Arami

Our second Bib Gourmand adventure takes us on a journey through delicate flavors and fresh aesthetics.

Chicago Neighborhood: East Village

Arami is located in the West Town community, which is comprised of several neighborhoods including Pulaski Park, Wicker Park, and Noble Square. Arami is situated within the East Village neighborhood, just east of Ukrainian Village and west of Noble Square. Historically, East Village was composed of a huge Polish population, a result of a flux of immigrants during the World War II era. However, after the 1960 construction of the Kennedy Expressway disrupted the residential network, much of the Polish population migrated towards the suburbs while a large number of Latinos began moving in to the now gentrified community.

The Atmosphere

Walking down Chicago Avenue at night, it's easy to overlook the restaurant, as the only sign is printed on a piece of cloth encased in glass windows. Stepping inside, you're greeted with a cozy bar area and eclectic music.

Through a narrow hallway, the restaurant opens up into a serene, minimalist seating area. The combination of bamboo and brick, along with an atrium ceiling, gives you the feeling of eating in an intimate garden shed, the light fixtures simulating floating lanterns. 

Judging from the crowded tables on a Sunday night, we were pretty glad we made reservations. There was a casual vibe of mostly young adults with the occasional family thrown in, and the noise level, while loud, didn't require you to shout to be heard.

The Food

We started the night with three orders of the uni nigiri (each order of nigiri/sashimi is one piece of fish). I had never had sea urchin before, and this was a great introduction to uni (sea urchin gonads). The urchin is cold and creamy, melting in your mouth and leaving behind the distinctive sharpness of salty ocean water. Warm rice contrasts the briny taste nicely, the chef having already soaked the rice with the perfect amount of soy sauce (thus preventing the common mistake of dunking the sushi in an obscene amount of sauce). The pleasant experience is finished off with delicately crisp nori.

The regular maki rolls highlighted the beautiful simplicity of raw fish. I loved the addition of scallions with the negi hamachi (yellowtail), which provided a kick of flavor. The salmon in the sake roll was fleshy and succulent.

A few tobuketsu maki rolls on the specials menu caught our eye. First was the unagi spicy maguro, featuring mildly spicy tuna and crunchy sweet potato threads on the outside and freshwater eel, cucumber, negi, and sweet soy sauce on the inside. 

Next up was the aesthetically pleasing hirame spicy tako, which included tender, spicy octopus and pieces of fluke (also known as summer flounder). The cucumber and orange ginger apple dressing inside were wonderfully refreshing, and the micro shiso on top provided an herby, almost bitter contrast. The spiciness level on both of these maki was just right -- there was a fair amount of heat left on your tongue after every bite, but it wasn't at all overpowering.

We were hoping to finish off the meal with tamago (house made omelet); unfortunately, the head chef had the day off, and he was the only one capable of making the specialty item. Our waiter obligingly suggested we substitute it with the otoro hamachi nigiri, off of their specials menu. It was a great recommendation, as the combination of fatty yellowtail and slightly sweet rice cleansed your palate.

The experience at Arami emphasizes the traditional Japanese approach to sushi making, letting the flavors of fresh fish speak for themselves against a backdrop of carefully prepared rice. It was an elegant contrast to the average "trendy" sushi spot, where you can find exorbitant maki rolls stuffed with dozens of ingredients, sticky globs of chewy rice, and the disturbing trend of pairing cream cheese with raw fish.

There were a whole host of other menu items we didn't even look at, including robata (grilled items), zensai (appetizers), and zaku-suka (entrees). I am definitely making plans to come back to try the ramen and the tamago, as well as the dozens of variety of sake they offer in their drinks menu.

The Price: $85

We were a group of three that night, so we scaled our budget of $58 for two people up to $86 for three. Our strategy of ordering a few nigiri, maki, and the more expensive tobuketsu maki brought us right up to our goal! It's definitely on the pricier side of the Bib Gourmand list, but I think that's pretty much expected if you want high-quality sushi. Despite my fears of small portion sizes, we left the restaurant very full and completely satisfied.

The List

1. The Angry Crab
2. Arami
3. A10
4. Au Cheval
5. Avec
6. Balena
7. Beatrix
8. BellyQ
9. Belly Shack
10. Bohemian House
11. Carriage House
12. Ceres' Table
13. Chilam Balam
14. County Barbeque
15. Cumin
16. The Dawson 
17. DeCOLORES
18. Dove's Luncheonette
19. The Duck Inn
20. Fat Rice
21. Frontera Grill
22. Gilt Bar
23. Girl and the Goat
24. Green Zebra
25. GT Fish and Oyster
26. Han 202
27. Herb
28. Hopleaf 
29. Jaipur 
30. Jam
31. Jin Thai Cuisine
32. Kai Zan
33. Lao Sze Chuan
34. Luella's Southern Kitchen
35. Lula Cafe
36. Mana Food Bar
37. Maude's Liquor Bar
38. mfk.
39. MingHin
40. Mott Street
41. Nana
42. The Publican 
43. The Pump Room
44. The Purple Pig 
45. Riccardo Trattoria
46. Sabri Nihari
47. Slurping Turtle
48. Smoque 
49. Sol de Mexico 
50. Spacca Napoli
51. Sushi Dokku
52. Table, Donkey and Stick
53. TAC Quick
54. Two
55. Untitled 
56. Via Lima
57. Wood
58. Yusho