Arami

DH and I showed up around 7:30 last night at the newly opened Arami. We have been looking forward to having a sushi restaurant so close to our house. We did not have a reservation and it was pretty full. We had a difficult time understanding the friendly hostess due to a combination of her heavy accent and noise-level in that area, but she told us that without a reservation it would be a thirty minute wait to sit in the dining room in back, or we could sit anywhere in the front bar-area. The décor inside is very nice, simple. The front part of the restaurant is their bar area. There are maybe 6 seats at the bar, and 6 two-top high tables. The full menu is offered in both areas of the restaurant so we gladly opted for an immediate seat at bar table since DH was quite hungry. I typically loathe a tall table because I am pretty short and have back issues, but these chairs were quite comfortable and have a nice place to rest your feet. The back dining room, from what I saw looking down the hall, appears to be very bright and pretty. They are waiting for their liquor license so it is BYO for now.

We went into this knowing that this was their 3rd night of operations so we expected some snafus. However, upon waiting for 30 minutes after ordering our salad (without any communication from the server) we were miffed and really hungry and my husband calmly told the server that we were going to call it a night and asked for our bill. She apologized profusely. Very shortly after that the owner came over to talk to us. What a nice guy! We didn’t realize that he also owns Small Bar, one of our very favorite places. He convinced us to stay and told us that anything we ordered would be rushed from here on out.

Their menu is not yet online so I am doing this from memory, but here are my thoughts on what we ordered.

Yellow tail hamachi with truffle and mushroom---two beautiful, thick-cut, pieces of fish lightly dressed with truffle oil and a mushroom. Arami’s yellow tail was better than the Yellow Tail we had a Girl & Goat on Sunday, which was very good as well. Yellow Tail is DH’s favorite sushi and his thoughts were, “Even though it was just two pieces of fish it was $6 well-spent.”
Seared Tuna Togorashi salad $10---- I loved this. DH found the perfectly seared tuna to be too spicy for him, but I thought it was terrific. I was pleased with the amount of tuna it came with. The tuna was served over a combination of sprouts, seaweed salad and ramen noodles tossed in lemon dressing. Very different and very enjoyable. I know I will be ordering this dish again.

Three maki rolls from the specialty maki menu
This is where it’s going to be most apparent that I need a printed menu. I can only recall a few ingredients in each maki. I believe these rolls were in the $11- $13 range and 8 pieces each.
1) Salmon two ways with lemon mayo maki--- The owners recommendation, and gift to us for our issues (which was not necessary but a greatly appreciated gesture). Easily the best of the three rolls we ordered and so pretty. A must-order for me.
2) Unagi with cream cheese and tuna maki---This roll was good, but it could use something to liven it up a bit. The other two rolls had such bright flavors. Also it had kind of an odd crunch to it because it’s a roll inside of a roll….the inner roll is deep fried and that texture was a bit strange. I might order it again, but I would probably choose to try other things over it next time.
3) Yellowtail, tuna, shrimp and jalapeno maki---Very light and fresh.

Kimchi Ramen- with pork belly and tofu. $10 or $12(?) There was some nice kimchi, green onion and a perfectly poached egg on top. I thought it was a little bland, but my husband loved it. They did not scrimp on the quantity or quality of both the pork belly and the tofu. Both proteins were nicely prepared. It was a fine size to share. They bring it out in an iron crock with a wooden ladle and give you small bowls and spoons. I could definitely see enjoying sharing a bowl of this come January!

We left feeling so positive about our experience thanks to the gracious personality of the owner and the great food. A warm, sincere apology does so much to ease bad feelings. I am so glad to have this little place so close to our house. The prices were quite reasonable and the quality of the food is really great.

Arami
1829 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 243-1535
www.aramichicago.com

I went there hoping to find another respectable offering of ramen within the city besides Takashi's Sunday Noodle Lunch. I tried the Arami Ramen and a few nigiri. While impressed with the pork belly and braised beef, I was disappointed with the broth. The pork broth lacked depth and it was not thick enough. The flavor needs more impact. The noodles were okay and could use some more chew. I also prefer to have a boiled egg instead of a poached egg on top. Lastly, I thought the iron crock was impractical for finishing the remaining broth at the end.

I was impressed with the cuts of fish though. I plan on going back to try the Kimchi Ramen and some small plates. I was glad to see Arami not focusing on maki rolls.

Thrillist posted the Armai menu right here

We just had dinner on Thursday night at Arami (their 9th day in business) and really enjoyed it.

First, the dining area is beautiful. It's small, but a feels very open. The high ceilings with windows, exposed brick and bamboo furniture are a very unique blend of contempory Japanese design with the urban Chicago style.

We started with the I must add that the ramen was spetacular. We ordered the pork belly, braised beef, tsukemono, kamaboko, and egg ramen. I thought the noodles were very high quality. The broth had some deep pork flavor and the egg was carefully poached and tasted wonderful with the pork belly. I actually had ramen earlier in the day at Noodles by Takashi and thought that the ramen here was definitey a step above.

We ordered the negi hama maki rolls and the spicy tuna. Both were very good and I liked their style of spicy tuna, mostly fish and no mayo added. Now, we did have a bit of an issue with the nigiri. We ordered the slamon, Zuke Sake, Uni and Hamachi. The fish was very good and the server recommended the Zuke Sake, which I was a bit reluctant to try, but it turned out that they did a nice job preserving the flavors in the salmon while adding another flavor dimension. I didn't love it to the point of ordering it again, but it was enjoyable. Our only issue was that the rice in the nigiri was not packed tighly enough and was fell apart when we picked the sushi up with our hashi. When our server asked how we liked our food so far, I mentioned the issue to her and she immediately called the owner over. He was very nice about it and bent over backwards to make things right. He not only comped our nigiri, but brought us a bowl of sashimi (toro, red snapper, and tuna), but he also brought us a plate of the mochi ice cream for dessert. By the way, I was completely floored by the quality of the red snapper. Very fresh, great texture (usually I find it too chewy) and nice light flavor. The toro was also outstanding, perfectly thickly sliced cuts and flawless pieces. Wonderful.

The service here was great. As I mentioned before our server was very friendly and stopped to check in with us frequently.

Overall we loved Arami, wonderful decor, great service, and awesome food. The owner was a super nice guy and definitely focused on taking up the bar on high quality Japanese food.

Anyone been here recently? Is this place still BYO..it's only been a month so I'm guess they are?

guinness wrote:Anyone been here recently? Is this place still BYO..it's only been a month so I'm guess they are?

Yes, still BYO. And lunch service is starting at the very end of September. I stopped in intending to have just snacks before a later dinner tonight, ended up ordering omakase and ate a lot of fish. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of my meal. I'll try to post detailed notes once I can get the pictures off my phone--too many plates to remember. I think I might like this place.

So, of course, I lost the slip of paper on which I wrote down what I ate at Arami on Saturday. My photos are only somewhat helpful. Again, I went in thinking I'd order a few of the dishes mentioned upthread, but after a long day of choosing food for other people, all I wanted was to relinquish all decision-making for my own meal. So omakase I went.

On the first block, I got an uni shooter, spicy tako springroll and a "toro tartar bite."



The trio was pretty forgettable, but I did manage to eat everything without being poked in the eye by plant matter. I couldn't taste the uni. The greens in the springroll were very fresh and crisp but drowned out the tako. The toro, which the server extolled more than anything else during my visit, was rather dull.

Fortunately, the mackerel that came next made everything right.



Beyond sushi/sashimi, mackerel is my favorite fish--a holdover from my childhood, during which my mom fed me a lot of mackerel--and what I was served at Arami was a beautiful, delicious specimen. I was most happy to eat this as is--no soy.

Happy as I was, both photos and my memory after the mackerel grow hazy. Next, I know, was the seared hotate over unagi, a trio of mushrooms and white miso. This was an enjoyable warm dish. I could have done with less miso, but I quibble. Very nice sear to the scallop.



Seven or eight pieces of nigiri followed. I remember mainly the highlights. The red snapper topped with chives was the best I've ever had--pristine. I also really enjoyed the hamachi, I think, with pickled radish--again, very high-quality fish. Salmon with pickled garlic and wasabi leaf I liked, too--lovely aromatics and a gorgeous cut of fish. Visually, it somewhat reminded me of a candy cane with holly, but it wasn't over-constructed at all.



Fatty tuna with pickled Asian pear was an enjoyable sweet note toward the end of the meal. After I was all done, Chef sent out some lemon-ginger gelato on the house--neither very lemony or gingery but very smooth.

I have to admit that one reason Arami may have hooked me is that I have a weakness, of which I'm not exactly proud, for DJ Krush in urban sushi restaurants. I know it's a terrible cliché, but some edgier DJ Krush (all relative; I know he's not really edgy) was playing at the start of my meal. Some people like godzilla rolls filled with things like cream cheese, which I find obscene. I get turned on by sushi with trip hop that's more hip hop. I expressed my dismay to who I think may have been one of the Fujimura brothers, when, later in my meal, some remixed St. Germain shuffled on. He humored me by saying with a smile, "I gotta mix it up."

The food didn't change my life, but it was good. I'm looking forward to returning to Arami.

We heard the hype about this new sushi place that had moved moved into the neighborhood, and wondered how it compared to our go-to spot (Bob-San). Bob-San has nothing to worry about it. The space at Arami is lovely and the service was great, but the nigiri sushi and the maki we tried were not good enough for me to return here, esp. when I can get better quality, better cut, and better prices about 6 blocks away.

On the positive side, I thought the items on the special menu and the sashimi were quite good. I had the kampachi and madai (on the specials menu), and the tako as sashimi, and the shima aji as nigiri (specials menu) - all of which were cut well and tasted good. The uni, which tasted fine, was on the stingy side, and the sushi rice did not hold together. The ikura did not taste good - it lacked the bright appearance and fresh taste I have come to expect not only at Bob-San, but also when I've bought it at places like H-Mart. The roe did not burst in my mouth and just didn't taste right - not that it was off tasting, just that it wasn't good enough.

We also tried the hamachi maguro ebi maki , which also had jalapeno and a spicy mayo. At $13, I was expecting close to something like I've received at sushi wabi. The pieces of jalapeno was cut really large so that when you had a piece of maki, it was all you could taste. We pulled out the pieces of jalapeno and then it tasted pretty good. But again, it was on the small side, given the price point.

My husband liked the secret hamachi, which had mushrooms and truffle oil. I thought it was fine, but I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to sushi, so it wasn't my thing.

My other problem with Arami was that, even for the items ordered at the same time, items came out piecemeal. First the sashimi and nigiri, then once they were done, the secret hamachi. After that, the uni. Waited until we were done, and then the ikura. Waited until we were done, then the maki. And despite the fact that we were sitting at the sushi bar, there was no interaction with the itamae. The server did ask how everything was, at about the point I had just taken my first bite of sushi, but I wish she had asked later b/c I would have given her some feedback.

All in all, not a place I would necessarily return to for the sushi. But there were some intriguing items on the remainder of the menu which I might be persuaded to return for.

shyne

happy_stomach wrote:... all I wanted was to relinquish all decision-making for my own meal. So omakase I went.

If you don't mind me asking, about how much would one expect paying for omakase at Arami. Are there different options for omakase?

My omakase meal was around $90 before tip. I have the same comments as the others: little interaction with the itamae at the sushi bar, the garnishes on nigiri (I too am a purist), and the piecemeal service.

I also noticed that I got pretty much the same omakase dishes as happy_stomach. To me, omakase should highlight the freshest stuff available along with the diner's taste in mind.

Arami was ok in my book. I will return to try the omakase sans garnishes and because I like to try every place twice. Just in case the first time was a fluke.

Unless you're in a hurry, I don't see why piecemeal service is a problem. I once read that serving sushi is a race against time. Quality degrades as stuff sits there waiting for an order to be completed. Feed me one piece at a time, I'm cool with that.

Dlongs wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:... all I wanted was to relinquish all decision-making for my own meal. So omakase I went.

If you don't mind me asking, about how much would one expect paying for omakase at Arami. Are there different options for omakase?

I paid $55 before tax and tip, which I think is the standard for omakase there. I told the itamae that I would eat until I was full, so I probably could have gone beyond $55.

shyne wrote:And despite the fact that we were sitting at the sushi bar, there was no interaction with the itamae.

FWIW, I had a lot of interaction during the visit I wrote about above and also yesterday when I didn't order any sushi (but was still seated at the sushi bar).

jesteinf wrote:Unless you're in a hurry, I don't see why piecemeal service is a problem. I once read that serving sushi is a race against time. Quality degrades as stuff sits there waiting for an order to be completed. Feed me one piece at a time, I'm cool with that.

Me, too.

I was very impressed by Arami this week. Certainly presentation art is as much of a focus as food quality - almost to the point of distraction - but it's a tasteful excess. I don't normally expect $8 of sashimi (sake, chutoro, and gratis madai, pristine as noted above) to look like this:



Everything was ideal temperature and texture, barely needed the tasty house soy, and I ate the spicy gari afterward as a palate cleanser before my ramen.



There's a reason this hit several best-of lists. I marveled at the precise doneness of every element, from the rare beef to the molten egg to the ethereally crisp pork belly to the noodles that are a notch up from what I expect even at good places in Chicago. The hint of spicing on the pork belly brought the overall bowl closer to pho than I've had from a ramen before, and yet the composition was extremely light on salt or other flavorings, as if daring you to find a flaw with any of the individual ingredients. This could go wrong easily, but this particular bowl went so very right.

The wife and I had dinner at Arami last night and came away very impressed.

We started with the toro tartare bites. A nice way to start the meal, but sort of an easy excuse for the restaurant to charge you $4 a head for an amuse bouche. Things definitely picked up from there.

We pretty much hit all of the raw sections of the menu. Round one was a couple of items from the "special sashimi" section. We had the salmon with mushrooms and truffle oil, and the tuna with ankimo. I didn't try the salmon, but the wife seemed quite pleased. The tuna was good, and the ankimo added a nice richness. It looked like the ankimo was cooked, perhaps seared which I had never tried before. Poached ankimo (or however it's usually served...more torchon-like) on top of the tuna might have made for a more interesting dish. We then moved on to a few pieces of nigiri that were on last night's specials menu. We did madai, kanpachi, one other whitefish that's escaping me right now. The quality of the fish could not have been better, and the rice actually had some character to it (a rarity in this town, IMO). We finished up with first round with a couple of pieces from the "special geunkang nigiri" section. Once was tuna with some cooked king crab and some kind of nut on top. The other was zuke salmon with some cooked scallop and sweet potato. Both were very good, and if I wanted something from the more "creative" side of the menu I would go with these over the sashimi items I mentioned earlier.

Still hungry we decided to order the chef's special sashimi plate. At $32 this might be the best deal in the city. 8 types of fish (2 pieces of each) definitely designed to show off what was best that night. The highlight was some delightfully buttery otoro that's listed elsewhere on the menu for $8 an order. This is a mandatory dish as far as I'm concerned if you're going to do it right at Arami. To finish things off we had a couple of yellowtail and scallion handrolls, delivered immediately upon completion to ensure the nori was still perfectly crisp (it's unbelievable how many sushi places screw this up and it always ticks me off).

Dessert was a few scoops of gelato from Black Dog, which was a nice and refreshing way to end the meal.

I've been wanting to get to Arami for quite some time and the wait was certainly worth it. The fish was among the best I've had in Chicago and the people who work there could not have been friendlier. We did sit at the sushi bar, and like others had minimal interaction with the chefs behind the bar. The way they constructed the bar certainly contributes to this as the chefs seem to be raised up. Unfortunately this lack of interaction is pretty common in these parts so I sort of expected in going in (and therefore wasn't let down). Arami is not inexpensive (our meal which included 2 small bottles of sake came to around $215 after tax but before tip), and it shouldn't be. They're clearly working with very high quality ingredients, and they've got the skill behind the bar to make those ingredients shine.

More delicious and artfully presented food from Arami recently: the iron-pot ramen still rich and clean, the salmon a visual and gustatory step up from most other places, the otoro generous and silky, the nigiri cohesive and balanced, and the maki so precisely cut and colorful they look like Pantone models. The true hits of this meal were the tako spring rolls, herbal and savory, served on warmed slate, and the green tea and mango mochi, halved and plated around a pond of yuzu and green peppercorn pickle, remarkably bright, sharp, and acidic. The space is too small, loud, and hot for just how good the kitchen is.

Just came home from a very disappointing meal at Arami. Living nearby and being on a la card put Arami on my list to try.

We started with the miso grilled salmon, which were two smallish sized pieces served on skewers. They were served on a few pieces of grilled asparagus and a small garnish of pickled cucumber. The salmon did not taste good. The flavoring was not pleasant. I don't even know how to adequately describe why it was so off.

For our mains, we had the duck donburi and the arami ramen. The duck donburi was simply prepared. The duck was tender and fell off the bone. The rice was heavily sauced, and the caramelized onions faded into the background. The ramen was especially disappointing. Consistent with previous reviews, the broth is still very bland. It pales in comparison to the Nissin ramen broth made from the seasoning packet. The noodles seemed thin and lacked that toothsome chewiness that one thinks of when it comes to ramen.

Service wise, our glasses of water were consistently filled, but otherwise, our food was very slow to arrive. Our server didn't seem to be very engaging. If you don't have reservations, you're shown to one of the hi-top tables in the front bar area. I was surprised to see how many people came in as the night progressed.

Maybe sushi was the way to go at Arami, but with several other sushi choices I'm skeptical to give Arami a second chance. I should have heeded CrazyC's tweet a few weeks ago when she said she would never return to Arami. Now I know why.

Finally someone agrees with me! I was beginning to think I was going "crazy"! *wink* Get it? CrazyC? Crazy?! Anyways

Both times I have been to Arami, I ordered the hamachi kama. Both times they were served raw on the inside. "That's how we do it" was the explanation I got. *shrug* I ate it, unagi sauce and all... I checked with a few sushi loving friends I know and respect for their taste in food (including the owner/itamae of a SF sushi joint) and they have never heard of hamachi kama being served "medium rare" and unagi sauce on top to boot.


Hamachi kama by agashi, on Flickr


Tuna with torched ankimo by agashi, on Flickr


Assorted Sushi by agashi, on Flickr

I was going to go back to give it a 3rd (and final) try and have the ramen. But I am now having second thoughts...

Updated with photos of a recent dinner.

I've never had anything cooked at Arami. Maybe that's why I like it so much.

Hmm. I have only been to Arami twice, but I loved it.

The first time I went last winter, I ordered sparingly, a few pieces of sashimi, the uni shooter, a special sashimi and a roll.
and ramen.

Everything was great, which is why I went back this summer for my birthday. It was all delicious. Uni shooters again, Softshell crab, fried oysters, some sort of fish collar that was thoroughly cooked- Hamachi Kama maybe? no unagi sauce that I remember. We had a great variety sashimi pieces via chef's choice plus a couple others such as the mackerel, one roll, and ramen. Split between 4. Everything was delicious, but highlights were definitely raw.

We also received free mochi because I think a drink or roll took longer than it should've-- nothing too noticable. No complaining happening. The free dessert was a complete surprise.

I'm afraid to try any other sushi in the surrounding area, because I don't think it will match the same quality as Arami.

As referenced in Openings & Closings, changes are afoot at Arami. From Eater:

B.K. Park, the heralded and highly talented sushi chef, has left Arami and co-owner Ty Fujimura was just as shocked by the news as you likely are reading it now. "B.K., as of yesterday has left Arami," Fujimura said. "It was a personal decision on his part. I was as surprised as anyone. It came out of nowhere and it was a sad day. But Arami is not any one person; it's the sum of its parts. We'll continue to champion Japanese cuisine and sake."

With Park's departure, Arami will close as of today to retool the menu and upgrade some of its equipment. The restaurant will re-open on July 10 with an updated menu, allowing for the styles of chef de cuisine Ervin Guinto and sous chef Scott Malloy to shine through. "By design of the menu their cuisine has been a supporting cast so we're going to showcase their talents," Fujimura said.

Hopefully BK will turn up somewhere else, and soon. It will be interesting though to see what becomes of Arami. Scott Malloy is a really talented and passionate guy. so this could be a real opportunity for him to step up.

In any event, this is a real blow to an already sad sushi scene. It's probably back to Macku for me, at least for now.

jesteinf wrote:As referenced in Openings & Closings, changes are afoot at Arami. From Eater:

B.K. Park, the heralded and highly talented sushi chef, has left Arami and co-owner Ty Fujimura was just as shocked by the news as you likely are reading it now. "B.K., as of yesterday has left Arami," Fujimura said. "It was a personal decision on his part. I was as surprised as anyone. It came out of nowhere and it was a sad day. But Arami is not any one person; it's the sum of its parts. We'll continue to champion Japanese cuisine and sake."

With Park's departure, Arami will close as of today to retool the menu and upgrade some of its equipment. The restaurant will re-open on July 10 with an updated menu, allowing for the styles of chef de cuisine Ervin Guinto and sous chef Scott Malloy to shine through. "By design of the menu their cuisine has been a supporting cast so we're going to showcase their talents," Fujimura said.

Hopefully BK will turn up somewhere else, and soon. It will be interesting though to see what becomes of Arami. Scott Malloy is a really talented and passionate guy. so this could be a real opportunity for him to step up.

In any event, this is a real blow to an already sad sushi scene. It's probably back to Macku for me, at least for now.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AGH! This hurts. This really, reallllllly hurts.

The wife and I checked out Arami 2.0 last night and came away very impressed.

First thing's first, there's no noticeable drop-off in the quality of the sushi. Everything was fresh and well presented. The sea trout that they get remains some of my favorite raw fish anywhere. A few of the more composed items are no longer on the menu (toro tartare bites for one), but they've been replaced with some pretty interested stuff (like live scallop sashimi with sea salt and yuzu, which is one of the best things I've eaten lately).

There is now a robata grill, manned by sous chef Scott Malloy, off to the side of the sushi bar and there is some truly impressive stuff coming off of that grill. Insanely great scallops garnished with scallop roe mixed with chili oil. Wonderfully rich grilled beef with uni butter. They're also doing sort of a rotation of freshly killed poultry. Last night we were treated to a selection of offal from squab that had been killed that afternoon (full disclosure: Malloy and I correspond on Twitter and we are semi-regulars at the restaurant so sometimes we'll get comped stuff like this).

The menu also now prominently features an entire section of pickles, also helmed by Malloy. We did a tasting that included quail eggs, mushrooms, and burdock. The quail eggs and mushrooms were very good but the burdock blew me away. Nice, thick pieces served with lots of sesame seeds and a sesame oil-based sauce. Just a great mix of flavors and textures. Yusho also does a burdock dish but Arami's blows it out of the water.

Service continues to be informed and friendly and there's a lot of excitement in the air at the restaurant. If you've written off Arami because of BK Park's departure, you've made a serious mistake.

I have to second a big thumbs up for Arami 2.0.

Sushi was as good as ever. Sadly, they were out of the live scallops tonight. Looking forward to trying those on my next visit.

The robota grill item we tried were all excellent. The beef with uni butter was excellent - outdone only by the pork jowls. My non-meat eating wife got the mushrooms, which were tasty. The black garlic purée added a nice touch. We also had their spin on the classic corn on the cob with mayo. Perfectly grilled corn and just enough spice in the mayo to be really, really good.

Nice to see they had enough depth in the kitchen that one departure didn't sink them.

If you go, order the oysters. 4 oysters for $14 may seem a little steep, and when two of the four are about the size of a dime (and the other two are not a whole lot bigger) you may again wonder about your choice. But they are absolutely heavenly. I found myself calculating how much a couple dozen would cost. Well worth it. Probably my best bites of the year.

Went last night and they were working on some autumn cocktails, which I didn't try because it was a Sunday night. I did enjoy the robata items, but didn't enjoy the chawanmushi, which was a bit bland. At places like Yusho it is much more umami.

Having eaten at both Arami and the relatively new Kai Zan in the same week, I have to say that I enjoyed Kai Zan more in almost every aspect. While everything we ate at Arami was perfectly delicious and the fish obviously very fresh, things seemed a bit one-note. In addition, we all found the menu at Arami to be a little daunting - 11 different categories plus specials - and had a hard time getting sufficient samples of each section. Service was okay, bordering on slow, and the back room where we sat felt a little detached from the rest of the restaurant.

On the other hand, I found Kai Zan to be an absolute gem. Service was great, it's BYO, and it felt more like a sushi bar you might find in Tokyo than a Chicago-Japanese restaurant on in Humboldt Park. Every bite was dynamic, from the Escolar Pearls to the Orange Rush. My lady friend and I left astounded at how good the meal was, and, if given the choice, I'd pick Kai Zan over just about any other sushi restaurant in the city.

I'd be very curious to hear others' take on Kai Zan, especially those who have eaten their way through the Chicago sushi scene!

Bee tee dubs, long time poster on CH, long time lurker here, but first time poster. Glad to finally make my way into the fray!

welcome to the party. need to get my ass over to kai zan.

My sense is that Arami and Kai Zan are going for different things and it's hard to do a "this or that" comparison. Sort of like Arami and Macku. I like them both, but for different reasons.

Last night was my first visit to Arami so unfortunately I cannot assess how it has changed, if at all. What I will say is that I enjoyed my meal, though after trying a diverse sampling of the menu, for the most part there was little that will make me run back (the beautiful prawn was a major exception though).

Let me first say that it was nice to have miso soup that actually tasted like miso - an impressive bowl. We moved on to a tsukemono tasting (the pickles), which we really enjoyed. My favorite was probably the burdock root with sesame seed, although the quail egg with its combination of sweet, sour and savory finished a very close second. on the other hand, the beech mushroom with katsuobushi was fine but no particularly interesting flavors. But overall, the impressive pickle selection, a rare find in Chicago, might be a very good reason to seek Arami out.

We also shared a number of raw fish items, which for the most part let me down just a little. We tried both special nigiri on the menu. The spicy scallop wrapped with salmon really had no noticeable spice component and was a tad under-seasoned, although I found both the scallop and salmon to be of fine quality. King crab wrapped with marinated tuna fared slightly better, although again slightly under-seasoned. On the other hand, I thought that the sake garlic salmon sashimi was terrific - great flavors, but still allowing the flavor of the salmon itself to shine through. My dining companion ordered one of the tuna maki (can't recall which one) which was actually pretty good - gently sauced, good portion of tuna, and crispy wonton rolled within added a nice and unexpected crunch.

What really disappointed us though were the nigiri we ordered, which were rather poorly put together and under-seasoned. The fish simply came right off the rice, and the rice did not stand any chance of being held together. The fish itself was fine, and might have fared far better as sashimi.

We weren't leaving without also having tried some of the robata items. The maitake mushrooms with black garlic and umeboshi were flavorful, but showed little effects of the robata grill. I actually enjoyed the warm mushroom salad (non-robata) we also ordered as a starter, which showed off lightly cooked mushrooms with a touch of meyer lemon and sesame. Slightly less impressive was the gyu, beef strip with uni butter. The beef was fine, although again showing little effect from the robata grill. And if there was uni in the butter, it was doing its best to hide.

If you've gotten this far, you'll see that we enjoyed some items, and not some others. But the ebi yaki, the robata-grilled prawn with saikyo miso butter, was the gem of the night, and I could really go on for a long time talking about my love of this dish. A whole Santa Barbara prawn, beautifully grilled with a light char, grilled just long enough to ensure the perfect texture. And when you finished eating the delicious prawn meat itself, you were left sucking out the juices and digging for every last morsel of flavor you could find inside the shell (and there was plenty). I probably could have made an entire (very expensive) meal of just these prawns - maybe the best taste I've had in months. But other than the prawn, I found the robata items paled compared to what you might find at a star such as Raku in Vegas.

For dessert, we had the Black Dog sesame and fig gelato with charred mochi pieces and sesame brittle. Here, I'd say that Arami fulfilled their part of the bargain with the mochi and delicious brittle. But had I been blindfolded, I would have detected neither sesame nor fig in the very smooth but bland gelato - another Black Dog disappointment.

Service can be addressed in a few respects. Our waitress was outstanding, attentive and showed great knowledge of the menu. At the same time, pacing was slow. Also, we were seated in the back room, and I would have much preferred to be in the main dining room. Temperatures fluctuated in the room too much on this moderately chilly evening (there are multiple heaters in the room), kitchen staff frequently visited a cold storage area just behind the room, and you do feel slightly detached from the restaurant.

So while I enjoyed my dinner, the only items that would cause me to go out of my way to visit Arami were the wonderful prawn and the tsukemono. Other items, while mostly fine, did not excite me enough to return.

BR wrote:Service can be addressed in a few respects. Our waitress was outstanding, attentive and showed great knowledge of the menu. At the same time, pacing was slow. Also, we were seated in the back room, and I would have much preferred to be in the main dining room. Temperatures fluctuated in the room too much on this moderately chilly evening (there are multiple heaters in the room), kitchen staff frequently visited a cold storage area just behind the room, and you do feel slightly detached from the restaurant.

I'd never sat in that garden shed of a back room until late last week, and we were chilled and infrequently attended; not fun, especially with a special occasion reservation made weeks out, but the rest of the place was packed. A space heater and an extra check-in now and then would have gone a long way. Sake cocktails were also far oversweet this time (the cucumber had previously been quite refreshing).

On the positive side, the food was excellent, from the tartare bites and shishito peppers to the maki (perhaps more generous in portion than previous visits) and signature arami ramen. No decline observable since kitchen leadership turnover. We also had the grilled mochi with sesame gelato, and - while I agree it's overdescribed on flavors it doesn't (and doesn't need to) deliver - I'd still put it on a 10 best list of desserts this year. Outstanding. A la card (and other programs; they participate generously) also adds to an already good value for this Hawaiian-inflected full kitchen of a sushi place. Just wish the Pacific breezes made it into the annex.