My first warning probably should have been the "all-you-can-eat sushi" for only $16.99. However, my hole-in-the-wall-lovin' self worked up an appetite as we descended to a basement in Lincoln Park, revealing a small space adorned with wooden furniture and a sushi bar wedged in the corner.
I deliberated over the menu and like all my prior "all-you-can-eat" experiences, secretly vowed NOT to roll out of the door in discomfort by the end of the meal. Their menu had a decent variety of appetizers, nigiri sushi and their special rolls. My friends jumped on the appetizers as I carefully made my choices of the special rolls.
For any special roll at any Japanese restaurant, I look for a combination of the following: unagi (eel), spicy, avocado, crunchy, masago/tobiko, wasabi and/or crunchy. Which brought me to order the American Dream Roll, the Spider Roll, the Volcano Roll and the Palatine Roll. While waiting for my order, I tried some of my friend's shumai (which by the way, is Chinese) and it reminded me of one of those microwavable ones I would sometimes get at grocery stores, out of temporary insanity.
When my food finally arrived, it looked promising. The rolls were big and colorful. However, my eyes immediately zeroed in on the Sriracha (aka Rooster sauce) sauce delicately dropped on the top of the Volcano Rolls. Sriracha sauce is acceptable with the following cuisines: Thai, Vietnamese, and any variation of Southeast Asian food really. Japanese? No.
As I picked up my roll, it promptly fell apart. I managed to savor what was left with my chopsticks. The overall taste was decent and I'll give them points for their somewhat creativity but the rice was a little hard and did not stick together very well. It was hard to judge the freshness of the fish while it was buried in all that goodness. The seaweed tasted rubbery, as if the sushi rolls had been left to marinate.
The rest of the evening was spent trying to figure out how to eat these sushi rolls in less than 10 bites. It provided for good comedy, but not necessarily a great sushi experience. Food aside, the service was also decent. The restaurant quickly filled up within the hour and I was impressed at the amount of people in the tiny restaurant.
Looks like I will be continuing on my search for the "Best Japanese Restaurant" in the city, preferably with fresh ingredients and rolls that actually stay together.
Sushi Para II
2256 N. Clark Street
773-477-3219
de-lurking! love this site, been a fan for a long time now, so great to have a chicago food blog like this!
my sushi para II saga:
i had a couple friends who told me about a terrible experience at Sushi Para II - they didn't enjoy the sushi much at all and they also failed to notice until nearing the end of their meal that the menu states that the all-you-can-eat deal is quite literal - that in fact, you have to eat it ALL or you will be charged extra for whatever's leftover.
this resulted in a funny adventure involving sushi taken to the bathroom trash, hidden in napkins and stuffed in pockets and purses in order to avoid having to eat it or pay for it.
so i never expected to go there, but a friend of my boyfriend's family wanted to take us all there, so the bf and i reluctantly agreed.
we were all disappointed (but kept it to ourselved to be polite, this guy loves the place!)
i also found the sriracha sauce incongruous and overwhelming. the fish often had a funky texture. the rolls fell apart and no one finished their meal.
i agree the service was good, and it seems to draw a crowd, but damn - wouldn't it be great is the sushi was good enough to be worth eating?
Posted by: Meg | March 03, 2008 at 03:23 PM
I've eaten at Sushi Para (I) in Palatine a few times for lunch while at work. Most of the time it's not horrible if you stick with the basics like salmon or tuna. Anything other than that gets sketchy. I got really sick from the eel one day. It tasted pretty off, but I forced down a couple of pieces due to the 'eat it all' rule and hid a couple of other pieces in the soy sauce and in my tea cup. Stay away.
Posted by: joebuddy | March 03, 2008 at 07:44 PM
Hey, it's not near as bad as these snobby poster would have you believe, in fact, it's quite good! I'm a commercial fisherman from Alaska. I've enjoyed sushi and sashimi all over the pacific rim. While this wasn't the best experience, it was far from the worst and at a very decent price.
A good rule at buffets is that the rolls won't be very memorable--so if you stick with the sushi you will do just fine. Nice thick cuts of fresh fish and you can keep 'em coming all night long!
I leave a $5 tip and still leave there flush with cash compared to anywhere else.
Service is friendly and fast. Enjoy!
Posted by: Danno | March 24, 2009 at 01:37 PM
a haha. this is too much fun.
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