Cocoro Restaurant — Restaurant in Chicago

For traditional authentic Japanese restaurants in the area, this place is not bad. We have been patrons to this restaurant on and off for over 10 years, we don’t go very often but this is really the only place in town that serves authentic Japanese with a full menu, and not one of those fusion sushi wannabe ramen places around town. The reason we don’t go very often is because the service is very unpredictable, I would say 50/50 you will get prompt service and the other half, you could wait 15 to 20 minutes just standing there with a reservation and the restaurant only at 80% occupancy. You could also wait at least 30-40 minutes for your appetizer and another 30 for on trays. In other words, easily a two hour meal where 80% of that is just waiting. There are 2 servers, 1 sushi chef, 1 busboy, and this guy who answers the phone sometimes and spends a long time chatting with patrons but does nothing else. This is on a weekend. So what we figured out after all of these years, is don’t go during the weekend if you don’t have the time to waste, if the restaurant is busy, look at the number of order tickets at the sushi bar and how many tables have been served, you need to order the right combination of dishes in order to get them faster. Sushi is fast, but not when there are 10-15 tickets ahead of you. The price is downtown price, more than the burbs for sure. The quality of the food is Ok, compare to the same type of restaurant in Japan, they will get about 3 stars only but for the US, 4 star is good. Most of the dishes to me are a little under flavored, especially the nagasaki champon and Curry, the Sukiyaki is one pot style, so you cannot really choose what to eat when and how well to cook each item. But at least it is better than the pre-cooked style over rice. I still prefer the traditional way better, not many places in the US has that now. I would recommend this place if you are downtown since this is it anyway and you have not spent any extensive amount of time in Japan, because if you have, it would make you miss visiting...

Had been craving Hayashi Rice for some time now. From my search, I saw this place has it thought it didn't show up on their menu. Decided to give it a try anyway. GLAD I DID.

Fabulous place. Big and ultra high ceilings. Has a beautiful small bar you can order food off of which seemed more comfortable than your typical bars.

I found out the owners are Japanese. That got me super excited as most of the Japanese restaurants in the US I have been to are typically owned by Chinese or Koreans. I was able to speak to them in Japanese which was just nostalgic.

I've tried yakitori in many many places in the US but none of them come close to what you get in Japan. I had to try it over here when I saw it on the menu. The sauce was as close as you can get to the ones you get in Japan. If you've had them in Japan, you will know what I mean. The chicken was about 10% overcooked but the flavor of the sauce compensated that for me.

We ordered some scallops that were from the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Mmmmmmmmmm, absolutely delicious.

We also ordered the Beef Teriyaki box. I didn't realize how hungry I was till I nearly finished this meal. Beautifully served in a traditional Japanese divided box/plate. The beef itself was ok. I've had better. The tempura was right on and perfect. The sushi was pretty good. The pickles you can't go wrong. The one thing that took me by surprise was what I believe is called Ohitashi; it's the green piece in the picture with loads of soft spinach rolled with some seasonings and some kind of liquid seasoning. Never had that but was DELICIOUS (Maybe not for everyone cause I know a lot of Americans don't like spinach. I LOVE spinach).

The star for me was what you will see on the lower right hand side. I don't know what you call those but I've had those in Japan growing up and I kid you not, hadn't had them for over 20 years.

I think this is going to be my new favorite Japanese...

CAUTION!! I don’t normally leave reviews, but this experience was particularly appalling so I have to say something.... they served me clearly bad fish, told me I was wrong, and then still expected me to pay for it even though it was unpalatable.

I went with some friends after work and I ordered a rainbow roll and some gyoza. As soon as the roll arrived, the whole table was filled with a foul “fish” smell, like a fish market. Anyone who knows fresh sushi knows this is a red flag.

I tried a piece anyway, and it left a foul fishy taste in my mouth. Others at the table tried a piece and agreed there was something wrong with the roll.

I very politely mentioned it to the waitress and she took the rest of the roll away... and returned with the owner who assured me the fish was fresh and tastes fine. I disagreed, stating I’ve had hundreds of rainbow rolls and this one was very clearly bad. The whole table reeked.

She then asked me which part of the roll was bad (seriously?) .... I said all of it. The two pieces I ate were not good. And she said specifically which part, so I said I tried the salmon and tuna. And she returned with the sushi chef and a plate with a salmon fillet on it... she then points at the chef and told me “he would know if the fish is fresh, he knows the taste”. And refused to acknowledge that they served me a bad roll.

They literally served me bad fish, told me I was wrong, and then made me pay for it.

I will never eat at this restaurant again, and neither will any of my friends who were there to witness me being flat-out robbed by this place.

I highly suggest you find a different restaurant for...