Sushi Ali: Restaurant redux
Great sushi restaurants seem drawn to this unassuming storefront wedged into a strip shopping center in Palatine.
The first Sushi Ai opened to rave reviews in early 2006 -- including mine -- and mysteriously folded within two years.
But the sleek, urban-styled space has been resuscitated by seasoned chef Ho "Hokey" Kyong Pak, former part-owner and executive chef of Swordfish in Batavia, Wildfish in Arlington Heights and Starfish in Chicago.
Korean-born, but raised in Minnesota, the Crystal Lake resident's experience shines brightly in this latest venture.
A 25-year veteran of the restaurant industry, Pak first planned to name the spot Rock 'n' Roll Sushi but changed his mind. Unfortunately, some photos of rock stars remain on the walls along with a red electric guitar on the dramatic, red tile wall behind the sushi bar.
I preferred the interior the way it was, romantic and sophisticated without the incongruous theme.
Like its predecessor, Sushi Ai redux offers top-notch, complex food with depth of flavor, but Pak's presentations take it beyond ordinary.
The menu is typically lengthy for a sushi house, including a good balance of cooked and raw dishes. Good luck choosing among 33 signature maki, more than a dozen basic rolls, 17 sushi bar appetizers, 14 kitchen appetizers, plus 13 kitchen entrees and a dozen sushi entrees.
Faced with information overload, we bowed to our server's recommendation and started with the Green Dragon signature maki. This is a glorious mix of crab, shrimp and eel topped with iridescent pearls of candy-green tobiko. Spicy wasabi mustard, wasabi mayo and a little soy punch up the flavor. Bonus points for the wafer-thin slices of apple.
Even for two people this makes a big starter.
Among his other creative maki are the Crunchy Muffy with shrimp tempura, tempura crunch and cream cheese topped with baked mozzarella cheese and sweet soy, or the Jingle Roll with red, green, black and yellow tobiko over spicy tuna, green pepper and cilantro.
Next we followed the hostess's lead with the spicy tuna seaweed salad, a bold, gotta-have dish with more flavor than most seaweed salads. Delicate, soft bits of marinated spicy tuna are gently tossed with the namesake greens and avocado, liberally coated in a sassy ginger and red pepper vinaigrette.
For a kitchen appetizer, Pak piles wispy, shredded raw beets on tender, moist pork dumplings served with spicy yuzu sauce. You can also have an asparagus beef roll or panko scallops.
Sushi bar appetizers include oven-baked sake roulade. For this, chopped scallops, crab, shrimp and scallions are mixed with spicy mayo, rolled up with salmon and topped with chile tobiko, served with house-made unagi sauce.
For a sushi entree, don't miss Pak's signature sashimi presentation, a visual knock-out. In our nine-piece version, super white tuna, big-eye tuna, yellow tail and salmon are arranged on large, roughly textured seashells. The platter is garnished with an intricately carved cucumber, a carrot in the shape of a crane, shredded beets and a sizeable "fir tree" of shredded white radish.
The sushi combo is another option, four pieces of nigiri with a shrimp tempura roll and spicy salmon roll.
If you prefer a cooked entree, the buttery sea bass is an excellent choice. It comes off the grill beautifully charred and flavored but still moist and flaky.
My only complaint: The disc of mashed sweet potato and squash was dry. Rice would have been better.
Other cooked options include filet mignon, short ribs, lobster and teriyaki chicken.
From the bar look for an assortment of red and white wines, specialty martinis, a couple of dozen imported beers, and a variety of hot or cold sakes.
Desserts are not made in-house and are just average.
Service started out fine, but we were a little startled when the hostess and then the server asked if they could sit down with us while they made recommendations. It was a bit awkward, even if they were just trying to be friendly.
Sushi Ai
710 W. Euclid Ave., Palatine, (847) 221-5100, sushi-ai.com
Cuisine: Contemporary sushi and grill
Setting: Urban contemporary
Price range: Appetizers $4 to $34; entrees $13 to $29; maki $4 to $18
Hours: Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner: 5 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Also: Free parking
Accepts: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover