Shinsen is a very average place. The inside and atmosphere itself is nice, but I ordered takeout so did not experience much of their service. The sushi did not seem super fresh and all the flavors were sort of bland. I'm hoping I had an off night, but there are better places in Evanston for sushi. read more

The dishes were very slow, the chicken gizzard were extremely salty and very dry, the shallot fried rice was too oily and had very little meat... Only the sushi rolls were somewhat better, being relatively fresh. Service was ok. read more

Shinsen - Sushi Bars Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

This review is way overdue so please forgive the lack of recall re: details. My visit back in January was prompted by Veganary (vegan/January) Yelp suggestions. I'm not sure how Shinsen made that list because there were nearly no vegan options. Fortunately, I'm not vegan, I'm pescatarian so I found plenty of choices each one better than the next. I have nearly no, actually none, recollection of what I ordered but I do remember very fresh, flavorful ingredients. Maybe most memorable, though not taking away from the quality and taste of the food, is the kindness and gratitude displayed by the owners. They included little yummy cookies and a handwritten thank you note! read more

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food and ambiance was amazing. I got Dragon, creamy white Tuna, crispy Tuna as pictured here plus Shrimp fried Rice and fish cake on sugar cane sticks. which I regret not taking a picture of read more

Shinsen - Sushi Bars Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I liked the food a lot. My kid did not really enjoy her Ramen. Sat outside and really appreciated the cool days in September.

Shinsen is a gift to Evanston. We need this restaurant now more than ever. It's obvious they use amazing quality ingredients here, because even simple dishes shine. You can see and taste the love in every dish with beautiful presentations and the thought they put into each bite. We got a super white creamy maki, two orders or robata (chicken thigh and pork belly), the black dragon roll, and we were so impressed we went over the top and ordered the red curry mussels at the end. Even for lunch it seemed like the coursed everything for us, bringing us the light sushi to start, then the robata, and the big, beautiful sushi to finish before we added the mussels, which was a great finale. The super white creamy maki was simple and stunning with microgreens and delicate slices of radish for garnish. Dipped in the house-made, extra-potent soy sauce, it was divine. Even their pickled ginger, which I would guess is also house-made, was outstanding. Too often pickled ginger loses that essence of gingery goodness. Not here! If I had to pick, I'd say the robata were my standouts. The meat was crisp and juicy, cooked to perfection, perfectly smoky from fire-cooking, and remarkable in their simplicity. The server advised to try them first without garnish, and then with lemon and mustard to see the difference. No matter which way, stunning. The black dragon roll was a stunner on the plate. You, or at least I, don't see a lot of black rice sushi. It was beautiful, unique and, most importantly, delicious. Finally we loved the mussels. A bright red curry overflowing with mussel shells and herbs, with steamed rolled-up herby bread on the side. Tantalizing. The dessert menu looked amazing, and I can't wait to try many more dishes. I'll be back! read more

Nice ambience and fairly good food. More Thai than Japanese. BYOB is a good benefit to add. Overall, worth a visit in Evanston area.

Great atmosphere and the staff was very welcoming. My Bento box was great, however the lower ratings is due to my partner's disappointment with the Ramen dish. read more

Love going to Shinsen! The food and service is always amazing. It's definitely worth trying the tamarind noodles and the shallot fried rice. Everything we've tried has been super delicious! read more

BYOB. Damn good sushi. Seriously, their sushi game is on freaking point. Having said that, I don't need little bits of scallion or jalapeno on my nigiri. I just take that right off. And it's weird to not have soy sauce on the table and need to have it refilled by someone else. Okay, moving on. What is it with Chicago and restaurants that combine various Asian cuisines? Chinese, Thai, Japanese, all in one restaurant? Why? No. Just no. You're not going to be good at all of it. Case in point: This place is great at sushi. There was this calamari dish that was Thai-inspired and it was so-so. It was served with a papaya salad that had red onion in it (that we picked out because gross). Hubby said his karaage was unseasoned & bland, ditto for the shishito robata and steak robata. He didn't finish the other things and just ordered more sushi. (To their credit, they noticed that he didn't eat much of the other things and discussed it with him and adjusted the bill a bit). Additional notes: Be sure to make a reservation or you might be seated near a freezing cold window like we were, even though we got there early enough that we thought it would be fine that we didn't have a reservation. If you feel like spending $12.00 on TEA (my husband did because he's a weirdo), the lychee was good. And they serve it with adorable little heart-shaped sugar not-cubes and tiny banana bread squares. Adorable. read more

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I had Chirashi Don which consists of scattered fish, avocado, tomago and vegetables. It arrived in a small bowl with tiny pieces of fish, and the wasabi s was on top of the bowl , which I didn't see, most Japanese restaurants. place to wasabi on separate container. I ended up eating wasabi by mistake. That was hardly any fish and they were very small pieces. How do they expect you to dip the fish in wasabi soy sauce mix you almost need a magnifier to find the fish. The bowl was mostly full of rice, and vegetables for $27, and it tasted lousy. I suggest you omit this place. There are many places with decent amount of servings, and better quality and quantity. read more

This place has great ambience and service that is top notch. Give them a try for sushi that's more fusion than sushi from your typical sushi spot. My table had the bento box with asparagus and shishito robata (sp?) and black widow roll. We were satisfied with the quality of fish, and we would be back if we wanted an upscale and elegant sushi experience. We didn't get to try the nigiri, but we hope to soon. They also are byob -- which is a great perk. At the time of this review, it is a newer spot that is working out their kinks. Take it from this visiting UNLV professor: A+ fish quality A+ ambiance B- for value (our table total was around $56) A+ service Final grade, A (with typical grade inflation, lol) read more

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This is a cute new addition to Evanston. I think it's definitely a nice new spot to try. I also like that it could be a regular dinner date spot because of the ambience and price. Let's talk about the most important thing, food. My husband and I definitely ordered a bunch and I like that they have new things in the menu that other restaurants in the area doesn't offer. My husband loved the Ishiyaki, Haru Maki, and Fried Rice. Let's start with the good menu items, the Ishiyaki is served on a hot rock and I loved the smell as you cook it very quickly. The Haru Maki was okay. It's like a fancy smaller version of spring rolls or lumpia. The fried rice was between okay and good. They serve it in a hot bowl which I love because hot rice is everything, obviously. The only thing is we ordered it with chicken and for the price I was expecting chopped or chunks of chicken, not bits of ground chicken. Maybe it would be different with shrimp or beef. The skirt steak Robata is a must try because it was tender, juicy, and flavorful. I could have probably put two orders of those and rice and would be a perfect dinner. The not-so-favorite items was the Jang-Ron Robata. The Jang-Ron wasn't what I hoped it would taste, probably because it was on a ginger stick so it had a strong hint of ginger. It might just be me not liking ginger but for me if it was in a regular skewer, I would have preferred it. Second is the tamarind noodle is Pad Thai! I didn't know that until I had to research in writing this review. So, knowing that, it's nothing special. I've definitely had better and for cheaper price. If we talk about aesthetic, it's Instagramable. Then we talk about service, I think they are trying hard to provide good service. They may just need to hire more people because they seemed understaffed. Also, better make a reservation because they don't really have a big space, so once they start packing it might be a wait. I will definitely come back for a date night with the husband and maybe try the Karaage and sushi next time. read more

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Just awful. I have no idea how they have good reviews. Poor food vastly overpriced. Avoid.

My wife and I were really excited to try this new Asian fusion restaurant, Shinsen in Evanston, because we both love sushi and Thai food. Unfortunately, it fell short of our expectations. We came in on a Saturday for date night, and the place looked really clean and inviting. We were greeted and seated right away, however it took a while for our waitress to come by even though the place was not busy. I finally had to ask the hostess to get our server after some time, and she did apologize when she finally got to us. We ordered the pork belly robata, tiger cry (grilled NY strip), black widow maki and tamarind noodle. Pork belly robata comes with two skewers, however they only had one skewer left so they just gave it to us for free along with a side salad. Both were underwhelming (a sign of things to come) Tiger cry was pretty good, but I feel like you can't eat it by itself since it's a little too salty, so we ordered a side of steamed white rice with it. I would have preferred the fish sauce on the side rather than having it all over the beef. The black widow maki was pretty good. I like the contrast between the black rice and super white tuna, and the texture that the softshell crab provided. The tamarind noodle was like an elevated pad thai. It's too bad the noodle was way undercooked so I had to return it. Very disappointing. The chef/manager was very nice and apologized. He told us that the person assigned the noodles didn't follow instructions correctly. He offered a replacement dish and we chose the beef shallot fried rice. It was very mediocre, very little meat, pretty bland and the rice became really crispy after a few seconds in the hot pot. Overall, it was a disappointing dining experience. Sad to say, since the people were quite nice, but we wouldn't recommend Shinsen unless they completely revamp their menu. read more

Shinsen - tamarind noodle - Sushi Bars Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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What an awesome surprise to find a new upscale Thai restaurant right in our back yard. 100% authentic Thai food with a modern flair. The chef uses a robata grill which I haven't seen since Gene Kato's Sumi Robata Bar on Wells in River North. The chef came out to greet us and thank us for our business, as he did with all of the other customers. What an awesome personal touch. The creme puff desert was amazing! Finally this restaurant in NOT affiliated with the previous establishment in any way at all. read more

Shinsen - The front of the restaurant - Sushi Bars Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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What a fantastic restaurant this is! We have been waiting to see what going in the space where Asian Cajun Too occupied, well it was worth the wait! As we walked in we were greeted by Gigi, Sam and Tess. It was the soft opening so there was no wait for a table. We started off with the calamari which was very flavorful and cooked well. Had a hint of wasabi which was quite surprising to the palate (in a good way). The Mango salad that accompanied it was fresh and a nice compliment to the dish. We decided on the Black Widow Maki that was rolled with a black rice with soft shell crab & seared white tuna. Had a nice texture and crunch to it. It is one of their signature Maki's. They only have a few signature rolls as Tess explained they want to keep it more traditional. We order 2 of the Robatas which are skewers of meat that are seasoned and roasted. We had the pork belly with lemon and a mustard sauce and the skirt steak with ponzu and wasabi. The pork belly was cooked well with a nice sear to it that created a crunch and the beef was extremely tender. We chose the Tamarind Noodle dish which is kind of like Pad Thai but with more powerful flavors, but not overwhelming. The dish had a nice spice as they add it on the plate but not in the noodles so you can create your own spice level. It included a nice amount of shrimp. We were going to pass on dessert until chef sent out a complimentary dessert of Thai Tea Crème Brulee with Lychee Ice Cream. The flavor of the crème brulee was incredible, it was so creamy and the flavors were fantastic! Sam our waiter was attentive and very informative of the menu and concept of the restaurant. Tess was quite inquisitive of how we enjoyed the food and the price point and portion sizes. It was nice that they wanted opinions of the food and serving sizes. Chef came out and chatted about the food and the menu. Overall it was a great experience. The room was really nice, they did a nice job of remodeling the entire place. The ambiance was really chill with a nice jazz vibe in the music, This restaurant is not to be missed in Evanston, it gives yet another option of great food to be enjoyed. Looking forward to our next visit with more people to join us. read more

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We ordered the two signature rolls: black widow and black dragon...if you had to choose between the two go with the black dragon...so good, fresh and tasty!! We also got the red curry mussels, tamarind noodles and panna cotta and would absolutely recommend all 3! Panna cotta was such a great light dessert after the meal! When I made the reservation the person on the phone also let me know that they were BYOB which a pleasant and nice surprise! read more

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We had sushi and the shallot fried rice. It was an amazing dinner and will definitely go back. read more

Shinsen - Fried Tom Yum Goong Soup Steamed Japanese Rice Shallot Fried Rice Shallot Fried Rice Yakitori Don Rice Yakiniku Don Rice Shallot Fried Rice - Sushi Bars Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

The service was really great. The ambience was ok. The food was mediocre and a little overpriced. We ordered black widow maki, unagi don, skirt steak robata. What I dislike the most was that everything was neither cold nor hot, they were all room temperature ugh. read more

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THIS LIL GEM.., what a surprise.. we happened upon it.. Was so pleasantly surprised.. BYOB. Yay!! I mistakenly erased the photos!! BUT GO AND ENJOY! Service was lovely, tea flight.. heavenly.. food delish! read more

The food was outstanding! This is a byo place; we came with a decent bottle of rosé. A $5 corkage fee latter, we were all set. We started with the edamame (fine), the gyozo (cooked firmly and perfectly and filled with flavor, and the Tiger Cry (OMG...beautiful beef with a spicy, savory sauce. It was too spicy for my spouse, so I-very happily-ate the rest! So good). We shared a Black Drago maki (unique and tasty). We finished with a taste of the pad see eiu. We wanted the leftovers! The noodles were amazing perfect for leftovers. The maki is a bit pricey, but worth it for us. Nice presentation and really nice flavors. Will come back. read more

Our friends have been telling us about Shinsen for a while now, so tonight when the 4 of us decided to get together, I thought this would be a good place to go. The restaurant is a short drive from home and we easily found parking right across the street on a Sunday night around 6:15pm. We checked in at the host stand and he asked if we had a reservation, and although we did not, we were still able to sit down right away. Since it's BYOB, we brought some special beers to enjoy. I had a beef and rice dish and my wife had the pad see eiw. The ingredients were very fresh but needed some spice so I got some dry chili to add. We also shared the Black Widow sushi. Everything was very good and the service was exceptional. The prices are slightly higher than I'd expect, but the quality was worth it. read more

Shinsen - Pad See Eiw - Sushi Bars Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Excellent sushi. We've only done take-out here so I can't comment on the service, but everything we've ever gotten has been excellent. We especially liked the black dragon, black widow, and spicy crunchy tuna. read more

I accidentally made a reservation at this restaurant thinking it was an old sushi place that we used to go to on Chicago. We were a little taken aback that it was BYOB but I just ran down to Jewel and got a bottle of wine. There's a sign on the door, like many restaurants and bars right now, that says they're looking for in front of the house and back of the house people. I do believe the woman who waited on us might've been the chef's wife and the co owner. She made it clear that it could be a little bit of a wait for certain dishes. It was a pretty full but small dining area. Very interesting menu. So it did take a while for us to get our appetizers, but we were not disappointed when we got them. They were out of the mussels, but it was a Sunday evening, I'm sure they got them in sometime this week. We had the Tom Yum appetizer and it was outstanding and they also split it into three bowls for us. We got the shallot fried rice that came in the sizzling stone bowl, delicious! we shared a black widow Maki roll that might've been one of the best rolls I've ever had. We also got a tofu and vegetable dish that was in a coconut ginger broth and it was absolutely stunningly delicious. We brought home some individual pieces for our daughter and she said they were great, we had a dinner salad with it it was excellent, everything we ate was amazing. We will absolutely be back. As a reminder, I did see a less than stellar rating from someone because they had to wait too long and they thought the prices were too high. Here's the thing, the pandemic screwed up a lot of restaurants, people aren't going back to restaurant and hospitality jobs. You're going to wait longer and you're going to have higher prices. That's what's happening in the restaurant industry right now today. If you don't want to wait longer and you don't wanna pay the prices, stay home. Don't give them a crappy review because they're trying to make a living. read more

Delicious! I'm so glad I stumbled upon this restaurant a week back but sad that I didn't discover it earlier! The mussels and the black widow maki are *chef's kiss* yummy! I also liked the tamarind noodles, otoro nigiri, and papaya salad. Only issue is service can be a tad slow when the restaurant is packed. read more

We live in Edgewater and heard about this place at the dog park and we are so happy we took the small trip to get there. It is not a big space but very well decorated to make one feel very comfortable and relaxed. We started out with the homemade dumplings. They looked so good I forgot to take a picture All I can say is delicious. We ended up ordering the California Maki Roll ,Tuna Avocado and the Yakiniku Don. We shared everything and it was plenty. We brought a couple of drinks as it is BYOB at present. The service was good considering that everyone is short staffed and the place was busy. read more

Sorry. There's unfortunately no great sushi restaurants north of chicago through the northern burbs. Had some sushi, ehh Had the Ramon, ehh Not worth the price. read more

Got carry out tonight. Our order was waiting on time. We tried the Black Dragon roll and it was delicious and an ample serving for 2 to share. The tamarind noodles had great flavor but we were a little freaked out by the shrimp bodies (called heads) that the instructions said were edible. We passed on those. Also had the Pad See Eiw with pork and that was my daughter's favorite. Will definitely order from there again! read more

Quantity is too small to share and the waits are super long. Only 2 people serving. The food is basic. We ordered about 7 dishes to tried but none of the dish are worth it. The quality is also below standard. This is the worst place in evanston/chicago area to eat. read more

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I love the food at this restaurant I have higher recommend the pork belly and skirt steak the taste so AMAZING!!! I Oder shishito and jang Ron too it was good for all items teapot make me excited so much Super friendly and look professional chef,service great I give A Plus++ I will eat at the Shinsen again for sure Table ,eateries,seat,menu ,interiors decoration was nice read more

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Very happy there is a good spot for BYOB Asian fusion. The atmosphere is very lovely, service is great and I had the best green chicken curry dish ever. Been here 3 times now and it's been delicious every time. read more

Simply amazing sushi! My wife and I enjoyed lunch here on a Sunday and in a whim and we are SO glad we did. The atmosphere is very chill. Very cool decor and definitely a nice place to sit down for lunch or dinner...would be a good 'date' place I had O Toro (fatty tuna) sashimi that was 'melt in your mouth'. I'm an O Toro / Chu Toro fan and this might have been the best I've had anywhere. My Wife ordered the Black Dragon Roll and I had the Black Widow Roll from their 'Signature Maki' menu. My Black Widow was one of the best rolls I've had in over 30 years of Sushi consumption and my Wife's Black Dragon was better than my roll. My Wife also had the Crispy Spicy Salmon roll and it was excellent. Tough to compete w/the 'Black' rolls but it really held its own. Spicy and delicious. Tempura on both the Spicy Salmon roll and Bkack Dragon was pure art...flavorful, light and flaky. They also offered a couple of fish that I've not seen/had in the past...Aji (Japanese Horse Mackerel) and Madai (Japanese Red Sea Bream). Sadly they were out of both...but a great reason to return! I'll make the trip from Lincoln Park out to Evanston just to eat here again. Green tea was steeped fresh w/egg timer provided for correct timing. It came w/a house made syrup as a sweetener that was delicate...not too sweet and not 'syrup-y' at all. read more

Went here for my birthday dinner last month! All the items were good, but the chirashizushi was INCREDIBLE and I can't stop thinking about it. Shallot fried rice: I'm not that much of a fried rice person, so it wasn't that special to me. But it was pretty flavorful for fried rice, with a nice umami flavor, and it came in a hot stone pot, so there were some nice crispy pieces. Black dragon roll: pretty good! It was definitely eye-catching and the sauce was very good and flavorful. The roll had a great variety of textures. Chirashizushi: absolutely incredible and probably one of the 10 best dishes I've ever received from a restaurant. You can tell it was made with so much care. There is the moist and delicious sushi rice, slightly sweet bits of tamago or egg, amazing juicy salmon roe (perfect umami flavor and burst in your mouth), creamy chunks of avocado, and then of course delicious raw salmon. The funny thing is, the raw salmon wasn't even my favorite part! The whole dish was just incredible and the presentation was beautiful. Yuzu panna cotta: smaller than I thought but absolutely delicious. The little fruit pieces on top were a tiny bit charred, which added so much to the flavor. The top part was smooth cream and below was a more jamlike yuzu layer. Bright and fruity, a pleasure to eat! Also you can see me holding the Thai tea. It was good, seemed like a different kind from what you get usually. You could taste the spices! Service: we called ahead and asked for an outdoor table. The atmosphere was so cute and romantic! It was a table for two with little twinkling lights from the storefront and only one other table there, far enough away to not worry about being overheard. The waitress was very friendly and accommodated all our hemming and hawing about what to order (and gave us advice), took a picture of us at our request, and put a lit candle in the panna cotta because she knew it was my birthday! This would be a great restaurant to go to on a date (I was on a friend date lol). The atmosphere was beautiful and the food wasn't as expensive as most date-night restaurants. I am definitely going to come back and eat the chirashizushi again, and try some other desserts! read more

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fabulous dinner at a wonderful restaurant highly recommend Shinsen if you are looking for superb Japanese food. The two of us at ate there both thoroughly enjoyed our meal. From the look of the meals at the tables around us if I had the opportunity, I'd be back frequently ambience is great. Waite staff very attentive. Price great for what we got. read more

There are many interesting items on the menu. I had the unagi-don yesterday. I had expected it to be warm but it was like seafood bowls. read more

I must say, during my time here in Evanston, I am pretty disappointed with how there doesn't seem to be authentic sushi places north of Chicago proper. While the California Rolls I had here were definitely edible and of adequate quality, they definitely weren't the best I've ever had. Overall, the food was pretty average to say the least. Nothing to write home about, and not worth the price to me. I will say though that the service is very friendly and attentive, and the overall ambiance of the restaurant is very comforting and home-like. I would probably not come here again, although if someone were to invite me to come here I certainly wouldn't decline it. read more

I'll start by saying the food was definitely above average! I'm a huge sushi fan and I would recommend the spicy crispy tuna for sure 10/10 I loved the presentation of both the spider roll and the spicy crispy tuna sushi's. I'm not sure if it was the the day we went to the restaurant or not but it was extremely cold inside, I switched sides with my boyfriend thinking I'd be a little warmer by the window but I was still cold! The staff working with us also didn't seem too friendly so once we ate we wanted to leave asap, but definitely a cute ambiance and the neighborhood is nice as well! read more

Shinsen - Spider Roll and Crispy Spicy Tuna Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I highly recommend this spot!! Quality food and great/friendly service. They were pretty busy on a Saturday night so we did have to wait a bit for our food but we didn't mind. We got the tamarind noodles and shallot fried rice, along with 2 rolls - the black widow and black dragon. Everything tasted amazing! We drove 30 min from the city to eat here last night and will be returning customers! I'm more than happy to be supporting these businesses during this time read more

An intimate sushi restaurant in Evanston. Great place for a 1st date and romantic ones too. The food was excellent. Good place to share dishes. The service was outstanding. Street parking is plentiful for this location. Will definitely return. read more