Japonais

Japonais.  600 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL.
 Tyson Rating ****

This past Saturday night, I was looking for somewhere fancy to dine out in the city.  Upon the recommendations of some friends and family, I settled on Japonais, on the west side of Chicago on the river.  While I had some worries about walking through the area that was once nearby the infamous Cabrini Green, a 6pm reservation during the middle of the summer proved to be a pleasant walk. 

Japonais is not your traditional sushi bar. When I think sushi restaurant I in short think sushi and only sushi.  Sure, there are other dishes, entrees, desserts, but anyone would be crazy to order them.  With Japonais this was not the case.  The restaurant has two separate kitchens- a sushi bar, and a traditional kitchen.  The menu is divided accordingly, with one half dedicated to sushi items and the other non-sushi items.  Being the experimental couple that we are, we decided to try some items from both parts of the menu.

We began the night with a house special "The Rock."  Presentation, Presentation, Presentation, this is what makes "The Rock" an extravagant dish.  The servers bring out a stone that has been cooked to a steaming heat, and they follow this with a plate of raw, marinated New York strip steak.  As the diner you must simply cook the pieces of meat on the rock for 5 seconds/side for a perfect medium-rare bite.  The steak is tender and marinated to perfection, and so, despite the experience of cooking it yourself being exciting, you are also treated to an exceptionally well prepared piece of meat.  The dish cost $16, which, while seemingly cheap for a steak, was not a bargain for this 3 oz. maximum cut of meat.  However, it was truly delicious.

This dish was followed by our sushi.  Unfortunately the unagi roll was not being prepared because the chef did not like the unagi quality, and so we did not order any of the specialty rolls.  We began with the basic California roll for my date, a picky and simple taste-budded sushi eater.  California rolls were California rolls- nothing to complain about nor anything to rave about.  We then had an order (and soon after a second order) of a shrimp tempura roll with shiitake mushrooms, avocado, and a washabi sauce.  This roll was terrific, and even with all the ingredients only $9 or so for 6 pieces.

We then received our lobster spring rolls, another house specialty.  Both my date and I are huge lobster fans, but to be honest we were not at all prepared for this dish.  We expected a miniscule portion of lobster in each roll, overwhelmed by vegetables, sauce, and other items.  What we received was the exact opposite.  The rolls were 90% or more of tender lobster, the crust was heated to perfection, thin and crispy, and a sweet mango sauce layered the bottom of the plate for some dipping.  I thought these and "the rock" were fantastic dishes, and the price was better than one would expect for two lobster tails worth of lobster- only $16.

To finish off a fantastic night of dining we took a look at the dessert menu.  Normally at any Asian restaurant I am wary of placing a dessert order, but with the way things had been going, I knew this was not the usual Oriental kitchen.  The desserts were pricy (all in the $10-12 range), but the descriptions looked magnificent.  We decided on a Chocolate Mascarpone cake, served with coconut ice cream and fresh fruit.  The cake's presentation was not so impressive as would be desired, but it took one bite to forget.  The outside appeared dry and flaky, but inside was 3 layers of moist deliciousness.  The coconut ice cream was served in a bouncy ball sized scoop, but savoring it took us six bites or so, and we easily could have eaten a full bowl of it. 

All in all Japonais was a great experience.  The ambiance of the restaurant was terrific, the service was great throughout, and the noise in the establishment down to conversational level.  The total bill for the two of us was $92, pricy, but also much cheaper than the fixed price menus of some of Chicago's other hot-spots.  Whether you are a sushi lover or not, I would recommend Japonais with two thumbs up for a brilliant dining. experience.