February 13th, one of the coldest days in Chicago so far this year, with temperatures dipping down to below 0 and snow still piled high on the streets from last week’s blizzard. This is a chilling time when nobody in their right mind would want to leave their house. But this particular day was just one day before valentines day. And I had love on my mind, love, for edamame! 

So I donned my jacket, grabbed my mask and gloves, and convinced my expert team of edamame enthusiasts to meet me at a restaurant to spill some soybeans. The restaurant? None other than Niu Japanese Fusion Lounge. 

With this pandemic still eating away at my social life, and the cold snowy weather only encouraging my hermit-style behavior, I wanted to make sure that the restaurant would be a memorable one. For we don’t have the luxury of knowing the next time restaurants will be once more forced to close. So I chose Niu Japanese Fusion Lounge, because it outstandingly has three different types of edamame on it’s menu. The only other restaurant I have come across that has attempted such a bold selection was Nami Sushi Bar back in 2017.

So, let’s dive into it and discover what makes Niu Japanese Fusion Lounge so special. This elegantly designed restaurant sits comfortably on East Illinois street in Streeterville. With Navy Pier on its east, and the Mag mile on its west this spot is busy. In fact, when I first looked into booking reservations I noticed that they had a maximum table limit of four people. However, just a day later, they must have caught wind that Chicago’s #1 edamame blogger was scouting them out and needed a table for his whole field team, for they upped their maximum table size to six people in order to accommodate my larger group of employees. This isn’t the first time a restaurant has changed its policy in order to get a highly coveted review from an industry leading blogger like myself, and it won’t be the last. 

So the reservations were locked in a week in advance and my friendly Uber driver Jae pulled up in front of the restaurant. I exit his Mazda, trudge through a large pile of snow in my Ugg Snow boots, and spin through the revolving door inside. Uber, Mazda, and Uggs being mentioned all in one paragraph, that takes care of our corporate sponsors for this month!

Upon entry, you step into a small atmospheric waiting area. A cozy booth lined dining spot sits immediately to your left with a nice windowed view onto the busy streets outside. Opposite the lounge, on the east side of the building is a robustly stocked bar waiting to get you drunk on your favorite cocktails. A few high tables also sit in the entryway for guests to wait for their employees to show up disappointingly late, as usual.

I will take this time to note that Niu seemed to be following all the correct Covid 19 precautions. All the staff here are wearing masks, and sanitizer is spread throughout the restaurant for anyone in need. On my visit the attendance was limited to 25% capacity, with the aforementioned table limit of six people.

Once your bumbling, aloof employees do arrive, the hostess brings you to the main dining area.  The chandeliers are notable wooden balls of light looking almost like illuminated tumbleweeds suspended from the ceiling. Past the host both on your left you will see the open sushi kitchen with chefs preparing your fresh fish.

The dining room proper is large and very open. Upbeat pop music is played at a very agreeable volume over the speakers and it creates a nice background noise that is low enough to talk over without having to yell. Each table is lit with a candle in the middle and a small wall topped with plants cuts the dining room in half making it feel a bit more separated.

Service here is very prompt. The menu of course features three different types of edamame so naturally we will be ordering all three.  The first is a classic salted edamame. Followed by a spicy garlic edamame. And finally, the sesame truffle oil edamame to round out the selection.

Now, enough teasing, let’s crack open those pods and get to tasting! We’re gonna start off with our basics here, the sea salt edamame.

The salted edamame is generally the staple of the edamame world, seen by many as the gold standard. Niu’s take on it was very traditional, a porcelain bowl, and a plate to pile the empty shells onto once you extract that sweet bean from within. The salt distribution left a bit to be desired, there were a few small crumbles on the top of the bowl, but once you got past the first layer the salt was nearly gone. I was a little put off by this at first, but, looking past it I was impressed by the texture and firmness of each shell.

Next up, one that I always enjoy seeing on any menu, the spicy edamame! 

Now, the spicy edamame is always a fun chance for edamame chefs to really show off some creativity. The sauce they coat the pods with can really bring out the flavor of the dish. Niu let their creativity go wild with this bowl! With strong hints of garlic and a sauce that was so hot it had me reaching for my beer after every pod! This may just be one of the spiciest bowls of edamame I have ever had. But don’t worry, it is also packed with flavor, and not just relying on heat alone to sell it!

And finally, we have a dish I am most excited about, Truffle sesame edamame!

Now, this is admittedly my first time having truffle edamame. It’s almost unheard of in the wild world of edamame blogging. So I was a little hesitant going into it. However, after that first pod hit my tongue I decided right then and there that more restaurants need to embrace this flavor! The oils and seasonings brought out a very earthy, robust flavor that I could not stop going back to. Bravo to the chefs who came up with this dish, and also to the pigs who worked hard to dig up those truffles! After experiencing Truffle edamame I can say for certain that the world of edamame is now forever changed.

Overall, all three bowls were cooked to perfection, and the presentation was spot on, a little skimpy on the salt in bowl number one, but the spicy garlic, and truffle sesame bowls more than made up for it!

Whew, that was a lot of edamame to cover, Niu may just go down in edamame history as one of the most diverse edamame restaurants I have had the pleasure of eating at. I leave it with a triple pod rating and will be going back many more times for this wide range of flavorful edamames!

Kamehachi is a sushi restaurant with two locations, one in Northbrook, and one in Old Town on Wells Street. For this review me and my team are staying within the boundaries of Chicago and heading to the Old Town location. As my team and I made our way down to our destination one thing that stood out to me was how many people were out walking the streets and packing into bars. We may be in a global pandemic, but the good citizens of Chicago are still going out on weekends. Prowling the streets like junkies waiting for their next soybean fix!

We made reservations for 7:30, then, naturally showed up at 7:45. I’m Chicago’s #1 edamame blogger, me and my employees show up whenever we please, and the restaurant thanks us for it. Upon entering the building you are greeted by a large brick wall on your right side with tons of Japanese writing on it. Now, my Japanese is admittedly a bit rusty, but I believe what the writing said was something along the lines of “Welcome Edamamaster, you honor us by dining here!”

The rest of the restaurant is similarly Japanese-modern themed. The bar on the left upon entry lines the entire front of the restaurant and is proficiently stocked with any liquor, wine, beer, or sake that you may desire as their alcohol list is pretty robust. Towards the back of the restaurant we have a couple more dining rooms lined with booths and some small tables in the middle. 

Now, I know what you are all wondering “Is this restaurant Covid-safe?” To my best knowledge it appears that they are following all the necessary precautions for maintaining a healthy eating environment while minimizing the risks to catch the world’s most popular disease! The tables in the central area have been spread out pretty wide. And the booths are only seating one in every two, meaning there’s way more than 6 feet of room between each table. Servers are all wearing masks and keeping a healthy distance from the table while taking orders. And most importantly, there are signs on the door stating that patrons are required to wear masks upon entry. With winter fast approaching and patio seating no longer being available Kamehachi seems to be taking indoor dining seriously.

Now when you start looking at the menu you may be a bit overwhelmed at first, in addition to Sushi they also offer many more types of dishes including Gyoza.

But let’s jump into the big deal, the reason we are all here today. The edamame! Kamehachi is one of the brave restaurants that dares to serve more than just your sea-salt-standard. They also include spicy edamame on their menu. Tossed in Garlic, Butter, and chili oil this edamame is packed with flavor!

One thing you will notice is that this edamame is juicy, it’s almost swimming in that chili oil. But when you get past the initial spice and the robust flavor of this take on edamame, you can tell from the first bite that it is perfectly cooked. The outer shell breaks open at the slightest bite and willingly yields the bean within. Perfectly cooked and absolutely packed with flavor, this edamame is everything that you could possibly ask for, and more.

It’s worth noting that after our appetizers had finished the waiter brought out free Miso soup for us. Now, this isn’t the first time I have been recognized as Chicago’s #1 edamame blogger and have been paid tribute with free food, probably won’t be the last either. However, I need to make one thing clear here, the integrity of my blog comes before all else. I do not take bribes like free soup into account when giving out my ratings.

The aforementioned soup did serve as a perfect segue from appetizer to entrée, for just as I was slurping down the last of it, our plates of Sushi arrived. I got my standard Negi Hamachi roll as well as one of the signature rolls, the Mayflower.

Both rolls were highly satisfactory. With the negi hamachi a staple that would be difficult to mess up, and the Mayflower which was absolutely packed with fishy flavor!

As the plates cleared, me and the team washed the meal down with the rest of our Sapporos. I slipped my sleek new business card into the checkbook and we made our way outside feeling fulfilled, bellies full. It’s been a long boring year with everyone staying inside because of Covid, but, if you do need to go out. I recommend Kamehachi as a safe and delicious place to grab some spicy edamame. I’m leaving Kamehachi with a triple pod rating and naming it the best spot to grab edamame in 2020.

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.