#tbt #1 - Arami, Chicago

     It's #tbt! I figured on Thursdays of each week, I'd make a post about some yummies previously experienced before the creation of this blog. Since my first real post was about sushi, I thought I'd follow it up with some more. My husband, daughter and I spent good amounts of time traveling both domestically and abroad in the past couple of years. During Thanksgiving week, 2012, we flew to Chicago to spend the holiday since my in-laws were both out of the country on business. As much as I love traveling, I'm not all that for doing it during the holidays, but I was never much of a family holiday person to begin with. Sorry for the low-q photos, all were taken with an iPhone in a low-light setting... you know how that goes.
     The weather was fair this particular evening in the Windy City, and by fair I mean very, very, windy. No rain or snow was good enough for me. We drove from our hotel to the Ukrainian Village, which took no more than half an hour in semi-heavy traffic. From what I remember, Arami didn't particularly stand out in the row of window-fronts lining Chicago Ave. The entrance to the restaurant was small, barely noticeable and we wound up passing by the door a couple of times before finally noticing it. Inside, however, the restaurant had a warm, almost trendy atmosphere, with a small bar directly facing the door. The hostess greeted us and led us to a small table in a quiet room towards the back of the restaurant where a few other tables were already filled (it actually extended in pretty far, with two "separate" rooms - one with a long sushi counter, and another with tables).

Cold Sake Tedori Gawa - Flower Meadow

      We started out with a bottle of sake. I don't typically drink sake so I'm not a fair judge of it, but I had a small cup full to taste. It was sweet and refreshing with a mild burn going down and despite being chilled, the liquid really warmed me up.

Uni Shooter

      The whole experience at Arami was pleasant - both our waiter and alternate servers brought the food in succession, a "course" meal, and described what was present in each plate. This was the first time I had eaten uni, and it was amazing! It made me fall completely in love with the sea critter gonad, which was seasoned perfectly with whatever the chef put in the glass, and the green tobiko popped in briney bliss.

Secret Hamachi

      The Secret Hamachi, a chef special, came with truffle oil and king mushrooms on top with microgreens. The hamachi was fresh, as was all of the raw fish we ordered, but the combination here was really nothing memorable at $9/2 pc.

Toro Tartare Bite

      The toro tartare was good, with just enough fat to make the bite soft, although the whole thing wasn't overly flavorful.

Otoro and Chutoro

    Oh my, oh my oh my ohmyohmyohmy. The otoro was one of the best things I've ever eaten. I really hate to attribute the word "mushy" to raw fish, most sashimi is typically a tad mushy. The otoro was firm, and when bitten into, all of the fat in the meat just splurged and melted (ok, I realize this is a rather unpleasant image, I'm sorry). The flavor was intensely rich, not unpleasant at all as some may think when eating fat; imagine your favorite toro or maguro, multiply by 100x on the scale of deliciousness, and BAM! you have this otoro. In contrast, the chutoro, while having considerable fat content, was nothing like the otoro and was rather unimpressionable when consumed after.

Gyu

     These beef skewers grilled in uni butter with scallion came with roasted garlic on the side. The uni wasn't very apparent but it gave the beef a deep, lingering richness that I loved. The pieces of meat themselves were on the tough side, and one skewer was overcooked compared to the other.

Hamachi Maguri Ebi

     Tuna, yellowtail, shrimp roll. There was a spicy sauce on top, which gave the roll a really nice kick. This was better than most rolls I've had elsewhere.

Soft-shell Crab

     I love, love, love soft-shell crab! Everything about it is just so good, from the innards to the meat. The crab in this roll was definitely hefty, and it had much more crab meat than what you'd typically find with soft-shell crab rolls. The crab was quite sweet and succulent, and it left me wanting more.

Arami Ramen

     Since my daughter really couldn't eat any of the raw foods, we ordered a ramen for her to split with my husband. I tasted the broth, didn't eat much of anything else since the rolls were surprisingly filling. The soup was very good, the flavor quite different from other pork or miso based ramen, and my daughter ate much more than I had hoped. She did also munch on a small piece of the crab, which was definitely not on her list of favorites.
     Our bill totaled $175 after tip, which is rather pricey, but the food was worth it!

Arami
1829 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 243-1535