Sushi Dokku

The West Loop hasn't had much in the way of a dedicated sushi bar I hear since Sushi Wabi closed. I never went to Wabi, but apparently Sushi Dokku is owned by the same people. There is also sushi at Mariano's and the French market I know, but this is a dedicated sushi restaurant. There is Anna's Asian Bistro, but sadly like most "pan asian" places, it falls flat and is almost uniformly disliked in my office even by those who don't particularly have opinions about food. I have difficulty eating sushi ever since I read too much about overfishing in Bottomfeeder, ate really nice authentic sushi for the first time, and then read about the tuna "pink slime" scrapings things. But I had a notion to try Dokku two weeks ago. It was maybe not the best sushi I've had here, but it was good and I'll be back.

We sat at the bar and my friend asked for an omakase even though that's not on the menu. They said they could pull something together.

I believe these are all on the chef's nigiri part of the menu. They were very nicely made and fresh. They had some little flourishes, but nothing too gimmicky. My favorite was the albacore, which had ponzu and daikon. The madai (I think) had finger lime, which I've been seeing on a lot of menus lately. The only miss was the tuna truffle. Raw tuna is nice enough without adding truffle oil thankyouverymuch.


I said I didn't want any mayo-based rolls, but there were two chefs serving us and one of them didn't understand. These really delicious lightly torched scallops unfortunately had a mayo-raw onion-crab salad that I was not a fan of. But it seems like those kind of things were the most popular items in the restaurant- most of the stuff coming out of the kitchen was similar maki. We also had some small plates, but they were standard and unmemorable .

I work in the West Loop and frankly between Au Cheval, Publican Quality Meats, and now Little Goat Diner...the place is swimming in fat, which I love, but there are days when I want something lighter, so it will be nice when this place is open for lunch (also I hear Embeya will open for lunch soon, and god I hope they do something other than Bahn Mi since Saigon Sisters has that covered).

http://sushidokku.com/
823 W. Randolph St.
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 455 8238

They are open for lunch on Fridays. I would suggest sitting at the counter and asking for some of the dishes not on the printed menu that they seem to give to regulars, like the salmon collar. I just kind of ask what they are making that day and emphasize that I like to eat fishy fish.