Tank Sushi

Gwiv, Ellen, my husband, little Thor and I had an impromptu dinner at Tank Sushi on Lincoln Avenue. (Hopefully, GWiv will jump in on this thread as he was the meal's official photographer.) Mike and I have ordered from Tank on a few occasions, food had been good, service even better, far superior to our former option for ordering sushi - Rise. Last evening was the first meal in the restaurant. The decor is very sake-tini, minimalistic, with a club-like beat reverbing in the background. I was impressed when they seated us in the semi-private, secret booths in the back as it was quite convenient for Thor to lay on the banquette.

We started with a round of small plates, as they call them: seared tuna, scallops, chopstick spring rolls, and the calamari. All pretty good, the scallops, in my opinion, being the winner. I also tend to like, though I hate to admit it, the spring rolls with the cream cheese and shiitake mushroom filling, but then again I have a not-so-secret love of crabmeat wontons. Gwiv had the sashimi plate, I the sushi. Mike and Ellen had a selection of nigiri and rolls. (Thor had milk). The fish was good, not mind blowing, but good. One disappointment was one waiter telling us that the wasabi was fresh from a cryovac, the other accurately stating that it was paste.

We had an opportunitiy to meet the chef, whose grasp of English is still loose, so our conversation with him was limited. I think the collective opinion was that Tank is good, not necessarily great, a bit pricey, but not a bad addition to the Lincoln Square area.

MAG wrote:The decor is very sake-tini, minimalistic, with a club-like beat reverbing in the background. I was impressed when they seated us in the semi-private, secret booths in the back as it was quite convenient for Thor to lay on the banquette..

Melissa,

Tank Sushi was quite enjoyable, sake-tini Japanese is fun on occasion, especially is the company is good. As you mentioned, the booth was a nice touch, and service was, with a small misstep or two, quite good.

The Chopstick rolls, as you mention were good,


as was the seared tuna appetizer.


I thought the sushi/sashimi quite good and enjoyed my sashimi combo, even without freshly grated wasabi.


I'd agree with your statement that "The fish was good, not mind blowing, but good." Katsu, in my opinion, is still the clear leader for sushi/sashimi in Chicago.

Thor, growing boy he is, certainly enjoyed his milk,but I think he may have snuck in little fortification,


by the end of the evening he seemed to be feeling a wee bit Devilish.


Enjoy,
Gary

Tank Sushi
4515 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
773-769-2600

Thor is confused by the prior post--the pictures look a lot more like LTH than Tank--except he can't figure out if it is the LTH on Cermak or the much better LTH on Wentworth.

As for the beer, he would like to state that at Tank, he enjoyed a very nich Pinot Blanc, and did not drink the dreaded domestic beer in the picture (which he had stolen from some lost partygoer).

More on topic, Thor particularly enjoyed the Seared Tuna (pictured) as well as the Seared Scallops.

Thor's Personal Assistant wrote:except he can't figure out if it is the LTH on Cermak or the much better LTH on Wentworth.
.

TPA,

Your post seems to be missing a smiley face or two.

Enjoy,
Gary

I'm really glad that some other people have finally enjoyed Tank. I've spoken up about Tank in a couple different settings and met a decidedly mixed/negative response.

Tank does skew a little too "hip" for my tastes, but if you stay away from the peak hours you'll find some good food. I think the menu is creative and everything seemed fresh on my last visit. Sure, I've had better sushi, but not in Lincoln Square.

Apparently, a 5-month old is not allowed to be confused by the confusing, duplicative names for restaurants in Chinatown. He extends his sincerest apologies to the owners of LTH and the Great and Mighty GWiv.

However, Thor has indicated he will NOT apologize for stealing the bad domestic beer shown above!

Thor's Personal Assistant wrote:Apparently, a 5-month old is not allowed to be confused by the confusing, duplicative names for restaurants in Chinatown.

TPA,

Profuse apologies if I, in any way, indicated it was Thor's mistake. I thought it was clear I was blaming you, TPA, entirely for the confusion.

Please convey my personal regards to Thor,
Gary

Are they serving booze yet? The last time I was there, a month ago, they said they were "working on it".

bryan wrote:Are they serving booze yet? The last time I was there, a month ago, they said they were "working on it".

Bryan,

Yep, booze is now available at Tank Sushi. Ellen, Melissa and Thor's Personal Assistant drank wine, Thor and me Sapporo.

Enjoy,
Gary

The wife and I went to Tank Sushi last night. We were able to make 8:30 reservations at about 4pm and were seated promptly in a packed restaurant upon arrival. The two person tables were way too close to one another, creating that irritating sense of hanging over your neighbor’s conversations, but we let it slide as the place was so loud that you’d have to consciously try to eavesdrop.

While the sushi (mostly innovative maki presentations rather than sashimi) was good bordering on very good, the service blew it for us.

Service was cold and distant, albeit mechanized and timely, throughout the meal. That in itself wasn't a problem as when a place is that busy I don’t require overwhelming warmth of interest from a waitperson as long as they’re effective. What was a problem was that literally the second they cleared our entree from the table, they simultaneously slid the check to us. No "can I get you anything else?" no "Would you like to see our desert menu?" (which judging from the table next to us looked promising), just a forced check as if we were at a diner and the server knew that there was nothing left for us to get after clearing our $5 breakfast. It felt incredibly rude.

The place was packed with people waiting for a table from about 9:00 until 9:20 when we left and it looked like they might have made too many 9:00 pm reservations, but that doesn't excuse the behavior. I'd understand it if were just sitting around spending too long sipping drinks and they needed to clear the table, but we had just taken our last bite and were essentially being asked to leave.

Totally unacceptable. I mentioned to the manager that although they obviously aren't struggling for business given the masses waiting, that we personally won't be back.

The next time we're hankering for trendy but tasty maki, Kaze will get our vote.

Having a craving for sushi, I went to Tank Sushi for the first time this past saturday. And, like the general consensus, the fish was good but not great. I thought the service was more than fine, but I was there during the afternoon and it wasn't busy at all.

I would also like to point out that on Sat and Sun, between 1-7pm, maki (rolls) are half off. Which makes it, for those of us who are pinching pennies, slightly more affordable (most of the maki seemed to be between $6-10).

-cb

the half-off makis turned a chic happenin' spot into a den full of hungry hoarders. so heinous was the wait that a diner in a 4 top party got up, pushed the waiter, stormed out and left the hard earned rolls mostly uneaten.* this was followed by bickering between a "we're regulars" customer and the hostess/proprietor who countered with: "i don't appreciate you treating my staff this way"... D R A M A !!!

obligatory food content: i haven't been to Tank since before they had their liquour license. this is about the best 1/2 off sushi quality you can get in town. ( metromix' article on discounted raw fish )


*truth is, i don't know what caused the shoving scene, but the tension from everyone's impatience was annoyingly thick ...

$20 for $40 Groupon deal - http://www.groupon.com/deals/tank-sushi ... &c=btn

Is Tank Sushi BYOB?

I see they have drinks but can one bring their own beer/wine?

october271986 wrote:Is Tank Sushi BYOB?

I see they have drinks but can one bring their own beer/wine?

Since they have a full bar, beer and wine, I'd recommend calling the restaurant directly.

The GP wrote:

october271986 wrote:Is Tank Sushi BYOB?

I see they have drinks but can one bring their own beer/wine?

Since they have a full bar, beer and wine, I'd recommend calling the restaurant directly.

I had it in my head that it was BYOB and the pictures above reinforced that -- until I realized just now the they were from 6 years ago! Thanks for setting me straight.

Tank Sushi closes to make way for modern Filipino restaurant

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... restaurant