The soba is savory/umami style. When it comes with a bottle of seaweed vinegar by the bowl, I know it won't disappoint me. The ground meat, chopped chive, chopped scallion, dry sea weed all attach to the soba noodle aided by the egg yolk, one spoon floods different flavors into your mouth. The toro maki is fresh, the flavor is balanced even without dropping any soy sauce. read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Toro maki - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The staff are nice, the interior is clean but uninteresting, and the food is disappointing. The menu is also formatted badly, the udon lunch set comes with a standard "plain udon" that isn't even on the menu as far as I can tell. The way it's written implies that you can choose an udon from the udon section, not the case. Minor gripe, but annoying nonetheless. The maki is fine, spicy tuna was bland but decent quality and the shrimp tempura maki was good but also lacking. Personally I prefer a spicy tuna with more tuna texture and this is basically puree, personal preference I guess. The udon is where my meal fell apart. For a lunch menu focusing on udon I expected a more flavorful broth and noodles that weren't overcooked. It's not like the underlying flavor is bad or anything, it's just barely there at all. The dashi is very weak and one dimensional, and the noodles taste like plain flour with a spongy overly soft bite. The toppings are extremely basic, I can't even comment on them because I'm not sure if I hallucinated them having any flavor or not. They might as well not exist. The shredded cabbage side salad is also mediocre. Dressing was weak and the cabbage could've been cut thinner. People I went with told me "maybe you just got the wrong things" but I don't think a chef should have losing items on their menu to begin with. Overall quite disappointed considering the name attached to this place. read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Udon lunch set - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Visiting from out of town someone suggested this restaurant. The restaurant is nicely decorated for its style. There are plenty of offerings. However to me it's pricey for single skewer items and even the maki. I was not that impressed with the food the best item I ate was the gyoza. read more

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I love this spot! I will say ive only been for brunch, but I went back to back weekends I had such a great time! High quality sushi and great service. Its a cute spot and very nice and clean! read more

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I went to their AYCE brunch and I think it's kind of gross how they basically want you to tip twice. So instead of $55pp, it's closer to $85pp. The food was fine, but it's not ready when it's open. Just didn't feel like it was worth it. read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

On this bitter cold Friday and having spent the last 5 days hunkered in my condominium, "Cabin Fever" hit me like a lightning bolt, and I needed to get out and about. It was lunch time and I knew exactly what I wanted - Hot Soup; any kind of hot soup: Udon Ramen Soba Wonton Matzoh Ball It didn't matter as long as it was HOT! My wife investigated our choices and she came up with TenGoku Aburiya near Fulton Market. This small / lovely restaurant was very busy but we secured a table and their menu fit exactly what I wanted: I got their Maki Set + Udon which was Udon Soup that came with Spicy Tuna Roll and California Roll - PERFECT! My wife got a Bento Set which she loved Some hot Japanese Tea along with great service and a very quiet "Zen" like atmosphere, we couldn't be happier. Oh, I forgot, the price here for a ton of food was not Chicago prices, but Los Angeles prices which was unbelievably GREAT! read more

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Came here with my friend cause we both love sushi, but wanted to try out a spot we both haven't been to before. It wasn't busy when we walked in and was seated right away. Cute little spot walking in. We looked at the menu and we were both really hungry, almost wanted to order a ton of stuff but stopped ourselves. We could always order more. I wasn't impressed with the cucumber salad. It didn't have a nice crunch to it. The toro tartare was okay, but it would have been better with some taro chips or something with a different texture. The crispy rice was not bad, but the sauce on there felt like it was a little overpowering everything. Yellowtail sashimi was okay, but wish it was topped with micro greens instead of cilantro. It had a little aftertaste to it. The miso cod was okay as well. The two rolls we ordered were recommended and on the newer side. It was good, but again, felt like there was too much sauce on there. Overall the place was okay, I have heard of this spot and heard highly about it. Was hoping it would impress me too. read more

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Service was great, atmosphere nothing special, food was ok. I had higher expectations given the Chef but the food was basic read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Tengoku roll - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Came here on a Wednesday night in October around 8pm and the place to our surprise was a bit busier than I was expecting. In fact, more people came in shortly after us for dinner too. Our server was friendly and nice throughout our dining experience here. Had to get their infamous maze soba noodles bowl + chashu (added for $4) and it was delicious! Glad we went with that. Also got two different maki rolls such as the Tengoku and the Neo Tokyo. They were both very delicious in their own way. I think the overall consensus was that we liked the Tengoku the most however. Definitely would come back here for their happy hour and to try other items on the menu! read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Maze Soba Mixed Udon + Chashu added - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This place is so nice! It was crowded on the weekend. We had a girls night and got their lychee martini which was good but a little strong. We also shared a lot of sushi rolls and appetizer which was so flavorful and delicious. We got their udon minced pork and fish which was really good. The only reason I give it 3/5 star is the wait time. We waited for over 35-40 min for a table which was disappointing. Also when we walked in we were not greeted by the host or anyone at all. They could have at least given us a menu while we were waiting would have been nice. Our server for our table was absolutely amazing, he made it a fun experience and night for the girls, recommending food options. Overall, it costed around $265 for 4 people and the sushi was good but lacked the service. read more

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This place was good but we waited for a while for our seats. It would have been nice to have a menu before hand to look at. We waited over 40 min to be seated but over all the sushi was good. The yuzu lychee martini was good a little strong but missing something. We ordered a lot of sushi and appetizers which was really good. The ambiance inside was nice a lot of seating of they're very close to each other. read more

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UGHHHH one of our favorite places during our Chicago trip. Our favorite was the steamed clams and mussels. We originally wasn't going to order that, but ended up ordering it because the table next to us ordered it and it looked so good. AND IT WAS SO GOOD. The broth was so flavorful and we drank most of it lmao The mazesoba was really good too. It had a lot of toppings and the udon was chewy Def coming back here next time to try other things! read more

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Treated myself to a solo Thursday dinner at Tengoku Aburiya and it was exactly what I needed after a long workday. I used my quarterly $100 Resy credit, and it felt like such a win. I ordered the salmon carpaccio and the crispy rice with spicy tuna -- both were absolutely delicious. The salmon was buttery and fresh with just the right citrus kick, and the crispy rice had the perfect balance of crunch and heat. read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Salmon carpaccio, crispy rice, and miso soup - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I got the chicken breast skewers and they were fantastic! My friend got the miso soup and chirashi. He thought it was okay, but not the best he's had (he's also from the west coast so maybe that's why haha). The service was good and the restaurant was nicely decorated. I especially liked their dishes! I want to come here again soon! read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Miso soup, chirashi - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Let's start off with the ambiance. First impression was that it was small but cool/hip. I liked the bar and bar seating. Mostly 2 and 4 top tables. The service was lacking. We were not greeted by a host and stood there awkwardly waiting for someone to notice us. The guy behind the bar looked up at us, didn't say anything, and looked back down to what he was doing. Service during the meal was not great either. The food was overall just okay: - Dumplings gyoza - liked the crispy rice; dumplings themselves were just "eh" - Crispy rice - very interesting; good - Maze Soba - excellent (best dish we ordered) - kalbi and radish salad - excellent flavor but should have been paired with a more substantial side - Chefs choice Nigiri - not worth the price; lack luster - Karaje and shredded cabbage - ok - Summer of TenGoku - ok; lack luster - Japanese potato salad - unassuming but quite tasty; more of a side than a starter - Melon Parfait - excellent; the sweet sugar sticks paired well with the mild melons - Honeysuckle Popsicle - fail Spent $266 for 5 people (no alcoholic drinks, 1 sprite, and water all around) read more

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My cousin put me on to this restaurant. I am used to fresh sushi after living in LA and this is just as fresh. I'm content to just order a million salmon maki and gyozas. They have a well rounded menu that makes it easy for everyone in your party to find something that will fill their belly. read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I got lunch here with a colleague and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. They had a special bento menu for $20 which we both got. The portions were ample and I loved the variety. We especially loved the short rib, tempura and maki that came in the bento. Service was a little slow for a work lunch so this may not be the spot if you have meetings scheduled. I would have expected it to be a little faster especially with the drinks. But they were friendly and the food was delicious. read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Bento - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Ambiance - super cool, modern interior, love the wooden bench seats, lots of street parking Service - the only thing that was slightly lacking, food came out fairly quickly but the bill took 10-15 min to come Food - Toro Tartare - personally think it's missing something to go with (ex. Taro chips), the veggies added some bitterness to the dish Tako Nuta - the seaweed salad + yuzu -miso sauce was too sweet, really overpowered the whole dish Nigiri's were fresh, loveeeeeeeeee the negitoro maki! read more

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I just saw that Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow were recently spotted here. I ate here about a month ago (before them) so feeling like a trendsetter. ;) My friend and I dropped our girls off at the Tate McRae concert at United Center and made a reservation here. It's away from the hustle & bustle of randolph street, but an easy walk for those who want a taste of that scene after. It was pretty empty on a Friday night so we had our choice of tables. We split a few rolls along with the cod, which was so good. It was pretty tasty and the last time we had dinner on a concert night we went to nearby Nobu. I personally thought this was way better. We had time to kill after so we skipped dessert here and walked over to Randolph where we waited in a long line (but worth it) at Jeni's ice cream. read more

Heavy disclaimer that I cannot vouch for the sushi or alcohol drinks in the spread, only the items listed below! Ambiance (5/5): honestly loved the space. Theres a little entry way with seats for waiting and the dining room era also has bar seating. Plenty of seats for groups of 2-6! Heavy on the wood decor and there's ample space Service (4/5): quick, attentive, and lots of attention to detail. Server taught me how to prepare my wagyu dish and was very knowledgeable about the items. We were checked on frequently enough and waters were always filled Food: Wagyu Shoyu Beef Pot (3.5/5): for $35??? Ish dollars this is not worth it. It's a simple shoyu broth with cabbage, mushrooms, some udon, and the Wagyu beef slices on the side. Eggs are provided to dip your beef in per the servers suggestion. It was good but I wouldn't get it again Crispy Tuna Sushi Rice (3.5/5): this was fine as well! Crispy, savory, and delicious. I've had better elsewhere. Takoyaki (4/5): solid Takoyaki - fresh, crisp exterior, fluffy interior, with just the right amount of octopus. The sauce wasn't too heavy and a hit with the table Chicken Karaage (3.8/5): nothing special but chicken was crispy and peppery. Definitely squeeze the lemon on top and dip in the kewpie mayo. Overall, meal was enjoyable but the dishes did not stand out to me. However, ambiance and service were great & it'd be a great night out dinner or for larger groups. read more

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Came here on a Tuesday evening and it wasn't very busy, just a couple of other tables dining. I got a mule to start and the clam and mussels in a sake broth along with chicken skin and pork belly skewers. Everything was delicious. The clam and mussels were so good and the broth had so much aromatic flavor, it would have been great with rice as it was kinda salty. The chicken skin and pork belly skewers were the perfect compliment. They could have been crispier, maybe if they spread it out in the skewer a bit or cooked it a bit longer. The bunched up parts didn't get crispy, but it was still good. Would definitely come back for more or try the omakase experience next door sometime. read more

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one of the best izakayas i've been to in the U.S. !! this spot is owned by the chefs & owners of Omakase Yume, my favorite omakase spot in Chicago, so you know the quality of the fish & food is amazing! every single dish we got was so good, but if i had to choose musts: highly recommend the kushiyaki (skewers) and ikura-uni don! only con was the service :( slow and inattentive - enough to deter me from going again. what we ordered: - tako nuta - sliced octopus was SO fresh and even sweet - chef's kushiyaki set - but if i had to choose favs: negume (chicken thigh and green onion), chicken skin, chadol (beef) enoki - ikura-uni don - agedashi tofu - drinks: hibiki highball & orion beer read more

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What made my visit here special was the warmth of the decor offered by the low lights and awesome playlist playing softly in the background. That was a combination I was not expecting, but was delighted as it set a mood. My guests and I had a variety of dishes - all speaking a different story to the restaurants magnificence. Of all the food, I loved the spicy tuna rolls and the hambagu steak the most. The lollipop wings get a honorable mention because the sauce was amazing and the meat was tender. My least favorite was the shishito peppers as they were a little underwhelming to me. Overall, it was a great visit due to a mix of great options, beautiful ambiance, good music and a patient and kind server. I would go back again! read more

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Went for restaurant week and got some amazing and unique dishes! The sashimi was very fresh and I've never tasted anything like the wagyu kushiyaki. The service was very good, shoutout to the staff who had to relight the kushiyaki for us. Would recommend coming for a fancy date night. read more

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Was excited to try this place since it's sisters to a Michelin star, but after trying it was a let down. Space was fine, tables were a little too close together. Service was the worst part of dining here. To start we ordered a cocktail. We got told the cocktail we wanted was out and to take a few minutes to pick out a new one. We were never checked on by our waitress until we asked for the bill, never got the chance to order another drink. To start we had the lollipop wings, these were amazing. Very crispy and flavorful. The crispy rice was ok, pretty bland. The waygu fried rice was very plain. No flavor at all. The sushi also just lacked flavor. Two very average rolls. I would not come back, this was a bummer! read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Waygu fried rice Crispy rice Tengoku summer roll - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I have lived across the street for 2.5 years and surprisingly I hadn't been here until last Friday. We went for their HH which doesn't start until 5p. They do have some specials including $5 draft beer (Asahi or Sapporo). We ordered a bunch of yakitori including the beef tongue, chicken thigh, pork belly, mushrooms, chicken skin and they were all meh. Nothing was memorable, or we needed to order more of. Similarly we also got the spicy tuna crispy rice, the chicken wings and the yellowtail off the HH menu and it was all very underwhelming. Overall a decent HH spot but I am not motivated to return. read more

Extremely underwhelming for a buffet style; only had chicken and mushrooms and tomatoes for skewers... only two or three nigiri styles.. barely any variety.. would not come back again for the buffet read more

Came because I saw a post about TenGoku's 4 year anniversary! I was able to get a reservation same day and was surprised it wasn't more busy but could just be a weekday lull. We are too quickly before I could get a picture of each item. We didn't realize each of the smaller dishes had 3 pieces and ended up getting double of each for our table of 6 and also ordering another round of main dishes. They were out of Kama which was sad. We ultimately tried: Tako yaki - soft with a good ratio of octopus Ikageso karaage - the pieces could have been smaller as the texture was a bit hard to bite through and was slightly large for a single bite Agedashi - very crispy outside and soft inside, good balance of sauce, bonito and scallions Chef Choice kushiyaki - a lot less than I was expecting (1 skewer of each type); my favorite was the chicken skin, super crunchy and good flavor. The shishito had a couple old peppers that were tough to bite. Chadol enoki - was okay, couldn't really taste the brisket but definitely had the texture of the enoki inside. Negima - tender, not super interesting though. Forgot what the last skewer was. Kimchi okonomiyaki - soft, good flavor, kimchi wasn't super sour. Maze Soba Udon - my favorite out of everything. The yolk made it creamy. The ground meat topping and sauce was very flavorful. There was a good amount of scallions to cute the salt/oil. They also had a little bottle of vinegar for you to add to taste. I would happily just eat this. Kuma maki - smoke salmon on top of the roll. Crab inside. The crab meat wasn't special, kind of taste like imitation crab. The roll was decently sized tho. Tokyo maki - couldn't tell where the octopus was but the spicy tuna mounded on each piece felt like I was eating tuna tartare. I liked this one. I wish they had like small vs large plate options with piece counts for the small hot dishes since it's hard to estimate how easy it would be to split dishes and let everyone try a little. Service was very nice. They checked in often, which was helpful when we realized we massively under ordered. Flavor wise everything was good, nothing too salty or weird. A smaller group might have an easier time ordering to share but I would love to see them offer more suggested combos targeted to larger groups as there's a lot to try. read more

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Came here for dinner and everything was great. Service was wonderful. We picked out a few dishes to try based on recommendations, including the Citrus roll, skewer chefs set and the Wagyu sukiyaki. Everything tasted divine. We also got house hot sake which was only $10 for a carafe. Everything was very reasonably priced. Would definitely return. read more

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Delicious food and cozy atmosphere. Enjoyed the ramen, chicken and soba noodle meals. The service was quick, the food came out fast, and they were responsive to our requests. I would say the portion sizes leave some to be desired and the extra chashu pork I added to my ramen was overpriced and wasn't worth me adding to the ramen (even though it all tasted good). I would plan to get an appetizer next time to tide me over after eating. read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Chicken broth ramen with chashu pork added - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We were immediately greeted by staff and we were seated at the table of our choice. I come here for the Maze Soba Mixed Udon. We had the gyoza and pork belly as appetizers and they were delicious. The main course, the Maze Soba Mixed Udon is one of the best things I've eaten. The udon noodles were cooked perfectly and the mix of flavors and slightly spicy pork is absolutely fantastic. The white rice at the end to soak up the extra juice is a great touch and nothing goes to waste. This is now one of my favorite places in the city. read more

TenGoku Aburiya - The Maze Soba Mixed Udon - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Got take out it was freaking delish. We got the chefs choice. Man. Totally worth it read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Set 2 - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Sushi was excellent. We know Danny (sushi chef) from another restaurant. Had to check this place out, and we will go back. A good plus...there is plenty of on-street parking at night in this area. Nicely decorated, and some older rock music on. Probably elevator music at this point in time, from the 60's, 70's, and 80's read more

TenGoku Aburiya - Various Nigiri chosen by us, and a spicy tuna roll - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Don't sleep on the cocktails here, super solid. Love the variety of sushi and small plates. Really shareable. read more

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Went there for anniversary dinner and the staff went above and beyond. They have a solid venue that satisfies all pallets and the food taste is 10/10. read more

The Maze Soba was fantastic. Went for lunch on a Friday. Nice little restaurant, great service. Only tried the maze soba, but I will go back for it next time I am in Chicago. read more

Only great place for the restaurant week in 2024 that I tried. Definitely will come back to enjoy the regular menu. The food was fresh, I chose all the seafood choices and the sake pairing for $59+$18, also had a taste of my team's other choices, and everything was tasty, and you could tell the restaurant owner or chef could be Korean from the food taste. The servers were super nice and introduced the food with patience, the only thing is we had a party of 5 ppl, and the reserved time was only 2 hours, finally, we had a rush to leave coz they had to make the table for the next reservation. I enjoy the vibe in the restaurant, good for hangout or date night. They will charge 20% tips with parties over 5 ppl, which I think should be 18% in other restaurants. This is the only problem that I have to leave 4 stars. read more

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Omakase Yume opened their sister restaurant and I needed to try it because... well I probably have a higher chance of eating at TenGoku LOL. I thought most of the things at TenGoku were reasonably priced. I wanted to have Yume's quality of sushi so I had their omakase set. Each piece was delicious and flavorful, and every fish was fresh. I also got the Clam & Mussel Sakamushi and I didn't find it so flavorful but the clam and mussel tasted fresh and clean. My friend also loved his sukiyaki. The staff were very accommodating and attentive. I thought the service was great. read more

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The service and food were outstanding and I will be back! I think they are one of the best restaurants in Chicago!

TenGoku is a good, reasonably-priced alternative to its sister restaurant, Omakase Yume. I believe the skewers are the reason people come here but you have to try the sushi! I got the chef's special maki platter and it was so good! I also tried the chadol enoki, shio pork belly, shiitake mushrooms, and the wagyu fried rice. the chadol enoki had a great flavor to it, however, i like taking small bites of my food and it's pretty hard to bite into this, so you have to eat each piece in one bite. the pork belly was decent but could be cooked longer (i like my pork belly extra crispy). the shiitake mushrooms were good but nothing special. finally, the wagyu fried rice was cooked perfectly but could use a little more flavor. for drinks, i really liked the yuzu flavored kimino sparkling! read more

TenGoku Aburiya - left: chef's special maki platter; right: chadol enoki skewer - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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