March 03--Four-month-old Momotaro breaks a lot of rules.
The menu is enormous, its seven pages enough to daunt even the most confident diner. The dining rooms are busy and boisterous, a far and noisy cry from the placidity toward which most Chicago Japanese restaurants aim. There are items available in one part of the restaurant that are unavailable in another. And should you wish to extend your compliments to the chef, the response might be: Which one?
Give the Boka boys -- that would be Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz -- points for ambition and fearlessness. The group that operates Boka, Girl the Goat and GT Fish Oyster, to name a few, has opened its riskiest venture yet. One of these days, these guys are going to swing and miss; this is not one of those days.
Sitting on a corner in the restaurant-rich, ever-growing Market District, Momotaro occupies more than 11,000 square feet and can seat up to 250 among its three floors. The massive, main-floor room seats about 130 amid wood-paneled walls, with a buzzing sushi bar in its middle and a Tokyo stock-exchange facade meant to evoke Japan in its postwar economic boon. It's a bold change from the minimalist, white-wall, orchids-and-posters decor that you see everywhere else.
Above this is a private dining room; below, there's an izakaya, a cocktail-focused space whose dark decor and narrow walkways impart a mysterious, back-alley vibe.
The Boka group is famous for its ability to attract top talent, and Momotaro is no exception. There are two chefs here; Mark Hellyar, who oversees the hot side of the menu, and Japan-born Jeff Ramsey, who oversees the sushi operation, although the day-to-day sushi kitchen is run by Kaze Chan, a veteran Chicago sushi chef.
The sashimi omakase is presented beautifully, the fish pieces arranged in a bowl with little bamboo-spike identifiers. It's a nice nine-piece assortment, highlighted by some especially fatty saba (mackerel), but for the most part this is Sashimi 101, filled with the usual suspects (akami and otoro tuna, yellowtail, cured salmon, sea bream). Seasoned diners likely will prefer the sushi omakase, a straight line of imaginatively dressed nigiri pieces. As each fish variety is represented by one nigiri, this is a difficult dish to share.
You're probably better off ordering individual pieces, in which case try the aji yakusugi, which is jack mackerel smoked with ignited shavings from a 1,000-year-old cypress tree; the two-piece serving arrives under a lid, locking in the fragrance until the moment it's placed in front of you. It's a real treat. Also worthy are overlapping curls of shimaaji (horse mackerel) in a tiny puddle of dashi, and barely seared bonito alongside wakame sunomono, a tangy cucumber-seaweed salad. And whatever the day's special might be, it will be worthy (utterly delicious tuna zuke nigiri one visit), but likely expensive ($8 per piece).
You'll have to try a tartare; the question is, which one? There's the indulgent, $25 toro tartare, a flavor-rich pile of pale-pink meat, dressed judiciously and served on an ice slab; and the momotaro tartare, which looks just like tuna tartare (there are even some capers and shallots in the mix) but consists of diced sweet tomato (momotaro is a Japanese variety), Maui onion and shiso leaves (which impart a hint of mint). The toro is wonderful, but I'd opt for the momotaro, which you won't find anywhere else.
The warm side of the menu (which includes some cold items; I told you this menu was daunting) is broken into six subcategories. There are snacks, which include edamame and a nifty salad of ogo (Hawaiian seaweed), nopales (cactus, thin sliced) and konbu (dried kelp, finely chopped and sprinkled like salt). The hot list includes a delicious chawan mushi with crab meat and truffle, and a terrific cedar-roasted sea bream with shiso dressing, a simple, clean dish that's one of my favorites.
"From the Coals" embraces small robata-grilled dishes, such as skewered chicken hearts with a garlic-citrus glaze, ginger-seasoned chicken meatballs topped with quail eggs, skirt steak with shishito peppers and, irresistible to me, soy-seasoned hard-boiled quail eggs wrapped in bacon and dabbed with maple syrup (it's like breakfast on a skewer). Hibachi dishes are more substantial, and arrive at the table on a ceramic hibachi of still-glowing coals; King crab legs, split open for easy access, are very good, as is the duck breast, lightly cured and even more lightly smoked.
I loved every one of the rice and noodle dishes, particularly the curry udon, a murky bowl of long noodles, curried pork and shishito peppers, and the mentaiko spaghetti, an umami bomb of runny egg yolk, noodles and togarashi-spiced fish roe.
The Izakaya is worth a visit for the unique dishes on its separate menu. Don't pass up the hand rolls of salmon skin (with shaved watermelon radish and ponzu) and barbecued unagi (with avocado and sesame), both very satisfying, A salad of shishitos and "tuna bacon" (smoked pieces of chutoro) is tasty and clever. Best in show is the uni toast, two toast slabs bearing thick smears of sea urchin, pickled celery and finely ground chorizo.
There are only a few desserts, and sensibly, they're small and light, such as the custardy yuzu cake with yogurt sorbet, and the very pretty waka mono, a Japanese green peach cooked in syrup and resting on a bed of almond crumble. The Izakaya features an odd dessert of spreadable cheddar cheese, sour-apple mustard and toasted stout bread, kind of a Japanese salute to Door County.
Service is excellent, and it needs to be, guiding diners through the myriad options and often-unfamiliar ingredient names. This extends to the cocktail program, which offers some very good drinks but can be a bit mysterious about how a given beverage will taste.
The menu used to carry a tongue-in-cheek listing for the chopstick rests, priced at $88; this was Momotaro's whimsical way of asking customers not to steal them. That notation has disappeared, because so have most of the chopstick rests; now they're provided only at the sushi bar (some of those rests cost upward of $9, a steep price when you have to buy 100 of them), and they're watched carefully. This is why we can't have nice things.
Watch Phil Vettel's reviews weekends on WGN-Ch. 9's "News at Nine" and on CLTV.
pvettel@tribpub.com
Momotaro
820 W. Lake St.
312-733-4818
momotarochicago.com
Tribune rating: Three stars
Open: Dinner Monday-Sunday
Prices: Sushi pieces $6 to $12, main courses $16-$75
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Strongly recommended
Noise: Conversation-challenged
Other: Wheelchair accessible; valet parking
Ratings key: Four stars, outstanding; three stars, excellent; two stars, very good; one star, good; no stars: unsatisfactory. The reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
