Shochu
Category: Asian Fusion [Edit]
Neighborhood: Lakeview3313 N Clark St
(between Aldine Ave & Buckingham Pl)
Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 348-3313
- Nearest Transit:
Belmont (Purple Express, Brown, Red)
- Hours:
Tue-Wed 5:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Thu 5:30 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Fri, Sun 5:30 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Sat 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Sat 5:30 p.m.-3:00 a.m.
Sun 5:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m. - Price Range: $$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
66 reviews
Neighborhood: Near North Side
"Decor: Minimal Chic Staff: Attentive. Warm, but not sickly sweet. Professional. Drinks: Divine! Did I say, deliciously divine?!…" read more »
35 Reviews for Shochu
So the service was wonderful, however I was there on a rainy day and there were only 2 other tables, so I'm not sure that counts for much. Basically everything was over flavored to the point of disgust! Everything was over seasoned which lead to most things being extremely salty, you couldn't enjoy the true flavor of the dish. My boyfriend ordered an entree (chicken teriyaki) 1) it was drenched in teriyaki sauce 2) you couldn't even eat the meat! (were not even sure if it was really chicken) it was incredibly fatty. He pulled it apart and you could see the strips of fat.
Honestly, cheap Asian food is better than this. Only one word describe the food experience GROSS!
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This restaurant committed what my boyfriend and I find to be the Cardinal Sin of Restaurants: It charged us over $100 for a meal that left us neither drunk or full.
As a big-time lover of dim sum, I was hoping that Shochu had managed to translate the Chinese small plates into equally awesome Japanese-American small plates. I was disappointed. They chose style over substance, and everything we ate was only mediocre. The dipping sauces were boring (and I LOVE dipping sauces), and they annoyingly serve everything in threes in a sad attempt to force even-numbered parties to order extra dishes. Weak sauce, Shochu, and we see right through you.
For this money, you can get a jammin' meal at Cafe Babareeba, or better yet, make the schlep to Chinatown and get some dim sum. Yum yum dim sum. The entire point of fusion food is to bring together the best of two different things, not to eliminate flavor, creating some pale-faced bastard child that no one wants to play with. I give this place two yawns and would rather pick up some Taco Bell and a six-pack.
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We had a reservation for 9pm on a Saturday night, but showed up about 30 minutes early. There were empty tables everywhere but the host made a face, told us he would see what they could do, and walked away. First strike. Seriously? There were only 3 of us, it's not like we were asking for a table for 6. He finally found a table for us (must have been a TOUGH job) and we started to look through the menus.
Since it was our first time here, we weren't sure how many small plates we should order. Our waitress, although she was friendly, didn't seem to know either. We asked her for suggestions, and she basically just read us the menu. Fine. We ordered a $40 bottle of Shochu, which was more than enough for the three of us.
Most dishes were good, but the portions were way too small. My favorite dishes were the Yellow Curry Lobster (one of the best dishes of the night), Tuna pineapple poke, and the tempura tuna.
The misses were the blueberry teriyaki quail, bacon wrapped dates, very spicy tuna maki, and salmon nigiri ($2 for one small, small piece!).
The desserts were a disaster. We ordered the Creme Brulee and the chocolate maki with candied ginger and wasabi creme anglaise. The creme brulee was ridiculously small. The dish was maybe 2 inches in diameter and only 1/2 an inch deep. For $3? No thanks. The chocolate maki reminded me of plain baking chocolate, and the candied ginger and wasabi creme were both gross.
We received coupons for free drinks, so we might be back to sit at the bar and have a few plates, but other than that I don't see myself going back anytime soon. There are too many other places that I haven't tried yet.
Oh, and most of the tables that were empty when we arrived were also empty when we left, about an hour and a half later. Thanks for squeezing us in!
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It was a Saturday night and I was rolling with my Korean squad. Decided on Shochu for a few reasons, one of the guys had mentioned the owner was a Cali Korean that brought the idea from California. Hence the reasoning in going. Plus the name Shochu, wtf is that? We'd heard of Soju (Korean Gin), never this. I believe its Japanese Vodka, they say its stronger than wine but weaker than whiskey.
So it's a Saturday night about 11ish and it's dead. They had a few customers that sat in the garden area out back till that closed, while we walked to our seats, so it was us, a few people sitting at the bar and a couple sitting nearby. Later we come to realize that a few of the people sitting at the bar served us food. Are they customers helping out? or waitstaff just chillin ?
Through dinner we were constantly wanting and wondering, service stunk. Well, wait service stunk, the runners did their jobs. There were only two waitresses and ours doubled as a waitress and bartender. When you start a meal with a drink you plan to have a few more while trying to enjoy a meal. It's Saturday night! I would assume the waitress would think to come back and check on us? Allow your customer to drink more, making the tip better, etc.. Nope, not the case.
Moving on, the shochu cocktails weren't impressive. Shochu cocktails were $5 that night. Appetizers are fairly good and inexpensive, though not filling. We sampled three flavors of the fried chicken wings (4 pcs to an order), they offer 5 flavors. FYI the sauces start with sweet and move to spicy. They offer a shochu flavored sauce which seemed to consist of corn syrup over a crunchy coated chicken wing. Don't let it get cold, it's not worth to eat. That's another thing, we could tell our dishes had sat for some time before it was served. Are they lazy? Wtf? When it comes to Japanese foods using a fried prep there is a window, just after cooking it's got to be served and eaten. Otherwise its cold chicken in corn syrup. The other wing sauces, eh, care not to mention. Sesame french fries, good idea and taste, too bad, that too was served almost cold. Chicken egg roll comes in two pcs, they were way too oily, somebody dropped them in the oil and forgot about them. Everything looked good, presentation was appealing, but the experience just lacked. The dining area had a subtle glow, one could appreciate the lounge feel and the accompanying lounge / jazz music went well. ( I believe they played a track from both Portishead and Goldfrapp. Music like that; I wonder if they were running Pandora in the background)
I don't think I would go back.. unless someone else was buying.
If you plan on tasting, you could sample a few appetizers (2-3) and have a drink for around $20 per person.
Another reason you should check reviews before stepping out, I didn't.
I went to Shochu last night with my boyfriend and another couple. We were a little nervous when we first walked in and saw that only one table was occupied but we requested a table in the outdoor patio in the back and were relieved to see a couple more occuppied tables outside. The service is friendy, although I was surprised that our waiter did not offer any suggestions or help with the menu until we specifically asked about items on the menu. The food was actually pretty good but I would have liked to see bigger portions - between the four of us, we ordered about two to three entrees (half orders) each and were not totally full at the end. We started with the really spicy tuna maki, and I would have to say that I was disappointed in the really spicy tuna maki , because it was not as spicy as the name had implied. I mean come on if you name something really spicy, it better be really spicy! And I would not recommend ordering maki here, it was not that great and the rolls are very tiny! We did get the skirt steak which was pretty good, it was similar to a steak lettuce wrap and again I would have liked to see a little more steak in there but it was pretty tasty. I also enjoyed the braised short ribs that we ordered. We also ordered the mushroom gyoza which were tasty but nothing out of the ordinary. We ordered the fried tofu with the ginger honey glaze, which tasted like fried tofu covered in honey sauce. I love dessert but I was disappointed that this dish was nothing more than fried tofu with honey over it. I could have made that at home! And I love dessert and tofu but this dish was just weird. My favorite dish was the lobster curry bowl - the curry was thick and spicy (just the way I like it!) and there was a whole lobster clawin the dish. Usually when you see lobster mentioned in dishes, unless it is a full lobster, it is hard to have real lobster meat in there. Overall I had a pretty good experience, I would go back and order the Lobster curry. However, I didn't find that any of the other dishes were amazing, and for what they all cost, I would have expected more of a wow factor. So to sum it up, I might go and pick up some lobster curry if I was in the neighborhood, but in terms of going back there, I would rather go somewhere where I can better food for my money.
eating at shochu is like watching the olympic ice dancing team from canada. they're trying so hard! they have a great look! their music is familiar! they even have a few triple salchows! you're *really *pulling for them!
but, alas, the disciplined and crazy russian team wins and the canadians are left to enjoy their bland 5th place finish all alone.
this is what shochu is like. the space and menu looks really good, they're in a great location, the staff is friendly if a bit...loose, and, theoretically, they should have the artistic and technical culinary skills to pull it off. but, in the end, they are defeated by a decidedly bland execution.
we ordered the spicy tuna (and received the spicy salmon, instead), the duck maki, the bacon and shrimp tempura maki, the purple potato chips with wasabi dip and the habanero wings. such good ideas, such bland execution.
the spicy salmon was smoky - why? you could barely taste the salmon because you were distracted by the smoke.
the duck was interesting at first bite but didn't get any more interesting because you were left thinking, 'why doesn't this taste better? maybe more wasabi and ginger will help.' no. it doesn't.
the tempura/bacon/shrimp was also a letdown. my friend and i took one bite, looked at each other and shrugged.
food is not supposed to move you to shrugs.
the potato chips were ok, but if you say it comes with a wasabi dip, i want heat, not a creamy green dip made out of mayo and smashed avocado. we had to take our wasabi from the maki plate and mix it in ourselves. what an improvement!
by this time our palates were snoring and we demanded the spiciest thing on the menu. out came the dreaded habanero wings, the wings people have freaked out about and sent back they were so dangerous! yawn. it was, again, ok but not great and there was certainly no bite or heat to it. another puzzled shrug between me and my friend.
we couldn't imagine paying full price for the maki we ate (wednesdays are 1/2 price maki.)
on the plus side, the cocktails are very good, with delicate flavors. i recommend the red dragon and the sangria. unlike our meal, the cocktails had actual personality.
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First off let me start with... Friday night and every restaurant along this stretch of Clark was crowded...
Granted our intent was to try Shochu... but when we approached the restaurant....hmmmm.... it was EMPTY!!!! They wasn't an empty table in the Morrocan place....but Shochu... there was not an unempty table!
Seriously, this almost made us second guess our decision to come in and try it. There was a FEW people sitting at the bar, but I could not tell if they were the staff or they were customers.
We asked if they had outdoor seating, and they said that they have a back patio, but it just started to rain so we decided to sit inside.
OMG we were treated unbelievable... the waiter was fantastic!!!
He was very honest with what he recommended and what he didnt!
That was great!!!! The restaurant was very clean.
First off...WOW, the drinks were unbelievable!!! Shochu wow!!! Lo Cal??? U would never know... AND it is unbelievably smooooth!!!
I think I drank my drink in like 2 minutes! It was so yummy!
Ha, I can't remember the exact name of the drink but it had Kiwi, and it was FABULOUS!!!
Ok... another bonus... their drink special was $2 Sapporo.... where can you get $2 Sapporo??? Especially in the city? I have never seen Sapporo that cheap!!!
Second.... ok the food, well some was good, and some was just average - or below average. The tapas style japanese was kind of cool. The eggplant and calamari were very good.... but maybe because the dipping sauces were sooo good!!!! Ok.... moving on, the rolls... hmm.. not so good. The spicey tuna roll... was not spicey, and it was very bland and the rolls were very tiny. However, the Lobster Roll was really big ??? but again, kind of bland. The peices of lobster were big, but compared to other sushi places I would not recommend the rolls here, and this obviously is not their specialty. We also ordered the seasame fries, which were really different, kind of sweet, but good.
We also ordered the octopus salad. I thought the octopus was a little chewy and I would not order this again.
I might have given Shochu 4 stars.... BUT.....
1. The portion sizes were very inconsistent. Either you are getting big portions... or very small. Granted, I realize this is tapas style... but the strawberry salad thing we ordered was like one strawberry... it was very good but considering the order of fries was enough to feed 4 people.
2. I am having a problem with the fact that everything that is served with the dipping sauces is fried. My friends are vegetarians, (they eat fish), but we were having some challenges ordering off the menu because most of the veggie entrees were fried. Or were meat.
3. I did not like the xeroxed paper menus... first of all everyone at the table is distributed a drink menu & a food menu, and they are long menus...... they were getting in the way on the table, and they were just kind of tacky. I am not trying to be picky... hahaha...
I would say this is a great play to stop for a drink and try the shochu because the drinks were really good. But I don't know that I would come to eat a dinner. However, they are open for late night dining!!!
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Shochu. Nearly a perfect drink. Low in calories? Check. Comes in varieties? Check. Tasty? Check. Regular alcohol content? No check!!! I liked all the different drinks they have (shochu comso, shochuijto) but if you are looking to get your companion tipsy it will be an expensive night.
The food though was EXCELLENT! I love the idea of Japanese tapas! We went off recommendations from our waitress and were not disappointed. The skirt steak which was in a lettuce wrap was so good as were the bacon-wrapped dates (but really, what isn't good wrapped in bacon???). And the shrimp and asian pear yakitori that came with the tasty dipping sauces, I loved the aioli.
If you're looking at the maki, try the lobster and mizuna with truffle mayonnaise. I was fighting to get all the pieces!
It is in the space just north of Mia Francesca and they have an outdoor patio in the back that is perfect for summer. This place is definitely worth a try!
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I took an out-of-towner friend here to show her that there is more to Chicago dining than deep-dish pizza, hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches. (Okay, full ulterior-motive disclosure: I had read a couple of reviews and wanted to go there myself, so it seemed like a good excuse.) We went on the day of the Pride March, which I'd forgotten was also in that neighborhood, but despite this, the place was refreshingly un-crowded when we got there, though not disturbingly empty (an empty restaurant is always a suspicious sign to me: what does everyone else know about this restaurant that I don't?)
Anyway, we were seated, and our waittress attended to us; she was very informative about shochu, the restaurant's namesake beverage, which is distilled from rice or barley but is closer to vodka than sake. My friend and I both ordered the Black Dragon cocktail, made with barley shochu muddled with blackberries and simple syrup. The shochu is very clean tasting, to the point of not really having much flavor, I felt. I didn't detect any sort of alcohol taste (or intoxicating power -- and I'm a lightweight). All in all, I prefer sake, but it was interesting to try something new.
The Asian twist on tapas was fun and not badly executed. We started with salads: my strawberry shiso salad was yummy: the plate was drizzled with what appeared to be a balsamic vinaigrette, slightly viscous, which mated well with the berries. My friend enjoyed her cucumber chile salad.
The bulk of our order was composed of the grilled yakitori skewers (wish there were more of these to choose from) , which come with seven dipping sauces, as well as a chile-infused salt. The shrimp and asian pear was particularly good; the asian pear married well with the miso lychee aioli, if i'm remembering correctly, and the shrimp was enhanced by a bit of the chile salt.
The chicken and scallion skewer had a good taste but the chicken seemed to have a bit of fat on it.
Tempura shrimp is the one I wouldn't get again: shrimp were each threaded lengthwise along a skewer, then fried, making it impossible to get them off. The shrimp also ended up tough and dry.
Also, one puzzler was in my friend's "yellow curry lobster and fennel stew" dish: underneath the lobster was a slab of unidentifiable white fish that appeared to be raw from the way it looked and cut with a fork etc. This isn't mentioned in the description of the dish on the menu, so we just wondered, "What is that? Is it cooked? Is it supposed to be?" Kind of weird.
Overall, Shochu was okay, but it could perhaps benefit from a bigger menu. Also, I wished I liked the signature beverage more, though that's about personal taste. Good service, decent food, amd something different.
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Disclaimer: When I went here yesterday evening at 6:30 it was pretty empty, only three tables had customers. Also, I sat at the bar, so I had a server right there.
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This place is amazing. First of all, I have severe food allergies to dairy, eggs, tree nuts and peanuts, so it's not easy to find somewhere accommodating. But for every single drink I ordered, the bartender let me look at the ingredients of the mixers, and for the two menu items I ordered, he went back into the kitchen to make sure they were absolutely okay.
The drinks were very tasty (although I'd like if they were around $2 cheaper... probably not gonna happen). The grilled octopus and edamame salad was a little small, but DELICIOUS..mm. I nearly ordered another, but got the smoked salmon, avocado and cilantro maki instead. Smoked salmon was a little dry, which was disappointing, but the maki was expertly rolled, and 6 pieces was actually more than I expected.
The ambiance is also very nice, groovy, exposed brick and plants and jazz. I will definitely be back to try more of the nearly dairy-free menu.
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My friends and I were originally going to go to Orange on Clark and Belmont, but seeing how utterly swamped it was we decided to wander until we found another brunch place. This led us to Shochu, a place none of us had tried. At first we thought it was closed because it was completely empty - but no, it was open...just empty. The brunch menu is small, but contains a variety of interesting items at decent prices. I ordered the bacon and egg sushi rolls, and my friends ordered the grilled cheese & tomato soup, the bacon & irish cheese omelet, the green curry shitaki mushroom egg scramble, the honeyed sweet rice, the sweet spring rolls with marscapone cheese, and the eggs benedict. We were excited to eat, and the food certainly sounded great.
After ordering we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
We must have waited at least 45 minutes before our food arrived - and even then each dish arrived 3 minutes apart. By the time I got my breakfast sushi it was cold - although it still tasted pretty good. Essentially it was egg and bacon with sushi rice wrapped in seaweed - you better like seaweed if you're going to eat it, as the flavor comes across pretty strong with egg not having a terribly powerful flavor.
Overall, the food was great. The honeyed rice (sort of like a porridge) was a favorite, and everyone loved the tiny cubed hash brown potatoes that came with some of the dishes. In addition, we were all intrigued by the red Banana Sauce they put on the tables instead of ketchup - and it actually tastes a good deal like ketchup! The green curry eggs were apparently pretty spicy but good, and the eggs Benedict were reported to be perfect. I would suggest passing on the cinnamon spring rolls though - they taste mostly like carnival food, and there are other side dishes and appetizers that would be better.
After waiting forever for the food, we then waited ANOTHER 20 minutes for the check. Sure, the waiter was nice...but does it really take that long to get our food out and bring us the check when the place is completely empty?? For all the food we ordered the total came to roughly $60 - not too bad for four of us who ordered a lot of food.
If you are willing to wait, the food is worth it. Otherwise - I'd try another brunch place.
Shochu, you've not impressed me.
Sure you've tried hard but, there's something just not quite "magic" about it.
The Chef at Muramoto in Madison suggested that I check out Shochu sometime because its along the same lines and I LOVE Muramoto....maybe I didn't find it all that interesting because I was holding it up to the high standard that is Muramoto.
The Shochu itself was an interesting experience, sort of a japanese vodka. I could see myself becoming a puddle rather quickly and switched to wine.
Upon ordering a bottle of pouilly fuisse the waitress made a big deal of my being able to pronounce it properly and how I must be a wine connoisseur, etc, etc....which was a bit annoying.
The food is good, not great. The experience is good, not great. Therefore, three stars for you, Shochu.
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this place really should be busier.mia's was packed to wall to wall and 2 doors down this place only had like 20 guests. they serve food til 1 every day of the week but Sunday which is midnight if i recall! the price point is really good. i wish they still had the wasabi fries on the menu. the sauces are a great idea. something for everybody.the back patio is very tranquil. i hope that business picks up although our server said it gets pretty busy on weekends. oh and the shochu is not supposed to give you a hangover. sometime i may have to test that....
Shochu is a Japanese alcohol that is somewhere between sake and vodka, with less calories. Ummm, awesome. Right off the bat...
I had the Red Dragon cocktail (well priced at $9) and I am fairly certain I could be one happy lady if I were drinking these pomegranate delights all night...went down oh-so-smooooth. Mmm. Happiness in Japanese alcohol form. My friend had the kiwi cocktail (Izumi), and though a little thicker (muddled kiwi), it was still very good. Both were garnished with a lemon peely thing...nice touch.
The menu is interesting for the neighborhood...it's small plates and some sushi thrown in for good measure. I have to say though, the sushi was EXCELLENT and priced on par with other joints in Lakeview. We tried the mushroom/mint maki roll and the smoked salmon, cream cheese roll. The mint was interesting, but overall we were big fans of the sushi.
The small plates:
wasabi fries: kind of a miss on this one. I like the idea, but these were just regular french fries drenched in wasabi glaze. It made them mushy and sticky and hard to eat.
Steak lettuce wraps: VERY good, though a bit hard to eat gracefully, not recommended for a first date. Good thing I was eating with my lovely gal pal who doesn't care what I look like eating.
Zuchhini/mushroom skewers: skip it, really teensy portions and not that interesting.
Kampachi tartare with chips: good as an appetizer.
Sweet cuke salad: also good, small...but able to split with another person.
Some of the dishes are pricier than others. Depends on how much one orders (duh) and the essentials of the dish.
Desserts: Only $3 a piece!? They are very small portions, but honestly just right for a sweet bite to end dinner. Priced well. We had the chocolate trifle and the green tea cheesecake and were very impressed...
Service was impeccable. Ambience upscale, clean, modern and stylish. Great new spot to check out when you don't feel like waiting at Mia Francesca...
OVERALL: recommended for a quick bite and drinks before going out, drinks at the bar, casual first date. Making it an entire dinner may be difficult and pricey, but it's possible. I'll be returning for cocktails on their (soon to open) patio this summer...that Shochu stuff is magical, and I want to try the other desserts ;)
The purple rice pudding is on my radar. I must return. Cocktail list is long, and I am aiming to try them all...
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Decided to hit Wrigleyville/Lakeview with my gf and in looking for somewhere to eat stumbled upon Shochu.
First of all, have to say the sauces were good overall, but some didn't seem that great. Loved the blueberry teriyaki and the pomegranite hoisin as well as the aioli. The thai sweet chili seemed just like the ones you could get in the bottle though.
The shochu was good and the red rice ale was pretty decent.
For food we got the oysters which were actually quite tasty. Also had the kobe beef which was good, but didn't seem as good as the server said it would be. The tonkatsu was really good and was the best dish we had over there. The chicken wings were really good as well. Only thing that we thought was just okay was the shrimp tempura though to be fair, we were warned beforehand by our server. It just seemed like it'd be something more special than 3 pieces of shrimp tempura on sticks.
For dessert we had the lychee poundcake thing with the blueberry soy sauce. While I just couldn't really understand blueberry soy sauce and couldn't really taste the lychee (gf couldn't taste the lychee either) my gf really liked the dessert a lot and really did like the blueberry soy sauce. Maybe I'm just old school and want my soy sauce plain and salty.
Decor was nice, though there were some aspects that seemed tacky like the fireplace connected to the metal pipe thing. Seemed very out of place. There was also a plant near the window that looked out of place as well.
The thing that dropped the stars down was the service. We were told this place is a month old now and you'd think they'd be able to get their act together a little better. We didn't have reservations, but were seated right away. The problem was that it took about 20 minutes before we were even asked for drinks. It was bad enough for service that the table next to us asked the server to forego the dishes they were waiting on because it took so long. It may have been on off night for that so maybe that is why there are so many 5 star ratings for this place.
Would definitely go back again as it was a good meal and was a nice way to start the evening.
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Amazing creative menu that is small plate-tapas style Japanese food. The dipping sauces are dreamy! The skewered eggplant is to die for! We also went gaga for the spare ribs.
Fun drink list, but the Shochu alcohol is glorified sake to my palate. I skipped it and had a lychee martini, which would have been better if they'd put a lychee in it!
All in all another solid restaurant from the folks at Deleece. This is going into my staples list!
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What a treat! This is a great addition to Chicago's restaurant scene.
Here's the break down:
Ambiance - Modern decor with comfortable slightly dim lighting. Cozy fireplace and nice bar.
Service - There were a couple small mistakes. When plates were taken away they were not replaced so when the food came we had no plates to eat on. This also happened with our dessert. The dessert came and they had taken away our silverware and forgotten to replace it.
Drinks - The Bloody Dragon was a wonderful drink. The Mononoke was not as complex, but more refreshing.
Food - Eggplant and zucchini was alright, but the sauces really made the dish. Skirt steak lettuce wraps were delish. The steak was extremely tender and well seasoned. The Adobo spare ribs were very meaty and fall off the bone tender. The chicken wings had a great flavor. I wish they would have rendered some of the fat from the skin, otherwise they were great. The Ono poke with peanut sauce had a nice kick to it. The flavors were strong and the fish was melt in your mouth. The chocolate mousse trifle is awesome! It's the perfect size for a sweet little ending.
Price - We ordered 5 small plates, 1 dessert, and 2 drinks. The bill came out to be $65 including tax. We thought it was a great deal for the quality of food we had.
Overall, this was great. We got there at 7:30pm and it was only about 1/3 full, but it seemed to be more of a late night place. Also the bar was starting to fill up by the time we were done with dinner. This would be a great place a light meal, drinks, and conversation. The music was not too loud. The place was very cozy.
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Dan B. may have loved the Abodo spare ribs, but I really liked the exotic flavors they had for their chicken wings. I did have the Adobo spare ribs, they were a bit salty for me; but other then that they were cooked well.
I would have to agree that the service was great. My friend really liked one of the 7 sauces that they served us. The waiter was nice enough to give her some to go. We had dessert there also. not bad; but ice cream trumps any type of cake.
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Very good food here. The adobo grilled spare ribs were the highlight for me -- I think I could have eaten about 100 of them, they were so good. The curry duck was excellent, and the smoked tuna roll was solid. Good service, nice atmosphere. Portion sizes are good, too -- you won't get massive plates, but it isn't "elf food" to quote the commercial.
Shochu (the alcohol, not the restaurant) is interesting -- similar to vodka, though not as "rubbing alcohol" tasting. I'd recommend the black dragon.
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I couldn't believe that after all the times I've walked by this place, I couldn't find it when I was finally coming in for dinner.
It was probably because I was so excited to try it out--they definitely met my expectations.
Atmosphere coming in is great. Unfortunately, we came on short notice on a Friday and sat at the bar which is fine, but next time I'm hoping to get outdoor seating.
I lived in Japan for 6 months last year and I hopped on the chance to try this place out because shochu was the only thing I could find to drink in Japan that I liked. And no hangovers! I started with the Kiyo which was a perfect combination for a cocktail, and it wasn't too sweet.
A funny thing I noted--the red curry shrimp was f***ing spicy!! This isn't common in Japanese cooking either, so you know that's the fusion influence. Nonetheless, it was still amazing. I also shared wasabi fries, maki (tempura shrimp, bacon, avocado--can we say glutunous?), and shrimp and asian pear yakitori with a friend.
Definitely coming back. If you like Japanese food beyond sushi and are interested in the world of shochus, you must check this place out.
Be careful of this place. I was there with a large group of friends having a good time, but towards the end of dinner, started feeling sick. We were outside, so I thought maybe just the humidity, and started drinking water. No luck. 10 minutes later I was in the bathroom sick to my stomach.
I obviosly started to think through potential causes. I wasn't drinking that night, so it certainly wasn't alcohol. The foods I ate that no one else from my table ate were the tuna tempura and the veggie skewer. But I think the cause was the dipping sauces. Even though these are communal, the plate by me was not used by anyone else. These sauces could have been sitting out for longer than they should. Of course, I'll never know the exact souce, but I am 100% confident this was due to something I ate at Shochu.
I informed the manager and frankly, she was not very concerned or helpful. I got the sense that she didn't believe me. But it frankly doesn't matter - I won't be going back and would recommend others to stay away too.
My girlfriend and I went to this Japanese small plate restaurant Friday night, and we were impressed. We really love tapas and dim sum as we can sample tons of different foods and flavors. Shochu had only opened two nights earlier on 4/23; and the review on Metromix was encouraging.
Food
We ordered the following: skirt steak, chicken breast yakitori, bacon-wrapped dates, blueberry teriyaki quail, tuna pineapple poke, and the smoked salmon roll.
Seven dipping sauces and a salted chili garnish came with the dates and chicken. The sweet Thai chili sauce was the best with the right amount of spice. Chicken was a good choice to try all the dipping sauces presented.
As connoisseurs of bacon-wrapped dates, these rate highly yet just below Twist's. Well-priced for four and the bacon was crispy. No dipping sauce needed.
Quail was tender and juicy (accompanying spaetzle was light).
One misstep was the smoked salmon roll. While good, the salmon in the maki was *cooked* and not smoked. Unconventional or false advertising? Regardless, a Japanese restaurant should know how to make sushi.
Drinks
I had a flight of four 2-oz. pours of shochu, my girlfriend had a red dragon cocktail, and we shared an Hitachino white ale.
Red dragon was stellar and not too, too sweet -- pomegranate, triple sec, sour mix, and lime juice.
Friday was the first time Shochu offered the flight option. I'd recommend they refine it first. Four 2-oz. samples cost $20. While priced properly for the amount served, it's a bit much for one person (and the bartender gave hefty pours). Shochu, the alcohol, is nearly the ABV of vodka, so I essentially did 4+ shots. Yet they were smoother than standard liquor. I was shochu'ed out by the end, as I suspect it's an acquired like most alcohols.
Ambiance
The interior to dark yet inviting, the decor simple, and the music at a tolerable volume. Experience slightly soured by trio of adolescent girls next to us. Some lady of ambiguous relation to the restaurant and girls often observed them.
Service
Informed and attentive. Explained to us the popularity of shochu and directed us to try the skirt steak and tuna poke. The recommendation of the flight was a bit misguided.
Overall
Good value for quality/quantity of food/drink consumed ($108 total tab) with a good atmosphere. There are plenty of sushi joints in Lakeview, but Shochu sets itself apart with many other offerings. Perhaps too many as the menu was overwhelming at times. I also docked Shochu based on the recent opening kinks: cooked salmon and shochu flights. These will be worked out in no time -- the experienced restaurateurs also own Deleece.
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After being informed of a one hour wait at Mia Francesca, we decided to try this place right next door. It just opened this week and it was a great place for a dinner date! The idea is similar to tapas but with Asian food. We ordered a variety of dishes from all of their food categories (salad, hot, cold, etc.) and also received their seven special sauces. The sauces were great and fun and all of the food was delicious (really, I loved everything I ate!). The service was attentive but not overly intrusive and they encouraged us to take our time and order slowly throughout the meal. They also have great cocktails made with Shochu - similar to vodka. The prices seem reasonable - ranging from $3 for a dessert or fries and going up to about $12. Also, it seems they serve dinner until 3AM on Saturdays - a much better choice than the Burrito joints open at that time. :)
The only thing that was bad was that our table was too small for all of the large plates and the table was too wiggly (I almost spilled my drink several times from bumping it). Overall, it's a great addition to this run of restaurants on Clark Street. I'll definitely be back!
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We heard about Shochu on DailyCandy and decided to head over there tonight after making a reservation in the afternoon, which it turns out we didn't need because the place didn't fill up while we were there. I imagine it might be more crowded on the weekend or once the word gets out. Overall, we enjoyed the food (very small portions though) and loved the atmosphere with the dim lighting, brick walls, and mellow music. Service was, as others have said, attentive but not intrusive, and our waiter gave great recommendations. We followed his advice and only ordered 3 or 4 plates at a time to save table space.
We started off with a few drinks, the towari shochu and the rice shochu with pear and green tea. I liked the hazelnut finish of the towari but my boyfriend said he couldn't taste it, and we both agree the smell wasn't wonderful. The pear cocktail, however, was lovely and refreshing. I definitely recommend that.
For the food, we started off with the wasabi fries, which were quite tasty but definitely need chopsticks (they're pretty wet), bacon wrapped dates, which we were told came from Twist's so it's no wonder they're similar, kobe steak, and the tuna poke, which was yummy and accompanied by tiny chunks of pineapple. Because we ordered 2+ dishes on the right side of the menu (I forget the category names), we got the seven sauces as well. Their takes on ranch and miso aioli were our favorites, while the blueberry teriyaki was my biggest disappointment because it tasted pretty much just like soy sauce.
After all this, we decided to get the adobo ribs and the smoked quail legs, too, because we were still hungry. Our waiter warned us that the latter was small, and it really was, but tasted good, and the ribs were tender and came with the most delicious sauce. We opted not to get any sushi since my boyfriend claims "it didn't feel like a sushi place".
Unfortunately, the lychee dessert was gone (and it was our waiter's favorite) so we ended up going with the rice pudding and the chocolate cake for dessert. I liked being able to taste the individual rice as opposed to one big mush. We didn't taste any wasabi with the cake, though, which wasn't a big deal since we had a ton with our fries earlier. All four desserts were $3 each but they are extremely tiny!
While my boyfriend felt like he was still hungry after dessert, I think I had just the right amount. Next time I hope we'll be able to get the lychee dessert before it runs out!
[3.5] - the food was good but not amazing, and sometimes the flavors didn't quite mix
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I was .... whelmed by Shochu. Not underwhelmed, but not delighted. I love the idea of Japanese-style tapas, and the sauces were awesome. Our waitress was really nice and friendly.
I guess part of my problem was that this reminded me of Deleece in not-the-best way: some of the food was super, and some of it was cruddy. Another part of the problem is that I hate the fact that food-inflation has gotten to tapas restaurants now. This is not Shochu's fault per se, and I don't necessarily blame them for it, but my favorite tapas restaurants are the ones where the plates really are SMALL, and they cost $3-6, ( a la Sweet Devil Moon in Atlanta) so that you really want to order a lot of them. When most of the plates average $8-10, and you only need a couple to be pretty full, that's what I want in a tapas place.
Oh well. I'm sure I'll be back to Shochu, cause it's a nice enough place, and I may even grow to really like it.
The bacon wrapped cherry tomatoes were the best part of the meal. I loved all of the dipping sauces and the fact that this place does not offer straight up soy sauce. It forced me to enjoy some new flavors.
Some star deductions because I would NOT recommend the Kobe beef - it was super chewy. Flavor was good, texture was not. Work on that , Shochu. Also, please soak the wooden skewers in water before putting them on the grill - otherwise it falls apart into a hot carbon mess on my plate.
The menu is pretty limited, so I don't know if we'll go back for food, but definitely for drinks. If you like Shochu, this is one of the only places in town where you can get it.
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I went to Shochu on a Thurs night to meet up with some friends to celebrate a birthday. The place was pretty slow, but people were def stopping in for drinks at the bar. I would say the food was a 3.5, but I'm giving them a 4 because service was great and I LOVED their sauces.
So I'm looking at their online menu and I see that they've already raised their prices.. inflation?
Anyway this is what we ordered and how we rated it:
Red Curry Shrimp: very good and spicy
Adobo braised spare ribs: loved the tenderness, but a little too salty (maybe it would have been better with rice)
Lamb tartare: horrible... very bland. it made me scared of the raw meat!
These 2 plates are meant to be dipped in the 7 sauces:
Bacon wrapped dates: good, but you really can't get it wrong
Wasabi fries: one of our faves... ours weren't mushi and we ate it with chopsticks :)
The 7 sauces were amazing!!! You can taste all the layers of flavors... my faves were the sansho bokoujou and the Miso lychee aioli.
For dessert we had the bean flan - gross, choc trifle - yum, and green tea cheesecake - fave.
Go there for the sauces. We didn't see a Maki menu so I wonder if they stopped serving rolls or if they just never gave it to us?
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Just got back from dinner at Shochu. We weren't sure what to expect after reading some of the online reviews, but we had a fun time. Like other tapas-style restaurants, it is a good place to go with a group so you can try a bunch of different plates. I really enjoyed the Asian twist.
Our waitress was fantastic. Very friendly, attentive and informative about the menu. She also made some great recommendations for us.
Things we liked best:
-shrimp and Asian pear skewer (great combination of flavors)
- yellow curry lobster (yum!!)
- the guava/ginger shochu cocktail (ginger was freshly grated and perfectly balanced the guava)
- the blackberry shochu cocktail (seemed scary without a mixer, but none was needed)
-chicken and scallion skewer (great with the with dipping sauces!)
- spicy tuna roll (the fish was really fresh)
I also really liked the tuna poke, which is like a tuna ceviche. I am a fan of meat and fruit together though. It wasn't really my friends' thing.
Of the seven sauces, our favorites were the persimmon hoisin, blueberry teriyaki, lychee aioli and Thai chile.
We thought the steak lettuce rolls were good, but not our favorite of the bunch. I also liked the raspberry shochu cocktail, but not as much as the other two.
The only dish we were not huge fans of was the blueberry quail. It wasn't bad, but it didn't have a ton of flavor. The table next to us got the quail and bacon skewer, which looked better and came with the blueberry dipping sauce. I would do that next time.
I might also skip dessert next time. You must love molasses and brown sugar if you get the flan. It is kind of rich compared to the light and fresh ingredients in the main dishes. The lychee cake had a great flavor and consistency, but the saltiness of the soy in the sauce ended up overpowering the cake. If we got it again, I would just ask them to do the cake with some berries instead of the sauce.
Overall, a good experience. Especially for such a young restaurant. I hope they do well. We'll be back.
Expansive menu sure to please most dinners, Shochu features tasty pokes, nicely grilled yakatori and tapas size curry and steak entrees. We had the bacon wrapped dates, tuna poke, shrimp curry, and chicken and scallion yakatori, all of which were nicely seasoned and tasty. We tasted both a berry shochu cocktail and another similar to a margarita. Both were satisfying for a hot summer day. Friendly and efficient service as well.
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$55 (per person) later, 6 of us left this place with empty wallets and empty stomachs.
Food was hit or miss. The lobster curry was bitter and awful. The strawberry shiso salad was delicious, but so small that everyone had a half strawberry. All the skewers were tiny and over salted. Short ribs were good but tiny. Everything else we ordered was just not that memorable.
Finish this review with a positive note: the drinks were good.
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I stumbled upon this place the day after it opened, and have already been back twice! Attentive service and a creative menu in a mellow atmosphere. I really enjoyed the octopus and edemame salad, the bacon-wrapped dates, and the Kobe tartare. Not a huge fan of the wasabi fries (they're an interesting dish, but a little mushy), but the Japanese eggplant and zucchini is awesome. The best part though was the chocolate mousse trifle for dessert! I definitely look forward to my next visit, and I can't wait until they start serving weekend brunch!
My friend and I went here for dinner. She loved it and raves about it still. I was a little less impressed. I felt the food lacked structure. Nothing was bad, by any means...it was just kind of sloppy. The flavors weren't as distinct as I would have liked them to be. And my drink, which is one of their big things, was only ok. It lacked flavor.
On the plus side, I think the price listed here is totally wrong. We paid about $55 for three people and two of us got drinks...that's pretty cheap for a decent place.
In the end I thought it was ok. I'm not dying to go back but if someone wanted to go, I wouldn't object.
As first time diners me and my God sis were not impressed at all! When you first walk in, the ambiance is soothing and welcoming. The staff is on point and knowledgeable of the items on the menu. However, the food itself was nothing to rave about. We ordered the marinated grilled skirt steak which is served medium rare on butter lettuce and side of kimchee; the beef was chewy to the point you couldn't even bite through without pulling your whole lettuce wrap apart. The pork gyoza was just so so, it came with 7 different dipping sauces and only one of them was worth re-dipping into (the blueberry teriyaki). Lastly, we had the tempura shrimp, bacon and avocado roll. This was the MOST disappointing of all three dishes we tried. The minute I put it in my mouth, I immediately had a fishy, stale taste! Who knew you could make a shrimp tempura roll not tasty! The shrimp was old and small and the bacon was just...weird. The only thing we enjoyed during our whole meal was our cocktail! The lychee with green apple was refreshing and wonderful. I would recommend this for drinks after dinner, but DEFINITELY not for a main course or even apps. Portions are way too small and the price is outrageous!
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