Such a cute spot. The vibes were great, top to bottom. We had 2 specialty rolls and a couple maki…read morerolls and enjoyed all of it. As someone who eats sushi once a week and grew up on Mexican food, I was very skeptical of Japanese/Mexican fusion but it was very well done. They kept the emphasis on the sushi and utilized Mexican flavors and spices to enhance it. My only regret was not trying omakase but I look forward to coming back for it!

Stopped by Casa Madai for a birthday dinner! Located in Pilsen, you will need to find street…read moreparking as we did not find a separate lot for the restaurant. The restaurant's interior is built cozy and music is very audible. I did like how our server (Jose) was very knowledgeable about all the dishes on the menu. We started with the tostada, followed by a maki chutoro roll along with the pilsen roll. Ended our meal with the poke chirashi bowl. All the fish we tried were great! Quality was on point and portions were very generous. I loved the combinations of both Mexican and Japanese flavors in every bite. I would come back again to try more from the menu!

We normally go up to Kizuki in Wicker Park, so having this nearby is so nice…read more We ordered the Yum Yum Roll, Spicy Salmon Roll, Takoyaki, Spicy Chicken ramen, and the Spicy Tonkatsu. The fish was very fresh, and tasted clean, and the rice was nice and bouncy. It was also super affordable! That's always nice to have in the city. We would definitely order other rolls again. The takoyaki was very flavorful. Not many places seem to have good takoyaki in the area. My spouse said they would describe it as "transcendent." Lmao. The ramens were definitely spicy. I meant to order the Tonkatsu Special, but since we were wearing masks, they probably misheard, which is fine! The ramen was still very flavorful and def gave a kick (speaking from someone who can't really handle spice). The pork belly had a nice sweetness to it that went well with the spicy and savory broth. Spouse got their chicken ramen at the spiciest and felt it was a comfortable spice. The chicken was VERY tender especially for chicken breast. This is definitely somewhere that we'll be coming to more often now that we know it's here.

Now under new management and unfortunately it's not the same quality food. The ramen broth is not…read moreas flavorful and rich. The chasu was tough (not tender) and seemed marinated in soy sauce and was very salty. We got the pork bun as an appetizer and the bun was hard and unevenly heated. They put more effort into the ambience - there are cutesy signs and decals on the walls. They still have a TV, but a weird infomercial was on the whole time, but most importantly the food isnt as good. We're definitely disappointed to have lost the original E ramen.

We happened to see this place on a map and decided to give it a try. I haven't been to an all you…read morecan eat Japanese restaurant in a long time. We arrived right after they started dinner service so the restaurant was practically empty. It's $33 per person for the AYCE at dinner but the restaurant adds a mandatory 18% service charge and after tax our bill was $85. Honestly, that's not a bad deal considering how much you can get. We had plenty of time to eat and were done after about 45 minutes. You get 90 minutes to eat. Most of the food was ok. Each AYCE meal includes 10 pieces of premium sushi, one premium salad, and one premium appetizer. There was nothing "premium" about any of this. The portions were really small and the ingredients were really basic. The pepper tuna salad was just four tiny tuna slices and some lettuce that was more garnish than salad. The seafood salad was the same lettuce with a few chunks of fake crab, tomatoes, and squid bits. The sauce was miso based. The yellowtail jalapeño appetizer was four extremely thin slices of fish with a scrap of pepper. The fish was so thin we could see through it. The various sashimi was ok but as I mentioned earlier, the portions were really small. Maybe the size of a half dollar. My companion chose mostly appetizer items and some more nigiri. I chose to get sushi rolls. I ended up ordering five rolls to share and they were average size with 8 pieces each so at least they weren't tiny portions. The waitress only stopped by once to refill our waters but otherwise our food arrived pretty quickly. Most of the appetizers and other small items arrived one at a time (our table filled up with plates quickly) but they brought our rolls out on one giant platter. This was a nice treat but I'm not sure if I'd make a return visit.

Used to be a regular for over 1year Never stepping foot here again. Hygiene issues & unacceptable…read morestaff behavior. I live in the neighborhood and have been a loyal regular at this restaurant for over a year and a half, visiting at least twice a month. I always happily paid the automatic 18% service charge and frequently left extra cash tips. After tonight, I am absolutely never coming back. The hygiene was shocking, and the staff's behavior was flat-out disgraceful. Hygiene & Subpar Service The appetizers didn't arrive until we were almost finished with our main meal. Worse, we were given teacups that were visibly filthy with impurities inside, and one of our dishes came out with hair/lint-like foreign fibers in the food. On top of that, the server didn't even check the tablet system for our orders, coming over to ask what we ordered, and they failed to update the tablet for a dessert that was completely sold out Hostile, Mocking & Disrespectful Staff: While trying to be understanding of mistakes, the server openly stared at our table and giggled with a coworker. The most outrageous part happened right after I complained to the manager: the server picked up our bill and walked over to two other employees to show them our receipt. While one of them just looked at it without laughing, the other two laughed right in front of my face. The absolute lack of basic manners, common sense, or potential racism from this staff is appalling. Inquiry Regarding Reward Points & Tax Because the service was so extraordinarily disrespectful, I looked closer at my receipt and did some math. I used my own earned loyalty reward points ($13.00) for this order,making my actual food subtotal $89.98. However, the tax charged was $10.80, which evaluates to an effective rate of 12.01%--higher than Downtown Chicago's statutory maximum of 11.75% [A Guide to Sales Taxes for Illinois Restaurants]. I would like to ask management for clarification: Are customers' earned reward points subject to sales tax at this establishment? It appears the POS system calculated the tax based on the pre-discount total ($102.98) rather than the actual price paid ($89.98) [Sales Tax on Discounts, Coupons, and Gift Cards (2026 Guide), Illinois sales tax on coupons rewards points]. I would appreciate an official explanation on whether this is a system error or if you intentionally charge sales tax on reward points Sales Tax Audit Basics for Restaurants & Bars, Illinois restaurant tax discount before or after tax To the owner What happened tonight was completely outrageous and absurd. Your staff desperately needs thorough retraining. You just lost one of your most loyal neighborhood regulars who supported your business for a year and a half. At least the manager tried to address my complaints

I came here during lunch time on a weekday. It wasn't busy. I ordered the food to go through a…read morekiosk machine. My food was ready after about a 10-minute wait. Luckily I checked my order after I got into the car. The order was not correct. I ordered the seafood tofu stew soup, Korean vegetable pancake, chicken katsu box, and the egg toastwich. Instead of giving me the chicken katsu box, they gave me a chicken katsu toastwich. I quickly went back in and they made the chicken katsu box. The owner was very nice. She says she can give me a free drink because of the mistake. I got their brown sugar milk tea. The chicken katsu was pretty good. The chicken was tender and moist. I wish there was more sauce on it. The vegetable pancake was ok. I wish it was more crispy. The seafood tofu stew soup was not too spicy. It was just right for me. The interior design is very stylish. If you dine in, a robot will deliver the food to your table. They have plenty of tables for dining in. The place looks clean and it is an open kitchen, so you can see the whole kitchen. I would go back again to try other food since I think they added more items to their menu since I was there.

Dama is a big improvement on it's predecessor, Red Panda. Now they have self order kiosks where you…read morecan order food and drinks from. Still an amazing interior with several seating areas and different feels in each area. The problem is it's always empty, hopefully it picks up as the weather warms. Food is amazing, more of a Korean menu now with traditional boba tea offerings and still some sushi. They've added robot service as well which is always fun. Drinks are fast, food a bit slower. Really hoping this version sticks around longer.

After finishing up a late night event while visiting the area recently, I definitely worked up an…read moreappetite and needed to find some food stat. The bad? Almost everything was closed a little after 10pm. The good? I was lucky and found Shinya, which was open until 2:00am. And let me tell you- I'm so glad I did! Shinya is a true izakaya, which is kind of like a pub and a bit harder to find in the city. They served food from robata skewers to ramen, rice bowls, both classic and lesser-seen appetizers, and fried rice. The interior was beautiful with flowers, fans, wood, and cute booths, while maintaining a casual, social atmosphere. Food was ordered online at the table and was brought out pretty quickly. I tried the pork gyoza and yakisoba. You really can't go wrong with gyoza, and I would say these were solid and what you'd expect. The yakisoba was outstanding and among the best I've had. The sauce was so savory and flavorful with perfectly chewy noodles. The egg was also cooked super well and the pork belly melted in the mouth. There was a good amount of crunchy veggies too to balance everything out. Overall, the experience was stand-out and I will 100% be back next time I'm in the area!

I was in the neighborhood with a friend of mine, and thought to myself, self, let's see if any…read moreramen spots are around. Shinya came up, so we walked over. I was a bit..inebriated, but also very hungry, so I ordered a lot. Gyoza, shrimp tempura, and karage to start, and a bowl of the original tonkatsu ramen. Everything was delicious. Service kept my water glass full and delivered the food as soon as it was done. Hot food delivered quickly is a recipe for success. I know it says it's anime themed, but we sat close to the window and were more interested in people watching outside than looking around the restaurant. Also important is the post-meal; how will my body handle what I ate? I am happy to report that no ill effects befell me. Would definitely go back when in the neighborhood.

The sushi was great here. I got the king roll and Mexican roll. The king roll is just wow. They put…read moreso many toppings like fried garlic pieces and crunchy tempura batter. The Mexican roll was fine. Probably didn't need as much lime as I put on it, but it was still good. The hand roll tasted fresh. I came during happy hour so drinks were $5/each. It was empty when we went inside but it's a nice spot. There's TVs and music playing. Service was pretty fast. I'd probably come back to try the other menu items.

We stumbled upon this place on cinco de mayo for their $5 marg specials. The margaritas were tiny…read moreand tasted like orange juice though. I got the house salad to start, which was fresh and a good size. I also got the salmon on fire roll and red lake roll, which were both big and tasty. Not the freshest sushi in my opinion but got the job done! My brother also got the chicken teriyaki, which was tasty too and a big portion. The spicy salmon maki was also big and a good bang for your buck. Overall there were some kinks (service was quick but had to be flagged down, they didn't know which table the orders were going to, no low sodium soy sauce). However the portions were big. The specialty rolls were a bit expensive, but everything was tasty for a non-Asian owned sushi restaurant.

Food & Bev : superb! We got 2 apps (spring rolls & gyoza) and 2 entrees, stir fry and ramen. Soooo…read moretasty. Loved the Japanese slipper drink I tried! Service: quick! There's a call button on the side of tables to help with needs Ambiance: very relaxed, grey concrete walls complimented the lighting and they have a wall of notes that anyone can write and hang, it was a nice touch!

I ordered this for takeout so I can't speak on the ambience of the restaurant and can only speak on…read morethe quality of the food. The food arrived in a timely manner and everything was hot and fresh! The bag that it was delivered in was temperature controlled as well, which was really nice to see. My one complaint is that everything I ordered lacked flavor. I ordered the Gyuniku Ramen, the potstickers, and the edamame that came free with my order. The ramen desperately needed something more - the beef it came with was bland and chewy, and the broth was totally flavorless. However, noodles had a really nice texture to them and they were tasty. The edamame was not salted, despite it being noted in the description. The potstickers were the strongest dish in my order but even then, I feel like there could've been more to it. Perhaps it was an off day, or maybe it was just my order, but I was a little disappointed. Overall, I'm glad I tried this place as it had positive reviews and seemed fairly affordable for takeout but there are other ramen shops in the city that I'd order from first before returning to this one.

I came here on a Friday night with a couple of friends around 7:30 PM and was there was no wait…read more The restaurant was somewhat crowded which is expected since it is Friday. The inside is pretty dark and intimate which would make a good date night spot. I ordered the spicy beef ramen bowl and thought it was pretty solid overall. The noodles had a nice chewy texture and held up well in the broth, though I felt they could have been just a touch firmer for my personal preference. The spice level was enjoyable because it actually added flavor without completely overwhelming your palate. It had enough heat to keep things interesting, but it wasn't the kind of mouth-numbing spice that makes it difficult to appreciate the rest of the ingredients. The standout for me was the beef. It was incredibly tender and practically fell apart with the slightest touch of the chopsticks. The texture was very unique and unlike any beef I've had in before. It almost melted in your mouth. One thing I like to do before slurping on my noodles is trying out the broth. I was trying the clear broth before mixing in the spoonful of chili paste they place on top. The broth on its own was very clear/clean. Once mixed together with the spicy chili, it developed a deeper, bolder profile with a bit more kick. It's worth taking a few sips beforehand so you can compare. Overall, it was a good bowl of ramen that satisfied the craving without trying to be overly fancy. While it may not be the absolute best ramen I've had, the flavorful broth, tender beef, and well-balanced spice level made for an enjoyable meal. I'd definitely consider coming back when I'm craving ramen.

We stopped by and ordered the spicy tonkotsu ramen, spicy miso ramen, and a side of gyoza…read more Unfortunately, this visit just wasn't for us. Both broths lacked the deep, rich flavor that I look for in ramen. The spicy miso was a little closer to what I expected, but the spicy tonkotsu tasted completely different from a traditional tonkotsu broth. It was missing that creamy, slow-simmered richness that usually defines the dish. The noodles were overcooked and didn't have much bite, and the pork slices were also overcooked. We also ordered the gyoza, but they tasted like standard frozen gyoza rather than something freshly made. The interior was clean and nicely decorated, but it felt more like a Chinese restaurant than a Japanese ramen shop, which made the overall experience feel a little disconnected. Overall, I didn't really enjoy any of the dishes on this visit. That said, every restaurant can have an off day, so I'm hoping this was just one of those occasions. I'd be open to coming back in the future to give them another try and see if the experience is different.