Ani--Arami's younger sib

I almost hate to start this thread off of a couple of delivery orders but I'm really enjoying the food at Ani and wanted to make sure that it got a little attention. Hopefully, one of these days, I'll actually make it into the restaurant since it's close to home (it's in the old Chizakaya space on Lincoln south of Belmont) .

Anyway...I've ordered in from them a few times and have been impressed by the quality of the sushi, as well as the hot and cold dishes. To date, I've tried the ramen which I enjoyed (details here: viewtopic.php?p=482244#p482244). I've also enjoyed both the house made tofu with preserved lemon, kombu marmalade, bonito, ginger, and nikiri and the spicy tofu (firm tofu, chili oil, scallion, black bean). The kimchi and edamame with ginger soy (there are actually 3 different flavorings for the edamame, the other two being togarashi and sea salt) were fine--nothing I'd run back for. A number of these items skewed a bit sweet which isn't my preference but all were well-prepared and balanced flavors.

What I would make follow up trips for though, in addition to the ramen, is the sushi. They continue Arami's tradition of well-seasoned and properly textured rice and nicely cut, firm and very fresh and flavorful fish. So far, I've tried the chutoro, zuke salmon, ikura, madai and uni and all were as good as anything I've had in Chicago. And that's delivered. I'm sure in house it's even better.

Hopefully more folks will stop in--I'd hate to see it fall victim to the same fate as Chizakaya which I still miss a lot. And I think it may have been mentioned elsewhere but Harold Jurado, the chef/owner of Chizakaya is heading up the kitchen at the Logan Square Yusho and I've been hearing good things.

Ani
3056 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60657
872) 206-8553
Reservations available on Open Table. Delivery through Seamless.

I've really enjoyed Ani. It's been almost empty when I've been in, so I also want to show it some LTH love. The smoked salmon carpaccio is fantastic. All of the sashimi I've tried has been excellent as well, particularly the shima aji, which was a special the last time I went in. The crispy brussel sprouts are delicious, too, if a bit oversalted.

I enjoyed Ani far more than the recently reopened Juno, which I thought more focused on putting out precious than delicious food.

Arami will always have a special place in my heart as the place where I fell in love with sushi (and its double sake roll still reigns for best maki in my world), but I'm happy to have Arami's brother as a closer and near-equal option. And my vegetarian boyfriend appreciates that Ani has more vegetarian options than Arami (he also loved the spicy tofu).

I visited Ani once. I was spurred to visit by its purveyance of italian beef ramen.
Ramen with beef is rare in Japan. I wanted to hit Matador, which received acclaim for its beef-infused ramen, in Kita-Senju, Tokyo, when there in April, but I was given the wrong address and did not find it.
Here are images of Ani, and the italian beef ramen.
Waitstaff there was desirous to serve, and frequently inquired about the state of the bowl. But I didn't want to tell it about the bowl until the end, when I was leaving, lest other diners overheard.
The star of the italian beef ramen should be the italian beef. But, I found the italian beef to be bereft of flavor. The broth did not have any comparison to the sauce in which an italian beef sandwich is dipped (& I think it should).
The vegetables were solid.
Ani needs to add something to the basic italian beef before putting it in a bowl. I also submit it needs to slice the italian beef into smaller pieces. I struggled to pick up the large slices of beef with chopsticks, soon utilizing a maneuver to pin each slice to the side of the bowl with one chopstick, and pulling it apart with the other.
I will visit Ani again. But I'll try another ramen variety the next time.

I visited Ani tonight expecting to find something similar to Arami. Unfortunately, the food was one failure after another. The fish for the nigiri was terribly butchered, stringy and with one piece, two portions shoved together in an attempt to mask the poor knife work. The rice, while perfectly cooked, was barely seasoned and did not hold together at all. The instant you picked up nigiri, kernels of rice would begin to fall. I've often had issues with the rice not holding together perfectly at Arami, but never anything like this.

Other miscues: takoyaki were oddly crisp on the outside, and a couple had really cold middles, suggesting that they had been frozen. And a prawn from the robata portion of the menu was so overcooked and chewy that I wondered if they had started cooking it an hour before I arrived.

There may be better nights to be had at Ani, but I will not be the one to find out.

any updates on Ani?

I still really like it--ramen is good and available via delivery. I may not be as sushi-savvy as some others here but I have never had anything improperly cut or meagerly portioned. I order from them several times a month on average. I still haven't eaten at the restaurant though. Hope to one of these days!