Sumi Robata Bar
Sumi Robata Bar
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Post #61 - March 5th, 2014, 2:43 pmThe one blip to my last meal at Sumi was related to Charcoal Bar.
At the end of our meal, our waiter invited us down to the bar. We decided to take him up on it, and he sent us to the front of the house to go down to the bar. When we got to the front of the house, the hostess told us it would be at least ten minutes before she could take us down. At that point, we had left our table, the table had been bussed, and we would've had to stand at the entry of the restaurant for 10 minutes. We left.
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Post #62 - March 5th, 2014, 2:45 pmMy girlfriend and I got in at Charcoal Bar at 10:30 pm a few Saturdays ago with no issue after dining at Sumi. We did inform the host that we would like to head down after dinner - not sure if that helped, but we didn't have the issue others have reported in this thread.
The experience at Charcoal Bar was stellar as well, for what it's worth.
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Post #63 - March 5th, 2014, 2:54 pmI'd love to have experienced it, but they completely bungled inviting us down there. And the other reports here suggest that Sumi is not doing a good job of giving people the experience. So as good as it might be, it is not clear it is worth the trouble.
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Post #64 - March 5th, 2014, 3:10 pmdisagree wrote:I'd love to have experienced it, but they completely bungled inviting us down there. And the other reports here suggest that Sumi is not doing a good job of giving people the experience. So as good as it might be, it is not clear it is worth the trouble.
Maybe they should sell tickets
- melissa
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Post #65 - March 5th, 2014, 3:22 pm
Well, duh, if they sold tickets then I'd know it was awesome and I would just have to get some and go and tell everyone about the exclusive yadda yadda yadda barf!mgmcewen wrote:disagree wrote:I'd love to have experienced it, but they completely bungled inviting us down there. And the other reports here suggest that Sumi is not doing a good job of giving people the experience. So as good as it might be, it is not clear it is worth the trouble.
Maybe they should sell tickets
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Post #66 - March 6th, 2014, 2:23 pmdisagree wrote:I'd love to have experienced it, but they completely bungled inviting us down there. And the other reports here suggest that Sumi is not doing a good job of giving people the experience. So as good as it might be, it is not clear it is worth the trouble.
They did ask us to wait five minutes in the front of the restaurant while they prepped down at Charcoal, but I did not view that as any kind of issue.
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Post #67 - March 29th, 2014, 2:22 pmI stopped in on Thursday. Overall I thought the food was of good quality and well prepared, but I doubt I'll be back. To be candid, the grilled meat concept isn't particularly interesting to me, so I'm probably not a great review resource. Out of everything I ordered I enjoyed the Onsen Tamago (soft poached egg marinated with dashi soy) the most.
Before dinner I let the hostess know I was interested in Charcoal Bar. As I was leaving she promptly asked if I was still interested (I was). It was around 7PM and I got in with no wait. Michael Simon was enthusiastically heading the bar. I really enjoyed his drinks and conversation. He said he plans to launch his spring cocktail menu in a few weeks. I look forward to trying it.
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Post #68 - May 21st, 2014, 11:06 amI stopped by on Monday and the hostess said Charcoal Bar was closed for remodeling.
Uh oh.
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Post #69 - July 19th, 2014, 8:59 amA while back I met someone for lunch at Sumi. Finding out it was all bento boxes mid-day, my companion forced me to another place. Still, I knew someone, my wife, the Condiment Queen, the Cookbook Addict, would love, appreciate and want a box. We finally made it yesterday.
I'll be brief, but I can wholly recommend this option. Everything in the box was well made and well balanced. The one robata item, steak, was nice, but actually against the miso soup with house made tofu, a salad dressing I adore and the seafood croquette with curry mayo, it played second banana. Actually, everything played second banana to the first thing we ate, the cold house made tofu.
A few of us in the know, know that it's a lot better to eat Japanese food in Las Vegas than Chicago. And until yesterday, I've never had tofu in my life as great as the tofu at Raku in Las Vegas. As I once said, it's hard to believe that Raku's tofu is actually the same soy product as others also called tofu. Sumi's tofu was a bit different than Raku's, softer, less meaty, but on the other hand, it was so creamy. It tasted like ice cream. Really.
I know meals like this can add up easily, but a lunch box for $15 plus a $6 tofu appetizer* makes for a pretty good bargain. I think. And yes, we left very full.
*OK, we also had some $12 sashimi but that was not necessary to enjoying the meal.Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
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Post #70 - June 13th, 2015, 10:25 amFinally made it there last pm. Having worked in an izakaya in Japan for 4 mos, I've been wanting to go check it out. I remember Hammond asking me about the charcoal when they 1st opened, something we weren't doing in Japan, and that got me interested. Waited on our res for a bit (which I can deal w) only to be seated @ a corner deuce w/a chair pulled up for 3 of us, which wasn't ideal, but... It's not like we didn't have a reservation booked a couple wks ago. By in large most was very good to excellent- gobo and jidori karaage were the single best bites of the evening and asparagus, shiitakes, scallops and sliders were all excellent.
Oddly, the most expensive items were the least enjoyed. Expected more than an 1"x2" slice of Wagyu ribeye @ $16. An oz maybe and a joke. No wonderful Wagyu mouthfeel, and frankly couldn't detect one bit of specialness. Avoid unless you like wasting $. King crab was similar, as the smkd duck. Underwhelming when you consider those 3 items added nearly $50 to our well over $200 bill. We sat w/empty glasses (and wine bottle) for way too long, but all in all enjoyed. Regardless of how good most of the food was, I'm tired of dropping that amount for lesser service that runs rampent and leaves a bad taste in my mouth, pun intended."In pursuit of joys untasted"
from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata
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Post #71 - June 13th, 2015, 11:10 amronnie_suburban wrote:3 of us had a stellar meal at Sumi Robata Bar this past weekend. We were having a little bit of a celebration -- one we might normally have at Katsu -- but Sumi is every bit as appropriate a place to commemorate a special occasion. We sat at the bar, which I'd never done before. It was fun and the food was spectacular across the board. There really wasn't a single dish that I wouldn't order again. Every item we ate was cooked perfectly. Proteins were moist and juicy with great crusting. Vegetables were charred and crunchy, with a gentle amount of give to them. Broths and sauces were intensely flavored but never overly salty. We also had a couple of the bottled cocktails (Hana, Sad Flute) and sakes (Trendy, Water Flower) that just paired so incredibly well with the food . . .
Cucumber | salt-cured cucumber finished with togarashi spice
Madai Usuzukuri | Japanese farmed sea bream with ponzu and ginger
Sashimi Moriawase | Maguro, Madai, Botan Ebi
Tomato & Shrimp | chilled sweet shrimp and tomatoes tossed with ohba dressing
Maguro | Bluefin tuna with white soy, yuzu juice and crispy shallot
Croquette | crab, spicy mayo
Onsen Tomago | soft poached egg marinated with dashi soy
Jidori Karaage | crispy fried chicken with shishito pepper paste
Romaine | garlic
Asparagus | salt
Chicken Heart (front), Chicken Gizzard
Abalone | ohba butter
Shishito | sea salt
Tontoro (pork jowl) | black pepper
Gyutan (beef tongue) | sea salt
Tsukune (ground chicken)
Wagyu Ribeye | wasabi ponzu
King Crab | spicy mayo
Chicken Thigh | ohba marinade
Scallop | ohba butter
Wagyu Tataki | Tokyo negi, Fuji apple and garlic soy
Gyoza (pork) | pan fried dumpling with dipping sauce
Salmon | teriyaki
Skirt | sansho pepper
Lamb | spicy miso
Duck Breast | original tare sauce
Shrimp | salt
Donatsu | sansho-chocolate filled doughnuts with matcha semifreddo
With a wall of glass between us and the chefs, sitting at the bar right in front of the grills wasn't a particularly interactive experience but it was still an interesting one. We could see the items we ordered being fired. We also were able to get a sense of how long things took to cook, which could have aided us in making a plan . . . if we actually had one. We were just going with the flow.
The most notable thing was how remarkably uneventful it was watching chef Kato and his 2 cohorts working. And I mean that as a complete compliment. It was clear that a lot of work had gone into keeping things as steady as possible during service. Even on a busy Saturday night, there were moments when we looked up saw not one single item on the grills. Of course, not everything served at Sumi gets cooked on the grills -- and much of it gets prepped before it ever hits the grill -- but this was still a notable study in quiet, drama-less efficiency. It was a thing of beauty.
Just great stuff -- not inexpensive but given the quality of the ingredients, the masterful cooking and the friendly, helpful service, I'd still count Sumi Robata Bar as a solid value. It's a comfortably small place -- and often busy -- but I absolutely need to get back here more frequently, and not just for designated occasions.
=R=
These photos look absolutely stunning. Absolutely need to eat here soon."People are too busy in these times to care about good food. We used to spend months working over a bonne-femme sauce, trying to determine just the right proportions of paprika and fresh forest mushrooms to use." -Karoly Gundel, Blue Trout and Black Truffles: The Peregrinations of an Epicure, Joseph Wechsberg, 1954.
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Post #72 - August 24th, 2017, 8:59 amSumi Robata Bar will close Aug. 28
http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/re ... story.htmlNever order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
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Post #73 - August 24th, 2017, 9:14 amThis place was excellent, but on my last trip (a weekend night a few months back), it was maybe half full. It never seemed to get the sustained love from the public as it did from the press/awards. We had a few grilled items at Momotaro recently, and while tasty, my spouse and I both agreed that Sumi was hands-down better, not to mention less expensive. I hope they wind up somewhere else.
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Post #74 - August 24th, 2017, 9:25 ammtgl wrote:This place was excellent, but on my last trip (a weekend night a few months back), it was maybe half full. It never seemed to get the sustained love from the public as it did from the press/awards. We had a few grilled items at Momotaro recently, and while tasty, my spouse and I both agreed that Sumi was hands-down better, not to mention less expensive. I hope they wind up somewhere else.
I loved Sumi . . . but yes, crowds seemed to have quieted down. Another terrible loss for the Chicago dining scene . . . oh that tofu!
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Post #75 - August 24th, 2017, 9:53 amBummer. We really liked this place. I'm as guilty as anyone, though, of not supporting it. It's just not in a neighborhood I find myself in very often and I'm doing a lot less destination dining that I used to.
=R=Same planet, different world
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