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Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese, Lounges [Edit]
Neighborhood: Wicker ParkLive music every night - complete schedule - see our Website: http://www.blucoralchi...
Division (Blue)
Mon-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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This place would be a typical pricey/good sushi place worth three stars, however they do my favorite roll my favorite way! At Blu Coral, they do the rainbow roll with spicy tuna on the inside! Most places do California roll on the inside (yuck.) And there's three different types of tuna on top. It's kind of awesome. 5 pieces=$7.
Also, they have specialty nigri. I tried a piece of Yellowtail with sauteed banana peppers and a piece of salmon with mushrooms on top. It was really interesting, I've never had sushi quite like it.
It was totally dead on a Tuesday night and they must've refilled our water a dozen times. The guy who was the host was really sweet too, and the place itself was impeccably clean.
Blech. Just thinking about this place makes me nauseous.
At Blu Coral I've seen DJ's, masseuses, short-skirted women giving out free drinks, etc. They've had bouncers, a line outside the door, and a list of names to admit. They seem to host promotional events there all the time. They try too hard to be flashy in every respect except the food, which is just gross.
Some of my sushi had BONES in it-- what kind of a hack job is that? I also had some tempura that put me off tempura forever because it was so greasy. All of it had that slimy, old-fish taste to it. Ugh. I have to stop writing this review right now because I'm tasting it all over again.
Underwhelming is the best way I can describe this place. I walk by all the time and it is either totally dead (all the time) or packed (every now and then) because of a private party.
I've done my time in the food service industry so I know restaurants buy in bulk, and you should stay away from dead empty sushi joints, unless you know exactly what day they buy their fish :)
I don't really get the live music thing they do over there....it just doesnt' fit in. The food was not bad, but not good either. I like the place because I like variety, and I think their out door seating is pretty cool in the summer so I'm giving them an extra star.
I went on a Thursday, so this may be inhibiting my review a bit. I'm in between three and four starts, but went with 4 because i didn't have any real complaints. The decor is really different and fun -- but because the restaurant was empty, it was almost a strange feeling!
I ordered the PInk Cadillac -- Awesome roll! I loved it. Then we had the California sunset, the salmon was very fresh and yummie, and our third roll was the salmon obsession... once again great. We had Miso soup and edamame for starters and our bill, without drinks and only water, was over 50 dollars. I mean the food was really good, but normally we'd have some vino or sake, which would make this place overly expensive. I might have it in my mind that Wicker Park usually has better priced menus-- but they lost a star with this.
I'd definitely go again, but not something i"d crave. :)
My review is base purely on the way that they treat their musical acts. I went in early July and secured my band, The Pantone Trio, a gig for Blues Thursday. We were expected to play from 9pm-1am with a $150 guarantee and anything more than that $150 would be 15% of the bar sales. At the end of the night we had made $200 toal which was better than any other band had done. We were asked by the owners to come back at the end of the month. When we cam back our assumption was that we would be given the same guarantee. Low and behold we played for 3+ hours and were given $30 because no one was there. To say the least that was the last time we ever played there. If you are an artist trying to get a gig there be warned that they will rip you off at first chance.
WHY MUST YOU FRY YOUR SUSHI? i was shocked to find that a majority of their large rolls were deep fried. Really?? Isn't the point of eating sushi to have fresh, raw fish in your roll? I searched and I searched their menu and found a few non-fried options that were, well, okay at best. I also didn't find that the value was very good since the rolls were on the smaller side.
I had a couple of friends join me on this first visit and no one was impressed... a bit of a bummer because I was going off of one of my other friend's recommendation. I'm not sure if the overpowering smell of Fabuloso cleaning product set the negative vibe for this first visit here but none of us are going back!
I've been here for dinner once and another time for a dinner event my organization hosted there. Both times were a great experience with attentive staff and the owners and head sushi chef are some of the nicest people you will ever meet at a restaurant!
The rolls can be a bit smaller than other restaurants at times, but the taste is well worth it! A few favs of mine include: Dragon, Urban Heat Pink Cadillac and Spicy Tatki, with the last one being the best!
If you're ever in need of hosting a group event, this is the place to go! The owners are very accomodating and even allowed us to work with the sushi chef for a sushi demo!
As with all sushi restaurants, be prepared to shell out some money, but it won't break the bank!
So given the glowing reviews here on Yelp, I decided to go to Blu Coral with my husband and two family friends. I consider myself a fairly well-educated sushi consumer - I eat unagi happily, very little in the sushi world scares me (you can keep your blowfish) and I've been to a great number of sushi restaurants from here to London. That being said...
I was so very underwhelmed by this place.
First of all, we walked in around 7:30pm on a Wednesday night to incredibly loud lounge music. Now, I get it. You're a sushi LOUNGE. But if I can't hear my husband speak from across the table it's simply too loud for a restaurant, in my humble opinion (though if I ever have to take a boring or gabby friend out, I'm coming here). So already we were a bit wary, even if we couldn't communicate that to each other over the damn music.
Our waitress was very friendly and attentive, I'll give her that. But the sushi? Really - meh, guys. Several of the rolls fell apart on the way to my soy sauce, and while I didn't get the impression that the fish was sub-par, nothing really stood out.
Oh, that's a lie. One roll did. I forget what it's called, but it's the roll that's smothered in melted mozzarella. Now, I'm a pastry chef, so I'm all for experimentation (which is why I ordered the odd-sounding roll in the first place) but it was absolutely disgusting. You put the piece of sushi in your mouth, you chew a few times thinking, "Huh. This is interesting." And then suddenly you're thinking of pizza. With... soy sauce on it. And... raw fish. There must be enough people ordering this roll to keep it on the menu, but it may stand out as the worst piece of sushi I've ever had. I'd be curious to try it with asiago or pecorino though. Anyone a sushi chef up in this joint?
Then came dessert. And I have to sigh loudly here and admit - ok. I'm kind of a dessert snob. The desserts sounded lovely though (atypical for a sushi restaurant, in my experience) so we each ordered something different and waited excitedly.
Oh, the disappointment. My friend's key lime tart came out in what looked like an unbaked tart shell which was so soggy she had to send it back. Our waitress was very kind and brought her something new saying, "Oh, most of our desserts sit in the fridge so they get soggy sometimes." What?? Really?? Oy.
My chocolate/vanilla/cherry dessert would have been ok if it hadn't been smothered in cocoa powder (because nothing says delicious like a puff of bitter powder in your mouth). My husband's key lime cheesecake was ok if kind of boring and the fourth dessert was chocolate lava cake... with no lava. Seriously. You cut into it and there's this gelatinous pudding-like lump that doesn't ooze anywhere. How sad.
The perks? A live jazz band started half way through our meal (huzzah! a break from the obnoxiously loud lounge music!) that was phenomenal. The service really was great and the prices weren't too expensive. Also there's free parking in the Jewel lot just north on Milwaukee.
Beyond that I'd opt for ANY other sushi place. How this won "Best Sushi in Chicago" is completely beyond me. Total meh. What am I missing?
Two years after my first review I still think this is some of the best sushi in Chicago. I crave the ocean drive roll. I'm craving it right now, and I just ate it last night. Other favorites include urban heat and flaming hamachi. The nigiri is also excellent. The food here is always fresh, creative, and beautiful.
This is some of the best sushi I have had in Chicago. Fresh nigiri and delicious rolls. The… Read more »
Love it! Seriously, some of the best rolls, ever! And I even wrote in my coast review that most sushi tastes the same to me, unless it's bad. I LOVE the golden dragon roll, but all of the rolls that I have tried have been great. The scallop appetizer is larger than one would think and very good.
My only issue with giving it 4 stars is the service--it's too broken. Both times I have been here, the other person was given their food WAY before me...one person even got TWO of their items before I got one. I just wish they would time it better...it would work if we were sharing everything, but since we each clearly ordered our own appetizer, that doesn't seem to work. I ordered the scallops, he ordered the tempura...and they made his first. no fair.
So I was throwing a bachlorette party for a friend that wanted the night to kick off with some sushi. I had a reservation at the popular BYOB sushi spot in Wicker Park and called to change a number 3 weeks in advance of our reservation as they told me I could do when I made the reservation - going from 5 people to 6. The rude attitude and unbelievable lack of professionalism on the part of the individual on the phone caused me to cancel the whole thing and hope for an alternative last minute. Blu Coral definitely came through!! They were extremely attentive to our group even before we showed up, calling to ask which part of the restaurant we'd like to be seated in.
The food was amazing and they offer a lot of other menu options besides sushi for people in your party that may not be the biggest fan of sushi. Prices were comparable to other restaurants and the drink menu was great too!
Thanks for making my friend's night out a great success!
After trying a number of sushi restaurants in the city and not being all that satisfied, I stumbled upon Blu Coral with my ex on our anniversary. Although quite expensive, there were a number of good aspects of our dining experience.
The decor is relatively modern and there is a pretty nice ambiance, and the food is quite delicious. The only thing I remember getting is the Maui Tartar as an appetizer and needless to say, it was amazing. I think all we got after was sashimi and I was pleasantly surprised--all of the fare was very fresh and the flavors superb. Also, I really appreciated that the fish was cut masterfully.
Other than that, I have also ordered from them through Grub Hub for delivery. Honestly, the food was still good; but I've gotta admit--it doesn't compare without the ambiance. And way too much for take out night.
So if you're looking for a great ambiance and super fresh fish, I'd definitely recommend Blu Coral. Only thing is, you best make a recommendation for anything starting at 7 or 8; but if you make it earlier, like 6 as we did, there's barely going to be anyone there. In fact, I think I remember a single mother and her children there...yeah that was kind of a mood killer. But the food certainly made up for it.
While everyone raves about this place, I have been consistently underwhelmed.
I'll give them this much, dining in here is markedly better than getting takeout. The takeout rolls just were lacking in texture and flavor (though the fish was fresh), not to mention they forgot a roll in our order. The ambiance is nice and the rolls just seem better when you eat in.
If you're in the area, not a bad option for dinner. Find somewhere else for carryout!
ive been working in the japanese food industry for a while, and the sushi here is wonderful.
order the "super veggie roll." its not on the menu.....its to-die-for.
(can't believe i just said that...ha)
(3.5 stars)
I give up.
Chicago you win. I guess I'll have to accept the fact that sushi is just not your thing. Some girlfriends give bad you know what. You give bad sushi. I'm not going to be a sore loser. I'll refrain from unleashing harsh criticism. So Yelp Chicago: This review is you.
THE REVIEW
Blu Coral was voted "Best Chicago Sushi" in 2006 and 2007 by Yelp competitor Citysearch. Best sushi? No, not really.
(conscience)
Behave Max! You promised.
Uh humm, I meant to say that Blu Coral isn't bad. That is if you like a large selection of maki rolls.
(conscience)
Max!
Okay. Blu Coral deserves some credit. For example, the restaurant offers a 15% discount for any dinner reservation between 5-6pm daily, except on holidays (Early Bird Special) They have free parking avaliable in the Jewel Osco and Kmart plaza.
(conscience)
Good. Keep it up.
The restaurant feels more like a club and lounge than like a sushi restaurant. In fact, the restaurant transforms itself into a club on the weekends. The owner was very warm as was the very attractive hostess.
(conscience)
You're fillibustering.
Alright. Alright. The sushi is priced similar to other sushi restaurants: $2-3 per piece of nigiri depending on the fish. The common rolls like Spicy Tuna are $6 for 6 pieces. The special maki rolls come in 6 or 8-10 pieces. The 6 piece special maki costs $8-10. The 8-10 piece special maki rolls range in price between $12-15.
I ordered:
2 botan ebi (good)
2 albacore (average)
2 halibut (average)
1 hamachi (average)
1 ikura (average)
1 spicy tuna roll (good)
1 spicy blue crab roll (average)
My buddies ordered Pink Cadillac and some other rolls that I can't remember. They were none the wiser and, hence, enjoyed their sushi rolls.
Seriously, the sushi nigiri isn't that great. I would stick to rolls at Blu Coral. I would also take advantage of the Early Bird Special. I can deal with average sushi at the prices after 15% off. I ordered a large Sapporo and my check came out to $45 with tax and tip. Not bad.
I guess I would go back for the free parking, the Early Bird Special, and that cute hostess.
Not Chicago's finest sushi...
Hey those of you who have been saying this "is the best sushi in Chicago.." you're making the rest of us look bad.
It was fine and o-kay. Forever to first get waited on to order drinks. I got an asian pear martini- very strong. So if you like strong drinks I highly recommend (or the bar keep was happy this evening..) but either way a little strong for my liking but better than being too weak,.
The food. I remember two dishes that were (worth) going for; Wild Sea and the Red Dragon, pretty tasty. Other than that I just found it to be average really. I even like Kabuki in Lincoln Park better (cheaper too!) I will give Blu Coral credit for food display, very creative, so they have that going.
After reading upon reading about the decor of course it probably made me more opinionated but similar to others it's not great, but not that bad. I really care about the food. I wanted to try a new place but I think I will be in love with Mirai and Japonais forever...(these are our true sushi standouts in Chicago!)
This place is awesome and right down the street from me. I'm a total sushi snob and I must say they have some of the best and freshest fish I've ever had. Three of us went in on a Friday night and were easily seated without a reservation.
We decided to go with: Full Course - $40 per person [4 minimum]
Wine
A Bottle of wine or sake under $35
Appetizer
Miso soup & House Salad
4pc Crab Cake
4pc Dynamite
Entrée
12 pc Assorted Sashimi
16 pc Assorted Nigiri
1 Blu Coral Signature Maki
1 Ocean Drive Signature Maki
Dessert
Mochi Ice Cream
The staff let us do this option too with only 3 of us and the only substitution was we each got a glass of sake instead of just a bottle. It ended up being about the same amount of alcohol anyways. Their house salad is so freaking good I can't even begin to describe it, but I think I licked my plate clean and I never do that. Good miso and great sushi. Their menu is too overwhelming to just decide on a few rolls so I highly recommend doing one of the full course options. Its also such a money saver when you think about how much food and drink they give you. We all left Blu Coral very sated and happy.
Came here for a birthday and was expecting too much.
When you walk in, the decor is nice. It's shiny and colorful. We sat near the bar and had a great view of the HDTVs, so we could sneak peeks at the Cubs game. The main dining area looked nice and the bathroom interior design was cool, too.
Dining tables are round and small in the bar area, so they were awkward to bunch together for large groups. Chairs were unique but also awkward to sit on.
Staff was friendly but not always readily available.
I ordered a dirty martini and it was awful. It was weak and the olive juice and olives were bad. I asked for 4 olives, b/c I love em, and could only stomach 1. Really disappointing considering it was almost $10. I switched to beer while my friends continued with their hot and cold sake.
Beers and sake were thankfully more reasonable, $4.50 for beers and $12 for the sake bottles.
The appetizers were decent, but tiny portions for the price. We got the Sunomono and Dragon Fire, which were good and had a nice presentation (especially with the Bacardi 151 fire on the plate), but totally overpriced.
The sushi was decent, but pricey, too. If I were to go back, I'd only get the Pink Cadillac, which had delicious fruit on top.
It was pretty empty on a Friday night, which should have been our cue to leave. I'll stick to my Lakeview sushi faves: Toro and Wakamono. People wait in lines at these places for a reason.
It's ok. I only got one roll, spicy salmon, I've definitely had better. It wasn't that spciy and the salmon was all chopped up. I don't like that style though, and some people do.
My friends got different rolls, evidently, there is one with lobster that is quite good. Looking at the menu, there are a lot of neat and delicious sounding rolls, but I just wasn't totally sold on it. Plus, when a place is all loungey and pretentious it makes me dislike it automatically, and the food has to redeem itself.
So, when did sushi become something you have to eat pretty much in the dark? Ugh. I miss the days when sushi wasn't hip.
Well, I won't know officially until 8:01. But I figured if I Blue myself early, I'd be nice and relaxed for a 9:00 dinner reservation
Hands down the sushi restaurant with the bluest interior, Blu Coral put on a pretty good Valentine's prix fixe show. You could feel the love with hearts drawn into the two mustard sauces that accompanied the tuna and yellowtail tartare topped with American caviar.
At first I thought the crab cakes suffered from excess excess breading syndrom (EBS affects thousands of crabcakes each year) but the crunchy panko was just tripping me up after years of blue box breading.
3 large maki rolls and 6 nigri rounded out the sushi portion. I could have done without the shrimp, but their unique rolls really did it for me.
The gummy coated ice cream thing that I can never remember the name of was kind of fun but almost impossible to eat with the cocktail skewer they gave you.
Bonus points for the weird co-ed hand washing/ATM room joining the restrooms together.
Minus some points for the very obvious effort hurry us out of the table so more people could come fall in fish love. And their definition of a carafe was slightly smaller than mine.
I can't give this place enough good reviews. I go as much as I can. Last time I went it was a customer appreciation day and I went with a friend. The waitress gave us both $10 gift certificates to be used at a later date which was very nice. They are very customer service oriented which is a huge plus!!
Only bad experience I've ever had was with a waitress there who butchered a few of the drink I ordered. Honestly it's not really the fault of Blu Coral. I personally just sent it back and asked for something else.
The choices are very unique. It has options you won't typically see elsewhere. I recommend the Citrus Tuna (greens), Super White Tuna, Catepillar Roll, Spicy Tataki, Seven Bridge, oh and my favorite because it's just so darn unique is the Crunchy Melt...it's got melted mozzarella cheese on it. I know it sounds too weird to be good but everytime I take someone new I make them give it a try and everyones loved it!!
As always I vote this the BEST SUSHI IN CHICAGO!!
I went back this is my third time and I can't keep saying how DELICIOUS this food is! I like… Read more »
I really enjoyed Blue Coral, it was some of the best sushi I have had in a while... Everything was very fresh and well balanced in flavor. Also, there are several specials going on thanks to our friend Mr. Recession, so if your looking for a new sushi place, it is definitely worth trying. My favorite was their scallop roll, I usually don't care for scallop, but their spicy sauce made it an outstanding roll.
I am updating my review to reflect a recent experience I had with a take out order from Blu Coral. Recently my husband and I placed an order for sushi and cooked dishes. We have a newborn now and cannot get to the restaurant as often so we thought we would try delivery since I like it so much. We ordered exactly what we order when we dine in and we ordered it exactly the way we do when we dine in. My husband gets the steak and he asks for everything on the side -- otherwise it comes piled high on top of grilled vegetables and with fried onions on top. This time we ordered two steaks and I specified with both that everything should be on the side -- nothing should be on top of the steak. When the order arrived, there were several issues. First and foremost, both steaks came with fried onions piled on top and smashed into the steaks by the container lids so you couldn't really scrape them off. Plus, the steak tasted like the onions. Second, they put the sauces on the side and the teriyaki that they sent was not right. It was thich and smelled almost like bbq sauce. Remember, we eat here all the time and know exactly how their sauces taste. Third, they crammed my two sushi rolls into a container that was too small and with nothing to keep it separate, the wasabi was smashed against one of the rolls, rendering three pieces inedible (I like wasabi as much as the next girl, but not that much!). I called the restaurant and explained to the woman who answered what happened. Without putting me on hold, she talked to the manager and said I was complaining. My subsequent conversation with the manager was very frustrating. While he offered to remake the meal, he didn't really indicate he understood what was wrong. At that point I didn't want them to remake it because it already took an hour to get the first one delivered and I didn't want to wait another hour for the meal. Ultimately, he did offer to send us a gift card to make up for the errors. If that is where the story ended, then my update might be a one star reduction but I would say that overall I was happy with the result. Instead, I receieved the gift card as promised but with a letter that listed out the errors I reported and refuted all of them. One problem -- the letter didn't accurately list what I complained about, which tells me they either didn't understand and didn't clarify with me or they weren't listening or paying attention to what I was saying. They also only gave us a gift card to cover the meat items instead of the sushi, which was also not right. As a very loyal customer, I was really put off by the tone of the letter, which was essentially, we didn't do anything wrong but here's a gift card that expires in 30 days. If the gift card had arrived without the letter, I wouldn't think anything of it, but the letter was so rude. What happened to the customer is always right? I was very polite when I called the restaurant to let them know our order was wrong and was very patient on the phone explaining things several times. As someone who used to consider Blu Coral my go to sushi place, I was really disappointed at the level of service. Given the restaurant is almost always empty or close to it when we dine there, I would think they would want to keep their loyal customers. I am going to respond to the letter and will post an update on the management's response. I'm not looking for additional gift cards or discounts, just good customer service and acknowledgement that my complaints were valid. I hope they come through because I will miss their sushi but I won't go back there or order from them until that happens.
I have eaten at many of the sushi restaurants in Chicago and Bu Coral is my favorite. The sushi is… Read more »
Blu Coral still holds the title for my favorite sushi restaurant in my opinion. It's a little bit pricey so I go there once in a while. I really wish I could afford it every day. Their rolls are creative--nothing you'd find any place else. My favorites are the Pink Cadillac and the CHEESY MELT. Service is decent and never slow. Decor is pretty cool but nothing to brag about I think. Even if this place was a hole in the wall, I'd still go there just for the food. I might just grab myself some sushi here tonight....yummm.
Three stars because the food was good. But...
1. It took about 15 minutes for our server to greet us.
2. She didn't tell us her name, figured it out on our bill (MinJi).
3. Water was not refilled.
4. Appetizer was tasty but way too messy and difficult to figure out(Dynamite in Shell).
5. Server only checked on us when all of our food was finished.
6. Server had no idea what things were on the dessert menu. I had questions and she wouldn't even go to the kitchen to ask. I ordered something, but had no idea that it was frozen(and it's -1degrees outside). even then the dessert was just ok.
7. The music was obnoxious. Sometimes there would be a good soul song on, but otherwise it was techno remixes of crappy soul and too loud.
8. A bit overpriced for the portion size.
Eight good reasons not to eat here.
The sushi rolls I got were excellent and the nice chop sticks they give you at the end was sweet.
I will try this place one more time. But if I have a C- time again, I will never return.
If you're looking for a sushi review, turn back now.
Still reading? OK, I don't like sushi. But I DO like the rest of the extensive menu at Blu Coral and that's one of the main reasons why I like this place. It allows me to hang with my sushi-loving friends and still enjoy great Japanese food like the gyozas, tempura, and spring rolls. Everything arrived hot and fresh and tasted delicious.
Agree with a previous reviewer that portion sizes can be on the skimpier size for the price...so four stars.
I've walked by Blue Coral on my way to Jewel more times than I can count, and while I was always intrigued to try it, it usually seems closed or dead. After finally going for a Friday night date with my husband, I now know exteriors can be deceiving. What seems like an empty sushi joint in a bland strip mall is actually a stylish and busy.
The interior decor is sleek and well designed, making it one of the more striking dining spaces I have been to. And the space is much larger than I would have ever imagined. Most tables were full, but no one was cramped next to another.
Despite the beautiful interior, my husband and I dined on the patio to enjoy the last remnants of summer. Even though the patio is in a strip mall area, Blue Coral tries hard to provide ambiance with large exotic plants around the exterior - it works well for the most part. We had the entire patio to ourselves for most of our meal, and the peace and quiet was a welcome change from most sidewalk patios in Wicker Park. It was perfect for a dinner out with a loved one, but it could be akward on a first date.
The menu is huge. Our two appetizers couldn't have been more different. The oven baked sake roulade tasted incredible, but I thought that $11 should have gotten us 4 pieces instead of 3 - next time I'll just order a good maki roll instead. On the other hand, the veggie and shrimp tempura was huge; they brought us 2 extra pieces for free, which made it a great deal at $8. Still, tempura is tempura, so it tasted fine, but it was nothing unique.
We then preceded to split 3 maki rolls. The shrimp tempura was pretty standard, but the two signature maki rolls we had were fantastic. Blue Coral's signature maki incorporates distinct combinations of ingredients, and the 5 pieces each were large enough. Next time I go (and I will certainly go again), I will sit indoors and stick to the signature maki.
If anyone knows upscale sushi in Chicago, it's THE Andrea W (soon to be R). Blu Coral was no exception...a fine meal in lovely company! (Kevin N from Austin Yelp fame joined us)
The shitake salad, fantastic...definitely recommended as a starter. My cocktail superb: the pear martini. The rolls we all had were well prepared, well executed and filling. I especially liked the red dragon...
The decor was a bit lackluster. It could use some sharpening, as well as the lighting scheme. It has great potential to be really high class, but those two aspects just need a little tweakin'...
Worth a try, a good spot in this neighborhood...though my loyalties for high end sushi lie with Mirai.
I have been on a big Sushi kick. I have had sushi in New York, LA, Miami and Chicago in the last two months. I feel very comfortable saying that Blu Coral delivers the best combination of creativity, quality and amount of fish of anywhere I have been in the last year. We feel very lucky that Blu Coral is within walking distance.
Need to mention that Blu Coral does not have a stellar atmosphere. It is all about the sushi and I usually have it delivered.
I live in Wicker Park where there is an abundance of sushi places, so it took me a while to finally try this place. It's a little pricey as far as sushi goes, but the creativeness of their rolls makes up for it. Just a hint--it's cheaper to go for the full roll. You get more bang (pieces) for your buck.
I'm the type of person who likes to say they love sushi, but I really only like the idea of sushi, so the fact that they had over 25 different kinds of maki and signature maki made me want to pee, I was so happy! Finally, I could go to a sushi place and be adventurous instead of just ordering the California roll.
If you're not into slimy fish and like a little crunch with your sushi--try the
Crunchy Melt--shrimp tempura, tempura crunch, and cream cheese, baked with mozzarella cheese melted on top. It's the non-sushi loving sushi lover's dream.
I would have given it 5 stars if it wasn't so expensive. But in this case, I can honestly say, you get what you pay for.
Bacon + Sushi = Awesome.
Ok, ok, to be fair... the bacon wasn't really in the sushi, it was wrapped around a scallop cake. Still, awesome. In fact, everything we tried at Blu Coral was pretty great.
The drinks were tasty and the food was creative and delicious. They have a lot of interesting specialty rolls, which I really enjoyed. I only tried two, but I'll definitely be back to try more.
OMG I'm still dreaming of my experience here. The sushi is excellent! Standard rolls and a good amount of specialty rolls. The service was good. The drinks were even better. It was so good I actually finished my food and then ordered another roll. lol My only complaint was that the rolls are rather small for the price but they taste so good it's completely worth it.
Okay so we got the information wrong on the BB/Crackberry......think it was free all night, we went here for an Xtreme Enetrtainment promotional party on Friday. Although it ended up not being free we still stayed, it was not alot of people here which made for good times and great music. The DJ was on point and accepted/played all of our song requests. The drinks were strong and reasonable and for some reason I feel IN LOVE with the decor. I late found out it was also a Sushi place! Music to my ears.......I will be coming back for a taste on another occassion for sure!
The crowd was mid twenties to mid thirties which in my mind means it could only be good times......and there were no fights or ignorance amongst anyone.
Another hoppin' sushi place. I love that this place clears out the central dining area and makes it a dance club late in the evening. That just cracks me up....excuse me could you move your table so I can dance here. Teasing....I'm sure that's not how it goes....but it still makes me laugh.
The sushi and sake were top notch.
Parking was easy also....major plus.
I have been looking for a true traditional sushi place and I must say... this comes very close to it.
My recommendations..
From the Nigiri menu
Zuke Salmon and the Seared Albacore
From the Maki menu
Blu Coral maki and the California sunset.
This place was great... informative servers.. great drinks.. and the atmosphere is very trendy..
A MUST GO for sushi lovers
We had the pleasure of eating at this establishment the Sunday before Labor Day. We found the food to be excellent but the service to be a bit on the slow and inattentive side. I believe though this was the fault of mangement not staffing properly as opposed to the servers fault. Our server was very nice, very friendly and attentive in the beginning but as additional tables were sat we found ourselves waiting longer and longer. However I can put up with some slow service if the food is good. This was definitely the case at Blu Coral.
What was ordered:
From the Drink Menu:
Lychee Martini - Perfect lychee flavor not overly sweet.
Watermelon Martini - The description said it had pureed watermelon in it. It didn't appear that way however it was still pretty good.
From the Food Menu:
Tower Tartar - This wasn't what I was expecting as far as presentation. Not really a tower more like a scoop of tartar in the center of the plate. The taste was very good though and I found myself scooping up every last morsel with my chopsticks.
Dragon Fire - Impressive flaming display. What can I say I am a sucker for anything flaming. The fresh asparagus made these rolls extra crunchy and good.
Sweet Blossom Maki - I love, love, loved the sauce this came in. A bit on the spicy side but wonderful.
Blu Coral Maki - Excellent! The cream cheese helped take the edge off the spicyness of the tuna. I also really liked the texture of the soy sheet that was wrapped around the roll.
Pink Cadillac Maki - Spicy but oh so delicious. The combination of spicy and sweet hit the spot and all the right notes.
Seven Bridge Maki - Yummy! The tobiko made this one extra special.
From the Nigiri Menu:
Fatty Yellowtail
Salmon Roe
Fatty Tuna
Sea Urchin
Stoplight Tobiko
Everything on the Nigiri menu was very fresh and good. The only complaint I had was they didn't indicate the Stoplight Tobiko Nigiri did not indicate that it came with quail egg yolk on it. I would not have ordered had I known that.
From the Dessert Menu:
Chocolate Lava Cake
Mango Cheesecake
Nothing spectacular about either dessert but were both satisfying none the less.
We were both thrilled with our meal and would both return! Great job Blu Coral!
So far this is my favorite sushi place in the city! We went on a Sunday night, so there were not that many people there, which was fine by me. Our waitress was somewhat friendly, but she was attentive. The rolls are fantastic here! I had the Alaskan and the Caterpillar. Both were tasty and unique. The spicy blue crab in general has a "fishier" taste in my opinion than any other type of crab, but I knew what to expect since I've had blue crab before. I really enjoyed it. The Caterpillar had slices of avocado layers on top, which was ok but by the time I got to my last piece I was a little tired of all the avocado. Everything was still very good though! I will definitely be back. I am eager to see if another restaurant has maki this good.
My favorite sushi joint in the city. I agree with people here that for Chicago, top notch place. Rolls, and cut sushi is always fresh...and the late night entertainment is very fun. The crowd is a bit upscale, but for good sushi, that should be expected. I must admit, I had no expectations and was pleased to say that this is one of the best places I've visited here in the US for sushi. Highly Recommended.
First off, the business information about the BYOB is incorrect. Blu Coral charges a $10 fee per bottle (*shrug*). Some yelper messed that one up! No prob though, that's still cheaper than buying. I'll see if I can update the listing.
I went with a group of 8 people on my Blu Coral adventure. I made reservations and the hostess was nice enough to have our table prepped by the time we got there. Unfortunately our "table" was actually four round two person tables pressed together. Eh, not ideal, but it worked. It's all about the fish anyway, right?
The menu had a decent enough variety that I took me a while to decide what to order. I ultimately settled with somewhat unoriginal the rainbow and some nigiri platter.
The fish was fresh, but it didn't blow me away. Our waitress didn't really know what was going on either. But hey, I was drinking and eating sushi, how bad can it be? I'd give this place 3.5 stars if I could. Since there were a large abundance of women in the place when we arrived, I'll round up to 4.
After a failed attempt to get reservations here last weekend we thought ahead and made the reservations early in the week for a party of 8 on a Saturday night.
From the moment I walked in I loved the sleek, industrial atmosphere. The bar itself may become one of my future hangouts.
Right now Blu Coral is BYOB, but just for wine (doesn't quite make sense to me either, but I'll take it). I meant to ask our waiter if this was a permanent or temporary BYOB situation, but then I started drinking the wine we brought with us and it slipped my mind.
Service was pretty good- didn't knock my socks off, but our waiter did an impressive job considering they just opened a few weeks ago.
The sushi was delicious...I'm standing by Kaze as the best sushi in Chicago, but sign me up for some raw fish at Blu Coral anytime. I had my eye on the crab cake appetizer, but my boyfriend was feeling adventurous and wanted to start with something else since we ALWAYS get the crab cakes. Instead we started with the seared scallops (not sure if this was adventurous since we always order scallops as well, but they sure were good) and our usual seaweed salad.
We ordered 3 specialty rolls for our main course- the wasabi eel, the ocean drive, and the spicy tataki. All of them were fabulous, but my favorite was the spicy tataki while my boyfriend couldn't get enough of the wasabi eel. I noticed the rest of our party had cleaned their plates as well by the end of the meal so I think the sushi was a hit for all.
One of the more sober and mathematical savvy members of our party said that it's a better deal (for the size of the rolls) to go with the specialty maki over the normal maki. I didn't notice a size difference since we ordered all specialty rolls being the special people that we are, but figured this may be of interest to future Blu Coral diners.
Edit 4/23/07: Blu Coral is no longer BYOB
Best Uni in Chicago
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