Bistro Sake in the old Yilin space in Forest Park

Bistro Sake
7600 W Madison St, Forest Park
http://www.bistrosake.com

Although I had posted a few weeks ago that the Open sign had been lit it was just an electrical test. They opened a few days ago.

Gone is the Chinese influence (from Yilin) and hello to a straight Japanese restaurant. New owners, name and menu without much interior change. Also the new owner has no relation to the old ones. The owner also mentioned he enjoys Katy's Dumplings very much.

It was a shame that we did not have a sushi expert along but we did try a few things (see menu for detailed descriptions).

The owner was promoting the items on the Chef's Special Maki and the Teriyaki Dinners (served on a bed (really a pancake) of shredded vegetables prepared tempura).

Appetizers
Complementary bowls of Miso soup.

Edamame - Served soft and hot.
Spring Roll - Menu mentions 4 mini but 2 nice sized ones, cut in half, were served. Light, flavorful.
Asparagus Beef - Tender beef wrapped around a spear and sliced. Topped with Teriyaki sauce. Tasty!
Tempura Appetizer - Lightly fried and a good variety. Shrimp (big!), carrot, green pepper, zucchini, onion, broccoli, asparagus, yellow squash.

Entrees
Two bowls of Udon Noodles (Tempura, Nabeyaki) - Hot. Big! Light broth with the additional items served on the side.
Chicken Fried Rice - Crispy with a nice presentation. Interesting (good!) flavor.
Beef Teriyaki Dinner - As mentioned, served on a pancake (to keep the meat from getting soggy, was mentioned), nicely flame grilled, tender. A nice dish. Served with a side of choice of fried or regular rice.

All in all, great service (we were the only ones there at 6:00 pm), fresh and tasty food. I do miss the specialty items that Yilin had.

Thanks for the review, I've been waiting for someone to review it on here before we went. I stopped in there last Sunday and grabbed a menu. The guy who greeted me at the door (maybe the owner?) said you can't go wrong with the Tieban Sushi dish. He said it's his favorite thing on the menu.

My wife looked at the menu and said they were a tad bit pricey for sushi so we didn't order from there that night. I personally don't have that much experience with sushi so I may be getting my feet wet at this place some time in the next week.

Glad to see a positive review right out of the gates and when you say "Big!" on several dishes it makes me think the prices are probably not high for what you get.

4 pieces of "chef's choice" sushi for $9 actually sounds kind of low, as does 7 piece sashimi for $12. Maybe they're trying to encourage more adventurous dining

Thanks for the heads-up, panther.

My wife and I went in for sushi tonight. As I said, I'm not a big sushi eater but my meal tonight has definitely swayed me to want to become more familiar with it.

We sat at the sushi bar as I had watched the Good Eats sushi episode to prep for this. My wife was apprehensive when I suggested it but I told her we'd be able to watch all the prep work being done so she conceded.

We each started with a seaweed salad which was very good.

While waiting for our entrees the sushi chef handed us a small sample bowl of their Ocean Salad - "Different kinds of fish with masago & vegetables in spicy vinaigrette taste." The raw fish was tuna and I'm not sure of the whiter fish that was in it but this was fantastic. Way more fish than vegetables and just very fresh tasting. My wife said "If you like this then you should like more sushi than you think you do." I think she's right.

They also brought us complimentary bowls of miso soup which was good.

For our entree we split 3 different rolls. First the Tieban Sushi - "Spicy tuna w/ jalapeno & black tobiko in crispy rice with wasabi." This was far and away the very best sushi roll I've tried anywhere and just one of the best things I've put in my mouth lately. My wife and I were really both blown away by how good this was.

Next up was a suggestion from the sushi chef doing the prep in front of us The Ocean Drive - "Roll wrapped in soy paper with mixture of all kinds of fresh fish, cucumber, avocado and lettuce." I actually just realized typing that it doesn't mention the sesame seeds that coat the outside of this roll. This was a milder flavor than the Tieban but it had a layered flavor kind of effect. You got the tuna/fish flavor strong at first then a bit of heat works it's way in there and as the flavor mellows on your palette you got the sesame flavor. Very very good.

On the same platter with the Ocean Drive they served the Spider Roll that my wife wanted - "Soft shell crab, masago, avocado, mayo & cucumber w/ eel sauce." I tried one piece of this and the main flavor that came across was the eel sauce. I'm not real big on eel just yet (I tried an eel roll when this place was Yilin and I wasn't a fan.) I let my wife have this one for herself and she gave me an extra piece of the Ocean Drive.

We actually finiished with a bowl of edamame because we forgot to order it with our seaweed salads.

The staff in this place is top notch imo. Very attentive and the waitress even hugged my wife as we were leaving. She talked to us quite a bit and helped translate some questions I had for the sushi chef. (Mostly like "What's THAT!?")

Anyway, we're big fans right off the bat. They will get our business on a regular basis and I want to make a habit of sitting at the sushi bar. It was very cool to watch these guys work their magic and they were very gracious hosts. We both left stuffed to the gills but craving more. I asked my wife how this compared to other sushi she's had (as she has more experience with it) and she said "That's probably the best sushi I've ever had."

Also, I'm glad I watched that Good Eats before going because typically I'd be dipping my rolls in soy sauce mixed with "wasabi." Alton said "If they wanted you to taste that stuff they'd put it in the roll." So I abstained and I think the flavors rang more true than if I had used "Japanese ketchup" on them.

Edit - Forgot to mention the bill was only 60 bucks before tip(s) which seemed like a steal to both of us considering the quality and how full we both were when we left.

My wife and I went and had another fantastic meal here last night.

We started with the seaweed salad and edamame which were as good as last time.

We tried a Seared Tuna Salad this time around. This was a beautiful presentation of the thinly sliced tuna over a bed of lettuce with cherry tomato slices served with a spicy oil/sauce. Very good.

We both ordered the TieBan Sushi roll again as neither of us really wanted to split this. Just as good as the last time. I can't get over how much I like this roll. I told them that this is what's really going to keep me coming back. Though, everything we've had here hast been very tasty.

We finished by splitting an Ocean Salad.

So, we did mostly stuff we'd already tried with the addition of the Tuna Salad. We decided we'll try at least one new thing each time we go. I think I have an eye on the King Crab roll for next time around.

Has anyone tried any of their noodle soups?

Thanks!

Just ordered from Bistro Sake. Like others, we absolutely loved the TieBan sushi roll and the seared tuna salad. Also ordered some edamame but didn't try one of their noodle soups this time. Will definitely be ordering from them again. The salad presentation was really beautiful; tuna was delicate, light, and delicious. The TieBan roll was really fantastic --- definitely a hot (tasting) roll but so worth it.

Last week my wife and I decided to try for lunch, especially to see what the lunch specials were like--my wife adored the lunch specials in the old (last) space. I'd say this. The food we ordered, sashimi plate and ocean salad were pretty good, better than I expected for Forest Park (I'm generally underwhelmed by area Japanese). Still, as a "lunch special", $16 seemed a bit high, and they never brought any rice; there was miso soup (OK, but cool), but no pickles or anything else "bento box-y" for it to be what I expect on a lunch special. I really liked the ocean salad, flavor-wise, but I would liked to have seen it bulked up a bit. Why not some lettuce, tomatoes, etc.? Again, at the price, which was also about $16, it seemed undervalued.

rehorn wrote:Has anyone tried any of their noodle soups?

Thanks!

I had the beef and onion udon noodles last Friday and have to say the broth might be the best tasting soup broth I've had in any kind of soup. I seriously don't see myself going to get Pho from Saigon Pho anymore when I can get this fantastic concoction right down the street. The beef was very lean and tender without any sign of gristle or fat to be found.

I was on vacation last week and we ate at the restaurant on the Friday before Labor Day then we ordered in from them last Friday. As usual, almost everything we had was excellent. We mostly did things we've had before but tried the soft shell crab appetizer when we ate at the restaurant. This wasn't really good at all. It was very oil soaked and that was all you could really taste. Kind of a disappointment, my wife and I rarely eat fried food and this certainly wasn't worth breaking that rule for.

Other than that we were happy with everything we ate from there on both occasions. It just sucks knowing this place will inevitably close because of the location. The owner still sounds optimistic about his prospects but it's almost disheartening to hear him talk so hopefully about his place when you kind of know in the back of your mind he has a very slim chance of staying open there. We'll see I guess. If they keep delivering the quality meals we've received there we'll continue to be regular customers.