Sutadonya Chicago — Restaurant in Elk Grove Township

Blah! This place is not for me at all.

We visit Mitsuwa routinely, and have always given Sutadonya a miss, since it didn't look like something I'd enjoy. However, we finally tried it today, just in the interest of trying something new. In the end, my first impressions held up.

We were forewarned that it can take a while to get your food after ordering, so with that in mind, we were prepared to wait. The food didn't come real quickly, but I didn't feel the wait was anything too over the top. We provided our cell number so we could be texted once the food was ready, and just wandered around Mitsuwa until then.

I ordered the Piri Pork with Vegetables. It looked a bit like Chinese food, and did sort of taste like a kung pao dish. It had a bit of heat and was quite heavy on the peanut sauce - especially in the rice. Speaking of which, I would say that rice fills up about 90% of the bowl. I am glad there was so much cabbage in this dish, because I didn't care for the meat at all (what little there was). It was like very thin ribbons of pork fat, and had my least favorite sort of pork flavor - almost gamey, but worse.

My husband originally wanted the teriyaki pork bowl. Although it is the Number 4 item on their posted menu, the touch screen you order from didn't have it? We checked every digital page, and it wasn't there. So he went with the headliner, the regular Garlic Pork Bowl, instead. I would say his dish tasted a bit better than mine, especially if you like heavy garlic, which I do. That said, it was just as rice-heavy, and the pork was of the same quality.

We also tried the pan-fried gyoza. It was pretty tasty, but also kind of heavy on the butter, which I assume it was fried in. Still, this was probably the best thing we tried from here.

This is absolutely junk food, through and through, which can sometimes hit the spot. But, even by that standard, this is just not for me. Especially for the price, which is not insignificant, I would not...

I haven't consumed rice in days, and I'm beginning to feel weak and fatigued. I need rice in my system or my body will go nuts because I'm Asian, this is a curse.

I've discovered a location that can satisfy my craving. Some of the items they provide include rice, which is a plus. I immediately placed my order via kiosk since this is a counter service restaurant.

I swiftly found a seat after submitting my order; now I'm just waiting patiently. It may seem like an eternity, yet my sacrifice will be rewarded.

I was irritated to find out my meal was done without knowing when it would be ready because the staff didn't bother to contact me or yell my order number thankfully I was paying attention else I'd be starving to death.

My mood altered once I had the food and returned to the table. The food was served in a to-go plastic container with a lid, which I thought was a good idea in case folks couldn't finish their meal.

It's a basic rice dish with nothing special to say. It simply served fried chicken over rice. The chicken was still hot, and the outside was quite crispy with a satisfying crunch. I personally think they overdid the sauce because the rice had been drenched in it. The sauce is tasty, but there is far too much vinegar flavor.

I'm pleased with my decision, and the rice dish served its function; now I can resume my life as usual. Thank you...

During my time in Japan I frequented gyudon fast food restaurants, particularly Yoshinoya and Sukiya. So, a month removed from being overseas, I decided to splurge a bit and come here for the after some shopping at Mitsuwa. Here, they call it a "beef sutadon", but let's not be cute, it's just gyudon with more garlic.

Perhaps as a consequence of much higher price versus the dish being served in Japan (~1500 yen vs. $26, accounting for extra portion, cabbage, egg, miso and Pepsi) or more intense seasoning, the quality of American beef won here and the main dish was quite flavorful. Rice was pretty quality too, even better (dare I say) than fast-food gyudon in Japan.

The egg (soft and smushed into in a sauce cup) was pretty good addition to the gyudon. It also added a bit of fat to mask the strong salt content that gyudon is known for. However the miso soup was way too strong and the cabbage was pretty glucosinolate-filled (tasting noticeably bitter), so much so that I couldn't eat it.

Would I recommend? Absolutely. I'll also be on the lookout for the few other places that have it. But it definitely...