Sushi Mike is a genius!

After reading the post about Agami (it was about the corkage fee), I had a hankering for sushi at a place I've never been to, so a friend and I decided to check it out. However, there was no parking to be found, as there was a concert going on at the Aragon. So I thought about Tanoshii and "Sushi Mike," and we went there.

We decided to go with the waitress' suggestion of two orders of the "Chef's Special." How it works is that you name 3 or so kind of fish / sushi ingredients that you like, and Sushi Mike will come up with a custom-made maki roll for you, about 8-10 pieces per roll, for about $15 per roll. My friend and I picked salmon, yellowtail, and tuna. The waitress emphasizes that Mike's rolls are designed to be eaten without the embellishment of soy sauce or wasabi. We were kind of skeptical, but we thought we'd go for it.

The rolls came and they EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS. These definitely were not your traditional rolls! The first roll featured tuna, yellowtail, avocado, cucumber, pickled ginger, crab stick, and -- get this -- olive oil, parsley, vinegar, and was topped with rosemary and some kind of roasted/marinated garlic. Wow. The second roll featured salmon, chili oil, terayaki sauce, some other magical ingredients I'm forgetting, and was topped with a creamy, egg-y "French" topping. Awesome. The flavors of these rolls were so surprising, and in combination with the fish, they made my mouth very happy! Fish was fresh, too.

I know some of the reviewers of Tanoshii didn't have mind-blowing experiences, but I just had to recommend this place -- or at least Mike's rolls. Again, they're not for people who want the traditional sushi experience. In fact, Mike says that "people in Japan" and the Japanese around here "hate him" because he does these creative things with sushi. The Japanese, he says, are very tradition-bound and don't care for him and his alien riffs on sushi.

The place was only about two-thirds full, which was surprising. Surprised Mike, too; he figured maybe it was because of it being close to the holidays and the cold weather. He did say that usually reservations are required for weekends.

So there's my rave. I just had to recommend this place!

Tanoshii
5547 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640

A friend and I had heard wonderful things about "Sushi Mike" so we gave Tonoshii a try a couple of months ago (but only after being told at Rioja that the wait was 2 hours). Sorry, but we left unimpressed. We too tried the chef's special thinking that it would be nice alternative (like Kaze Sushi on Roscoe which every night offers certain nigiri pieces with different sauces).

The fish was certainly of good quality, but the sauces were average at best and one was downright awful. The only sauce I can remember distinctly at this time (because of how bad it was) was what seemed to be your average Italian dressing right out of the bottle (based on the taste and consistency) -- the one you wouldn't dream of serving to guests at a dinner party. One sauce was described as "Mexican" and I recall cilantro and hot pepper being part of it, but it too was uninspiring. In any event, we were not very impressed. On the other hand, service was very efficient and friendly . . . but I won't return.

Improvisation is a surprisingly subtle art, but must be delivered with extreme confidence. Even so, it sometimes falls flat: Ackroyd himself has an off night now and then. So I really admire the dedication and courage it takes to stretch tradition in making sushi. Thanks, Natasha, for your review above. Though I had previously read about Sushi Mike, I did not come away with the understanding of his work that you provided. Now I will definitely try Tanoshii.

Josephine wrote:Improvisation is a surprisingly subtle art, but must be delivered with extreme confidence. Even so, it sometimes falls flat: Ackroyd himself has an off night now and then.

OK -- I was a little harsh with my review. I only tried Tanoshii one time, and I am also one who appreciates any attempt to do something different with food than is expected. And I certainly appreciated the concept, just not the execution. But when I say that I won't go back, it's probably more a factor of the number of restaurants in Chicago that I just have not had an opportunity to yet try -- we can only have so many favorites and one bad experience will usually keep my away unless I'm convinced to go back.

sorry--just submitted a double but don't know how to delete.

BR--

I totally respect your candor and an appreciate that one needs to consider the universe of possibilities in deciding where to return, particularly after a disappointing meal. Indeed, weeding out should be a process that is parallel to exploration. This was a topic of conversation at the Klas dinner. It is my view that really bad experiences, in restaurants, as in life, make for hilarious reading (as long as they are not truly tragic, and the comments don't hurt anyone--perhaps one should not disclose the name if the restaurant in question). Humor, like criticism, ideally gives perspective, a most valuable goal. That, I believe, is one of the wonderful things about this site: forum members bring their entire persons to bear on their dining experience, (experiences considered trivial and self-indulgent in other contexts) and, most important, they are willing to share their individual takes on their experiences.

My comments were not so much a response to your report on your experience of Tanoshii as to discussions of Sushi Mike's work that I have read elsewhere. This led me to thank Natasha for her specifics regarding the diner's selection of ingredients to be included in a maki roll. I think that having diners select ingredients to combine may put the chef at somewhat of a disadvantage. I came to this view a few years ago, while dining at one of those stir-fry places where the diner selects ingredients from a buffet, and the ingredients are then prepared on a grill a la Benihana. Though I'm a good cook, I was surprised to find that I occasionally came up with combinations that did not work at all. (How arrogant of me!) Later, I noticed that the restaurant posted "recipes" for those lacking confidence. Humbled, I partook, with excellent results. I could not help but conclude that such recipes can even benefit the initiated. Hence, a rationale for tradition in cooking, and a caveat for even the most creative chef. Moreover, this is the point of dining out instead of in. There are just some dishes that cannot be done nearly as well at home as in a restaurant, in spite of one's aspirations to acquire skills and the best ingredients. It is also a rationale for travel. I was astounded to find that the lemons is Liguria are a whole different animal from those I had become accustomed to.

So, I will definitely try Tanoshii, and, in addition to ordering maki that I assume I will like, I will perhaps try to come up with a combination of ingredients I think cannot work, to see if the chef can persuade me that I am wrong.

Josephine wrote: I think that having diners select ingredients to combine may put the chef at somewhat of a disadvantage.

True, but the diners in this case chose salmon, tuna, and tuna. It's hard to screw those up, even if you're dressing them with a vinaigrette.

I'd like to see how well he'd do with, say, aji (horse mackerel), katsuo (bonito), and ika (squid).

As I recall from Tanoshii, you can pick out any combination of fish they have available, and the "special" presentations (i.e., sauces) for that evening are the same regardless of which fish you select.

As for my meal, I have to say that was not the worst part of the night. Before we left for dinner, I called Rioja and was told that we could not make a reservation, but that we should just come in since there was no wait. When we got there merely a 1/2 hour later, there was miraculously a 2-hour wait. Hmmmm . . . do you think they were hoping we'd stay and have several drinks at the bar??? Does anyone think it's possible for a restaurant to fill up that quickly? Sorry for the side topic, but the full evening just recently popped into my head. And after being told about the wait at Rioja, we headed for Tanoshii.

You're welcome, Josephine.

In regards to how "improvisational" Sushi Mike really is, my feeling is that it's not just about him putting the same Italian-type sauce on a maki made with whatever fish you selected. Otherwise, the waitress would have just said "He has rosemary and marinated garlic tonight; what kind of fish do you want him to put that on?" I'm sure he does have a more or less standard "vocabulary" of flavor combinations that he uses at this point, which he refers to when customers toss out the more common fish choices, but I think Mike is aware that not every preparation fits all.

In fact, afterwards I thought about coming up with really unusual choices for my next trip to Tanoshii, such as mackerel, shiitake mushrooms, uni and kimchee, or whatever. There's a perverse part of me that wants to "challenge" the chef (much as a comedy improv audience wants to come up with the most audacious ideas for the improv troupe). However, if Mike comes up with something inedible, I would have a hard time telling them to take it back! That's just how I am. That's why I selected tuna, yellowtail, and salmon; I like those fish, and I wanted something I knew I would take to (at least the first time out)!

Didn't want to start a new thread, but wanted to mention that my wife and I had a wonderful omakase at Tanoshii West Loop today for lunch. Mike was working, and we had a very fun, interactive, and delicious meal. Yes, he put sauces on most items, but I found them to be complementary vs. a mask. Fish, as I've found on my visits to Tanoshii Andersonville, was top notch.

As an aside, I showed him a photo of the sushi we got at Japonais recently (without telling him where it was from or indicating that I thought it was good or bad), and he was very much taken aback 1) by how much rice was used and 2) the fact that the sashimi was placed directly on ice. I had not thought of the ice issue, but I did notice that there was far too much rice when we ate at Japonais, and noticed today how much I preferred the maki Mike made us, so wanted to get his thoughts.

If you're in the area, swing in and say hi - I've found Mike to be a very interactive person, and am very happy that there is a sushi place in the area that I can frequent regularly without the rice gut bomb that sometimes ensues.

Are you talking about the current Morimoto version of Japonais? Because the rice there is pretty amazing and better than any other sushi rice I can remember. Polished in-house. I didn't notice too much of it, but maybe it varies by preparer.

JeffB wrote:Are you talking about the current Morimoto version of Japonais? Because the rice there is pretty amazing and better than any other sushi rice I can remember. Polished in-house. I didn't notice too much of it, but maybe it varies by preparer.

Yeah, the sushi rice I had a Japonais by Morimoto is defintely the best I've ever had in Chicago -- and that includes Arami in its prime. It was sensational both times I was there: fragrant, flavorful and texturally flawless (not overly firm but not so soft as to be mushy).

=R=

Yes, Japonais by Morimoto. And yes, that rice IS fantastic, but I felt that they went a bit heavy with it.

Also, I meant to follow up - have any of you sushi experts ever heard of it being a sushi sin to let water touch the fish? Mike seemed pretty adamant that the sashimi sitting on the ice was a huge no-no, but I've never heard that before

jordanhojo wrote:Also, I meant to follow up - have any of you sushi experts ever heard of it being a sushi sin to let water touch the fish? Mike seemed pretty adamant that the sashimi sitting on the ice was a huge no-no, but I've never heard that before

Well, I love sushi but I'm far from an expert. But I've encountered sashimi on ice many times. At Juno in Chicago, and even at an outstanding and traditional kaiseki meal in Kyoto. Just a little short of halfway down the page of this post, you can see sashimi on ice at Kichisen in Kyoto.

And I can't agree that it's necessarily a big no-no. Rather, I think the key is that the restaurant does not leave the fish on ice too long. At the now shuttered Masaki, too cold sashimi was a big problem for me. At Juno, I think they improved dramatically from when they first opened. And at Kichisen, you could tell that the fish had not sat on the ice very long because it really wasn't very cold. But as great as my meal was at Kichisen, I refuse to believe it's an automatic no-no.

jordanhojo wrote:Yes, Japonais by Morimoto. And yes, that rice IS fantastic, but I felt that they went a bit heavy with it.

Damn, that's a bummer. I thought it was used judiciously in the maki and the sushi. Glad to have avoided a mis-hap.

=R=