Momotaro - Contemporary Japanese by Boka in the West Loop

Hey All -

Really have enjoyed the different restaurants within the Boka group so have naturally been looking forward to this place opening. It is billed as "Modern Japanese" with a healthy sized menu covering both cold and hot Japanese food. The space is enormous, the accolades for the two chefs seem to be there, and with Boka at the helm I was excited to see what they have in store for us.

It is set right under the train in the West Loop in a space which was on the receiving end of a complete renovation. It is a massive space that encompasses 3 floors including the main dining area, izakaya bar downstairs and an upstairs which I didn't see.

You enter from the street to the side of the bar that sits at one end of the room with the ceiling opening up to the 2nd or possibly 3rd floor. There are some nice hanging lights to break this up as it could be a tad too spacey otherwise. In the center of the room is a sushi bar with seating on two sides flanked by tables around the rest of the room. The remainder of the seating is a couple of different setups that will allow all sorts of group sizes.

There is incredible attention to decor and detail throughout with an obvious effort towards authenticity. Having only been to Tokyo for a couple of days I cannot claim to be an expert but there were a lot of little things that stood out to me. Obviously you don't see a ton of places in Tokyo this massive but then again this is Chicago.

Onto the food and drink. The menu is extensive at 7 pages and covers a lot of ground from soups, to grilled options, a plethora of sushi and fish, and a lot more. My assumption is that there will be plenty of options here for everyone.

We had the Asari Clam Chowder, a piece of sake, Bara Chirashi, and the Curry Udon.

Asari Clam Chowder - This was a slightly odd order to me from my friend but ended up being a favorite. Very light but still a nicely flavored broth that starkly contrasts that New England broth that might be ingrained into your memory. The actual clams had a lot of flavor and a nice unctuous mouthfeel to them. Didn't sample the toast but they received strong reviews. Will be a definite order again.

Sake (salmon) - Obviously a single piece of fish is a horrible sample pool to give any sort of judgment but it was good. I have read about the chef's attention to sourcing as much as they can from Japan claiming to have better overall flavor when compared apples to apples to the same fish from other regions. This has me interested to see how much is noticeable. Which also makes me wonder - at places like Katsu, Juno, Arami, etc... how much of their fish is direct from Japan?

Bara Chirashi - This was billed as "ribbons of different pieces of sushi over rice" from our server. Came in a deeper bowl where the myriad of colorful fish buried the rice below. There was a bit more going on here than meets the eye as the rice itself had a lot of flavor. This had a couple different pieces of fish - octopus, salmon, some tuna, and maybe one other I didn't try. The octopus was really really flavorful and all others were of good quality and flavor. The octopus was the winner and will be on sashimi list for next visit. This was a nice dish and to put simply - a good way to get some pieces of sushi and rice.

Curry Udon - On a night filled rain my soul was looking for this exact dish. Not too salty, not too rich, just a nice pile of simmering udon noodles (cooked perfectly) accentuated by shishito peppers, pork, and of course the great flavor from the curry. Portion was pretty decent on this as we didn't finish it. Looking forward to having this again.

They have a separate space downstairs modeled after an izakaya bar. No food yet but it is a nice space that I imagine will be pretty crowded down the road. Cocktail menu looks nice as well. I can see this definitely taking on different feels based on the time of night. Happy hour seems like it could be a lot of fun down here.

Looking forward to a return trip to get through more of the menu but overall it is off to a nice start in my book.

Forgot to take pictures but there are plenty floating around that internets.

Momotaro -
820 W. Lake St
http://www.momotarochicago.com/
Initial menu - http://chicago.eater.com/2014/10/13/696 ... -menu-boka

We went Friday evening. Overall I thought there was nice attention to detail. The food was prepared well, but the portion sizes to price ratio was a little smaller than I might have expected. They are all definitely small plates, even the "autumn" menu, which was indicated by the waitress to be a more composed section of the menu.

We had:
Ogo - their take on traditional seaweed salad was terrific, and I particularly liked the crunch from the nopales. Who'd think cactus in a seaweed salad would be tasty? The dressing was delicious, though the hawaiian seaweed was on the hairy/chewy side.

Hamachi Tuna Roll -- not a traditional sushi roll as we were expecting based on the name. The skin might have been crispy egg roll wrapper? The hamachi inside was flavorful and the presentation fun.

Chawan Mushi -- my favorite of the night. Lots of crab meat, and the addition of truffle sauce to a traditional chawan mushi was beautifully done.

Negima - two skewers of nicely grilled (to medium doneness, so perhaps more authentic to an izakaya style) chicken thighs. Tender, juicy, and nicely complemented by the tart yuzu paste on the side.

Madai Snapper Nitsuke - a nice dish, though on the slightly sweeter side with a ginger/shiitake glaze

Faroe Islands Salmon - from the sushi bar - again, we thought we were ordering a roll, but it was just lightly seared salmon in a sesame dressing. Perhaps a little too much sauce and bonito flake covered the taste of the salmon itself. The menu just describes it as "sesame" accompaniment, without reflecting it's more like a sweet/creamy sesame dressing.

Sashimi - striped jack, king mackerel, skipjack tuna, salmon -- portions on the smaller side, very fresh. We had our only "blip" of the evening, on service, as the server (not our waitress, who was fantastic) that brought the dish could not effectively identify which fish was which (we'd never had skipjack tuna and striped jack before, so didn't know what they looked like). "and salmon, and mackerel, and whatever the hell that is" was a direct quote. I know it's a new restaurant so I'm sure they're all learning, but I wish he'd made the effort to ask the sushi chef and come back to let us know.

The dessert menu looked lovely, but I was full and just wanted a palette cleanser, so asked the waitress if they would be willing to serve just a scoop of sorbet. The yogurt sorbet was listed as an accompaniment for one of the desserts -- they were happy to do so with a bonus of a mini green peach and buttery crumble. It was a perfect end - tangy and lightly sweet.

The decor was lovely - the room beautiful. They were packed for their first Friday night of service. We liked it a lot, but I'm not sure if it was knock-my-socks-off memorable enough that I'm rushing back.

I stopped in for a quick bite to the izakaya in the basement. Great service in a relatively quiet atmosphere, and I simply can't stop thinking about the spaghetti dish. Just go and get it-it is phenomenal.

I have a reservation for 4 here on Saturday, November 8 at 7:15 PM that I can no longer use. If someone wants to use it, just let me know.

A few LTHers and I had a meal here last week that I haven't really been able to stop thinking about. From the skewers to the rolls to their omakase, everything was delicious.

**Though the reservation was made a month before hand, I did find out just a few days prior to our meal that a friend of mine had left Japonais and was now in the kitchen at Momotaro, who sent out a few dishes for us to try.

As mentioned above, the dining room is large and gorgeous, with a sushi bar situated in the middle of the room. Our reservation, however, was for a table downstairs in the izakaya (though you're still able to receive both hot+cold items).

BACON WRAPPED ASPARAGUS mustard

Before the items we ordered began to arrive, our lovely and attentive server Monica informed us that a few courses would be sent gratis, this being the first.

HAKUREI TURNIP & POTATO SALAD wakame, fried potato


SMOKED BACON & EGGS soy marinated quail eggs, bliss maple syrup

Though I liked the first two courses quite a bit, this was the first course where I felt like I was in for quite the ride.

SHISHITO WITH SMOKED CHUTORO "BACON"

I'm a huge sucker for shishito peppers. Though I'm pretty good at making sure I take an equal amount as everyone else when sharing plates, I'm pretty sure I snuck a few more in.

HATSU jidori chicken hearts, house yuzu kosho


GYUTAN imperial wagyu beef tongue, karashi, smoked peppercorn


CHILI MENTAIKO SPAGHETTI tokyo specialty, jidori egg, chili spiked roe

Reading reviews, I kept seeing this dish mentioned. I don't remember if we ordered this or if it was sent out (we ordered A LOT), but wherever it came from, I'm glad it came.

TORO TARTARE seasonal flowers, wasabi shio koji


GRILLED SQUID squid ink aioli


CEDAR ROASTED KURODAI whole sea bream, shiso dressing


AJI YAKUSUGI smoked jack mackerel, 1000 year old cypress

One of the standout dishes for me.

TUNA ZUKE soy-marinated tuna, pickled turnips


SASHIMI OMAKASE

Really fresh, vibrant fish. We ordered 2 so everyone could have a piece.

CHILI HAMA & MOMOMAKI hamachi, chili mentaiko, ryu, fried gobo / big eye tuna, spicy octopus, lotus root

The momomaki might have been my favorite thing of the night, though. I actually ordered both of these rolls to go for the wife (I know, who orders takeout from a nice Japanese restaurant?) and was happy when she couldn't finish the rest of them. I happily devoured the remaining pieces though I just ate a huge feast an hour prior.

Though I absolutely loved my meal, I was less enthusiastic about the desserts we ordered, though I may just have been fatigued at that point.

SHITTORI CITRON CAKE blood orange and sorbet


WAKA MOMO green peach, almond crumble, momo sorbet


OKINAWA DARK SUGAR ICE CREAM chocolate cereal

My favorite dessert of the three, and the only one sent out by the kitchen. Simple and delicious.

Great meal, great service, beautiful space, hefty bill (though I feel as though I got more bang for my buck from Momotaro than say...Juno), and a place I greatly look forward to revisiting.

dang^

right?

incite wrote:A few LTHers and I had a meal here last week that I haven't really been able to stop thinking about. From the skewers to the rolls to their omakase, everything was delicious.

<snip>

Great meal, great service, beautiful space, hefty bill (though I feel as though I got more bang for my buck from Momotaro than say...Juno), and a place I greatly look forward to revisiting.

Excellent shots (nice to see some of those dishes again) and yes, I agree on all counts. This was an exceptional meal and since I had it in the same 7-day period as meals at Izakaya Mita and Katsu, it was interesting to compare the 3 experiences. The fact that it stands out for me far more than either of other 2 comes as a bit of a surprise. Katsu has always been my gold standard for fish and for rice but I thought Momotaro easily surpassed it in both these areas. Mita put out some very tasty prepared dishes but the precise execution and bright, clean flavors at Momotaro easily outclassed them. Of course, Mita comes in at about half the price as Momotaro but Katsu and Momotaro are comparable price-wise.

In any case, the big-group ownership and location of Momotaro had me raising an eyebrow going in. I was worried it would be faux/jive and I pretty was skeptical. However, I came away very impressed. The quality of ingredients there, plus the skill and imagination of the kitchen really stood out. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Not cheap but most definintely a trump card in the category and arguably a value, given the quality of the food and overall experience.

=R=

Kaze, of the dearly departed Roscoe Village restaurant bearing his name, is heading up the sushi program at Momotaro. Some of these lovely pics look wonderfully familiar. Can't wait to go!!

DAMN! That looks like the leader for our annual "spluge" meal.

I had dinner here last week and had a very good meal. Some of the cooked food was very good, particularly a few of the items in the From The Coals section. The star of my meal was the sushi. It was not inexpensive, but it was well worth whatever they were charging. We had hamachi, kanpachi, shima aji, madai, uni, chutoro and botan ebi. The fish was uniformly excellent, and the rice was also very well prepared. Next time I will ask them to fry the shrimp heads and return them to the table.

I haven't been eating raw fish preparations at Japanese restaurants in Chicago because I've been disappointed with the quality. I will be returning to Momotaro very soon and having a meal consisting mostly of sushi.

Deesher - have you tried the most recent iteration of Juno? They have excellent raw preparations - the best I've had in Chicago in the past couple years (although Momotaro & Japonais by Morimoto would probably 2nd/3rd).

We had another great meal here last night. Raw fish, maki and skewers were all outstanding. A skewer special of chicken tails was perfectly fatty and crispy. The star of the show, however, may have been the A5 Wagyu, from the Hibachi section of the menu. In a word, it was amazing. Priced at $100 for a 5-ounce portion, it was not inexpensive but was still worth every penny.

One significant change since our last visit: you can no longer order from either menu on either floor. They're now being treated as 2 totally separate concepts. The basement Izakaya has its own dedicated menu, as does the upstairs dining room. We actually had a few bites downstairs before they found room for us upstairs, so it worked out just fine. But it did probably add a bit of time to our meal. Knowing this, next time we'll be sure to decide when we make our reservation, which dining experience we want to have.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:One significant change since our last visit: you can no longer order from either menu on either floor. They're now being treated as 2 totally separate concepts.

That's a terrible shame. Logistically, I completely understand, but that's going to be one helluva tough decision to make going forward. I hope they separate the menus online so folks aren't going in blind.

We had dinner in the Izakaya room this weekend. There are now two separate menus on line, although the Izakaya menu is a bit hard to find on the web site. The Izakaya menu is small with about a dozen items, a few sushi rolls and a few robata items. I'd say most people were having a drink and a snack before a night out. We're light eaters so we easily made a dinner out of the Izakaya menu and it was excellent.

Tuna and Spicy Octopus roll: a very flavorful octopus salad in a roll topped with slices of raw tuna. Excellent if a bit pricey.

Uni chorizo toast: The dish of the night. They have a kind of Japanese milk bread they make in house that is like a combination of ciabatta and brioche. It's toasted until crispy on both sides and then brushed with pork fat. On top is the uni with a chorizo butter to add some heat.

Wagyu beef tongue from the Robata grill. Charred on the outside, medium on the inside, with two sauces to dip in.

Dessert I think they called a Budino: Butterscotch pudding under a layer of caramel topped with crispy rice bits.

The regular restaurant requires reservations well in advance, but there is no difficulty getting a reservation at the Izakaya part, so it's a great last minute place to go for a snacky meal.

Dinner in the Izakaya room last night. Great stuff. First, the subterranean room creates an other world feeling. Not exactly like one is in Tokyo, but other worldly none the less. We did a couple sake flights and enjoyed the uni chorizo, hamachi soshito peppers, and a nice bowl of Ramen. Looking forward to a return!

Mrs Willie & I went last night. Arrived a bit early so went downstairs to the bar, had two cocktails we really enjoyed:
MONK’S JOURNEY - ketel one vodka, chareau aloe liqueur, matcha green tea, lime
NATSUJIKAN - chicago distilling co. barrel aged finn's gin, amaro montenegro, lemon

After our cocktails, we walked upstairs to the restaurant and tried a number of items
HATSU - jidori chicken hearts, house yuzu kosho. Delicious morsels of chicken hearts cooked to a medium rare.
WASHUGYU - shoyu marinated wagyu skirt steak, shishito pepper. The steak was good, but those grilled shishito peppers were the highlight for me
CHILI MENTAIKO SPAGHETTI - tokyo specialty, jidori egg, chili spiked roe. So rich in flavor, such a good dish.
AJI YAKUSUGI - smoked jack mackerel, 1000 year old cypress. Loved the preparation and taste.

Ordered one roll and it was excellent, MOMOMAKI - big eye tuna, spicy tako, pickled daikon

Had a variety of individual sushi items, standouts for me were the HIRAME -
ikejime flounder, a very delicate texture, almost buttery and the MADAI - red seabream which was by far the finest piece of sushi I've had in a long time. Wow.

We both are looking forward to getting back to Momotaru.