Recent reviews
The menu price of a typical entree is indicated by dollar signs on the following scale: $ less than $10, $$ $10-$15, $$$ $15-$25, $$$$ $25-$30, $$$$$ more than $30
LURE IZAKAYA LINCOLN PARK | $$
The Chan brothers, Macku and Kee, did wondrous things with sushi at Mirai and Heat, but at Lure Izakaya they’ve taken a surprisingly straightforward approach to Japanese drinking food, allowing the superior quality of their product to show. Take the sanma, a needlelike mackerel pike, laid to rest on the plate with nothing but a lemon wedge, its belly neatly folded open to reveal grill-kissed crispy skin on oily, fully fishy flesh. Rich but delicate dishes predominate, like slices of barely seared salmon in a sake sauce or fatty slabs of rare seared duck breast dressed in vinaigrette. The kitchen doesn’t seem as capable of harnessing this nimbleness and delicacy when it comes to fried items, except for the fried chicken karaage, tender, crunchy nuggets bedded on a bowl of rice. Overall this is a welcome return for Lure, but it’s complicated. While there are some terrific deals on sake and a host of ambitious cocktails, they’re served in an environment that inhibits the kind of conviviality you’d expect in what’s supposed to amount to a pub. I hope Lure 2.0 overcomes these liabilities and catches fire, because it’s offering some of the most honest Japanese soul food in town—and certainly the best from the Chan brothers in a long time. But you don’t just need food and drink for a party—you need people. —MIKE SULA 2925 N. Halsted, 773-360-8816, bestchicagojapaneserestaurant.com. Dinner: daily. Open late: Fri & Sat till 2, other days till midnight.
NAMI SUSHI BAR RAVENSWOOD | $$
I don’t know about you, but I can’t count the times I’ve been working through a Kewpie-drenched spider roll when I’m interrupted by a hankering for fine French charcuterie—because it’s never happened before. And yet there I was at Ravenswood’s newish Nami Sushi Bar, standing at the edge of the abyss wondering if the sky would implode if I augmented my negi
hama and salmon-skin maki with an order of duck rillette with Dijon, frisee, dried cherries, cornichons, and . . . yuzu gelee and shrimp chips. That’s not the only oddball on the menu here, where the sort of garish, overdressed sushi I’m always railing against is augmented by a grab bag of seemingly wrongheaded fusion dishes. Filipino poutine—cheese fries smothered in pork belly, calamansi mayo, cheddar, and a fried egg—makes an appearance. There’s macaroni “gratin” with bacon, mushrooms, shrimp, and chicken; tempura shrimp and grits; and hanger steak bulgogi. —MIKE SULA 1828 W. Montrose, 872-241-4407, namicuisine.com. Lunch: Sat & Sun; dinner: daily.
SIDECAR AT THE LONG ROOM LAKEVIEW | $$
Late night the little window to the side of the Long Room’s barroom is manned by chefs Kyle Schrage and Jim Torres, calling themselves Beard & Belly. They’re putting out exactly the sort of drunk food you head for when you leave a bar: pickled eggs, burgers, fries, chili-cheese fries, poutine, and something called a poutinewich. The fries are crispy and hand-cut, and the chili, while a bit sweet and tomatoey, really comes into its own in the chilimac—floral campanelle pasta, smothered in gooey cheese-curd sauce. But the Long Room becomes a completely difference scene beginning at 7 AM, when chef Zeeshan Shah takes over Sidecar, doing biscuit sandwiches for breakfast, and rice bowls and naan rolls for lunch. The latter includes the vibrant and thrilling roasted lamb roll: a piece of warm naan piled with pulled, braised curried lamb blanketed with pickled beets, watermelon radishes, jalapeños, tart raita, and cilantro, with a side of curryspiced plantain chips. —MIKE SULA 1612 W. Irving Park, 773-665-4500, longroomchicago.com/sidecar-at-lr. Breakfast, lunch, dinner: Mon-Sat. Sat & Sun brunch. Open late: Fri-Sat till 1, Wed-Thu till midnight.