Wakamono — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Had a really nice date-night at Wakamono, really spot-on environment for a night out or just simply Japanese. Pricing was a little high but not too egregious. Staff was very friendly and very busy. Positives: everything was really really good. Staff is friendly, environment is cozy, no wait, awesome menu, lots of vegetarian options. Negatives: Not enough staff for attention we expected, spicy miso soup was just regular miso with sliced jalapeños, price a little high, a few things a little over-sauced, noise level too high.

Miso Soup: The soup was great, it had that traditional/classic flavor with seaweed and tofu you expect and just that is enough to bring me back. We were offered regular or spicy which is another aspect I liked. Any way you can help me customize my meal I’m all on board. We got one of each. Wakamono tops the soup with crispy shallots which is a nice touch. I like fresh jalapeños in my food so the crunch and brightness was welcome but it wasn’t the expected “spicy” which we both thought would be from Chile Oil or something more Japanese by origin. Would get again.

Cocktail/Sake: We got the special that night and the sweet sake (third one down on the menu I believe) and we were both very happy with it. The sake was enough for two to enjoy. The restaurant was a little loud so we couldn’t hear exactly what was in the cocktail but didn’t hear anything we didn’t like so we took a gamble. The noise thing was pretty big for me, it’s probably the biggest thing of the night that I felt needed to be corrected. Would get again.

Seaweed Salad: Also really good, but too too wet. Whatever was being used as the liquids or sauce in this seaweed salad was too much. It was drowning the seaweed unfortunately which is what we look forward to tasting and eating. That fantastic crunch and mouthfeel. This had really good flavor but could use less liquids.

Shishito Peppers: Well cooked and seasoned. These were delicious. They also had a little too much liquid but not as bad as the seaweed. Would get again.

Steamed Sea Bass: This was amazing. It disappeared. I wish I had an entire sea bass of this, it was that good. No other comments. If you can only get one thing, get this. Would of course get again.

Tuna Flight: Well presented and left you with just a taste of each of the four presented. My date was not into raw fish and after joining me on this flight, that is no longer the case. Everything was really fresh and flavorful and the right experience to enjoy fish. ...

One of the worst restaurant I ever went. I usually don't go hard on sushi restaurant in Chicago because we are so far away from the ocean so the quality wound not be great anyway.

This place is way overpriced, and a bad quality. A ramen for $15 that clearly not homemade and extremely salty; the broth feels like instant powder and my friend who ate it got sick right after eating it. I ordered a full set of sushi for $30 and I was expecting a quality one but my rice was ice cold like it came from refrigerator. The tuna was slimey and disgusting. The tempura roll is alright but there are way better place than this for cheaper price.

But the reason I'm reviewing this place is the staff. The waitress were literally bad mouth a customer in Thai expecting nobody understands them. Sadly, a Thai customer was there. I wouldn't mind the waitress gossipping behind in the kitchen, but really? In front of me? Me and my friends literally spent over a hundred dollars and all we got is not only bad quality overcharged food, but a rude service too?

I'm really upset because I was expecting it to be a great meal session but i will never go back here again...

Really amazing restaurant, fantastic food, great service. The waitress are friendly, and the food is sent out in good time. The food is spectacular, although a bit pricey, but so worth it. Best example would be, a order if hamachi (yellow tail) at Wakamono, is equivalent to 1 1/2 orders in the surrounding Japanese restaurant, however, the slices here are thicker, and the fish more fresher, making it that much better. The rolls are in simpler words phenomenal, they are not only delicious, but beautiful, really a colorful work of art done by a master. The only con to the restaurant is more to my personal taste. I found the tamago to be lacking in flavor, for a sweet egg, it wasnt very sweet, same for the inari. The cheeseburger Bento was fantastic, but the burger a bit over done, leading to a the meat being over dry, but that is over come by the kimchi slaw that is placed on top of the patty. Besides that, the bento has some other great choices, must try wasabi fries, or red bean corn cake among other great choice Over all, this is a fantastic restaurant with some really amazing flavorful...