Yusho

Logan Square has gained a truly impressive little place with Chef Mathias Merges' Yusho. First, I need to point out how aesthetically pleasing the decor is. Light fixtures hanging from ropes, a projector flickering against a brick exposed wall, and cozy seating. Oh, and if lightbulbs could be considered "badass", then they definitely had some really 'badass' lighbulbs. I can't even explain the bulbs, so I had to get a picture. (Oh, the little things in life that excite me) It had a very vintage, minimalist, woodsy feel to it, with little pops of color here and there, and well...it proves that sometimes less is more. Awesome interior.

Enjoying my Soba... obnoxiously.

Chef Mathias Merges worked for Charlie Trotter's before opening Yusho, so I had already had high expectations for what was about to consume. Maybe that is why I feel that it fell a little short for me.

The food. On Sundays they have a special "Sunday Noodles" menu for $20 a person. You get to choose your main course and drink, and end the meal off with a dessert. They have an eclectic arrangement of noodles. While my fellow diner tried to persuade me into ordering the beef tongue, I admit that I played it a little safe and ordered a chilled Soba with scallions, chickpea mayonnaise, watercress, and burdock,served with 3 chicken drummies. My guest ordered the logan poser ramen with crispy pigs tail, hen egg, nori, and cucumber.

The Soba was my favorite part of the meal with every perfectly al dente bite. The perfectly seasoned noodles were triumphant as I rather foolishly slurped them from my chopsticks. The only setback was that there weren't enough of them. Maybe its because I'm American, and we all know how gluttonous we are, but the portion sizes weren't enough to fill me up. Yeah, I could have ordered appetizers, or 'snacks' as they refer to them on the menu, but I just didn't feel like spending $8 on a steam bun (maybe next time). Besides the fact that I was still aching for more noodle, the flavor and texture was all there, and fully recommend it.

Logan Poser Ramen
photo courtesy of Yusho webstie

The Logan poser ramen was a portion of even less noodles (or so it seemed), and a brothy, hot dish. Once again the flavors were absolute, and I could have drank the broth with a straw if I wouldn't have been shunned by society, but it wasn't my dish at all, and modestly sampled a tidbit for reference. 

The house made sassafras soda was like sex in a glass. The other option was an alcoholic cocktail, which changes if I was informed correctly. Today it was a bourbon concoction. I'm not a big bourbon drinker, but I will say that this cocktail was pretty solid, although felt a little too "limey" if there ever were such thing.

We ended our meal off with the included dessert, a cocoa soft serve with crunchy sushi rice, and quince. The dessert portion was monstrous compared to the actual meal, which was a bit upsetting. The soft serve was luscious and rich. The cocoa was a bit bitter, which I prefer over that artificial, overly sweet milk chocolate taste. It paired well with the quince and the crunch of the sushi rice added a little more dimension. 

courtesy of yusho's facebook.

Our server, Johnathan was attentive, although he mixed my drink order up (which was okay with me since I got to have both the sassafras soda and the bourbon cocktail). Overall, I'd return if I were looking for something to hold me over for a little while and not for an entire meal. I left wanting more, maybe that was the entire point? I'll make my way back to Yusho on a weekday instead to experience a different menu.

website: www.yusho-chicago.com

2853 N. Kedzie

(773) 904-8558

PS. I told you the light bulbs were cool.