Roka Akor is a popular Japanese sushi restaurant located in downtown Chicago. I arrived at about 6:30 on a Tuesday night and found the placed packed.  This was likely because I chose to dine here during Restaurant Week, which is a Chicago wide event in which restaurants include special meals for the occasion.

When I walked in I saw a bar and lounge in the first room, and the main dining room just beyond that. The bar lounge has a very cozy feel with sofas and chairs for your party to wait at, and floor to ceiling windows to look out onto the busy streets of downtown Chicago. The kitchen is in plain sight, with an additional bar to sit at and look over the multi-tiered open charcoal grill where they cook your food in front of you. Towards the back of the main dining hall sits a large ceiling-high glass case displaying hundreds of wine bottles, ranging anywhere from twenty to hundreds of dollars.

The service was exceptional throughout the meal.  The waiter was very knowledgeable and able to explain all of the options (there are a lot of them) and what they were made from. When he first arrived at our table he explained the best way to go about ordering our meals.  He explained that it is best to share meals among the table and to sample and enjoy a variety of dishes. This turned out to be very good advice because as with most sushi restaurants, variety is very important.  You don’t want to eat the same roll over and over again.  The restaurant has an extensive drink menu including beers, wines, cocktails and saki.

After being seated, my party and myself were left to decide what we would like to do for drinks, and to look at the menu for a little while.  After our drink orders were taken we were asked if we would like to start with an appetizer as well. Of course we took this opportunity to order the edamame. After informing him of our choice in appetizers he gave us a counter suggestion stating that the edamame is a very plain dish and recommended trying the brussel sprouts instead. This offended me greatly, embarrassment would have overwhelmed this man had he known that he was talking to the world’s greatest edamame blogger, the Edamamaster himself.

After ensuring the waiter that we did in fact want the edamame he served it to us only a few minutes later. The edamame came served in very plain standard porcelain bowl with a tray on the side to discard shells. It was served steaming hot and extremely fresh. But the real treat that makes this particular take on edamame stand out from the crowd was the salt. Sprinkled with very large chunks of sea salt, distributed evenly throughout entire bowl.

The salt on the edamame was some of the best I have experienced. They were very wide, but thin freshly ground chunks. The flavor of the salt was grand, like nothing I had ever tasted before. The edamame itself was cooked wonderfully without a single piece being under or over cooked, very tender and easy to break out of the shell.

As an entree we got the Restaurant Week special, which was a 3 course meal. Before it was served the chef gave us a complimentary serving of yellow tail.  They claimed it was brought out because it was our first time visiting, but we knew that it was actually a tribute being paid to the Edamamaster. A very generous and delicious offer. The Restaurant Week special came with a whiskey sour to go along with the meal which was tasty, but lacking a bit on the whiskey.

Round 1 was maki rolls and sashimi served over ice with fresh Wasabi and ginger.  The dish was beautifully presented in an iced tray in the shape of a fish. The maki rolls had a large variety of flavors that blended together nicely. However, the sashimi was very plain, as it was just a single slice of raw fish.  Not sure what else to have expected though. The fresh wasabi was a little mild for my tastes and left me longing for something a bit more spicy.

By the time the main courses came out I already felt satisfied.  The waiter brought three plates out to us, one with lamb on the bone, one with yellow cod fish, and the final with a sirloin steak. All three had a side to go with them, pickled onions with the fish, eggplant salad with the lamb and sauteed mushrooms with the steak. The portions were a little on the light side but still filing. The presentation of all the dishes was very elaborate, with the cod stealing the show by coming served wrapped in a giant leaf that it rested inside of.

After the main entree the Restaurant Week special had two different desserts to choose from. One of these was a chocolate cake served with coffee flavored ice cream. The other being some confusing foreign name that I failed to pronounce, but despite not knowing what the hell it was I enjoyed it a lot.  It had the consistency of cheesecake and was served topped with fruity syrup and almonds.

Overall Roka Akor is an upstanding restaurant to get your edamame from, but is far on the pricey side. However, you get what you pay for here as the environment, presentation, food quality and overall experience are very pleasant.  I’m leaving Roka Akor with a Triple Pod rating. While the restaurant itself is absolutely a delight, it may not be the best place to choose just for edamame.