Sai Cafe

Some time ago a friend from Japan was in town to visit.  He was here for several days and one evening my husband suggested the one thing I was dreading - taking him out for sushi.  To me it seemed like the equivalent of visiting Tokyo and going out for burgers.  You know it just isn't going to be as good as it is at home so why not stick to the things you can't get at home.  Anyway, my Japanese friend was really into the idea so we took him to a place we enjoyed... Sai Cafe.

Unfortunately, as I suspected, it didn't go well.  He insisted that it was a Chinese restaurant.  The sushi chefs where Chinese, the owner was Chinese, the name was Chinese, certain things were spelled wrong on the menu and the Saki was from California.  No matter what the food tasted like my friend was not going to like it - he had made up his mind. Subsequently, we decided to attempt a sushi dinner two more times, once at Torajiro in Lakeview and once at Sushi Samba.  Both visits were very much enjoyed.  I had heard from several people that many of the sushi restaurants in Chicago are owned by Chinese chefs that were trained in Japan, like Torajiro, which was news to me.

Even if Sai Cafe was not a traditional Japanese restaurant I had always enjoyed it and for one very particular reason.  They have a special sushi piece that I haven't found anywhere else and that I start drooling just thinking about.  It is a piece of yellow tail tempura sitting on a large mint leaf and sushi rice.  On top is large helping of spicy mayo and fish roe.  It's definitely the Quarter Pounder of sushi pieces that I save for "desert" and then inevitably order another, at something like 4 bucks a piece.

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They have a couple other Maki rolls that are unique to them.   The  spicy white tuna crunch is always good.  The pairing of white tuna with spicy sesame oil and avocado is very rich.  The crunchy tempura bits, both in and out, give it a nice texture.  The Halloween Maki is always fun to look at, with the black and orange fish roe on top of  fresh Salmon and green bean tempura.  The atmosphere is welcoming and relaxing and great for large groups of people.  Chinese or Japanese, I'll be heading back to Sai.    

Sai Cafe
2010 N. Sheffield
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Comments

[greenfish]

This is very true, about many Japanese restaurants being owned by Chinese. I worked at a Japanese sushi/steakhouse in the SW suburbs, and the owners were from Taiwan. When I asked why they opened a Japanese place, he said it makes more money than a Chinese restaurant (which they also owned).

I also have a favorite sushi place around the corner from my old work, which is owned by a family from Hong Kong.

[heidiho]

BTW, that is not a "large mint leaf", those are called perilla or beefsteak leaves.