Ara On

We were visiting downtown Chicago via train, so we were looking for places close to Union Station. It just so happened we were craving Asian and this place popped up. I must say we were not expecting this place to be upscale, but as soon as we walked in we were impressed and looked under dressed as we looked around the restaurant.
The waitress was really nice to us and greeted us as we walked in. We were able to get a table alright away.
The downside to this place– it’s actually pretty pricey for things that I don’t think should be. We browsed through the menu, and understood that it was Asian fusion, but I don’t see how it justified the price point. I mean bi bim bap, a common Korean rice and vegetable dish, was $ 28.00, yes $ 28!!! I have never seen such a common dish overpriced (it’s usually $ 9-​$ 12). And I make this at home!
Sushi was on the slightly higher side as well, and bento box was $ 30!
We ordered a steak bento box (came with a hand roll, seaweed salad, 4 pieces of sashimi, chickpeas, and tempura), Fuji Hama roll, and angry crab roll. Presentation wise when they brought it out is lovely. I have not seen a bento box served in separate white square bowls but it looks nice. The sushi looked nice as well. In terms of taste– the steak was good and juicy, the seaweed salad is good, the tempura was really nice and had a good crunchiness/​crispyness and not oily. The chickpeas… Uhhh I have never had it in a bento box, but was good. Sashimi pieces — the tuna quality did not look as good as the salmon.
The sushi– good presentation, fish is good but not spectacular. The unique thing I want to point out though is that the wasabi is mixed with part real wasabi and part regular fake wasabi that is horseradish wasabi. I only had real wasabi once in an upscale sushi restaurant and I thought I would never see it again. It was nice, knowing how much we paid for the dishes. Real wasabi has a sweetness to it that is unlike the powder or pasty green horseradish stuff that is way over powering and is served at almost every sushi place. It’s very rare to go to a sushi place and get real wasabi due to it being expensive to obtain and difficulties I shipping from Japan.
I suppose this justifies the slightly higher price point of the sushi bc real wasabi is really expensive.
I noticed that the dishes we ordered were also on the slightly sweeter side (the steak, the angry crab roll) besides the Fuji hama roll.
Overall, I would come back to try some of their dishes. They have a knack for presentation and their quality is good.

Great atmosphere with creative plating!
Our table ordered the edamame to start, which was only $ 5 and a big portion for the table with just the perfect amount of salt. I ordered the Unagi don and I was so happy that unlike most places, they sliced the eel and didn’t give you too much rice. They don’t have the «typical» sushi restaurant menu, so I think if you’re just looking for a roll, you can get it cheaper and fresher elsewhere.

Most creative meal I’ve had in years! The service was attentive and pleasant. I sat at the bar and had a delicious meal of octopus plated with tastes I’ve never thought to try. The presentation was beautiful. I also had the seaweed salad and the duck dumplings. Of the three appetizers I tried I would definitely come back for this dish. Not that the others were bad… I just love me some dumplings.
Don’t leave without looking at the dessert menu. It’ll be the biggest regret.
Nice place to take people who need to be impressed… Like your out of town auntie.

Wow has this place changed. Jimmy Kim is running things and we had lunch here and we were wowed. Obvious price hikes but for an obvious jump in quality and taste.

Absolutely phenomenal service. I will absolutely recommend this place to everyone.
I want to personally say thank you to the staff that worked tonight, Friday May 13^th 2016. You guys provided an amazing experience.

Sat at the bar for dinner. The waitress busy flirting with the customer. I got the sashimi bibimbap and it was nothing like bibimbop. It was not tasty at all especially for $ 20! The rice was cold and sashimi tasted fishy. The red sauce was not spicy or flavorful. I am very surprised that this restaurant has 4 Unilocal star reviews.

Instead of going for the usual pizza in Chicago, we were all craving sushi and opted for this French/​Asian fusion restaurant. The place is modern with some really cool art, and is kind of upscale. The menu had items $ 90+. Their sushi menu is separate. I ordered the vegetarian roll which had like 100 things in it: sweet potato tempura, avocado, blah blah all in one! It came out looking really pretty but it didn’t have seaweed which I like cause obv its sushi.
We also got the edamame which was HUGE and shareable and only $ 5. and by «we» and «shareable» I mean had it to myself.
The vegetarian roll was $ 14 but I think next time I would have def opted for like 2 $ 7 avocado rolls or something to fill me up.
I also got the lychee martini which was a waste of $ 12 and had 0 alcohol.
Overall — I’m sure there are better places to eat in Chicago but the 5 or so times I’ve come to Chicago, I know they certainly do not specialize in asian food so just hope you’re not craving any when you’re there!

Unisu
Sea urchin with sesame, radish, cucumber, kanikama (crab stick) and sunomono sauce.
The uni didn’t look or taste very fresh — it was alright. Just didn’t feel like all the components go together well.
Nigiri Platter 9 pieces chef’s selection
Typical sake (salmon), tuna, yellowtail and etc. Again, the fish weren’t particularly fresh but it wasn’t necessarily bad.
I can definitely see why the place is sorta empty on a Saturday night. For the price point, I would expect to fish to be more fresh. Not sure if it was just an off night or if I chose the wrong dishes. Overall, I wouldn’t mind coming back again if there are no better options in the area.

Absolutely fabulous food. The bbq tuna bites are AMAZING! Great service, wonderful décor.
We had a few appetizers and they were all wonderful. The tuna bites were a complementary «bite» but we also had the scallops with… bacon powder… white miso soup. All great!
Main dishes were spot on.

While looking for some restaurants in the Loop that had an international flare to them, AraOn popped up on the radar. With it being only a few blocks away from work, I stopped in one evening for a sampling to see if it would be a good fit for my food blog.
There is a big box feel to AraOn and I expected that given it’s location downtown. Those who rave about décor will rate AraOn high. I like the fact that seats are not on top of each other which means you don’t have to compete with your neighbours to be heard during conversation. What matters to me most is if the main thing I’m paying for was worth it: the food and/​or drink.
I am leery of fusion, especially when it comes to certain Asian cuisines blending with European or South American flavours where there was no influence per Asian migration. I must admit that AraOn gets it right. The miso soup was the traditional and there was nothing amiss with it. I had duck dumplings that came with a consommé. The salmon with bibimbap was a highlight, given I love salmon when it’s prepared just to the point of it being flaky, and bibimbap is my favourite Korean dish. I saved room for dessert. That came as matcha ice cream atop lemon custard (so reminiscent of lemon pie) with meringue crisps and matcha macarons.
I rate the service 5. The food I rate 5. If I could take away a star, it would be for how quickly the food comes to the table while you’re already indulging a dish. I should have been very specific for the dishes to stagger with 5 – 10 minute intervals between. I got the duck dumplings before I had finished the miso soup. I also received the salmon with bibimbap just as I was finishing the duck dumplings. Add to that me having paired wine with my dishes, there was a bit of a rush with dishes arriving the way they did. In order to enjoy food properly, there should be pauses between each course. It’s not possible for restaurants in and around downtown to know when individuals prefer to dine with ease or with haste, so I shall adjust my ordering technique accordingly. I’ll order, hold the menu, finish dish, order next dish, and repeat for remaining courses in the future. Overall, I was satisfied thoroughly.

Not sure what went wrong. The place was empty, played terrible jazz and messed up the simplest of dishes. I ordered the tuna sampler, miso soup and scallops. Tuna sampler was half good, but the scallops were awful. The tea I ordered was also way too strong.
I love the concept of French, Asian fusion, but this was not a good experience.

My friend invited me to have dinner with her on a weeknight, and we were the last patrons to leave the restaurant. We ordered an array of items, including the duck dumplings, Spanish octopus, scallop, foie gras torchon, and the brussel sprouts. The presentation of these dishes was beautiful, and there were times when I didn’t want to eat my food, but sit and admire it the grace and beauty with which the food was plated.
In terms of taste, I was impressed with the foie gras torchon. The combination of fruity maple pumpkin and cranberry compote with the fattiness of the foie gras reminds me of fruit jam on baked brie. Its an appetizer that would please the table. On the other hand, the brussel sprouts caused me to pause because the foie gras overpowered the egg, beef short rib, and the brussel sprouts. It did not complement the short rib and sprouts at all, and I gagged as I was chewing the ribs.
The service was hit or miss, as we were graced with the presence of Chef Hoyte when food arrived, but the server misheard/didn’t hear a few of our orders, and as a result, we experimented less than we would have liked.

The lack of ventilation in here nearly had us turning around and walking right back out. The smell of hot oil and cooking foods is overpowering when you walk in. The food wasn’t very impressive. The «ceviche» was just chunks of raw fish on arugula without any citrus or seasonings at all. The fish was fresh but compared to how it’s described on the menu, a lot was missing. (CHEF’s CEVICHE OF THE DAY — with ponzu, garlic oil, tobiko, topped with adeep fried lotus root and side arugula salad with ponzu garlic oil dressing, orange zest) No ponzu, no garlic oil, no fried lotus root, no orange zest.
We tried a couple of the specialty rolls and they were about 75% rice. Items marked spicy really had no flavor and the fish in these didn’t taste fresh. We ordered two without any of the mayos or gloppy sauces in hopes we could taste more of the fish but when there is so little fish in each roll, all you got was a mouthful of rice. Very disappointed in these.
We just got the duck dumplings off the hot appetizers menu last and they were lukewarm at best with filling that had hardened into a solid lump. Super underwhelming. Service was fast and efficient but lacked any personal attention.

I will say my experience here service wise was half half. Granted my friend and I came in 2 hours before closing, our waitress was a bit rushed, though her counterpart was very understanding…
Another awesome point was the chef came out every dish to explain it. Very intimate! Loved the presentation of the dishes but did not leave an amazing impression, was filling and a good choice for food in terms of value but was not wowed.
I got the foie gras torchon– maple pumpkin, pumpernickel bread, cranberry sauce and foie gras two ways: powdered and normal. probably the best deal, however the powdered foie gras was not rationed equally, was a bit too powdery. Loved it with the pumpkin and cranberry sauce though. Bread was great toasted and buttered. Perfect choice for foie gras.
Spanish octopus– cooked just right, almost overdone but still edible. It came out cold but I didn’t mind.
Scallop– was not as crusted/​seared on the top/​bottom as I wished. However the edge was surrounded by herbs and garnishes that were extremely refreshing loved that
Brussel sprouts– short ribs, 63 degree poached egg, pickled fennel and foie gras. This reminded me of a varietal of beef broccoli that was good with rice. But there was a punch of flavor with the meat not sure what it was but the stew like consistency wasn’t what I was expecting impressed by the egg.
And duck dumplings– comes in 4, poured with broth on top. It was fragrant and good I enjoyed it, but wasn’t memorable.
Overall the experience was ok. They packaged my food wel and beautifully. Décor reminds me of Aziza in SF. Food does not remind me of it.

I came here for the first time and wow!
Everything was delicious, great variety of flavors.
Honestly I wasn’t expecting it, Excellent presentation, good size portions. Wide wine selection…
Yummy deserts, very upscale food.
Totally recommend this place, relax atmosphere, well located.
Thanks to Executive Chef Trevor for introducing to us each plate at our table, he’s very friendly and knowledgeable about food. Also Jimmy the owner came to our table to say hello.
Great service, very attentive.
Definitely will come back!

I’d say this is actually a 3.5 for me, but the food was so delicious that I rounded up to 4. I was in need of a quick work lunch, and I was craving sushi. Normally I just get sushi from my office’s cafeteria (also referred to as «basement sushi»), but the manfriend was downtown & I wanted something better than that.
We walked in & didn’t have a reservation, so we had to sit at the bar, which was fine by me. I would have preferred a table, but I always find it fun to watch people make the dishes anyway, so it was no biggie. We started with the edamame, which it’s edamame… you can’t really comment one way or another on steamed edamame… except this one had chili powder sprinkled on it & about halfway through my mouth was on fire. I didn’t realize that would be the case, so that’s on me.
I also had the Cali Crunch roll & the Hamachi nigiri… both of these were delicious. Wayyyy better than what the basement sushi would have been.
It was definitely a more expensive lunch than I’d normally do… I would have gotten one of the bento boxes but I couldn’t justify throwing down a $ 20 for lunch. Turns out, after all the things I ordered, that’s exactly what I did, so oh well. Next time, bento.

Overall: Ara On offers swanky, elevated Asian foods in a swanky environment.
Food: Duck Dumpling, Scallops, Salmon Bibimbap, Ara On Tuna Tower, Ara On Chef special, and softshell crab unagi roll. The food was as good as it sounds.
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Wow, Ara On was great. I came here with my girlfriend’s family and had a great time hearing about her brother’s crazy college stories. The waitress was friendly and the food was varied and excellent. The price point was a little higher but this is downtown Chicago, so can’t really complain too much about it there.
The food came just phenomenal. We tried out most of the chef’s recommendations and ate until we burst. Everything was well cooked, tender, and flavorful. Highly recommended!

This place decorates how I would like to if I had any kind of skills. Especially the couch/​lounge area. Super modern and chic (I’m not exactly sure what «chic» means, but I like to use it now and again) this dining space is like eating at your rich uncle’s house.
As I devoured my delicious bbq rice amuse bouche I decided on the salmon bento box even though I was a bit turned off by the price ($ 20). End the end, I’m not sure it was worth $ 20 but it was tasty and the owner was very friendly. The fish fell apart and was almost buttery the way good salmon should be but I felt like it needed a bit of rice. The French portion of the meal was the potato croquette which to me was random but also perfectly fried. The sushi rolls were my least favorite. I’m glad I tried the bento box but think it’s not something I would order again.

Came here for a quick lunch — In and out within 30 minutes! This is definitely a fancier venue, probably more suited for a business lunch than a casual lunch within the loop. The dining area was full when I came before noon but there are plenty of seating area at the bar and front area seats.
I ordered the Scallops Bento Box and some dishes are spot on and some were less than stellar. I really liked the potato croquet (very crisp) and the scallops, but the california rolls and tempura were very meh. The rice was dry and the tempura flour was too soft. Because the bento box was $ 20, which is pretty pricey for my standards, I expected every dish to be on point. The bento also came with some fruit and a sesame spinach dish. However, I was glad that they offered the choice of scallops and salmon in their bento menu.

Wow! What a chance place to end up at! Ara On is awesome, all the way around. Good service, good food, good value.
Let me start by saying I find their edamame unique and delicious. They sprinkle red chili flakes on top — and it is served fresh and warm. This is an extremely pleasant departure from the traditional edamame at just about any sushi restaurant I would normally go to.
Also, the menu online doesn’t seem to necessarily read the same way as online. It’s the same items, but I think the order throws me off. Be that as it may, I followed up Edamame with a tofu sizzle with Thai sauce. I think I might try this as bulgogi next time. I was very, very pleased with the taste and texture here. Grilled asparagus as part of the griddle is extremely welcome from my perspective. It actually reminded me of the vegetables I had at Bob Chinn’s with fish, which was also a great thing.
I also tried a Smokey Eye — this had a very unique flavor, great presentation, and was all around extremely fresh. I say «tried» because it was Jen’s choice and she shared: P
This place is great. I thought sushi would be expensive, but edamame + sushi order + sizzle was in the $ 30 range. This is way less than I’d expect for a restaurant downtown, let alone across from a hotel.
Do eat here. Vegetarian, sushi lover, asian food lover, you can’t go wrong.