Kyoten Next Door — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

UPDATE: Pictures are for a SEPARATE occasion.

Phan the Man himself graced our presence and explained to us that Kyoten Next Door was supposed to be a purely traditional omakase experience, with mostly nigiri and things that are "not super rare" like scallop (and Miyazaki A5, apparently). However, he did promise that it is otherwise the same good fish, so I can contend that the fish is legit. Good thing I took a picture of the menu, so you can entertain some of my comments on it here:

The salmon tastes like GOOD salmon. I'm afraid the thing about salmon though, is that it can only go so far. There's no significant difference between a fine salmon and a regular, "acceptable" sashimi-grade salmon, as far as I can tell. It's basically the same taste, just "better" (fattier, fresher, etc.) The next piece I had was the masu or sakura trout. It tasted like smoked salmon without being smoked, which was mildly interesting. The madai is rather mild, but has a butteriness that fills up your whole mouth and gives quite the lingering aftertaste. It was our chef's (a fine Chinese man whose name I'll definitely misspell) favorite piece. The tuna section contained a customary spread of akami, then chutoro and otoro, but the preparation and profile of each was quite interesting. The chutoro was fattier than any piece I've ever had before it, and I was counting otoro from other places into the mix. It was actually so intense that it made me afraid I won't be able to take the otoro without passing out from overload. Fortunately, the otoro was torched and ended up tasting like tuna bacon, as it was referred to by the chefs. The otoro was the overwhelming fan favorite, to nobody's surprise, but personally, I felt each piece was the best of its kind I've ever tasted. The Miyazaki A5 wagyu was also torched and tasted surprisingly lean compared to the fat bombs I've had before. Perhaps it is the torching, perhaps it is because it's a slice of the filet mignon (I didn't get to see the cut of beef that our pieces were sliced from, so I can't be too sure). Regardless, it is a supremely tender piece of beef that still manages to retain much of its juicy, meaty flavor without turning into something that "merely" melts in your mouth. Despite the scallop being deemed too poor-people to be served in the main abode, I actually found it to be my favorite nigiri of the night. This scallop is anything but subtle. It has an extremely strong, very in-your-face punch of flavor, yet it doesn't taste the least bit fishy and doesn't need any drop of lemon to mask it. I regularly refer to uni as the foie gras of the sea, and that has never been more true than for the fresh Grade-A uni served here. This uni tastes even more liver-y than the actual foie gras at The Duck Inn! I'd describe the gindara (black cod) in one word: Smoky. This fish tastes like a lawn's worth of BBQ smoke lightly circulating inside your mouth. Or maybe I'm just hallucinating after living in a Houstonian suburb for too long I don't even know.

There are many other fishes that I honestly forgot how to describe them after so long, such as the aji and hamachi, but they were all pretty good.

At the end of the meal, we were served 3 pieces of not-nigiri. Due to character limit, I'll just mention that Otto Phan's take on the tamago is, somehow, the most Hoosier dish I've tasted in my life. It's an egg custard with so much corn flavor that, having lived in the corn fields of Fort Wayne for 6 years, I cannot help but approve.

TL;DR If you really like...

I was genuinely looking forward to my meal at Kyoten Next Door, given its reputation and the caliber of its sibling restaurant. Unfortunately, the experience left me disappointed. The sushi, which should be the highlight of any omakase, was surprisingly underwhelming.

One of the most distracting aspects was the rice. The grains were unusually large—so much so that they overpowered the delicately sliced fish. Sushi is a balance of texture, temperature, and proportion, and here it felt skewed. I'm not sure why the chef insists on this particular style, but it detracted from the subtlety and finesse one expects at this price point.

Overall, while the ambiance and service were fine, the food didn’t live up to the expectations or the price. With so many other exceptional sushi experiences available in the city, I’m not in a...

We really loved our experience here and had some of the best cuts of fish we’ve ever had. They can adjust the rice and wasabi levels per your liking and really focus on the flavors of each individual piece. This was one of our first omakase experiences and we were pretty impressed. While nearly everything was wonderful, 2 of the 16 courses fell short for us. If you’re not a fan of Uni, I would strongly recommend skipping it. While we finished our serving, it’s not a taste I ever want to experience again and my only focus was trying to get the terrible taste out of my mouth to move on the more delicious fish. The final dish which was a corn and maple style custard really didn’t end the dinner on a high note. Service was wonderful and overall a very enjoyable experience that is great for...