City: Chicago, IL

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (773) 697-4725

Address: 3056 N. Lincoln Ave.

Description: Don’t expect to find sushi at this Lakeview Japanese restaurant. Rather, Chicago native and Charlie Trotter vet chef Harold Jurado puts his own seasonal and sustainable spin on dishes typically found in a Japanese pub. That means mini skewers of baby octopus, chicken skins, duck hearts, or shishito peppers, creative hot and cold starters, and noodle dishes, including a tasty house ramen with braised pork and a slow-poached egg. Creativity applies to the cocktail list as well, and definitely take a sip from the selection of shochu (a vodkalike spirit similar to sake, but distilled instead of brewed), or the reasonably priced sake and wines. The restaurant’s somewhat imposing blocky black exterior gives way to a cozy and intimate front room and a neighorhoody feel in the back room with communal tables and open kitchen. Open for lunch and dinner Tues through Sat; closed Sun and Mon.