Restaurant Experience: The Omakase Room at Sushi San River North (Chicago)
The Omakase Room placard (photo by Wade Hall)
Bar at The Omakase Room (Photo courtesy of Wade Hall)
My dinner back in January of this year at The Omakase Room at Sushi-san River North was the best meal of my entire life.
I know, I know. You’re saying to yourself, "But Ghost, how can that possibly be? You’re like old...surely something else beats it.” Nope. What once was Girl & the Goat and then later Husk in Nashville, is now this absurdly stunning jewel of a multi-course sushi spot. Considering it’s one of Lettuce Entertain You’s pricier spots, it definitely should be.*
Opened in early 2022, the 10-seat room sits above Sushi-san (a rowdier crowd comparatively) and guests enjoy a special cocktail in the 30 minutes between arriving and dinner starting. You do not want to be late for this. Not only is it rude, but then you’ll miss some bonkers good fish and seafood.
“Everything we’ve done is designed to break down barriers between chefs and and patrons,” says partner Amarit Dulyapaibul. “The goal here is to showcase the most special ingredients and techniques but do so in a manner that is comfortable, approachable, and fun.”
Settling in, I made the best small talk I could muster (I’m not exactly Mr. Social) until chef Kaze Chan began the festivities with a round of sake from his premium stash. We all cheered. The sake, an alcohol I’m not normally fond of, was pretty damn exceptional.
“For relaxing times, it’s Suntory time.” (Photo courtesy of Wade Hall)
Chan, along with Shigeru Kitano (Momotaro, Japonais by Morimoto), began preparing the first course of abalone. This was my first experience eating abalone and, while nowhere near bad, didn’t send shivers down my spine. Certainly not for a lack of flavor in the braising liquid its presented with. This is quickly followed up by one of the evening’s stellar highlights. Otoro Tartare featuring succulent fatty tuna belly chopped, served with a house cured duck egg yolk and chopped chives with a gorgeous and significant topping of Golden Kaluga caviar from Rare Tea Cellars. My lord was this a splendid experience. Like some sort of made castaway picked up on a deserted island after years of talking to inanimate objects, I practically wolfed this down. I had to restrain myself from licking the serving container.
Otoro Tartare (photo courtesy of LEYE)
Next was a trio of sashimi - Hokkaido scallop, Spanish mackerel (you truly have to try mackerel in different forms, a reliably tasty fish) and Amberjack belly all from Japan. Then, a torchon of monkfish liver (Ankimo), which comes with a lovely red wine and Asian pear reduction. Spectacular taste here.
A lovely red rockfish (Kinki) kicks off the nigiri section of the meal, followed by triggerfish (Kawahagi) that features the flesh of the fish with its seasoned liver. Kicked up by the Yuzu kosho (fermented citrus and pepper paste), the blackthroat sea perch (Nodoguro) delivers high marks. This would be the first time I have tried barracude (Kamasu) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The miso and preserved plum lets the fish sparkle. Next up was gizzard shad (Kohada) which I also have never had. Close to a sardine without its inherent oiliness, this was a real eye opener.
I have been dying to have Uni (sea urchin roe) for years now. It had been forever and I wanted more and more after finishing mine. Uni is truly one of the great tastes of the world. An intensely pleasurable experience. You can barely catch your breath before the Hamachi Toro (yellowtail belly), sourced from Kyushu, arrives. The Omakase Room gets the prized belly while the remainder of the fish gets used in Sushi-san. The added banana peppers with their subtle char adds a nice bit of mild heat. Then there’s the king crab handroll (Kani Tamaki). I can’t imagine many not liking king crab. It truly is one of those decadent items that people crave. Here it’s given a bruleed housemade plum motoyaki on the top. Delicious.
The restaurant’s tuna is sourced from Balfego, a sustainable source for bluefin tuna from the Mediterranean Sea. In this case, lean bluefin tuna (Akami) with a shiitake mushroom butter - perfection. Then chef Kaze moves on to the tuna I was very excited for. A lightly seared medium fatty bluefin tuna (Chutoro Tataki) gets a truffle vinaigrette and stir-fried maitake mushroom (featuring a bit of abalone and black vinegar) made me salivate for more. Then came the prized fatty bluefin tuna (Otoro), here from the tuna’s cheek. The restaurant buys 400-pound whole tunas, giving chef Kaze the opportunity to choose specific cuts for The Omakase Room. The giant tuna only yields five pounds of cheek, but is prized for it’s marbling, which is higher than the actual tuna belly. On top sits both a dehydrated, compressed daviar from Kaviari, as well as Rare Tea Cellars’ American white sturgeon caviar, and a “make it rain” grating of fresh wasabi.
Otoro with caviar (photo courtesy of LEYE)
We’re nearing the end, folks. and with that, we step away from fish/seafood and walk onto land. If you’ve never had A5 Wagyu (Japanese wagyu, not that American kickboxer crap), you need to. Here, Hokkaido snow beef, directly from Chateau Uenae in Hokkaido is a luxurious and rich piece of ribeye that gets grilled over binchotan charcoal. Snow beef refers to the marbling, not weather, and said to resemble a snowflake. Despite beginning to burst you will still want more of this amazing beef.
It took me most of my life to even begin to appreciate the beauty that is the egg. Here, a Japanese sweet omelette (Tamago) featuring unagi rolled in will make even the most egg-resistant happy. Just a lovely second-to-last piece of food.
Tamago (photo coutesy of Wade Hall)
Sadly, I was not a fan of the uni ice cream that ends the meal. It wasn’t bad, it just bordered on the verge of being unpleasant tasting. I could see the Santa Barbara uni being featured in another style, perhaps add one more savory course and fold that beautiful uni into the omelette? Just spit balling. I’m not a chef, so I’m only relying on base knowledge from eating and watching cooking shows.
I don’t want to leave you with the impression that this last course somehow ruined the meal for me. I will admit that perhaps I don’t have the palette to fully appreciate this dish. I can only give my impression. The other nine diners seemed to make quick haste of it, that’s for sure.
Tamago (photo by Wade Hall)
The Omakase Room’s 18-course menu is, bite for bit, the best meal I have ever experienced in my life. I don’t do tasting menus often, so I’m always over the moon when they work out so well. This one exceeded expectations and, quite frankly, I’m going to do my best to visit again in the fall. If you’ve never tried an Omakase before, I think this is a great one to start with. It’s upscale in terms of ingredients, preparation and presentation, but it’s not stuffy in the least.
