Kai Sushi — Restaurant in Lake View Township

This is our neighborhood sushi joint. I love sashimi and have it at least once a week when I lived in Asia. Even when I lived in Europe, I had them often. I was happy to find a sushi restaurant within 3 minutes walk from my place when I moved to Chicago. I find it quite pricey, but I guess considering the neighborhood, it was decent for the area. I would maybe get one bowl of chirashi once every 2 weeks. I find the quality of their fish fresh and top notch. They also slice them pretty generously, thick and wide. The rice is mildly vinegared and not too overpowering. All in all, the quality is very good and so I spend 10 dollars more on their chirashi bowl than on other nearby but cheaper sushi places, where the fish are so thin you can see through them (and therefore tasteless) and the rice so vinegared you can taste nothing but the vinegar. Other cheap joints also slice their fish oddly, such that the fish looks macerated and uneven.

Then during summer, they rolled out half off sushi during Mondays and Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, my husband and I would have sushi night here. They have good sushi and with the discount, it's a no brainer.

Overall, this place is a bit pricier than other neighborhood sushi joints but I believe the quality reflects the price. You do get what...

This is the first time I ordered from here and it just shot up to one of, in my opinion, the best sushi places in the city. To give you perspective, my other favorites are: Mako, Kai Zan (my husband and I knew they were amazing when they were at Kyoto in LP), Maku, Juno, Yugen and Naoki (closed). Now, I know these are all higher end places but Kai Sushi is a awesome for a, “local”, go-to, like Toro in Lincoln Park. If I lived nearby, I would be getting it several times per week. It was ALL amazingly fresh and delicious.

I ordered Ikura Sashimi (sweet, briny and a touch of smokey), Salmon Belly (just melted away), Citrus Salmon Roll (so delicate and balanced), miso (warm and delightful umami).

I’m hopeful that I didn’t jump the gun with this review and that my next order is equally as...

Would give this place 10 stars if I could! We went expecting a pretty standard BYOB sushi experience but got something so much more unique and were blown away by the Omakase experience! Chef created five of the most delicious Japanese dishes, each with a beautiful, unique presentation. It was so much fun to watch Chef work and share his craft with us - plus EVERYTHING was so good! We had so much fun we went back with our out of town visitors the next weekend. We’ll be back again soon for sure!

Overall, I would recommend Kai Sushi to anyone - fresh fish, great prices and BYOB! And definitely would recommend the Omakase experience if you are celebrating or have a special occasion....