Not entirely sure I should put this here (or in the Drinking section... or under Openings/Closings), but since it seems to involve many of the principals at Yusho...
Matthias Merges to open Logan Square cocktail bar

Excerpted from the article:

Billy Sunday (3143 W. Logan Blvd., no phone yet) will offer "really focused craft cocktails," Merges says. "Using the philosophy behind Yusho, we'll be making our own bitters and tonics and doing our own twists on (drinks)."

Alex Bachman, who runs the cocktail program at Yusho, will be chief mixologist at Billy Sunday.

As for food? "We're going to do dishes based off old-time Sunday suppers," Merges says.

Merges says he hopes to be open by the end of October.

Here's hoping the barstools are made for real people and not giraffes. I can't bring myself to go back to Yusho for drinks because I am literally scared to sit on those things. A shame too because I really enjoyed the cocktails there and would go back in a heartbeat if not for that. Fingers crossed.

boudreaulicious wrote:Here's hoping the barstools are made for real people and not giraffes. I can't bring myself to go back to Yusho for drinks because I am literally scared to sit on those things. A shame too because I really enjoyed the cocktails there and would go back in a heartbeat if not for that. Fingers crossed.

You mean these barstools?


Restaurant (Yusho)

Yes, except the photograph doesn't give any clue as to the height of those things. I'm 5'3 and they came up to my armpits. You can see from the picture how spindly the legs are though. With no stools provided to help people up or down, I've seen one person fall and several almost fall. Hazardous with or without alcohol.

I'm still a huge fan of Yusho and I think it's steadily improved over its first 13 months in business, which is what they're all about over there. They're always self-evaluating, refining and tightening things up. They are their own harshest critics (well, except maybe for Habibi ).

I had a quickie stop there earlier this week and absolutely loved the 3 dishes that I had. A special of lobster chawanmushi was nothing short of spectacular. The lobster could not have been cooked more perfectly. It was tender and meaty with a delicate snap. The savory custard beneath it was silky in texture and had a depth of flavor that was incredible. The dish was garnished with light and crispy kale leaves. Okonomiyaki featured blue prawns that were cooked every bit as perfectly as the lobster, which is tough to do considering it's actually inside the cake -- which was extraordinarily light and flavorful. Garnishes of cabbage and chick pea rounded out the dish -- which was beautifully presented -- perfectly. I'm no expert on ramen but the Logan Poser ramen was a delicious bowl of broth, filled with expertly cooked components, including a gorgeous soft-cooked egg with a golden-orange yolk, thinly-sliced cucumber pickles that deftly straddled the line between tart and sweet, and a delectable pig tail, that was crispy on the outside and unctuous through and through. The noodles had a nice bite and pronounced flavor throughout the chew. Having enjoyed this dish at Yusho before, I was struck by the fine-tuning that it had undergone since the last time I had it -- even better than before, when I really dug it.

Drinks by Alex were, as always, top-notch. I had one coctail -- a camino, which contains anchor genever, dolin dry vermouth, firm apple cider, sarsaparilla and lemon. It was very nicely balanced. In spite of the cider, it finished dry and the aromatic notes of the genever matched up perfectly with the cider and sarsaparilla. After that, we shared a few exquisite Japanese single malt whiskeys including a Nikka Yoichi and an Ichiro's Malt "Card," both of which were real treats, though not inexpensive (my friend paid, so I don't know exactly how much they were).

I'm still loving Yusho and while I don't get there as often as I used to (2x per week wasn't sustainable ), I'm still there fairly often and I too often neglect to post about it when I do go.

=R=

I dined at Yusho last night - four of us in total, first visit for all of us. Overall, the consensus was that we enjoyed it but that little wowed us. I'll start by saying that I really enjoyed both of my cocktails - a rum punch special of the evening and the Dogs of Okinawa . . . two of the better cocktails I've had in a while.

As for food:

Quail Eggs - They were fine, but I didn't find the flavor (slightly pickled would be a fair description) or texture remarkable.

Grilled Tofu - The menu identified chrysanthemum, pineapple and walnut as accompaniments, but to me, the pineapple was cut too large and overwhelmed all other flavors with sweetness. But when not tasting the pineapple, all that I really tasted was minimally dressed tofu with less than the perfect texture.

Pickles - These I enjoyed, but not nearly as much as the ones at Arami - good but not enough differentiation among the cucumber, lotus root and carrot.

Tuna - Served with taro root, pine nuts and breakfast radish, this was one of my favorite bites of the night. The tuna was front and center in the dish, and very flavorful. And the accompaniments merely enhanced but did not take over the dish. Very nice.

Cod Tacos - This was an evening special, and a play on fish tacos as it was served in a doughy steamed bun. Flavors were nice but I was really disappointed with the mushy texture of the cod.

Gobo Root - This was another one of my favorites. There was a spicy, sesame aioli for dipping the slightly crisp root that was really outstanding, and Asian pear and plum for a little sweetness. Everything worked so well together.

Maitake Mushrooms - Probably my favorite dish of the night. These maitakes were superb and the real star of the dish, but the greens, egg vinaigrette and dashi gelee were all outstanding too.

Tempura - A mixed bag. There was squash, shiso, swiss chard according to the menu, but also some shishito peppers. Some of the tempura was light and crisp, other pieces too greasy and limp. Also, the breading was too salty so if you dared dip in the accompanying sauce, you would be overcome with salt.

Poser Ramen - Crispy pig tail croquette was fantastic, noodles were great too, and the melting egg glorious. Unfortunately, the broth itself was a little on the bland side which was a little disappointing because all of the accompaniments were stunning.

Beef tongue - Very flavorful, albeit a tad dry. The accompanying horseradish/potato puree could have used just a little more horseradish in my opinion. Still, enjoyable.

Shiitake - Served as a fritter of sorts, encased with brandade and with mustard and fennel. Unfortunately, at first I did not know which dish we were eating, and if forced to guess, I'm not sure I could have come up with any of the ingredients other than mustard. Nothing offensive, but nothing I'd want to try again.

For dessert, we tried the soft serve, which I thought was delicious. Far better though was the evening special of honeycomb, which contained a honeycomb-type crisp candy that was quite addicting, dehydrated (yet edible) bees, honey and blood oranges. I thought this was a fantastic end to the evening. I was full and yet I couldn't stop eating this.

All in all, a nice evening, good service, but there was little food-wise that will have me running back . . . maybe for cocktails and some light bites. Interestingly, one of the reasons I hadn't been to Yusho was my assumption that it might be difficult to get into. Although we had a reservation, we found that there were always at least a few empty tables throughout the evening, and this was on a Friday night.

went for the Sunday Noodles special and really enjoyed the experience.

$20 for noodles, dessert and a beverage
there's a limited menu on Sundays (posted on the website) - five noodle dishes and eight small plates (small plates offered a la carte) on the current menu and an additional noodle dish offered as a special.

the highlights - ramen and dessert
least liked - repetitive mustard condiment & watery kegged cocktail

the logan poser ramen was very good - I liked it even more after sinking the crispy pig tail in the broth and breaking it up to mix in with the other ingredients. the crispy pig tail (which does not look like what it is - fwiw to the squeamish) helped add an extra layer of heat and flavor that really made the soup spectacular. not sure if that's how Yusho advises the dish be eaten, but I preferred it all mixed together.

the dessert was a great surprise - nothing I would have been tempted to order but ended up really enjoying. it was rich, balanced, had great textures.... the bowl was chilled so the ice cream barely had a chance to melt even when eaten slowly - love the attention to detail.

also had an order of the shiitake - it was earthy and the fennel worked well, but I had been more excited about the brandade that was listed as a component. if you order it, order it for the shiitake as the brandade is very muted. I don't think I'd order this again - other appealing things to try.

only a couple of criticisms - the same mustard spread on both the shiitake and the crispy pork - not sure if it comes on all of the fried items, but it started to taste monotonous and I'd ask for it on the side next time. the kegged cocktail was watery and very summery - felt out of place during freezing February. the other cocktails ordered were well-mixed and satisfying.

service was great - everyone was warm and attentive. we had the feeling that they cared about our experience - from the host all the way around.

looking forward to returning.

We were at Yusho this past Sunday too! Really enjoyed our meal.....

Beef tongue with somen was delicious. My grilled shrimp ramen in a lobster broth was incredibly flavorful. Split 2x chicken and blood sausage bao, and they were also good.

I agree - I never would have ordered soft serve ice cream, but the flavor & texture combinations were spot on.

For me though, the highlight was the (campari-free) negroni - a revelation in subtle flavors and botanicals.

Service was great - all in all, it blew me away.

Yusho indeed makes an excellent version of a Negroni. They use Gran Classico instead of Campari, which I've also started buying since being introduced to it at Yusho a while back. They also use Cardamaro, instead of sweet vermouth, and toasted soy bitters. Overall, it's a really interesting drink.

I hit Yusho on Friday and my group managed to try every cocktail on the menu (except for the gin and tonic). All of them were excellent and the bartenders, despite being really busy, were happy to talk about the drinks and ingredients with me.

The food ranged from good (but not interesting enough to order again, such as the tuna) to excellent (such as a special "fish taco" that was really more like an Asian-style bun).

Getting ever closer to the Yusho opening in Hyde Park...

I'm home recovering from an amazing meal of the pig's head confit. This is a new (started last week, I believe) table offering of one head each Friday and Saturday night, for $200. It is served on a huge, oval, silverish platter, "with all the fixin's". The accompaniments included some bread (sort of a cross between bao and flatbread), what I hope I'm correctly labeling chicharrones, and a large variety of their outstanding pickled veggies, including cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts, eggplant, and kimchi. After we picked off most of the meat, jowels, tongue, one eye, and the snout, the sommelier came with a cleaver and hammer to split the skull in half and expose the brain, which was extremely soft and creamy. It was a fun bonding experience for our group, and quite delicious.

Smassey wrote:I'm home recovering from an amazing meal of the pig's head confit. This is a new (started last week, I believe) table offering of one head each Friday and Saturday night, for $200. It is served on a huge, oval, silverish platter, "with all the fixin's". The accompaniments included some bread (sort of a cross between bao and flatbread), what I hope I'm correctly labeling chicharrones, and a large variety of their outstanding pickled veggies, including cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts, eggplant, and kimchi. After we picked off most of the meat, jowels, tongue, one eye, and the snout, the sommelier came with a cleaver and hammer to split the skull in half and expose the brain, which was extremely soft and creamy. It was a fun bonding experience for our group, and quite delicious.

Thanks, for the heads up. Sounds like a great spread. It's been way too long since I've been in. I used to get emails every Friday touting the weekend specials but maybe they stopped sending them out? In any case, I appreciate the information.

=R=

I used to get emails every Friday touting the weekend specials but maybe they stopped sending them out?

Not sure about the e-mails, but they have been posting specials each Friday on their Facebook page. I strongly recommend a return visit, and if you have an adventurous group, which I gather you usually do, the pig head makes a very enjoyable meal. Our group of six augmented, more for variety than hunger need, with: an order of the 2x fried chicken, three orders of the soft serve, an order of the donuts, a round of their outstanding cocktails, and two bottles of a recommended Italian red wine. They also brought a couple of orders of the razor clams special, on the house.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Thanks, for the heads up. Sounds like a great spread. It's been way too long since I've been in. I used to get emails every Friday touting the weekend specials but maybe they stopped sending them out? In any case, I appreciate the information.

=R=

I'm still getting regular emails from Yusho.

Dlongs wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Thanks, for the heads up. Sounds like a great spread. It's been way too long since I've been in. I used to get emails every Friday touting the weekend specials but maybe they stopped sending them out? In any case, I appreciate the information.

=R=

I'm still getting regular emails from Yusho.

Thanks. I re-signed up for them. Somehow, I managed to fall of their list. Guess I haven't eaten there often enough.

=R=

Man, such wildly varying writeups on this place. I so, so love this kind of food. And I'm so sad that my experience fell so squarely on the negative side. I buzzed by quickly on the way to a friend's show last night, sat at the bar and ordered a few items, and went 0-for-5.

The chicken wing was the best of the night -- by which I mean it was the only one of the five to which I didn't have a negative reaction -- but it wasn't something I'd ever go back for. I thought it was underseasoned even after a solid dip in the bonito salt. And while there was a little browning from the fire, there was no char, little evidence of fire... it tasted more like juicy roasted chicken than yakitori.

snk wrote:Chicken Skin
We immediately noticed something strange about the flavor and it wasn't from the mustard or the togarashi, the latter of which we could not taste at all. Unfortunately, it took us going through most of it before we came to the conclusion that the oil that it was fried in could have possibly been a little rancid...

YES... exactly. I loved the first piece. Crisp and tasty with that sweet, spicy mustard. I liked the second piece too. The third piece wasn't crisp. It was tough and chewy and unpleasant to eat. And the fourth piece had some kind of awful flavor, as if it had gone bad. When the fellow helping me cleared it, he looked in the crock and said, "Hey, there's one more piece in here!" I told him, "Yyyyyeah, that one's off. Something about it just isn't right." Shrug.

I got a grilled gingko nut special that was served over mushrooms (honshimeji?), and it was just overly wet and overly sweet and generally grossly oversauced.

Ditto the grilled octopus. Mine looked like yours, Ronnie, except that -- literally -- dressing comprised more than half the contents of the cup. It was just swimming in vinegary dressing. And vinegared octopus can be a wonderful thing, but not like this. It was like eating a bowl of salad dressing with a few pieces of octopus, bean, and mushroom thrown in.

I also got the day's oyster, grilled, and it was done with... Thai tapioca, I believe? In any case, it wasn't a good oyster, and rather than getting a nice smoky, grilled flavor, it instead inhabited this unpleasant space between chilled and cooked, just kind of lukewarm, but even temperature aside the flavor just wasn't good at all.

I don't know if it's consistency issues or what, but man, five dishes and not a one of them good. Huge bummer. I was really looking forward to this place.

Cantankerous baby boomers might walk into Yusho and feel disenfranchised by the too-hip-for-you milleu; the vintage bulbs, the colorful chairs, Godzilla vanquishing Gomorrah, and the ubiquitous hipster servers with new-wave hairdos. Yet for Yusho, all of this works without getting in the way of the experience. The front-of-house staff did not let their trendiness obstruct from their delivery, unlike, perhaps the kitchen.

Unevenly roasted Maitake mushrooms were served as a salad with a dashi gelee and egg vinaigrette. If I have to take a knife to a salad served in a bowl, you're challenging my executive functioning instead of my tastebuds. The salad was more off-putting because the warm vinaigrette melted the gelee after all of the components were mixed in together. Thus, the only textural contrast was the crunch of fresh mushrooms juxtaposed against the runny, tepid egg. This begs a second (or third) question: why a vinaigrette AND a dashi component? Was one sour component not enough? "Oh, I have one Japanese component, let's see what happens when I use another one!" I expect this type of logic when I'm sixteen and making cocktails for my other under-aged friends.

Balances in flavor were better with their version of Okonomiyaki, new to Chicago's Japanese food lexicon. The batter was smooth, the pancake fluffy and hot while possessing the structure to hold the green papaya and chickpea on top of it. Yet, the squid unsurprisingly was lost in batter; a bland but pleasant crunch pervaded instead of a beacon of flavor. Why use such a mild protein like octopus instead of fish roe, eel, tuna, mackerel... anything? The starchiness of the batter begs for a fishy fishy fish to cut through.

Oh, how Yusho continued to challenge diners with flavors, and their balance rounded off for the better with the conch special. Two large conch shells were served piping hot and topped with fried shallots. Inside, chopped pieces of conch floated around in their previous abode submerged in a Tom Kha-type soup. Far from a Japanese presentation, but no matter. The flavors of the coconut, ginger and lemongrass-basil broth were successful. The raw vegetables added an addictive crispness to the broth's tang. All of this would have been resplendent except for the fact that the conch was unrecognizable, insipid rubber.

Hoping that the meaty portion of the evening would bring back the meal to an honest sensibility, the cosmo steamed bun arrived. For the nominal fee of nine dollars, the diner received the opportunity to experience 2 ounces of blood sausage, 4 pickled florettes of cauliflower, and chili sauce stuffed into a soggy bun. It tasted ok and was just impossible to share. I'm just glad that my Mom from the South Side wasn't their to experience this type of frou-frou letdown. The combination of expletives imbued with her unique brand of bewilderment would have been far more dynamic.

Left wanting more, we ordered the fried chicken and tuna tataki in captive hunger. Much has been said about the 2 x fried chicken. It was fine, and truthfully, one of the best dishes of the night. A couple of the smaller pieces were over-fired, but the inside of the chicken thighs were moist, juicy and satisfying. Accompanying the chicken was a spicy, chili sauce that packed a revelatory punch. Finally, citrus notes married well with salt, fat, and spice. Gravity had been restored after the un-pressurized spiral throughout the previous three courses.

Fifteen to twenty minutes pass and we receive the tuna tataki, a dish that my wife had been pining for. The house manager delivered it himself and apologized profusely, which we appreciated. After the first bite, suspense rendered into mild disappointment; after partaking in one flaw after another, our incredulity began to wane... Impeccably fresh seared tuna was adorned a small brunoise of pickled daikon. But the flesh sat there seasoned only with shiso and togarashi, the latter of which imparted a distracting grit. No oil, vinegar or sauce bound the spice to fish. Imagine a dry-rub of untoasted spices on unsalted protein. Perhaps the togarashi was left unadorned to stay true to the tuna, but the grit in my mouth in combination with raw, unsalted fish tasted amateur at best.

A lot of pretense without the promise, a daft hand with eastern ingredients and poor execution of (albeit understandably) difficult and intolerant proteins left me and my wife with the impression of a third-tier restaurant. Conversely the servers' knowledge of its sake and Japanese beer and whiskies was first rate, perhaps the finest in the city. It's frustrating that a restaurant with such ambitions, such swagger and unique offerings, like the fresh conch, appears to have bit off more than it can chew... and chew... and chew...

I had the okonomiyaki last night and it was seriously meh. The bitter underseasoned octopus was buried in a giant mound of bonito. The takoyaki lacked octopus completely and while I like interesting takes on traditional food, the overly salty pork inside was stuffed inside a batter that tasted like mediocre pancake mix. We also had a foie dish that had a miserably cloying sauce

The meal was saved by two cod dishes- a spicy fried rice with a fragrant broth and a crispy battered cod bun.

I'm always tempted by their specials, but lately I've been disappointed. Billy Sunday seems to be getting better and Yusho seems to only be getting more inconsistent.

Our first visit put me on the positive side with Yusho. We loved the shishito peppers, and I thought the 2X fried chicken might just vie for the best fried chicken I've had anywhere. The vibe was great, and our server was just the right blend of cool (the good kind) and high competence. Enjoyed my cocktail, The Balancing Act (their take on the Manhattan) tremendously. The only demerit I give the place is that the pork belly ramen was unnecessarily salty. Of course pork belly is salty; I'm not talking about the pork belly in the broth. I'm talking about the broth, which was over-salted to the point of drawing attention away from any other flavor it may have had. I finished it, because it was just this side of unacceptably salty, but would have been happier had it not been perched right on that cusp. Anyway, an overall fun and rewarding experience at Yusho, and I hope not our last.

After a little less than three years of service, Matthias Merges has closed the Hyde Park iteration of Yusho. The smaller South Side location of Merges’ casual Japanese restaurant closed on Saturday as Merges’ Folkart Restaurant Management (Billy Sunday, Old Irving Brewing) gears up to open Lucky Dorr, a craft beer-focused restaurant right in front of the North Side’s Wrigley Field.

https://chicago.eater.com/2017/7/3/1591 ... eview-open

The original Yusho is closing, too, per Eater:

https://chicago.eater.com/2017/7/19/160 ... e-japanese

Well that stinks. Went at least a couple times a year during that six year run. Consistently very good, never mind-blowing, at a very reasonable price point. I really hope there is a resurrection here in Chicago at some point in the future.