On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Category: Sushi Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park"You know what the worst part about moving is? giving up your chinese place. or finding a new one. i found shine late in the game. I've…" read more »
Loading...
I'm definitely a fan of this place. We had a http://restaurant.com gift certificate. and it made it totally worth it. I'm definitely not a fan of paying too much money for sushi. But with the gift certificate, we were four people and ended up paying $15 per person for a ton of sushi, no alcohol. We ordered like 5 or 6 different rolls and appetizers and tea and soda.
The sushi was very good, but I'm not an expert on sushi. I just know if it tastes good and I've had sushi that didn't taste good. The presentation was nice. The people were nice and we left satisfied. i went to a pricer place and the sushi wasn't better.
I'd go back with a GC from http://restaurant.com.
I recommend coming here with a gift certificate in hand from http://Restaurant.com- it costs $10 for $25 worth of food. Caveat: You must buy $50 worth of food so come with a friend or date!
I recommend the appetizers but not the sushi rolls. I really was not impressed with any of the sushi we ordered. This included the tropical roll (the mango was not juicy at all, it was hard and dry), the boston roll (some roll with sub-par looking and tasting tuna in it), and the dragon roll. The sushi lacked in both presentation and taste. What a shame!
However the appetizers were very very good! I recommend the hotate scallop with avocado (scallops were cooked to perfection in a delicious soy-based sauce) akedashi tofu, and seaweed/cucumber salad. I loved the salad the most. It was a great balance to the other dishes we bought.
This place is BYO- but they do have a small selection of basic wines (pinot noir, sauvinon blanc, etc) and 4 types of sake. The hot house sake is $4 for 4 oz and complemented our dishes nicely.
They also have a selection of hot Japanese dishes like udon soup and other noodles.
Ponzu is my favorite for many reasons. One, you can always get in. Two, the food is awesome. Three, the service is impeccable. I have a hard time going anywhere else. Sure, there are fancier sushi places in this neighborhood. But this place is my go-to. Especially in the winter because it's about a two second walk from my place.
I'm pretty sure the same waitress has always worked when I'm in. I don't know her name but she's awesome.
Yay Ponzu! Never close!!
WOW. FAIL.
WORST JAPANESE FOOD EVER.
CAN'T BELIEVE I PAID $50 FOR THIS MEAL.
I was in the mood for some Japanese but was not up for leaving my apartment, so after some research on grubhub (and Yelp, of course) I decided to order from Ponzu. FAIL FAIL FAIL.
The sashimi/sushi combo appeared promising at first (lots of fish, reasonably fresh) but they didn't give me any wasabi (?!?!?!) which pretty much ruined the experience. The steak teriyaki was downright NASTY. I mean, the meat was like.. not beef-like. I didn't eat more than 2 pieces because I didn't want to get food poisoning from questionable beef. Also, the rice that came with it was the WORST RICE I've ever tasted in my life. It was cold, not fully cooked but slightly sticky/mushy.. GROSS!!!!
NEGATIVE 10 STARS!!!!!!
I know I start all my sushi restaurant reviews with, "I'm a sushi snob." Well, I'm a sushi snob. I'm giving this place four stars because it's the first decent DELIVERY sushi I've had in Chicago.
Normally I steer clear of delivery sushi, but when I was cruising grubhub in the middle of the night after a long night of drinking, I stumbled across Ponzu, and they were still delivering. The spicy tuna roll was pretty good. The salmon and tuna nigiri were still fresh and delicious when they arrived.
Delivery was fast as well. It was still delivery sushi, so it just wasn't like getting the whole experience, but it was decent to say the least, and not too expensive, which is enough for four stars in my book.
If you knew you were going to die tomorrow and had one last meal on earth what would your choice be?
I would pick sushi hands down. I mean really this is a no brainer. However, if you decide to take me to Ponzu for my last meal on earth I will punch you in the junk!
There is nothing I hate more than hard crunchy rice on rolls. My friend had a really great tuna appetizer. The fish was amazing and I was hoping for a great experience but that was the extent of it. My rolls were small and like I said the rice was hard. The server said something about letting the fish shine through but I can't even agree with that.
I feel bad about spewing such hate about Ponzu when the rest of the reviewers must have drank the koolaid but I didn't even taste it.
All I know is if this was my last meal on earth I'd die a very unhappy camper!
Ponzu Sushi, brought to you by the wizards of gift certificates on the internet.
In Lincoln Park by Clark and Fullerton there exists a vortex filled with sushi bar after sushi bar after sushi bar. How is one ever to choose what sushi bar goes where with who and why? When magic internet discounted gift certificates materialize, it ergo becomes possible to gamble on any one of these locales and discover new joints.
Veggie steamed gyoza: winner. This dish was topped off with a green spice and served on top of some lettuce leaves and a side of extra spicy chili oil. I overindulged and found myself having to take a gulp of water. The table next to us did the same before I could warn then!
Volcano roll: I don't know what is going on in this mountain of crunch, spice and fish, but this magical roll is deep fried and covered in a fine layer of Japanese panko bread crumbs, rendering all other rolls crunchy!
Godzilla Roll: Yellowtail fried up served in an eight piece maki. The eel sauce was tremendous as was the spicy mayo, however the fish reminded me a bit of unlimited Friday fish fry during Lent.
Crazy Eel Roll: Rock the house, topped off with a thinly sliced piece of mango and some black seed topping this crazy eel roll will give you a good ounce of taste with the textured eel. It is delicious, delicious, delicious.
The server was extremely friendly and had a playful attitude while she had to run from table to table to table. It was a bit crowded so the service was a bit off as my date's plate and chopsticks were taken away but not replaced, so I had to walk over and grab some off the house stockpile.
In case you are looking for BYOB sushi, this is a perfect spot to bring a bottle of wine to go down with your delicious meal.
YUM!
They have a tremendous specialty roll list, and although the options sound interesting, almost everything has some kind of mayo in it. Seriously, Chicago? Seriously? We can't have some sushi without putting mayo and bacon grease on it? Come on now. Old balogna would taste OK if you slathered mayo on it. I'm here to eat some fish.
Luckily, they have an incredible Sashimi option. For $25, you get 3 pieces of 6 types of Sashimi, whatever the chef thinks it best that day. I had some seriously delicious fish. (And it came with soup and salad!)
They also have a soy-paper wrapped specialty roll with everything I love: tuna, yellowtail, avocado, asparagus, cilantro. I substituted the chili oil for a spicy mayo (like in spicy tuna) and it was GREAT. That one is called the Ocean Drive.
It doesn't hurt that this place is BYOB, had a really attentive and sweet server, and had absolutely no qualm about the http://Restuarant.com certificate I brought. Well done, Ponzu.
The boyfriend and I had a gift certificate from http://Restaurant.com, so we were ready to eat as many rolls as possible since we were saving so much money. To our delight, among the many selections of rolls, entrees, and other various items on their menu, there was a special meal deal that gave us 2 regular maki rolls, 2 specialty rolls, 1 house specialty roll, an appetizer, and a salad for only $48. Unlike many other sushi restaurants, we could select any roll(s), appetizer, and salad of our choice. I've never seen such a reasonable deal! Most place select shitty rolls and give you a good deal on that, but it's never worth it.
Ponzu is what I'd like to think of as my ideal sushi restaurant; it's adorable (the modest space is decorated nicely with its purple walls and dim lighting for an intimate feel), the maki rolls came in many tasty varieties which sushi restaurants can never have too much of, and our waiter was extremely considerate, polite, and punctual. As we were ordering, we'd noted that we did not want avocado on any of the rolls (I'm allergic), and he informed us that there was avocado in the unagi tempura appetizer (since it wasn't mentioned on the menu) and asked us if we wanted it without. It was really nice of him to look out for us like that.
As you can probably tell from the picture, it was all presented beautifully. I'm telling you, the owner of Ponzu knows what classy is. All of the plates were stark white and eccentrically shaped, but were totally appropriate for the items and presentation. Unfortunately, Ponzu doesn't have a website for me to reflect on what I'd eaten and list the specific ingredients of our rolls, but I can tell you that it was all beyond delicious. Our seaweed salad was pleasantly tangy and prepared our palettes for what was to come. The unagi tempura, a dish I've never had or seen in any other restaurant before, was succulent! The lightly battered unagi slices were topped with unagi sauce, tobiko, and were sitting on a bed of daikon. This really got our appetites going.
The rolls came out on one platter. Clean, simple, and practical.. just like how I like my restaurants. And of course we stuffed ourselves silly. The fish melted in our mouths like butter! It was impressively fresh. We topped off our excellent meal with a shared green tea ice cream served in a martini glass.
Needless to say, this was some of the best food/sushi I've had in awhile.
This place kind of reminds me of Toro. I have ate here a couple of times and I have never been disappointed. Usually the service is pretty good. Its relatively cheap and good sushi. I also have had take out from here and its been equally good. I will be back! I just actually bought a http://restaurant.com coupon for $25 off next time I go...
Is it exemplary? no.
It is, however, one of the myriad cute little sushi joints that line Chicago's streets where it is possible to bring your own bottle of wine and get a couple of tasty rolls at a reasonable price.
The Crazy Eel roll was especially delicious, topped with thin mango slivers that added some welcome sweetness. Also the Godzilla roll with its tempura shrimp and (I think) panko woven throughout the rice it was rolled in was crispy, crunchy and awesome. Finally the seaweed salad was some of the best I've had.
So my dad and I have dinner here every other month. I love it every time. Service can be slow at times, but the food is great and everyone is super friendly.
This time I had some kind of unagi roll and then a california roll topped with salmon. Both were quite good. I LOVE the appetizers here. mmm... soft shell crab!!!
I'm bumping this review because I think they need a little publicity. It seems like they lowered their prices recently too.
BYOB and delicious.
I had dinner with my dad here and continue to love this place. Yes, it's small and the tables are… Read more »
A small group of us came here after Yelp Game event and was lucky to be seated fairly quickly as this place filled up right thereafter. I can see why as this place ended up being a solid choice for sushi.
My friend who came from out of town is also new to sushi. So it was nice to peruse the menu and come up with decent options to give him a taste of what sushi can offer. This is why I appreciated how fresh the cuts of fish were and the many different items we could of ordered.
Besides the sushi being pretty good, we had very good service as they were attentive and friendly. Even with a crowd waiting to be seated, we were never rushed.
This place is more of a 3.5 stars but I'll go with 3 for now as I was a little miffed on the portion size for the pieces I received. I'm comparing this to other places I visited. Now with that being said, I'd still come back but will need to remember to order a little more than usual.
Ponzu,
I am crushing on you!
Ok, it was Friday and my sushi cravings were kicking into overdrive. I couldn't take it any longer, I had to get me some sushi! I started pulling up menus and reviews from places close to my house, but nothing was speaking to me. It was time to branch out and try something new. I remembered walking by Ponzu before and decided to give it a shot after drooling over their menu.
Ponzu doesn't have a website, but I got their menu off Menupages. I rang them up and ordered a Tuna Q (Tuna & cucumber), Salmon Q (Salmon & cucumber) and Spicy Salmon roll. The man on the phone was very friendly and told me my order would be ready in 20 minutes.
Here's why Ponzu gets 4 stars:
+ Friendly service both on the phone and when I arrived to pick up my order
+ Well made rolls with whole pieces of fish in my maki
+ Robust menu including classic and fusion choices
+ Fresh, tasty fish
+ Reasonable prices. I got 18 pieces for under $17, which left me full and happy
I have a feeling Ponzu and I will be seeing a lot of each other in the future. They're quickly climbing their way to the top of my "best sushi in a 5 block radius" list! If you eat in, know that Ponzu is BYOB.
The only thing that would have improved my experience is very minor; they were stingy with the soy sauce. Fortunately, I have an arsenal of Yamasa packets at home so it was all good.
Bottom line: Good food + good service = solid 4 stars
I love Ponzu and everything about it. In the past month, I'm sure I've been there at least 10 times. It's a very small place but it's very intimate. I love the candles on the tables and the cushioned seats.
Right when you walk in the door, you are greeted with warm smiles. As soon as you sit down, waters arrive right away and the server asks if you would like a cooler for your wine or if they can grab you anything else to drink.
Service is very important to me and their staff is not only attentive, but they are very genuine and friendly to everyone. They make recommendations on their favorite items and every time it's just as fabulous as they make it out to be.
I've had just about everything on the menu and I've never been disappointed. I love the Ocean Drive, but the presentation seems to be different every time I order it. Other than that they've got some really great Spicy Tuna Rolls if you would rather go basic.
This is my go-to sushi spot because they haven't let me down yet!
I've been here several times since its opened last year, and everytime it's been excellent.
More than enough food.
Delicious maki.
BYOB so you can buy Sapporo and bring it right in.
More recently, I went for the lunch special and it was HUGE. Ordered the Keiko, and got 2 rolls, tempura and a HUGE bowl of Udon for 10 bucks!
Great.
i was looking for a good BYOB i'd never tried for dinner with a friend, and we decided to try punzo. we arrived around 8pm on a friday and sat down right away (score!) the menu was enormous and everything around us looked delicious. i was pleasantly surprised by how many of their "specialty" rolls were around $10. unbeknown to me, my friend actually doesn't like any seafood sushi, so i ended up having to order rolls on my own. luckily for her, ponzu has an awesome selection of vegetarian rolls. i got the tropical roll and the spicy tuna roll, both very good. my friend got the sweet potato roll and the cream cheese cucumber roll, also excellent. we also had some miso soup and edemame which were standard.
the service left a little to be desired, but we didn't care since we were enjoying a leisurely meal anyway. what i loved about this place is that there's only a $2.50 corkage fee (per person) and you can bring as many bottles as you want (we brought two.) unlike some of the other BYOBs out there, we didn't feel rushed finishing our glasses after the check had been served.
my meal ended up being a little more expensive than i had anticipated, but i think it's because my friend didn't like the same things as i did. if you bring company that will share, they have some great "combos" near the back of the menu you can select for super cheap. i would definitely come back; i wished i had been able to try more rolls during my visit.
Ponzu................
I love you because you have TONS of vegetable rolls for the resident vegetarian..................
I love you because you had Valentine's Day ballons up for Valentine's Day..............
I love you because you gave us wonderful jasmine tea without being asked............
I love you because my water glass was never empty................
I love you EXTRA special because you split the bill between me and my friend without having to be asked.............
I DO NOT love you because the jasmine tea was served in GLASSES(ouch- my fingers)................
I DO NOT love that there is no place to park.................
You will never replace my beloved Matsuya but I shall visit you again.
I like this place a lot! The people who work here are really nice, and make great recommendations. They have a TON of unique rolls that are relatively inexpensive. A lot of their specialty rolls are under $10 which makes me happy. :) My favorite thing about Ponzu, though, is that they bring out each roll when it is finished, so you can start getting your sushi on asap.
Also, Ponzu is BYOB. Bonus! Our waitress gave us free dessert once too, love that green tea ice cream. If you don't have the patience to wait for Toro, this is another great choice.
Delicious! I think this is a much better deal than Toro. For $38 two people each get a bowl of miso, split an appetizer, a salad 2 signature rolls and 3 Mono rolls. It was a ton of food and all really fresh. I highly recommend this place. It's small though, so if you are eating in try to get there before 6. BYOB.
We normally eat here early because it fills up fast. The rolls are creative and the service is good. The food comes out at a leisurely but now slow pace. I usually start off with a house salad, the mango peanut ginger dressing really is worth trying. It is BYOB, although we never have done so. The place is really cozy and the chefs are very friendly. Really great place. Walking here, we pass every other sushi place on Clark south of Diversey, and we always pass them up for Ponzu.
They really need a bigger sign though. It's a great place, but if you weren't walking, you might miss it.
We had a http://restaurant.com voucher for $25 off a $50 or more meal, so I cannot vouch for how much you need to spend to fill you up. For us it was 2 rolls and a bowl of miso each and splitting the house salad.
Pros:
-Fresh, fresh, fresh. The sushi was made of fresh ingredients and tasty, fresh, not fishy and slimy fish. A big plus in my book.
-They bring the rolls out as they are completed, so you can get your grub on.
-I loved the miso and the house salad, both were familiar tasting yet unique.
-Presentation is a key factor in sushi and Ponzu knows what they are doing.
-The server was very friendly and helpful.
Cons:
-The dining area is small like many other sushi bars, but the night we went it was filled with loud, (drunk?) yuppy-ish women and their not-yet-out "boyfriends." I know that is to be expected in this part of town, which is cool but the night we went a few girls were getting a little too carried away with the BYOB. I should not be able to hear, in great detail, your entire conversation about pink eye from the next table back.
-The BYOB status, while I can appreciate is just inconvenient in a place where I would like to have some warm sake with my meal. I read another Yelp where they said this was available, but if it was it was neither on the menu nor offered.
We'll definitely be back.
This is one of the best Sushi restaurants in Chicago. People don't think much of it from the outside, but it's great. The place is small but the atmosphere is very relaxed and intimate. You usually get seated after waiting for max 5-10 minutes, if not right away. The service is usually really fast. They have a wide selection of sushi that you can choose from. Their combination deals are great when you have a group of people. If you get the combo deal you get a soup, salad and a ton of sushi! its BYOB which is awesome!!!
I would highly recommend Ponzu if you want some good sushi at low prices with a date or friends!
I went to Ponzu Sushi because I was fed up with Toro Sushi and needed a place in my neighborhood. I thought it was good. They have my favorite veggie roll (sweet potato tempura) but it was very different from what I've had at other restaurants. And instead of using seaweed for their rolls, they used something that resembled rice paper, which was interesting. I thought Ponzu was good but am still looking for my neighborhood sushi restaurant...
Went for lunch and bellied up at the bar. Got the Osaka bento box which was alot of food, just not good food. The miso and salad were great. And I got a mediocore half of california and spicy tuna roll. And an entire sweet potato tempura roll. But the quality of the nigiri was aweful. Tuna and salmon were edible. Yellowtail and white tuna were inedible. And a piece of tamago which I didn't eat cause I just don't like it.
I came here on a Saturday night, it was not crowded and we were seated quickly by the friendly staff. I had high hopes for this restaurant after reading all the reviews but unfortunately this trip did not do it for me... I will come back at least once more, maybe they were just having a bad night.
We started with 2 pieces of salmon nigiri, these went well so I was anxious for the big course.
For an entree we ordered a combination meal consisting of one appetizer (shrimp gyoza), one salad (cucumber and avacado), 2 maki monos (spicy salmon - I'm pretty sure they accidentally served us a philly roll instead; spider roll - served luke warm, lacked flavor, chewy) and 2 signature rolls (dragon roll - forgettable, white castle - my favorite of the night, lots of super white tuna in this one). The whole meal was $35
Unfortunately the rolls did not taste very fresh nor had a lot of flavor. They were served lukewarm and were bland. The deal was great though, I'll try to come back once more and hopefully it will go much better.
This place is way underrated. Actually, it's not rated much at all. I'd never heard of it until my parents told us to meet them for dinner there.
They have a tremendous variety of interesting rolls here that go beyond my expectations of a "neighborhood sushi place". Most of them were very tasty - the tequila roll, the ocean drive, the turtle, the one with the tortilla chip that someone mentioned, etc. Several rolls are wrapped in rice paper or something, so that makes them even cooler!
The presentation is above average as well. The turtle roll was actually placed on the plate in the shape of a turle. They made a turtle head (not the brown kind you sicko!) out of wasabi. It was cool.
As far as service, it was decent. Their fan was broken the day we went though, so our eyes began tearing up. We asked what they were cooking, but they didn't seem to want to tell us. Other than that annoyance, this place was just about a fiver. I would go back.
Ponzu is great except the tables are close together and there are always a few drunk, loud De Paul students there. Otherwise the sushi was good (rolls were solid, nigiri was okay), but the appetizers were off the chain. I was really impressed by the seaweed salad, avocado salad, and gyoza. All three were outstanding. The parking here can be a bit brutal at times, but it's worth the hassle to get some inexpensive sushi at Ponzu.
Went last night with my ladyfriend. Excellent service, excellent maki. Everything was very fresh (except the edamame - wouldn't recommend), and I especially loved the super white tuna in the White Castle roll. mmm.
Not BYOB which kind of sucks for a sushi joint, but the wine was affordable. Prices were really good, with a huge selection of regular and specialty rolls. And you get like 8-9 pieces per roll. Nice!
Coast is still my favorite, but Ponzu is a great alternative.
OOOH boy, let me tell you! My journey to Ponzu is quite a tale. Me and P.Medina had a craving for sushi and for some reason, Sunday's are almost impossible to find lunch at Japanese restaurants. Not to mention, we started off late, around 2pm and most places close at 2:30 and then open back up at 5 for dinner. After driving all the way up north, then driving back south east and then finally to Ponzu, we were ecstatic to see they were open. I knew there were many sushi places on Clark street and that was the first one that had an "open" sign lit.
When we walked in, we were greeted by the sushi chef and the host. There were only a few other tables in there, this place is tiny tiney but has a warm, intimate vibe.
Since I was borderline famished and about to faint, we quickly ordered 2 miso soups and the fried calamari. The soup was average, like many miso soups I've had before, the but the calamari was truly one of a kind. Lightly battered, and fried to a golden crisp.
For our second appetizers, we had the Suzuki Cappaccio-fresh striped bass topped on baby springs, citrus tobiko with yuzu sauce and chili oil and the Jalapeno super white tune- sashimi style of super white tuna with thin sliced jalapeno and avocado with ponzu sauce.
For our Maki we enjoyed the Tequila- Yellow tail, avocado, cilantro, jalapeno, scallions, spicy mayo with lime juice and wasabi tobiko. All of these were excellent!
I went there last night to get carry out and I tried the Godzilla which is my favorite so far! It has Hamachi tempura, cream cheese, avocado, house mayo (I sub, for spicy mayo) tempura crunch, masago with eel sauce, and scallions....yuuum!
I highly recommend this place to anyone. I'm new to the real sushi world and I must say, Ponzu is helping me try new things by creating such amazing rolls.
Enjoy!! :-D
This place gets one, maybe two, whole stars for the block style sushi alone. I'd never tried sushi prepared that way before, but the one we got (which involved unagi and avocado and had pretty gold flecks on top) was out of this world good. I also loved the Tropical Roll which was wrapped in mango. I had the Super White Tuna app which was great except I couldn't handle the jalapenos...so weak! All of the fish seemed really fresh and high quality. The atmosphere wasn't upscale by any means but it was pleasant enough, and our waitress was very helpful and attentive. It's BYOB but there's a store close by if you forget to like we did!
Hmm, you know I can't really say I had an enjoyable meal here. I mean it wasn't terrible but I could find better places to go to get yummy sushi on a Saturday night.
Miso soup was bland. Rolls were super small, came apart really easily and were kind of mushy. I can't stand mushy sushi. I want rolls with some oomf to them. Out of the four rolls we ordered there was only one that I thought was half way decent as far as taste and that was the Smokey. The smoked salmon on the roll was delish and this was the only roll that didn't come apart. Everything else that we ordered I could have done without.
Oh, well. Movin' on...
The restaurant itself was cute and cozy. The staff very friendly unfortunately the food is what won't be bringing m back.
I have tried so many japanese restaurant in Chicago, and this restaurant is my #1 favourite. Prices are very reasonable and food is very good!!! The chief is actually a Japanese, not some Mexican nor Thai trying to make sushi. Service is GREAT!!! 5 stars, unlike the other japanese restaurant Green tea (has horrible customer service), this place is great! I have been going to this place at least once a week!
Another of my favorites in Lincoln Park, Ponzu is as good as simple gets.
The place is lit well, and has a stylish setting. The sushi is delish, and BYOB is always a plus for the wallet.
If you like sushi, and you like spending little, and you breath oxygen, this is your place.
Pretty good stuff. Ate here for lunch and enjoyed the turtle roll the best. They actually rolled more fish than roll...nice. Will go back for sure,
Review for second visit..
The food was great, and the service was great as well. The crunchy stuff on the dragon roll gave it awesome texture. Great food for the price.
I have eaten at this restaurant many times and it's one of my favorite sushi restaurants. I love how they incorporate mango and coconut into many of their rolls. Their tropical roll, coconut shrimp roll and the dragon roll are my favorites. They have meal combinations for groups which are really great because you end up getting a lot of food for a reasonable price.
The atmosphere is wonderful and quite inviting. There is limited seating, and Friday nights seem to be packed.
I've noticed this is a BYOB, which customers seem to love. The service is fairly fast as well. Overall, this is a great restaurant!
* have to say I'm updating my review. Loved this place when head sushi chep Eric was at the helm but he left in April and it suffers now. Eric was the bomb and cut up the freshest, tastiest sushi in town. I asked our favorite waiter where he went and we're hoping for an update soon. I'll go where he goes.
if you like neighborhood sushi that's as delicious as it is cost efficient, than this is your place. Former head sushi chef from Nans opened up this sushi bar in the ever crowded Lincoln Park restaurant row of Clark Street. Parking is not for the faint of heart but it's worth it for the variety of fresh nigiri and maki rolls! The hidden gem on the menu is the "crispy tortillas" from the appetizer menu. I call them sushi nachos because it's spicey salmon and spicey tuna perched on top of the crispiest, tastiest tortilla chip imaginable. I'm hungry just thinking about them.
I had been craving sushi for quite some time and when I day finally came that I could go, I only ate about 2 cubes of cheese in preparation for the feast. Turned out to be somewhat of a bad idea, because our food took FOREVER to come out -- tables who came in well after us received their food before us. I finally stopped someone to ask and it was still a while before it came. Lucky for them, it was great sushi and was worth what seemed like a 10 year wait. The fish was very fresh and I loved their choices of rolls. My favorite was the Godzilla roll ....mmmm. Love that its BYO, and I'd love to go back for lunch as it seemed they had some great lunch specials. Hopefully next time the service will be better -- I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that it was just a one-time thing.
Just opened - awesome sushi place that no one knows about!
The decor and atmosphere is great with the friendliest wait staff in Chicago in terms of sushi restaurants. Normally when I go to sushi places in Chicago service is understaffed and not so good but I really love Ponzu's service. The first time I went with Rachel O. (she brought me there cuz she's a regular) the sushi chef made rounds of the table and it was very cool. Furthermore, since Rachel was a regular they hooked us up. Man it was great.
So now onwards to the food, I know you guys have been waiting for this and I know several people follow my sushi reviews!
The sets are awesomeeeeeeee! The sets come with the house salad which is yummmm. I do have to say though the consistency on the salad is one of the few low points in Ponzu. Sometimes they put too much dressing, sometimes it's perfect. If you don't like strong flavor you might want to tell them to put the dressing on the side. I heart their house salad.
Also another note is that the unagi tempura appetizer used to be alot better, now it's mostly tempura without much unagi in it. I am a huge fan of unagi and still like it but it wasn't as good as before.
I heart the Boston and Philly rolls, very good. My favorite is the dragon roll, kinda small but perfectly made. Love the dragon roll here. Their salmon sashimi is very very fresh and delicious.
This place is perfect for either super super big eaters or a date. They have a $30 set which includes 1 salad, a miso, an appetizer of your choice, 2 normal rolls, and 2 speciality rolls. This is way too much for a normal person to eat but this is what I eat if I go by myself. However, for $40 you get the above +1 super premium roll which is perfect for 2 people. I took my sister and we split that and it was perfect for us. The ponzu roll that is super premium was the most interesting/creative/awesome roll I've eaten, ever. However, my sister and Rachel didn't like that one. It was too crazy for them. If you like trying awesomeness and are a true sushi connoisseur you should definitely try it!
Anyways 5 stars for an outstanding place that no one has found out about yet. This is one of 2 sushi restaurants in Chicago that I'm a regular of. Never much business here though since it just opened and no one knows about it.
I'm letting the secret out.
We went on a Sunday night and had the combo meal for three which is one salad to share, 1 appetizer, miso soup and 2 regular rolls, 2 specialty rolls and 1 signature roll.
Started with the cucumber salad which was mostly sliced cucumbers with dressing and a few beet strips on top. It was simple but refreshing. We also got vegetable tempura which was thin slices of mostly onion (think Hackney's onion loaf) and some peppers. The menu mentioned sweet potatoes, asparagus and broccoli as well, but I didn't see any in our order.
the rolls were great and plentiful! We ordered the spicy shrimp, the spider, the spicy tataki, the spider roll and the Tropical. All were tasty. I was nervous about the spicy ('cause I don't do spice well) and nothing was intolerable. The spicy shrimp had the most "kick".
Overall this was a good deal and I will definitely be back.
Ponzu is BYOB and also has discount certificates on http://restaurant.com
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Sushi Bars
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Maybe Dr. Seuss was on to something! On my…
Around last December, http://Restaurant.com had a…
My favorite places to eat in Chicago. All 5 stars.…
Here's what I think of certain sushi stops in…
Here are my favorite spots. A large determining…
Enabling my sushi addiction wherever and whenever…
