Entries Tagged as 'sushi'

Roka Akor

January 12th, 2012 · No Comments


Roka Akor


Red Miso Soup with Lobster


Butterfish Roll


Wagyu Beef and Kimchi Dumplings


Filet


Salmon Teriyaki


Pickled Cucumber


Steamed Rice with Furikake


Another look at Alden’s steak.

A several months ago, I earned enough Open Table points to get me $20 off any Open Table restaurant bill. Since a bunch of the points were earned when Alden and I went out for lunches in River North, I thought it appropriate that I take him out to use my check.

We decided to go to Roka Akor, a fancy schmancy sushi restaurant and Japanese robata grill that we probably wouldn’t go to at dinner because it would be too expensive. It was a bit expensive even for lunch, but at least we got $20 off. We both decided to get the Roka Akor Business Lunch ($24 each), which includes red miso soup with lobster, Wagyu beef and kimchi dumplings, spicy crispy butterfish sushi rolls, steamed rice, and your choice of an entree. The entrees offerred were salmon teriyaki with pickled cucumber, cumin BBQ pork loin with shaved vegetables and cilantro, grilled seasonal vegetables with truffle soy butter, a 6 oz. prime beef filet or prime skirt steak. The steaks were $6 more. Alden went all out and got the steak. I got the salmon.

Everything that we had was pretty good. My salmon was very tasty and the portion size was larger than what I expected, for sure. Alden gave me a piece of his steak and it was flavorful and tender. I’m not a huge steak person, but it was really good. The pickled cucumber wasn’t too pickled, really refreshing. I also really liked the butterfish rolls and could see coming here for sushi and not even getting things from the grill. I thought the dumplings were alright. Not the stars of the show. The miso soup was pretty good too, but not outstanding.

I never had food cooked on the robata grill (high-heat method of searing and cooking using expensive, imported binchotan charcoal from Japan) and it was great. The grill area at Roka Akor is really pretty and it’s wide open so you can see the cooks using this unique grill. I would come back to Roka Akor, but probably only for a special occasion dinner. Just because I’m sure it tends to get swanky at night and the dinner prices can get expensive, but the food was great and the service was good, as well.

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Birthday Dinner at Arami

September 7th, 2011 · 1 Comment


Accident photo that I ended up really liking

Dallas will be out of town for my birthday and through the weekend, so we celebrated my birthday by going out to dinner last night. We went to Arami, a Japanese restaurant that we’ve been wanting to try for ages. We have tried before to get in on a weeknight and they were too packed. A Tuesday evening after Labor Day was just the right time.

We ordered a ton of food. For appetizers we got edamame; seared hotate (scallop) with unagi (eel), mushrooms and shiro miso; and hamachi kama. The scallops were amazing. I wanted to lick the bowl to get all of the delicious sauce out. And the scallops were perfectly seared. The crisply unagi pairing was really good.

Hamachi kama is the prized portion of the collar of a Pacific yellowtail. Dallas and I always order this at Sansei in Hawaii when it is available, so when we saw it on the specials menu, we had to get it. It was tasty, but not as good or as big as when we get it in Hawaii. Still, we enjoyed it.

Dallas ordered an assortment of sashimi and it came out next. I was suprised because we were sitting there finishing up our appetizers and I saw a lady with a huge fishbowl type of container and it was filled with orchids and bamboo shooting out a few feet in the air. I thought at first someone ordered a huge drink. When they brought it to our table, I saw that it was filled with ice and had all of the sashimi displayed on the ice with seashells and rocks and flowers. It was gorgeous! I wasn’t taking photos during this dinner, but check out a few here. Beautiful presentation aside, the fish was super fresh and very tasty. Dallas loved it.

For an entree I got two maki rolls. One was with hamachi (yellowtail), tuna, scallion, jalapeno, shrimp and spicy mayo. This was a great, clean tasting roll. It did have some mayo on it, but not an excessive amount that would mask the taste of the fish. Also, the spice was just the right level of spicy. My other roll had kani (king crab) and ebi (shrimp) and almonds. This was my favorite of the two rolls.

Dallas got the kimchi ramen with tofu, pork belly, a poached egg and scallions. He loved it. I think he’s going to divorce me and marry it. After eating all the ramen and scraping the bottom for more, he was too full to think about dessert. Arami offers mochi and gelato. I opted for a toasted sesame, fig and chocolate chip ice cream and loved the flavor combination.

So, really great birthday dinner. I’m sure we’ll be back here again. I think it’s our new favorite sushi spot!

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Seadog Sushi

June 19th, 2011 · No Comments

Remember Hilary’s Urban Eatery? HUE? That closed something like 6 years ago? I haven’t really kept track of what’s been in that space since then, but now it’s Seadog Sushi. Dallas, Kelly, Todd and I went a few weeks ago. It’s still a pretty space. The service was good, everyone was so nice. I thought the sushi was good. Not like amazing, but good. And maybe it was better than good, but we’d called 2-3 sushi restaurants before that and all were super packed. On a Sunday night too! So we were feeling a little let down that we didn’t get our first, second or third choices for dinner. Anyway, check out Sea Dog if you’re around Wicker Park or Noble Square, but I wouldn’t go way out of the way for it. Also, it’s BYO. We didn’t realize it until we sat down and asked for the drink menu. Oops.

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Benefit Beauty Bash

June 3rd, 2011 · No Comments


Benefit Boutique


Benefit Boutique


Benefit Cosmetics


We had red wine, white wine, cheese, crackers, and fruit.


Benefit Cosmetics


Janice getting her makeover.


I took a photo of myself in the bathroom after my makeover.


Memory Aid: Some of the products used in my makeover.


Memory Aid: Some of the products used in my makeover.


Jessica after her makeover.


Maria, Jamie, Janice


Maria, Jamie, Rachelle, Jen, Jessica

Quinn’s school had a big fundraiser and Jen “won” a Benefit “Beauty Bash” in the online auction. She got to invite a dozen guests to be treated to an after-hours private party at the Benefit Cosmetics Boutique on Southport Avenue. Benefit served us red and white wine and Jen also brought cheese, crackers, and fruit for us to snack on. Everyone was treated to a complimentary brow shape and lash tint and then the “Beauty Artists” made each of us over.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this party. I was having flashbacks to when I was a teenager and went to Mary Kay or Avon parties. I think they used to give you like teeny, tiny sample packs of things and then everyone just had to try to follow along to the instruction. At Benefit, we all kind of mingled around drinking and eating until it was our turn for the lash or brow services or our turn to personally get our makeup done by someone else. It was so much fun. And I was impressed that so many people were free to attend, given that it was Memorial Day weekend. We had Jen, Caroline, Jamie, Jessica, Janice, another Jen, Maria, Jill, Lynn, Kristin, Abby and me.

I got the brow shaping with threading, not wax. And I loved how my makeup looked after they redid it. I bought a few Benefit products, but definitely not everything. We’ll see if I go on to buy more. I thought the products were of a good quality, I loved the store’s vibe and the product packaging. The prices were not cheap, but also not the most expensive I’ve seen either. One funny thing was that they didn’t use any blush on me because they said I was already perfectly flushed. I think what they were really telling me is that I should drink 3 glasses of wine before leaving the house every day.


Tank Sushi extravaganza!

After we got all dolled up, we all headed to dinner at Tank Sushi in Lincoln Square. Sushi extravaganza! Also, some people kept on with the wine but a lot of us switched to lychee martinis. Multiple lychee martinis!

After dinner, everyone kind of went their separate ways. Jess, Kristin, Lynn, Abby, Caroline and I headed for Tiny Lounge for more cocktails. I was feeling sleepy so I had the espresso cocktail made with handmade vodka, kahlua, tia maria (Jamaican coffee liqueur), espresso and cream. Delicious drink, but I had two and was still sleepy. Maybe it was the fact that the makeup party started at 4, so wine drinking started at 4, and by then it was 10 or 11 pm. Yeh, that’s a lot of cocktails. We ended up calling it a night after 2 rounds, but what a fun time!

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Sushi and Pool

May 10th, 2011 · No Comments


Sushi


Pool

I had a coupon for $25 off at Blue Fin Sushi so a few weeks ago Dallas, Jess, Paul and I went. Dallas and I used to frequent this place a lot when I lived nearby back in 2004 to about 2006. Good to be back. Still a great place.

Afterwards we went to The Flat Iron, a cool bar that I have somehow never been to. The four of us played pool and I think everyone will believe me now when I say that I’m no good. Paul and Dallas were relieved when Todd and JP showed up and I could finally stop playing. Jess and I took a seat, although she is a pretty good pool player.

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