"Cheap" Sushi

New Tokyo (3139 N Broadway), once a bastion of cleanliness, good service and great value, has become an unkempt “greasy spoon”. New owners have diluted the miso soup, changed the ginger dressing and basically let the dirt get the better of them. A shame really, great value in a dingy setting but stellar food. Anyway, anyone have any great suggestions for dine-in sushi, moderate to cheap, located on the North side?

Wow, thanks for the heads-up: I'd wanted to try New Tokyo, but now I won't.

Interestingly, I saw New Tokyo from across the street where I was eating at Nohana (3136 N Broadway St). They have a "Party Tray" of sushi for $23 which includes: 2 bowls of decent miso soup, 3 maki rolls (your choice from a pretty wide selection), and 15 pieces of nigiri (your choice of anything, but limit 4 uni). This was more than enough for me and my friend--the servings of fish and other seafood were ample and almost all very fresh. The tai (red snapper) was a bit off, but I've only had good tai once in America, and it was in Rhode Island of all places.

I was pretty satisfied. I'm very, very picky about my sushi, and while this wasn't the best sushi in the galaxy, it was fresh (esp. for Chicago), fast, and filling. If you're a pleeb who likes spicy tuna rolls, the spicy mayonaise at Nohana is particularly spicy AND creamy, and many patrons order a side dish of it. (I'm usually a purist, but yes, I am a pleeb who likes spicy tuna rolls!) I was especially pleased that we were allowed to select what we wanted in the party tray--most sushi places seem to have a pre-selected menu for most large orders.

Also, hi LTHforums! I just found you guys from a link at Chowhound's Chicago message board--I can't believe it took me this long to find you! Hail, fellow food nerds!

My current favorite for reasonably-priced Japanese food is Renga-Tei in Lincolnwood. The have excellent sushi and hot dishes.

Renga-Tei is described in greater detail in this thread.

Best,
Michael / EC

I know it's REALLY north side (OK, North Shore), but Sea Ranch Sushi has very fresh, reasonably priced take-out sushi in Wilmette. Mon-Wed they have a customer special of ~$25 for 3 rolls and 15 pieces (from a set menu of options).

They're only open until 7 pm and also have a full-service fish market and sushi-grade fresh fish.

Sea Ranch
3217 Lake Ave
Wilmette, IL 60091
(847) 256-4404

There's also a Sea Ranch at 518 Dempster, Evanston - just a little over a block from the Dempster St. El station (purple line).

Interestingly, I saw New Tokyo from across the street where I was eating at Nohana (3136 N Broadway St). They have a "Party Tray" of sushi for $23 which includes: 2 bowls of decent miso soup, 3 maki rolls (your choice from a pretty wide selection), and 15 pieces of nigiri (your choice of anything, but limit 4 uni).

When I lived in that neighborhood (15 years ago - yikes!), Nohana had a crazy all-you-can-eat sushi deal. I don't know if they still do - It doesn't sound like it. They had excessive rules connected with the deal, and I still laugh when I think about it.

Rules (at least as I remember them):

- If one person at the table ordered the deal, everyone at the table had to order it.
- There was a time limit (I think 2 hours).
- If you didn't finish the sushi you ordered, you had to pay a la carte for each unfinished piece (I'm not sure if taking a bite out of a piece but leaving some counted, since I never actually tried the deal).

I saw a couple of guys eating the deal once, I still feel a bit queasy thinking about how much sushi they ate I think that put me off the restaurant and after that I only ate at Matsuya.

nr706 wrote:There's also a Sea Ranch at 518 Dempster, Evanston - just a little over a block from the Dempster St. El station (purple line).

Sea Ranch is wonderful. Would've recommended it but thought it might be too far north for the OP.

Actually, the long-departed Sushi Dorado on North State (Benihana's attempt at all-you-can-eat Sushi bars) had all those rules and more. They were very specific that YOU MUST EAT THE RICE WITH EACH PIECE OF NIGIRI OR YOU WILL BE CHARGED!!

They opened using a similar model to Sushi Station in Arlington Heights, with the kaiten conveyor belt and color-coded plates that were either $2, $3 or $4. Not a bad deal, and the sushi was decent. Unfortunately, some time later we walked in to find they had changed to the all-you-can-eat model with all those unfriendly rules and really average rolls going round and round nobody would grab. Why would you expect people to like a restaurant with a long list of YOU WILL BE CHARGED rules; Todai, which is OK for a quick AYCE sushi fix, doesn't preach.

>>Brent

Hi,

I can't speak to what New Tokyo was like in the past, since we're fairly new to the neighborhood, but we've eaten there twice in the past couple of months and had good experiences both times. Found the miso soup very nice, actually, and also had an above-average seaweed salad. The fish was uniformly fresh, with especially good salmon.

It's nothing spectacular, but certainly decent, and we didn't find anything greasy about it on either visit.

Deb

ick. I must mention Todai because I just saw a $10 off coupon for 2 in a Chinese newspaper.

caveat: never dined at Todai Chicago, don't want to either.

HOUSE OF SUSHI & NOODLES. Yes, this place might look sketchy from the outside but its so good. It's at the corner of Lincoln & Belmont and the entrance is on Belmont (two doors, so it gets confusing). A few reasons why this has become one of my favorite cheap sushi places...I think it's $13.95 all you can eat sushi. Granted not the freshest or most delicious sushi you ever tasted, but it's good. There are yummy fried cream cheese rolls, so automatically its a winner in my book. Included in the all you can eat price is miso soup, tempura green beans, and orange slices with your check. Very fun. If the owner likes you he'll take your polaroid picture and give you a "free" fortune cookie...you'll see what I'm talking about if you go. This place is packed with personality because the polaroid pictures of guests are plastered all over the wall -- I love it!

FoodGirl Robyn wrote:HOUSE OF SUSHI & NOODLES. Yes, this place might look sketchy from the outside but its so good. It's at the corner of Lincoln & Belmont and the entrance is on Belmont (two doors, so it gets confusing). A few reasons why this has become one of my favorite cheap sushi places...I think it's $13.95 all you can eat sushi. Granted not the freshest or most delicious sushi you ever tasted, but it's good.

I had my first sushi at the House, and have been back a few times. Was wondering if anybody was going to mention this place and curious to see the reviews/opinions of those with far more sushi experience than myself. I thought it was decent sushi for a good price...not the greatest atmosphere, but kinda funny to look around at the people in the Polaroids. There is a list of rules similar to those quoted above for Nohana, but I'm not sure how strictly enforced they are.


House of Sushi and Noodles
1610 W. Belmont Ave.
773-935-9110

11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.
11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri. and Sat.
4 p.m.-10 p.m. Sun.

clogoodie wrote:Was wondering if anybody was going to mention this place and curious to see the reviews/opinions of those with far more sushi experience than myself.

I won't claim to have far more sushi experience than you, but I'm happy to say what I think:

FoodGirl Robyn wrote:Granted not the freshest or most delicious sushi you ever tasted,....

This about sums it up for me. On my scale of available sushi in Chicago, HOSN ranks just above Dominick's. I really implore people to avoid the "stuff your face with fish and rice" joints and spend your $13.99 somewhere else. You'll get less food, but you'll be glad you did.

As far as sushi "bargains" go (and I'm never looking for a bargain on sushi, just degrees of expensive), I stand strongly by Renga-Tei, mentioned above.

Best,
Michael / EC

clogoodie wrote:

FoodGirl Robyn wrote:Granted not the freshest or most delicious sushi you ever tasted,....

This about sums it up for me. On my scale of available sushi in Chicago, HOSN ranks just above Dominick's. I really implore people to avoid the "stuff your face with fish and rice" joints and spend your $13.99 somewhere else. You'll get less food, but you'll be glad you did.

Agreed. I have an athletic friend who always likes to eat in places with large portions or all-you-can eat (AYCE), and he likes House of Sushi and Noodles simply because it's AYCE. I went once and have since refused to go with him. It's not disgusting, but it's not good either, and because most of their sushi business revolves around people getting the AYCE deal, service can be slow and occasionally surly.

I don't know about Dominick's but Jewel's sushi (from the one on Ashland at Wellington) is better than at least a few restaurants I've been to. It's also better than Whole Foods'. I'm not making any greater claim than that for it, but it's better than the term "Jewel sushi" would suggest.

On the whole, though, I don't want cheap sushi. I'm all for good value for money sushi, Renga-Tei, Tampopo, Do Won, etc., but cheap... scary.

Ringo 2507 N. Lincoln

Awesome, relatively decent prices. Quality is always fresh unlike some places near the loop I order from that have the occasional not so fresh Unagi.

Firecracker roll is a unique little roll that pops in your mouth, literally.

Only catch is that it is a storefront, and in the winter, every time the front door opens, it gets cold quick.

Personally I like sushi rolls with cream cheese, and anything that's fried is automatically elevated in my book. There are some days when a girl just wants to fried rice & cream cheese with a little shrimp thrown in and its good stuff. Plus the owner is always so happy to see me when I come in, so I tend to get excited about a place where I'm so welcomed

But I do love my sushi...Green Tea is a great bang for your buck. At the corner of Belden & Clark...they make this adorable dragon maki where they actually make a dragon out of veggies...its very cute!

I like Kabuki a lot (also on Clark) because they also have some fun fried rolls which are good...

Rise on Southport does some mean fried rolls as well but they have much fresher fish...and good drinks too!

Not cheap by any means, but thought I'd throw it in here, just because I went last week -- Starfish. Has anyone else been? I went with a friend to try Sushi Wabi, mind you on a MONDAY night and the wait was a 1/2 hr.!! On a MONDAY! Anyone that's doing that well deserves huge praise...in any case went down the street to Starfish and it was so yummy! Very expensive, but good...they had some unique specialty rolls and a delicious salad beforehand with mint. Love the loungy atmosphere too. Highly recommend...

I like Tokyo Marina in Andersonville on Clark....I know it's around Foster. Big portions, fresh, tasty and cheap!

I like House of Sushi and Noodles well enough, but it should be disclosed that the list of what is available for the "all you can eat" deal is pretty limited and, most of all, it is all rolls, so they are basically filling you up with rice. That said, though, it's pretty good and a good value.