, or a Japanese food expert though. I go more for rolls vs the raw fish, it is what it is.

I went with a bento box lunch special - 2 items beef terryaki and chicken katsu for $14, it was served with a bowl of white rice, 2 gyoza, a salad, a 3 piece California roll, and miso soup. A heck of a lot of food. Beef terryaki was excellent, thin sliced and cooked medium rare. Chicken Katsu was a nice thin breaded chicken cutlet. Both had nice dipping sauces. The gyoza was probably my favorite item, really nice filling, pefectly tender wrapper. miso soup, not a fan, but I tried it, it didnt make me a fan. Salad was was a basic salad with a citrus dressing. California roll was ok. Alot of food for a little bit of coin.

The funny part of the meal was my moms dish, she ordered the pineapple fried rice, and when I saw it coming I got a chuckle. The fried rice with shrimp, etc, was served in a halved hollowed out pineapple. Nice presentation, a little over the top. Fried rice was ok, a little to moist for my tastes.

We also shared a Boston Roll - shrimp, cucumber, avocado & mayo. Pretty good


Overall I was happy with the meal, and the menu is large enouigh to want to go back. It is nice to have another option close to my work for the rare time I get out to eat. It is located in the same strip mall as the Brookhaven Market.

Dao Sushi & Thai
200 Burr Ridge Parkway
Burr Ridge, IL.

http://www.daosushiandthai.com

What is the deal with all the Thai/Sushi places cropping up? It's probably unfounded, but I have trouble trusting a place that tries to do too much. If I want Thai, I will go to a Thai restaurant, and if I want Sushi, I will go to a Japanese place. For instance, I have heard OK things about Indie, but have not been able to bring myself to go there since it changed from an all Thai menu to a Thai/Sushi place. I used to like the restaurant for delivery and take-out, although the old name escapes me (something starting with L). I have never been to Thailand. Is sushi/sashimi popular among the native residents, or is this Pan-Asian trend just a US thing?

d4v3 wrote:What is the deal with all the Thai/Sushi places cropping up? It's probably unfounded, but I have trouble trusting a place that tries to do too much.

probably not unfounded, thats my biggest problem with a certain s. suburbs GNR.

I havent noticed an upswing of these fusion spots, and I really didnt look to close @ the Thai menu. I was focusing on the bento lunch special, I do know the next time I go I am going to get a Donburi item - Katsudon.

Its just nice to have another option to eat at in the restaurant desert that is the area in which I work. Besides Katy's, Lao Szechuan, Fabulous Noodles, Chinese Kitchen & Las Asadas that is.

d4v3 wrote:What is the deal with all the Thai/Sushi places cropping up? It's probably unfounded, but I have trouble trusting a place that tries to do too much. If I want Thai, I will go to a Thai restaurant, and if I want Sushi, I will go to a Japanese place.

My GUESS is that it's a wildly successful way to get ppl in the door who think sushi is a raw fish sitting on a plate with a fork.
If you want sushi, I'll bet you know a few ppl who will NOT be joining you. My mother doesn't even want to TALK about sushi - it's just not happening, but, we did successfully get her to go have Thai food with us one day at a Thai place, and she LIKED it. It's probably good for a large group, as well. I went to a large-ish birthday dinner at Butterfly. There were a few ppl in the group that had never had sushi before, and were scared poopless about what was gonna be presented for dinner. There was plenty for them to eat that they did not have to be scared of (in their minds.) I do notice, that those unfamiliar with sushi tend to think that everything served in a sushi restaurant has raw fish in it.

I think these places are filling the niche of "Let's do dinner, I like sushi, but you've never had it." Or "I like sushi, but you don't." Or, "We've never had sushi, let's try it, but have a fallback."

Just a guess.

Jim - saw your post and was going to be in the neighborhood Sunday evening so I stopped in for dinner at Dao. Five or six occupied tables and one guy at the sushi bar. I tried some sushi and the "new to the menu" curry fried rice with chicken for an entree. Sushi was OK but nothing to write home about and the curry fried rice was marginal. Not enough heat from the curry and not enough chicken. At $11 for a bowl of fried rice, I expected more. The meal filled me up but I won't be a repeat customer. Not that I would be anyway, since I live downstate!

Davooda

Davooda wrote:Jim - saw your post and was going to be in the neighborhood Sunday evening so I stopped in for dinner at Dao. Five or six occupied tables and one guy at the sushi bar. I tried some sushi and the "new to the menu" curry fried rice with chicken for an entree. Sushi was OK but nothing to write home about and the curry fried rice was marginal. Not enough heat from the curry and not enough chicken. At $11 for a bowl of fried rice, I expected more. The meal filled me up but I won't be a repeat customer. Not that I would be anyway, since I live downstate!

Davooda

sorry.

outside of the lunch specials the menu did look pricey.

now you see how bad my food options are here in Burr Ridge come lunchtime.

other than the good Chinese spots & maybe a hot dog & IB place, its typical suburban chain hell around here.

No worries Jim - the alternative was "fine" dining at the O'Hare Airport Hilton, which is where I was headed for two days of interviews and hotel food....ugh

you should have dropped me a line, and headed by my place on the way up north.

I was cooking up pork belly cracklings, crawfish boudin, and some gumbo with smoked chicken and sausage Sunday afternoon.

Aw man - that sounds awesome!

I did assuage my gustatory pain by stopping at Ream's on the way back home to provision myself for the winter. Filled every cooler I own - just love that place!

Davooda