I had dinner with a few girlfriends here, and Yusho is a perfect spot for that sort of thing - lots of smaller plates that are easily shared, a cool atmosphere, fun cocktail list and on the inexpensive side. Â I really enjoy the twice fried chicken, the veggie tempura with the squash and shishito peppers, and the fish "tacos" that came on a bao-like bun instead of a tortilla. Â Street parking was super easy, and service was great! Â If places like Yusho keep opening, I am really going to love my decision to move to the Square!
Review Source:Finally made it to Yusho after hearing several friends rave about this place and my wife and I were thoroughly impressed. This venue is the total package; fun chic vibe, incredibly friendly service, interesting menu, reasonable prices, great cocktails and most importantly the food rocked - even parking is easy at Yusho (there were several free spots on Kedzie within a block of the restaurant). Yusho has a menu featuring Japanese street food and the offerings are creative and diverse. This is a venue that can please both a picky eater as well as those that have a penchant for nose-to-tail cuisine. The menu ranges from fried chicken and spare ribs to blood sausage, BBQ sweet breads and ramen with fried pig tail.
The vibe and decor is a bit hard to describe at Yusho - there is a lot going on and everything is a bit mismatched, but whoever designed it did a wonderful job. Everything comes together resulting in a very aesthetically pleasing, modern, hipster vibe but is simultaneously friendly and relaxed. The front room has a long bar with barstools and a few booths and there is a more open dining room in the back with a totally different feel. Chef Merges was really visible roaming the restaurant and checked in with several tables. Our primary server Jerry was so friendly and helpful in guiding our order (so much sounded amazing that we were struggling to choose); his recommendations were spot on! All the staff pitches in when your primary server is occupied elsewhere and everybody we met was no nice and passionate about Yusho. We even recognized one of the staff who until recently was a sommelier at Alinea. Â
On Sundays Yusho features a noodle dinner; for just $20 one receives your choice of several different noodle based soups, the special draught cocktail of the week and gourmet soft served ice cream with fixings for dessert; tonight's ice cream was hazelnut with flavors of ginger, a rum caramel, spiked raisins and an oat crumble. For my noodles I opted for a grilled shrimp ramen with bonito flakes, kimchi and bamboo shoots; the broth smelled outstanding and the shrimp was ridiculously flavorful. This hands down blew away the ramen I enjoyed a couple months ago at the Aviary.
To supplement the noodle dinner there is also a la carte pricing for their bar snacks as well as several specials if you want to add some heartier fare (the basic $20 noodles dinner is sufficient for a small meal, but if you are particularly hungry or have a large appetite ordering a couple of snacks and/or a nightly special will definitely fill you up and you still end up with a very reasonable tab). Much of Yusho's menu is designed as small plates to be shared and we ordered two of the specials, a half quail, seasoned with curry and served atop a parsnip based pancake (similar to a potato latke but bolder flavor) and a really fun roll your own maki roll dish featuring a generous piece of tuna, several sheets or nori (thin seaweed - the type used to roll sushi), sushi rice, hoison sauce, some vegetables a lime and some greens - you pulled the meat off the tuna (it was served with the skin, fin and bones), slap it on top of a sheet or nori, doctor it up with the fixings, roll it up and eat. A bit messy, but a really fun dish and tasted phenomenal.
Our noodle dinner tonight was so fantastic we will definitely be returning sooner rather than later to start working our way through the regular menu. Merges' new cocktail lounge, Billy Sunday is less than a half mile walk away, so next time we plan to stop there for some cocktails either before or after dinner. I am puzzled why Yusho's rating is not higher on Yelp, but this place is five stars in my book and a strong five stars at that! I definitely could see myself being a regular here. Kudos to Chef Merges on creating such a warm, fun, outstanding restaurant.
My husband and another couple came for Sunday noodles. It was totally empty -- but I guess that was to be expected given it was Oscar weekend. The decor was very cute, and the ambiance still seemed "cozy" -- or at least warm -- despite there being no one there.
We ordered some fried chicken and chicken skins to start. Both were delicious, though quite small. Next we had the noodles -- each couple ordered a maitake and logan poseur. Similarly to the appetizers, the noodles were small in comparison to what one usually expects when thinking about noodle dishes at Asian restaurants (any pho or ramen place typically has much bigger bowls of soup than this). However, both were very good. The maitake broth was very mushroomy and rich. You definitely have to enjoy mushrooms to like it.
After the noodles they brought out some delicious soft serve! I love soft serve. It had some crunch garnish and was flavored just right. Nice textures going on.
Overall, we all enjoyed the meal. It's a nice deal for $20 per person. Was it the best noodles we've had? No... there are some pho places in the city that I'd take over those noodles from a purely food perspective. But, Yusho's combination of food, setting, and overall experience makes this a solid 4 stars in my book. Definitely felt more special than your typical noodle shop without breaking the bank.
We were here today for Sunday noodles. Started off with a parking spot directly in front. A good omen! Â She had the shrimp ramen and a negroni. I had the beef tongue somen and some wine. We also split the 2X chicken and the blood sausage and steam bun. Dessert was the hazelnut soft serve ice cream with oatmeal crumbles and the best rum raisin sauce I've ever had the pleasure to eat. We enjoyed everything we had to eat and drink. The staff was excellent and friendly. They even shared some of the secrets of their Negroni, which she said was excellent.
We were there from noon to about 1:30pm and they weren't crowded, yet. Â So go and relax and enjoy, as we did.
My wife and I visited your restaurant last night for our Valentine's date. I chose Yusho because it was selected as one of Chicago's top new restaurants last year. I was a bit skeptical because the reservation was so easy to get and the Yelp rating was only 3.5 but after I read about the chef's background I decided it had to be good. And--it was, everything except for the totally underwhelming food. We ordered the duck, fish tacos, octopus, tempura, ramen, and 2x chicken after asking our waiter which dishes are "must haves". The fish taco was probably the best but how hard is it to make a decent fish taco? The duck was OK - presentation was fantastic. The sauce w/ the octopus was extremely bland which sucked because we LOVE octopus. The tempura was actually enjoyable but the serving was way too large. I thought the ramen w/ pigtail would be the highlight but it just tasted like ramen w/ miso - good but nothing to write home about. We were pretty stuffed by the time the 2x chicken came out but I had a few bites because fried chicken is one of my favorite things in the world. The texture was very cladded and dry - not easy to cut through and I saw a lot of pinkish colored meat inside. I don't know if this is intended but it always freaks me about a little bit. Nevertheless, it didn't have that juicy, scrumptious flavor you expect when you bite into fried chicken.
Despite the unsatisfactory food experience, we still ate every course because we'll eat anything and we were starving.
The cocktails, service, decor and ambiance stole the show for us. The environment you've created is very cool even though the music was kind of lame at times.
We'd love to come back some day and try again but it would have to be after a complete food menu overhaul.
I really hate to do these type of reviews but I am compelled to speak my version of Yusho. I will make it short and to the point like ripping a band-aid right off!
The Good:
Decor
Friendly, accommodating staff
Presentation of food
The Meh:
Food: nothing special here people, dressed up Japanese street food that is over sauced, hit or miss flavor + textures and waaaAAAaaay overpriced
I leave hungry and poor (2 people, 1 drink, 6 dishes,=$80/w tip)
I know, I know. I get what they are going for but it just isn't for me. Other people love it. They have $$$ to burn, lack of exposure to tasty ethnic foods and probably grew up eating meatloaf (not that theres anything wrong with that)
Bottom Line: My palate and appetite is not satisfied for the price I pay but yours might
Was so looking forward to trying the short ribs that was part of the Chicago Restaurant Week menu .... still feel it this morning sitting really heavy in my stomach. Â The beef was a bit dry (mostly devoid of fat) and quite tough on the inside. Â Definitely not the succulent, fork tender piece I'd imagined it would be. Â The black garlic and miso sauce/risotto? that came with it was too thick and extremely salty -- it did not enhance the dish at all. Â The squid and shellfish dishes (especially the tofu custard) were quite good as was the dessert.
Was surprised the servers didn't check the tab before presenting it to us. Â Didn't quite know what to make of it when the bill listed everything we had at no charge except the drinks. Â Then when the corrected bill came and the server was asked to SPLIT the payment (we paid with cash and credit card), she put the smaller half on the credit card which caused a little bit of a conundrum. Â Awkward!
A spin on Japanese flavors, yes. Â Do they all work? No. While Yusho is a unique addition to the Chicago food scene, modern interpretations of classic food can be hit or miss. Japanese food is near and dear to my heart, so I am the first to admit I can be ultra critical.
The tempura, although I liked their pick of veggies (I loooooove tempura shiso leaf), were more like beer battered veggies, not like the light and crispy tempura that comes with a skillful fry.
The Ramen was just ok. The Pig tail skewer was kinda like a corn dog with a smear of whole-grain mustard. Though by itself it was good, I was confused as to why it was atop the ramen. Noodles, alas, were overcooked. Â Why do people overcook noodles?! It does not compute.
The pacing of the meal was fine, as was the order, EXCEPT for the pickles. I thought we'd get it first, but it was brought out dead-last. Â Pickles is one of those things you want first, to be able to enjoy throughout the duration of a salty, savory meal. I guess we should have requested this to be so, but for the type of restaurant this it, I would have expected this.
The only dish that impressed me was the Maitake Mushroom. And the mochi for dessert.
This place is just ok. Why would you take already delicious street food and make it "fancy"?
I think we ordered about 8 or 9 things and nothing was particularly outstanding. I was really excited for the okonomiyaki, which I love and make regularly, but this was just ok.
What's up with $6 chicken wings? It's literally $3 for one regular sized wing.
The drinks were ok, but our server kept forgetting them and part of our food.
They were out of the soft serve I wanted to try too.
I won't go back, not worth the money  - about $50 each with drinks. I should start an okonomiyaki party at my house.
Being a Ramen fanatic, i was excited about the Sunday noodle meal. Â
For $20, you get a drink, bowl of noodles, and a dessert. Â The drink was good. Â I had a craft soda. Â The noodles, the star of the meal, were disappointing. Â First of all, the portion is rather small. Â We were so hungry afterwards, we went to Crisp for Korean chicken. Â The broth was ok, but nothing memorable. Â The dessert was the best part of the meal. A really large portion of custard. Â I have a sweet tooth, so this was a nice surprise. But it was completely out of proportion with the rest of the meal. Â I'd rather have a larger bowl of noodles (especially considering that it's called the Sunday Noodle meal) and a smaller dessert.
Service was pretty poor. Â He rarely came around to see how we were doing and we had to make an effort to flag him down to pay for our meal. Â Considering that there weren't many people in the restaurant, this was inexcusable. Â He was nice when he was there, but he just wan't there very much. Â
I will not be coming back for Sunday Noodles.
Yu sho? I sho? We all sho!
Indeed, in a city of neighborhoods, where neighborhoods are love, we sometimes neglect those who are closest to us, taking for granted our own particular hoods. Â Or so i tell myself, to justify my neglect of a culinary mecca in my very own backyard, Yusho. Â
Yusho has been open, what, two years now? Â Yet I have managed to dine there only this weekend, and my delay makes me sad, for the food here cannot be missed or overlooked.
My darling and I arrived on a Friday night, without reservation. Â Serendipitously, a reservation cancelled the moment we arrived and we were seated without reservation or hesitation. Â It was a beautiful auger of the evening to come.
The cocktails here are home grown and unique; my darling's gin and tonic had a definitive whiskey visage, for the tonic was home grown and unfiltered. Â It made a superior concoction. Â My rye cocktail, the Undertone, was tasty, but more effervescent than I would have expected, for the lemon and the peach overwhelmed the rye and the amaro. Â This is a far distant relative of a manhattan, so be warned.
My cocktail was a minor issue, for the food here is brilliant. Â The chicken "drummies" are the most tender and spicy hot wings you will find this side of heaven, and the tuna sashimi would make a Toyko partisan blush. Â The menu also includes quail egg, which is disappointing only in that it is pickled. Like Gollum, I like my quail egg raw and wriggling. Â The pickled flavor was too much for me, so consider that with whether that dish will satisfy your base desires.
For our main courses, we indulged in octopus, sweetbreads, fish tacos, and short ribs. Â They were superb and overwhelmingly rich. Â Truly, you are getting a Charlie Trotter style experience here for a fraction of the price once you hit the main dishes, such as they are (everything here is billed as small plates). Â The octopus had a soft, tender, juicy flavor, enhanced with barnyard, earthy flavors from mushrooms. Â The sweetbreads, lightly fried and coated in a BBQ sauce, were, without reservation, the richest, most overwhelming dish I have ever ate. Â That is not to say I did not like them, far from it, but sweet jesus, the flavor corrupted and overwhelmed my taste buds with every bite, like a voluptuous presidential intern. Â I would order them again and again
I was most impressed by the short ribs, which had a strong hit of teryaki, and were a large plate on top of that. We were too stuffed to finish them, but they made a delicious lunch on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
I closed our dinner with the house barrel cocktail, the Booze Cola, which, in good faith, you should hurdle your mother's dead body to savor. Â It recalled our honeymoon in Saint Marten, on the beach in the Caribbean, with its perfect blend of rum and fruit flavors, and will provide you with a much needed escape from frigid Chicago winters. Â Toast to our honeymoon with a Booze Cola with our blessings.
What a phenomenal dining experience. I can't wait to go back.
Dinner:
-Chicken Wings: Absolutely delicious. I regularly have dreams about these chicken wings. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration but hopefully you get the idea. It's a small order but I recommend you order these above all things. I wanted to put the Bonito Salt it came with on everything.
-2X Fried Chicken: Just as good as everybody says it is. However, the Chicken Wings are superior. What makes this dish special is the spicy-limey orange dipping sauce it came with.
-Foie Gras: I order this where ever I go. It was delicious but I recommend sharing it with at least one other person. It's so fatty, creamy, and rich it'll make your head spin. And the "buddha's hand" it rests on? It's a kind of lemony, sweet cake. It's also dense and rich. The flavor combination is inspired but beware...
-Ramen Special: It was a dish offered that night of the week, and unfortunately, the only one in the bunch I did not like. While beautiful, rich and elaborate in its presentation, the fishy-sea water taste and smell threw me off. I couldn't finish it. Unless this is your thing, I don't recommend this one.
The kitchen threw in a free order of Tempura, which was so nice and so delicious! I think it came with a ponzu dipping sauce. I was so happy they did that for us because it was one of the best dishes of the night.
Drinks:
We ordered the Undertone, In Savoy We Trust #2, the Dogs of Okinawa and one of their daily draught cocktails. EVERYTHING EXCEPT the daily cocktail was brilliant. Especially the Dogs of Okinawa. Best cocktail of the night, hands down. To be a little blunt, the daily cocktail was boring and watered down compared to the others. I regret the $10 we spent on that.
Overall I highly recommend this place to anyone that appreciates quality over quantity and enjoys stimulating sensory experiences. Our total came out to less than $100. I don't remember the exact amount, but I feel the price was well worth the food, drinks and service. I left full and satisfied. Plus, the decor was really beautiful--modern, rustic, eccentric, silly.
Points!!! While we were eating, we noticed Rick Bayless enjoying dinner at a table near by!
I've only been here for Sunday Noodles, which was awesome! $20 for noodles/ramen, a dessert and a drink. Plus discounted appetizer specials. The noodles were really good. We also tried the fried chicken appetizer and the pickles, which were both tasty. The mixed drinks were really good. Only thing I didn't particularly like was the dessert that night. It was a chocolate soft serve with some weird crunchy puffs. The texture really bothered me. Other than dessert, I really enjoyed my meal. The decor is really cool and modern. I'll definitely be back.
Review Source:Overall, Yusho was an excellent dining experience. Â The food was outsanding - well prepared, tasty and mostly unique asian inspired. Â The service was mostly great. Â The only complain I had was that our waiter was slow to serve and checked on us infrequently. Â In fact, a bus boy came to our table several times to see if we needed another drink, (wonder if he knew our waiter's m.o.) Â Not a big deal over all however.
The chicken skin appetizer was very good, albeit slightly salty (but what do you expect from chicken skin...) Â The squash and swiss chard tempura was fantastic. Â Great light batter and excellent dipping sause. Â The sweetbreads were also really good - lightly battered with a sweet and sour-ish sauce. Â Great flavor. Â The spare ribs left a little to be desired. Â They tasted as though they had more of a traditional bbq sauce rather than the korean sauce I might have expected, but the meat was tender and the brussels sprounts and kimchi on the side was great. Â If you're into whiskey cocktails, the resurrection was absolutely the way to go.
Yusho is only very loosely yakitori-inspired, but expect some fun twists on Japanese flavors. I think this is one of those small plate places that is absolutely no good if you are planning on sharing with a large group. Even though I didn't have many bites off each plate, I did have the opportunity to taste many dishes (at least 9) and none made me think, "OMG, nom nom nom, bring out more!" The okonomiyaki and soba come close, those are the items that make me think this place could be amazing. Maybe going back and having a proper meal would make me think more of Yusho, but nothing on the current menu is calling out to me.
Review Source:You would think that this would be a fabulous thing, with the owner having been trained by Charlie Trotter and a neighborhood full of foodies, but sadly, this was a hideous experience.
We got there at about 6:15 and were told that the only things open were the chef's table and the bar - despite a ton of seats being open all during our meal (poor planning for table turn around)
The bartender/server came over and gave us some pretentious explanation about the "unique" whiskey they had and how they don't have "normal sodas". Â Whatever. Â And stop pouring your tap water out of a wine bottle - I know it is tap, get a pitcher.
We started ordering and things came up quickly at first, but that was not to last. Â The twice fried chicken was raw in parts - which I had to point out to the husband, so who knows how much of it he ate before I told him. Â The pork ribs he said were good and the special that night of a beef wrapped in nori was also delicious. Â Then things went seriously downhill. Â The tofu was disgusting - not grilled enough and topped with an emalgamation of nastiness including some green paste. Â The husband ordered the foie gras and said it was okay. Â We then tried to get dessert and I clearly heard him order the mochi and the server nodded his head. Â After 20 minutes, sitting in front of the grill where it would have been prepared, we realized it wasn't going to happen. Â We asked for the check, not even caring if the charge for it was on there because it was worth the extra $4 just to be able to get off of the extremely high and uncomfortable stools, surrounded by hipster douchebags and get out.
My father is from Japan - this is nothing close to "street fare" - and the server even admitted as much when he first came over and said "this is not really Japanese food, it just has its influence". Â Where is ONE ENTREE with some kind of rice or grilled fish? Â I was excited to see takoyaki and hear of a special on chawanmushi, but not excited to try them after the mixed results on what we did order.
Not worth the $125 price tag on our meal.
I really, really wanted to like Yusho. But I didn't.... at all.
A couple friends and I visited for the "sunday noodles" special. It was $20 for noodles, dessert, and a beverage.
The beverage was a choice between housemade soda or a daily cocktail. The daily cocktail was whiskey, at least that's all I tasted. The housemade soda tasted bland and flavorless. Â
For noodles, one of my friends got the soba - the smallest soba dish I've ever seen. Also tasteless. I ordered a Maitake Mushroom Ramen, and it tasted so weird. Not sure if it's because I'm just used to a certain ramen broth. But there were also about 5 noodles in that dish. I was still so hungry afterwards.
We also ordered chicken skin, and it was super oily. And the fact that some dishes came on top of newspaper... adds an icky factor, in my mind.
The ice cream soft serve at the end was the only thing we liked. But, it wasn't too much different from an ordinary soft serve. The toppings were interesting, but not enough to be the "it" factor for us to visit again.
Overall, this was a huge disappointment. We had such high hopes for the ramen noodles, as we are big fans of ramen. But we will not be returning, unfortunately.
Another winner in what's emerging to be one of the coolest & hippest restaurant areas in town - Logan Square. Â
Yusho is Eater Chicago's "Restaurant of the Year" and in my opinion - deservingly so. Â Chef Mathias Merges has a winner here. Â
The ambiance in this place is spectacular; for me, it was love at first sight. Â I uttered the words "oh wow" the instance we walked in the restaurant. Â
We were early so we sat at the bar and had a drink. Â My plan had been to complement my meal with sake but that all changed with my first drink. Â I started with the booze cola and never looked back.
Dinner included a number of small plates, all meant to be shared. Â We had the chicken skin, 2X fried chicken, Cosmo (blood sausage w/pickled cauliflower), Logan Poser Ramen, Fish Face, and Okonomiyaki. Â Each dish was truly beguiling to say the least. Â I asked for the skin tasting instead of chicken skin but they had ran out. Â I don't remember the okonomiyaki too well because it was our last dish and we were totally stuffed by then. Â I do remember it was dreamy. Â
The other drinks we tried included undertone and in savoy we trust #2. Â Fabulous.....I never got to the sake..........oh well.....
If you want to stay in close touch with what Yusho is doing, sign up for their e-mail updates and follow them on twitter. Â
I want to go back so bad..............and I will...........soon I hope. Â I am really curious about their Sunday noodles too.
By the way - if you were lucky enough to snag the Travelzoo deal for the Chef's table at $85/pp; congratulations. Â You're in for a treat and I can't wait for this. Â If you didn't and you want to - too late - the deal is sold out.
I stopped here a few weeks ago with a couple of friends for a cocktail or two. What we got was some seriously knowledgeable service, great product quality, and a truly innovative menu.
While there, I sampled their spicy and crisp fried chicken with kanzuri, and a truly impressive mezcal offering. What shines here even moreso are the cocktail offerings. I enjoyed a perfect negroni, served with toasted soybean and cardamaro. A more innovative drink I had was the sujeonggwa, blended vermouth, ginger, and whippersnapper whiskey garnished with pine nuts. Think, mulled wine for people who loathe wine. So, perfect for me- the best warm cocktail I've ever had. Truly artisan.
Either as an intimate setting with friends, or a great date spot- Yusho is prime.
Love is a strong emotion, and I definitely do NOT throw it around lightly. Â With that said, I LOVE Yusho. Â From the moment we stepped in the door, I was blown away by the classy yet comfortable ambiance, the genuine friendliness of the staff, and the attention to detail on so many levels. Â Seated directly in front of the robata and binchotan, we had front row tickets to a beautifully orchestrated performance so amazing, that I have decided to add Yusho to my resume. Â As I soaked in the sights, sounds and smells, it took me a few minutes to actually look down at the menu in front of me. Â The bartender was extremely patient with us, as I studied the drink list with my mouth watering at the plethora of ingredients that have never graced my palate. Â Housemade bitters were a main draw, so we just started drinking everything on the menu. Â Each was uniquely delectable, some with hand carved ice cubes, and shaken to perfection. Â We started with a Skin Tasting basket of salmon and quince, chicken and mostarda, and the classic pork rind. Â Delicate and crunchy, with just the right amount of complementing flavors, I could have eaten them all night. Â Served in a tin bucket with Japanese newspaper, it set the tone for the street food revolution to begin. Â
Matthias Merges' work with Charlie Trotter was evident in the flavor combinations and the elegant platings. Â As per usual, I went with the specials of the night, Fish Face and Hamachi Collar. Â From the underused parts of the fish, Yusho has crafted two dishes that screamed with ingenuity and execution. Â Followed by sweetbreads and a coconut curry soup, our bellies were filled with happiness. Â
Throughout the meal, the bartenders and cooks chatted with us on a slower Saturday night. Â There was a certain calmness on the line, where people actually seemed happy to be at work. Â And it showed in the food. Â The spirit and the passion for ingredients, execution, plating (some dishes are made by Matthias' mom) was clearly evident. Â
I hardly ever go to the same restaurant more than once, but for Yusho, I'll be back before Next changes it's menu.
Across the street from my house, best new restaurant! yay Yusho! The decor is great ahte bathrooms are so so so cute! The waitstaff is AMAZING!!!!!
I had fried chicken skins which are a must! and sparkling sake, soba ramen and some mushroom thing.
I love the atmosphere here, you will too.
I've been here twice now, and just cannot wait to get back! Â The service, atmosphere, and ambiance is great. Â Chef Merges is always walking the floor, running food, seating people, etc. Â
As far as yakatori cuisine goes, you really can't beat it. Â The food here is casual but very elegant at the same time. Â I've had a majority of the menu so I won't go over everything, but a couple of my favorites were:
Duck breast with hon shimeji mushrooms - the mushrooms were placed over top of the duck breast like a little patch of mushrooms growing off of it!
The quail with strawberry teriyaki - they have a different quail prep on the menu now that I can only assume is just as good as the one I had.
The octopus with green beans and enoki mushrooms - incredibly tender octopus with the best earthy undertones to accompany, and an egg yolk vin that tempted me to lick the plate.
The okonomiyaki with prawns and cabbage - Â beautiful as far as presentation goes, the flavors are spot on and all the different textures are amazing, this might be my favorite thing there!
The maitake mushrooms - come with an incredible egg vinagerette and dashi gelee. A little bitter green for a soft crunch, the maitake were a little crispy then the vin and dashi gelees to round everything out made for a wonderful all around dish.
Sweetbreads - to round it out the sweetbreads come with an umeboshi BBQ sauce that created an incredible flavor profile, a little unfarmiliar to me all around which made it even more exciting for me!
To round out I must just touch on one point I have yet to mention. Â The cocktail program here is wonderful, the craft cocktails are unusual, original, and very well balanced and flavored. Â If you have not been to yusho yet, make it your next outing!
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Logan Square has gained a truly impressive little place with Chef Mathias Merges' Yusho. First, I need to point out how aesthetically pleasing the decor is. Light fixtures hanging from ropes, a projector flickering against a brick exposed wall, and cozy seating. Oh, and if lightbulbs could be considered "badass", then they definitely had some really 'badass' lighbulbs. I can't even explain the bulbs, so I had to get a picture. (Oh, the little things in life that excite me) It had a very vintage, minimalist, woodsy feel to it, with little pops of color here and there, and well...it proves that sometimes less is more. Awesome interior.
Chef Mathias Merges worked for Charlie Trotter's before opening Yusho, so I had already had high expectations for what was about to consume. Maybe that is why I feel that it fell a little short for me.
The food. On Sundays they have a special "Sunday Noodles" menu for $20 a person. You get to choose your main course and drink, and end the meal off with a dessert. They have an eclectic arrangement of noodles. While my fellow diner tried to persuade me into ordering the beef tongue, I admit that I played it a little safe and ordered a chilled Soba with scallions, chickpea mayonnaise, watercress, and burdock,served with 3 chicken drummies. My guest ordered the logan poser ramen with crispy pigs tail, hen egg, nori, and cucumber.
The Soba was my favorite part of the meal with every perfectly al dente bite. The perfectly seasoned noodles were triumphant as I rather foolishly slurped them from my chopsticks. The only setback was that there weren't enough of them. Maybe its because I'm American, and we all know how gluttonous we are, but the portion sizes weren't enough to fill me up. Yeah, I could have ordered appetizers, or 'snacks' as they refer to them on the menu, but I just didn't feel like spending $8 on a steam bun (maybe next time). Besides the fact that I was still aching for more noodle, the flavor and texture was all there, and fully recommend it.
The Logan poser ramen was a portion of even less noodles (or so it seemed), and a brothy, hot dish. Once again the flavors were absolute, and I could have drank the broth with a straw if I wouldn't have been shunned by society, but it wasn't my dish at all, and modestly sampled a tidbit for reference.
The house made sassafras soda was like sex in a glass. The other option was an alcoholic cocktail, which changes if I was informed correctly. Today it was a bourbon concoction. I'm not a big bourbon drinker, but I will say that this cocktail was pretty solid, although felt a little too "limey" if there ever were such thing.
We ended our meal off with the included dessert, a cocoa soft serve with crunchy sushi rice, and quince. The dessert portion was monstrous compared to the actual meal, which was a bit upsetting. The soft serve was luscious and rich. The cocoa was a bit bitter, which I prefer over that artificial, overly sweet milk chocolate taste. It paired well with the quince and the crunch of the sushi rice added a little more dimension.
Our server, Johnathan was attentive, although he mixed my drink order up (which was okay with me since I got to have both the sassafras soda and the bourbon cocktail). Overall, I'd return if I were looking for something to hold me over for a little while and not for an entire meal. I left wanting more, maybe that was the entire point? I'll make my way back to Yusho on a weekday instead to experience a different menu.
Yusho is great find for foodies! Â The dishes are really creative and combo of flavors well thought out. Â This is It's a great spot for groups or even a first date. Â Where else can you see old Godzilla movies on a loop. Â Had the Chicken Skin with mustard garlic dipping sauce, Pork Spare Ribs, Fish Face, Octopus with enoki mushrooms. Â All of it was excellent!
Review Source:Yusho's decor combines trendy industrial style with your grandma's couch.
We maximized our visit by ordering a ton of food and drinks for three people. Let's see what I can actually remember...
Chicken:
- The double-fried chicken was tasty, but best when dipped with the sauce it comes with.
- Chicken wings are actually boneless and served on a skewer. I could eat bonito salt until my entire body dried up.
- Chicken skin? More like chicken crackers. Goes well with the mustard.
None of us remembered ordering it, but the octopus with enoki mushrooms were delicious.
Okonomiyaki was thicker and smaller than others I've had, but it was tasty. The pork takoyaki is definitely non-traditional. It's more like a potato ball than a traditional gooey octopus ball, but I actually like this texture better.
I had to have foie gras simply because it's banned in California.
The beef tongue and pork belly were also great. The steamed buns were also tasty (probably the 2nd best steamed bun I've ever had).
For dessert, tofu doughnuts and mochi were okay.
If I were in Chicago, I'd definitely come back.
Unique, tasty, Japanese fusion small plates.
The overall scene is casual, yet still nice. Our server was excellent and super helpful. She did a great job of describing the menu and provided some great recommendations both for food and sake.
We went with another couple and therefore got to try a lot of the menu (all very good). Some major stand outs were the chicken wings and 2x fried chicken - but you can't go wrong with anything.
Highly recommend this place, and will definitely make my way back there.
A fantastic food journey. If you are feeling adventurous and up for trying something new then this is the place. The entire menu is designed as japanese small plates. Our waitress recommended 3 to 4 for each person so my husband and I shared 6 different things which was plenty to fill us up. We had the following:
1) 2x Fried Chicken - Incredible dipping sauce, very indulgent choice
2) Octopus - Which was on the smaller side, but came with some of the tastiest mushrooms i've ever had
3) Eel - Very unique taste... came with these hush puppy-like mustard balls
4) Pork bell - Perfectly crispy and spicy, kimchi to cool you off
5) Oxtail - very tender
6) Ramen-inspired soup - which grew on me with every bite
For the most part it seemed to be a date-type place... I'd say about 90% of the people dining were couples. The service was fabulous. I loved the decorations... very clean, modern mixed with retro/rustic (bright greens, stainless steel mixed with exposed brick etc...).
We will definitely be returning!
A trendy spot that borders on trying too hard, but still manages to be charming. Â A run-down of our orders in order from good to bad:
Takoyaki - breaded on the outside, the pork was mixed with a great sauce; a little awkward to eat and the breading could have benefited from a bit of crunch.
Duck Breast - very nice presentation, closest to an actual yaki tori dish we had;
Chicken Drummies - unbreaded chicken wings drenched in sauce; these were quite good, if you scraped off a bit of the sauce;
Steam Bun - an above average open face mini-sandwich; would be higher on my list but the breading was soaked through;
Maitake Mushroom - the friend I was with didn't like this, but I thought it was pretty good; the mushrooms tend to overpower other flavors so use the ladel and give them a good drenching of vinaigrette/egg;
Octopus - probably the biggest let down of the evening; I can't quite place what it was, but the vinaigrette was very strong and the octopus was a bit tough;
The service was good and the flemish sour (beer) I had was very nice.
All in all, I probably wouldn't go back for serious eating - but it's a fun place to nibble on a couple dishes and down a few drinks.
My girlfriend took me here for my birthday, god bless her. We both live in the neighborhood and have been meaning to come here for sometime so we were fairly excited to check it out.
Service was what I expected for a higher end trendy restaurant. With that said it was friendly and very tentativeness. Although, our waiter carded us and my GF forgot her ID and would not allow her to drink, but I can't blame him for her mistake and we are rather youth looking.
We had:
2x Fried Chicken - Best chicken fingers/strips I've ever had.
Grilled Tofu - Yum
Sweetbreads - Not so Yum
Pork Bun - Get it, although it is quite small you might want to get 1 for each person
Gobo Root - This was our favorite dish of the night and it's also one of the cheapest menu items. Crisp and refreshing. Don't pass this one up.
I had a cocktail as well, I think it was called the Resurrection. It was alright, kind of like a manhatten, but a little sweeter I would probably pass on the cocktail next time.
Um... this is kind of a confusing place. Â The menu is organized "by flavor,' but ultimately, it's not very descriptive. Â And it has almost no vegetarian options.
The cocktails on draft (which, the night we went, were jackfruit, gin, and lemon soda) are a good price and really delicious. Â But the waitress also told us the plates 'vary in portion size,' which isn't helpful at a small plate place-- especially if you're trying to keep the cost of dinner at a manageable level.
Both of the dishes I ended up choosing-- the eggplant special with the peanut vinaigrette and the grilled tofu with pineapple and walnut-- tasted great but certainly weren't exceptional.
Ended up spending about $30 for a grilled japanese eggplant, 4 oz of tofu, and a drink.
Dear Lord this place was good. It began with the cocktails. That's right: Plural. The Living Proof drink was bright and refreshing - just what I wanted in a summer drink. Within minutes of sitting down we were munching on fried pork skin. Along with Salmon Skin, and presumably a few other epidermal layers. It was amazing. We cleaned out the container.
The night didn't wrap until we had eaten oxtail that fell off our chopsticks, okonomayaki (Japanese pancake stuffed with shrimp & chick pea), double fried chicken and ramen with fried pig's tail along with about 6 other things. Yep - you read me right: Fried Pig's tail. Â At Yusho I think you could probably eat all the parts of animals you've been trying to avoid your whole life. And you might love it. I know everything I tried was simply amazing.
And, if you can save just a little bit of room, the basil ice cream with toasted coconut is pretty stand out.
This is a great night out - with a warm Japanese farm house vibe that is accessible and unique.
Hit this place with another couple we are new friends with that are foodies. Â We looked at the menu and thought it looked inviting and reasonably priced so we were impressed. Â We however decided to get creative and make our own tasting menu with extra courses, we added a wine pairing for the ladies, and the guys went for a cocktail tasting. Â They pairs wine and cocktails for every course. Â We up'd the tasting from 6-8 and with the drinks and an appetizer we hit the $385 mark. Â The restaurant is not overpriced by any means we just went wacky at the place.
Started with a skin tasting which you have to ask for. Â I would call it interesting. Â Three skins... chick, salmon, pork. Â I thought the portions would be a bit bigger for $12 as it's skin... usually dumped into stock or tossed.... well we ate it. Â good but needs to be bigger.
We then went into the tasting and enjoyed 7/8 for my own tastes. Â One dish was just not that great. Â We missed out on the 2X fried chicken which I hear is awesome. Â
Cocktails were well done and properly served. Â The group enjoyed the dinner across the board and I believe all 4 would return to the restaurant. Â Parking is easy on the street, reservations were heard to be difficult but the place wasn't over loaded when we got there.
If you do have to wait they have a decent size bar, better than most so you can stand or grab a stool without feeling like you are in the way. Â Good cocktails so that makes it fun and they are not overly priced.
I'd say lived up to the hype I heard... so maybe more buzz? Â Anyway i think most people who have adventuresome tastes will enjoy this place. Â A cool warehouse ambiance with witty wait staff.
A beautiful space with some inconsistency.
My first negative point I'll make is the staff using their I phones to relay your order. My initial reaction was, hey douchebag I asked you a question about your brandad! Once you realize that is what they are doing it is easier to get along, but can still be uncomfortable. The staff is well informed and abundant.
Dishes ranged from amazing (heirloom tomato salad with miso spoonbread) to monotonous and cloying (soba with pork jowl). Â I found the dessert of lime custard and peanut brittle to be amazing. Â Which warmed my attitude after the eel and brandad which was another miss in my opinion.
My advice is to take in the scenery, the room is beautiful, try only four dishes to share, and then if you are thrilled order some more. I wouldn't enter with very high expectations, mine were in the basement and I left fairly satisfied.
Heard good and bad things about this place at first. Â Everywhere from too expensive, to not enough food and good things like the food is very tasty and service and ambiance excellent. Â So a group of us went to check it out. Â
I'd have to say at first I didn't think it was going to be enough food, but at the end of it all I was pretty stuffed! Â Also, each dish that we had was presented nicely and very flavorful and not heavy or overwhelming. Â My favorites were the Oxtail, 2xfried chicken, the Tuna, and the beef tongue! Â
My least favorites were the desserts. Â I'm pretty big on sweets and I wasn't too impressed. Â The basil ice cream was nice tho.
Final tally: Â $40 each after tax and tip, and I had sake and wine... Â not too bad! Â I'd definitely go back to try some other stuff.
I will mimic what most reviewers mention as the star at Yusho: the service. Completely informed, unobtrusive, yet engagingly helpful. Kudos! We were informed that this is Japanese Street Fare. And while I enjoyed my visit, dishes didn't consistently hit it out of the park for the price point.
- Chicken Wings- with salt, lime, and chile. A nice boneless wing you can eat with your hands, it tasted great. A squirt of lime and a little salt, and you're good to go!
(It was difficult to choose between the wings, skin or 2x fried chicken. I'll be back to try them all.)
-Tuna- raw tuna with radishes, pine nuts and flash fried Taro root. Tuna was incredibly fresh, but it was kind of hard to grab all the fixin's in the small bowl it was served in.
-Eel- Served crispy with hominy and a nice grain mustard. The hush puppies (is that what "Brandade" is?) were excellent!
-Soba with pork jowls- ramps and cucumber. The cukes were really home made garlic pickles, just like my grampa Zepp used to make! Nice. The pork jowl added just the right amount of flavor.
Green cardamom soft serve in a dish for dessert was the STAR of the show! It had a mixture of complex flavors and was by far the best thing we had all night.
Yusho is good for dates, birthday parties with the ladies, and small groups. There's a bar area you can belly up to and skip any wait! They take reservations too! I'll be back- but with Longman & Eagle so close by doing excellent things with small Bistro dishes, it may take a bit to get back to Yusho.
We were kind of all over the place with Yusho. First, I kept looking up Shoyu (as in "Oh, yeah? I'll Shoyu!",) and of course I could not find it. Once we figured out it was Yusho ,as in " You must be pregnant", then it came up on our searches. I thought I'd remembered it was Kedzie just north of Diversey, and Sho' nuf, there it was - right next to the paved front yard with the prominently displayed, in perfect-condition 1964 Ford Mustang. Parked at an angle for perfect viewing. Doug was jealous. He was sure his parents were going to buy him one of those when he was in high school. Right! This after a big day at the pool with wine and flotation devices.
The most striking thing about Yusho is what it is and where it is. I know that all the hipsters are moving to Logan and Avondale now, but this location is just a little out of the way, and the space is absolutely beautiful, from the bar with the high stools in front to the back room with its so-in-the moment mid-century modern collection of tables and chairs. I like it when a restaurant is kind of a destination in and of itself.
The other thing which stands out is how well-staffed the joint is. There are people behind the bar, in the kitchen, on the floor, and they are all engaging and friendly. They gave us good guidance on beverages. We sampled a couple of their featured cocktails, and they were major tongue-teasers. The beer selection was good as well. We sampled the Belgian choices and were nicely sated.
Let's talk about the food, but not too much. There are a lot of nice descriptions here of the limited dishes on this authentic Japanese menu, so no need to repeat them. Overall, with some exceptions, we were not impressed. While some of the dishes did stand out as to flavor dynamics, did we really spend a day at the pool to come and eat various versions of grilled "skins?", such as chicken skin, salmon skin. All I could think of was what I scrape off the grill and throw to the ground after smoke-grilling a big old chunk of salmon. It soon became clear that we were bringing way too much hunger to this small plate boite.
Our eyes all lit up when our server told us about some mysterious huge oyster after we had tasted some delicious eel and some raw salmon. We were thinking a grilled, football-sized oyster on a large wooden platter. You should have seen our faces when he brought three of the tiniest oysters in a teensy-tiny bowl, with a spitting of sauce and maybe five English peas. We couldn't even split those three ways! Â The flounder was the biggest dish, and that was a bit disappointing. I think it became clear that whatever Yusho is, and no matter how stimulating it is from an ambiance standpoint, it just was not our cup of tea. And while the servers were congenial and service was fine, we were not convinced that they bought into the concept or shared any genuine enthusiasm for the menu items themselves.
Picking up on our disappointment, they wowed us at the end with a variety of desserts, three in all. And the desserts (something we don't usually even order) were absolutely stunning and delicious. The bottom line, though, is save coming in to belly up to the bar for the scintillating cocktails, or just for desserts, we would probably next time seek out a favorite sushi spot and save ourselves quite a bit of cash, and feel a little more full in the tummy. Nice place, but don't come here hungry.
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