Hello Everyone,
This past weekend was a celebration for many people. A fifth of the world’s population celebrated Chinese New Year, all the lovers celebrated Valentine’s Day, and a happy couple in Chicago celebrated their 17-month anniversary. Such an occasion deserved a nice dinner in the city!
I had made reservations to SUSHISAMBA rio (Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian fusion) around a month ago because I read on Opentable that they would have a special menu for Valentine’s Day. When we walked in, we were welcomed and offered complementary coat check, which is always a plus. We were seated right away in the back corner which was nice for a romantic dinner.
I looked over the special menu for the day and nothing really stood out. I looked through the regular menu and it was the same feeling. We decided to order from the special menu since it was only offered for that day. We started off with chilled seasonal oysters, filet mignon anticucho, shaved hearts of palm, and a bobo brazil roll.
The roll came out first. It roll was made with seared kobe beef, avocado, kaiware, shiso, red onion, and chimichurri ponzu. I was really leaning towards getting something with toro or salmon, but the kobe beef and avocado caught my eye (also didn’t hurt that the waitress recommended it as well). In the end, the roll was okay at best. Japonais has better sushi for around the same price.
Then the oysters came next. There were four oysters with a kumquat mignonette. This was much better than the roll. The oysters with the mignonette were very refreshing and a great way to start a meal.
I have never had hearts of palm before and don’t really know what it is, but it was my least favorite of the four starters. It was served with mango vinaigrette and pink peppercorns and I am not a fan of the texture of the pink peppercorn. It was a very pretty dish, but I just couldn’t get over the crunchy texture.
And they saved the best for last. The filet mignon anticucho with butterscotch miso and almonds was the most amazing thing ever. I could eat it over and over again! The filet was cooked perfectly and the sauce was sweet but not overpowering.
For the main course, they had the choice between lobster and kobe beef…so we ordered one of each! The butter poached lobster was very good. The presentation amused me, so they get extra points for that. You could definitely taste that it was poached in butter, but I think that’s what makes it better.
The kobe beef a la plancha was slightly disappointing. Since I commented about the presentation of the lobster, I feel obliged to say something about the kobe. It was just a piece of meat on a plate. I know it’s a steak, but I expected something a little more. The presentation wasn’t the only thing lacking though. I have never had kobe beef like this before so I wasn’t too sure what to expect. The first bite was very rich and I was really enjoying the taste. But the next few were kind of chewy; my girlfriend was even complaining about how her jaw was getting sore.
For dessert we got the chocolate peanut butter caramel bar with toasted marshmallow (in the shape of a heart) and caramel popcorn ice cream. At first, I was a little afraid that the dessert would be too sweet and rich, but I was surprised how subtle it was. The bar, ice cream and marshmallow complimented each other very well and the side of caramel popcorn was a nice touch.
Overall, it was a nice Valentine’s Day dinner. The meal came out to be around $180 and another $12 for the valet which isn’t too bad, but I felt like the dinner should have been better for the price I was paying. I do not think I would go back for dinner, but wouldn’t mind going for their happy hour to grab some sushi and drinks (and the filet mignon anticucho if possible). Also, I had a look at their Restaurant Week menu and it looked much better than the Valentine’s Day menu…something for all of you to consider.
Eating in Chicago 