Blu Sushi Lounge

I’m wasn’t sure if it would be fair for me to judge this place solely on my lunch experiences, but, then I remembered I judge people and things unfairly all the time. C’est la vie!
I’ve ordered lunch take out from here several times because I work in the area and often get uncontrollable cravings for sushi. I always get one of the «Blu Lunch Special Bentos» because, let’s face it, spending more than $ 10 on lunch in this economy is unreasonable. Frankly, the fact that I’m too lazy/​picky to pack my own lunch in this economy is unreasonable, but I digress…
The lunch specials are just OK. They all offer either the cheap California roll with fake crab or some sort of spicy mystery meat concoction that you can’t taste or smell if the fish is fresh. However, the rolls really are pretty good for what they are (not fabulous, but still feed the craving without risking illness or breaking the bank) and the miso/​salad that accompanies the bento are tasty!
I’ve eaten lunch in the restaurant a few times as well. That makes for a slightly better experience and the friends I’ve eaten with have all thoroughly enjoyed their meals. Maybe I’m just spoiled…

I’ve walked by Blu for a year now, but only recently had a chance to dine there while my parents were in town. It’s a nice place to go on somebody else’s dime.
Our server was friendly and knowledgeable about the menu, and pointed us to some more adventurous rolls that we might not have otherwise tried. The rolls get high marks for flavor, particularly the ones containing fried soft-​shell crab, and they were presented nicely on the plate as well. Definitely better than what I’ve had up the street at Koi.
Unfortunately, we were seated underneath a speaker that was blasting Muzak, perhaps to compensate for the relative scarcity of diners on a Friday evening. The volume was a little disconcerting. I’d definitely give Blu another try, but I’ll probably ask for a different table next time.

Can’t recall how I heard of this place, but noted the phone# in my BBerry for almost a year. Finally made it out with the wife this past Sat night. On the eve of the Wildcats’ win over the Badgers, downtown Evanston was bustling, yet Blu was only ~40% full. We ordered 2 Bento boxes; which are actually served nicely on large square platters. We also added the lobster/​eel roll to round out the dinner.
Food: Nothing special, salad has NO taste, rolls are generous, but no new ground is getting broken here. Rolls could have easily come from Tokyo Lunch Box or some other local mass merchant. In a blind taste test; you would not be able to tell the difference. On a positive there is a nice menu selection.
Service: Adequate, waiter did not recommend any special rolls and did not ask if I wanted another bottle of Asahi. It was a large bottle, but still should always ask if taking away an empty.
Décor: Great location and if you sit by the window (we did); you get a chance to do some people watching around this lively campus. The place is small, but laid out very well. Washrooms are upstairs; where you will also discover a bar/​party room? Not sure how this is used, as it was not open (on a Sat night).
Overall: I think most of the positive reviews speak to ½ price specials, coupons, cocktails, etc. Without any specials, which is how we experienced Blu: TWO STARS. Have not tried Koi for dinner (only lunch during early summer), so not sure how they match up head to head for local sushi $‘s, but given the low turnout (We also walked by again about 45min later after a nice cup of tea @ Argo) and the place was still about half empty.

For first impressions, this place pretty much blew my socks off. Excellent sushi prep, excellent fish, excellent selection. This place is the real deal. I will definitely be going back.
The service was exceptionally good. The atmosphere was great. Everything was 5-​star.
My only disappointment is that once again, no fatty tuna. No one ever has fatty tuna… they always «just ran out» or something. I think you need to look rich to be offered fatty tuna in this town.

Went here for the first time last week.
The sushi (I had a maki special, forgot the name) was really good. It was nice to see some interesting styles of maki, made with different ingredients. It came with miso soup which was a nice little surprise.
The service was a bit strange. Not bad, not rude, just … I don’t know … sort of like when you have a server and you feel badly for him/​her for a moment, thinking s/​he must be new, but then the attitude and style of speaking tells you s/​he is in fact not new, but just strange.
The décor was a mix of «new Orrington,» a W hotel, Nuni and Nuni from SNL, and these very strange light fixtures that were part Marché, part Christmas. We sat on the side facing Orrington at dusk and it was really lovely. We felt like we were in a new city or on vacation.
I didn’t think the prices were high, and we were given coupons on our way out for future visits. Plus, with the ½ price specials they offer, I think this would be a fantastic place for dinner.
Martini was awfully weak. If there’s one thing I can’t tolerate in this world – sure, there is more than one thing, but beverage criticism ranks high – it’s a weak martini.

My friend, Cliff, from Kellogg pointed this place out to me and told me to check out ½ price Mondays. So basically, you get half off any nigiri/​sashimi a la carte or from the sushi entrée section. No reduction on rolls and other cooked items. At first I was a bit skeptical because Bourdain’s cardinal rule is to avoid sushi on Mondays. But, Cliff has eaten at more expensive sushi restaurants than me (yes even more than Katsu), so I trusted his judgement.
When you walk in, it’s quite a sexy sleek environment. We were greeted warmly, seated and informed about the ½ price deal. The only thing I was bummed out about was that there was no o-​toro. We ended up getting 2 orders of 9 piece nigiri assortment ($ 9.50 each). Sushi combo (4 nigiri, spicy salmon roll, shrimp tempura roll) for $ 9.50. The 15 piece sashimi platter for $ 15. I know it’s chef’s choice, but they were nice enough to consider our request for no shellfish in one platter and to include fatty yellow tail.
It took quite some time for our orders to make it to our table, but it was well worth it. The sashimi platter was presented beautifully. And to my surprise, the sushi was pretty DAMN good! The sashimi was at the right temperature, bright color, fresh, soft texture, presented elegantly… I really can’t think of any other restaurant in Chicago that can present quality sushi like this, at this price! I hope they keep bringing this kind of quality… I’ll be spending a lot of Mondays in Evanston.
The only reason I’m not giving our experience 5 stars is because there was oh-no!-toro, it took quite some time, shrimp tempura roll wasn’t the best… and last but not least… the waitress asked something along the lines of «Are you familiar with sushi or do you know anything about sushi?» I know I don’t look Japanese, but missy puhhleeez don’t make me get my talcum powder. Poor choice of words. You should say something more like, «Well, If you have any more questions about the menu, I’ll be happy to answer them.»

Blu Sushi Lounge has sexy, urban hotspot ambiance, beautiful plating, decent sushi, and some fun and creative maki and nigiri.
On the other hand, while the servers are friendly and attentive, the kitchen is extremely slow. Although fine for a business meeting, date, or leisurely nosh, this is not a good place to go if you’re in a hurry. And it’s certainly not cheap.
However, the ½-​price sushi and sashimi special on Monday nights turns Blu into a fabulous bargain. They also offer lunch specials and a few other discounts on weekdays.

I’ve been interested in trying the sushi at Blu since I started working in Evanston last August. A co-​worker recommended the lunch special, but unfortunately for me we tend to limit our lunch choices to non-​sushi options since one of our lunch work groupies does not like it!
I finally got the chance to try the lunch special today and was not disappointed. My all time favorite roll tends to be the spicy tuna maki. Love anything spicy and crunchy :) The special comes with a super cute bowl of miso, with the toppings displayed on the lid of the soup cup for you to dump in at the table. A little interactive sushi for ya!
We both ordered the spicy lunch special option A which came with Spicy Tuna and wasabi crunch as well as spicy shrimp wasabi crunch. The accompanying salad was crisp and refreshing with just the right amount of sesame dressing, and the rolls tasted really fresh and delicious! The portion wasn’t huge but it was just right for lunch.
For $ 9, its a deal! The service was very friendly and the décor is a cool attempt at trendy chic. I’ll have to get creative to entice my co-​worker into going more often :)

Used to come here at least once a month… their sashimi is very fresh and the staff are very friendly. The décor of the restaurant is very nice and modern. Sometimes we come here just to cheer up, over salmon and tuna that melts in your mouth and my gf’s favorite drink at this place, which is Aladdin Nigori Sake.
On Mondays they have a Sashimi special and they just added a Wednesday maki roll special. Definitely one of our favorite spot in Evanston.
Their service can be slow at times, but they are friendly. We were disappointed by the dessert that we ordered so we usually stick to sushi & sashimi, which is enough to leave us satisfied.

So schleped out to Evanston cause the movie theatres are nicer and hit up this spot for dinner on Sat night. I was a little skeptical but this place was great. First off, lots of reasonable priced booze. Complimentary miso where you add your own tofu, seaweed, and scallions.
Moving on the the sushi that was fantasically fresh. And they give you huge thick cut, long pieces. Had tuna, sw tuna, hamachi, salmon, whitefish, and wahoo. Also had the whitesox and mizu roll that was great. Great service and decent prices.

For Nurses Week 2009 we all went out to eat. The choice was Blu. Time time was lunch… which means CHEAP SUSHI and LUNCH SPECIALS, holla!
We all got a lunch special, I got spicy bento B, which was quite yummy. There are these «wasabi crunch» ies in the rolls which are surprisingly good. My main issue is that the rolls weren’t rolled well and kinda fell apart. For lunch, the prices and portions were more than generous, but I would guess it’d be different for dinner. A big bonus was the rolls were LARGE, but not large with rice! They were stuffed with FISH. exxcelllent.
Also, I am not a fan of the over-​swankified-​sushi places, I mean seriously… but I guess evanston needed a shishi sushi place (since koi sucked so much).

While I was leaning more towards 3.5 stars, I don’t want to deter anyone from trying this place.
I went to Blu for the first time on Saturday (my first time in Evanston actually) and I was incredibly impressed that a place like this existed in the suburbs. I’ll admit that I’ve been spoiled by the sushi restaurants downtown, but until Saturday, I’ve never had such a good experience. The staff was incredibly nice. My waitress knew exactly what she was talking about. The décor is really cool but not overdone. And most important, they didn’t sit us right next to another group… I hate that! There’s nothing worse then when restaurants try to fill up one part of the restaurant first. If you have the space… use it!
For ladies that like girly drinks, I highly recommend the Ecstasy martini… yum
Ok so now for why i give it only 3.5 stars…
The menu was way too big. Oh my gosh. I just couldn’t make up my mind. The rolls were just too much (not cost but how eccentric they were). On my dragon roll, the eel was grilled and you could taste the grill. The taste of the grill totally overpowered the rest of the ingredients. I also had a special roll for the night (the Black Spider) and it had black rice instead of white rice. Now my waitress described it to a «T», and I just assumed that it was something that I would like. If you don’t like your food to taste like earth, do not order anything with black rice. Trust me. But that was totally my fault for ordering it. My friend had the teriyaki chicken as well and it was a bit dry. A good portion, but dry.
So while some of the sushi is a bit overdone, everything else totally made up for it. I would definitely go back.

I’ve gone here a few times w/​friends for drinks… I’ve never eaten anything here, so I can’t attest to that, although I will say everything looks (and smells) fantastic.
The first time I came here it was on a Tuesday night for a meeting with fellow dance majors. One of the six of us is a bartender there, so she had to work so we brought the meeting to her. I had a mandarin martini, but substituted one of the vodka ingredients (the absolut citron I believe) for absolut vanilla… it’s so good. She looked at me like I was crazy, but it was so tasty. Like a dreamcicle.
My roommate and I went there tonight and met another one of our friends there. The bartender (not our dance friend) was a really cool guy — not overly chatty, but not negligent either. We were the only customers at the bar, and while it would have been easy enough for him to go in the back or talk with other employees who were around, he paid attention to us, but not in a creepy way.
The chocolate covered banana martini is FANTASTIC. It’s so good. It’s on the dessert martini list, which is in a separate menu from the other drinks, so you have to ask for it. My roommate had the mint meltaway martini, and our friend had the espresso martini. All of them were very tasty.
Minus one star because of the price — $ 9 for the regular martinis, and $ 10 for the dessert martinis. That’s pretty pricey, at least for Evanston. They are delicious though, so every once in awhile it’s worth it. They also aren’t open past 10pm on Mon-​Thurs and 11pm on Fri-​Sat, so that’s a bit lame. They have a lounge, but it’s no longer open to the public. I wish they were open a bit later, but it’s a good place on a mellow night to get dressed up and get a quick drink without being out until 2am.
All in all I love this place.

The sushi rolls, especially the house specialties, are expensive. Everything was plated nicely, but ended up looking a lot better than they tasted for the value.
I wouldn’t rush to come back here again. It’s an okay place for a special occasion.

From my second story perch as a former resident at 1725 Orrington, which is right across the street from the Hotel Orrington, I have seen the constant evolution of the restaurant space that Blu now occupies. Blu is definitely the best development in that evolution.
It’s often said that you don’t know how good you have it until you lose it. Well in the case of finding good sushi, it’s absolutely true. While I was living in LA, every other block seemed to have the next new charming sushi place. In Evanston, and even Chicago, I’ve had to scour the landscape in search for good sushi. So I was very surprised when I brought several of my colleagues to Blu for dinner on a late Wednesday night and had a great experience. While I’m not claiming it’s the next Matsuhisa, Blu is on par with almost any sushi place in Chicago that I’ve tried in my humble opinion.
Between the six of us, we must have ordered 12 different items. The fish was fresh. The rolls were imaginative in both flavor and presentation. The blue crab lump cake appetizer was out of this world good. Since we arrived so late, we were the last ones in the restaurant, but they were gracious enough to extend their hours for us. The space is modern cool. I’d almost come here for drinks and appetizers with friends as much as I would for dinner alone.

I came here for lunch on a Friday and was very pleasantly surprised. My friend and I both ordered the dinner bento boxes (so many things sounded good, it was hard to choose) and it was so much food it lasted me two meals. For the start came a miso soup, which was served with the tofu, scallions, etc on a cover, so you could put them in the soup yourself. The miso soup was excellent, perfect on the frigid January day. The bento box included shrimp and scallops with veggies (I was a bit surprised there was no rice, but it was very good), a choice of a roll (I had tha Katana, which was good), gyoza, and a salad with soy ginger dressing. No complaints here, everything was enjoyed.
[I also got a quick tour of the hotel, and the rooms were lovely. If I needed to refer a friend to an Evanston hotel, I would suggest the Hotel Orrington, where Blu is located.]

I love this place. I loved it more when they were open on Sundays though since it wasn’t that crowded and service was much quicker but I understand with the economy and all. Their service is always excellent. Very attentive and never in a rush to get you out of your seat.
The drink selection and, of course, the sushi selection is great. You get the great atmosphere, with generous drink and food portions without having to shell out an insane amount of money to get it.
It’s a great place and great location.

Oh, Blu. How I miss you.
This is a perfect «date» restaurant. You can try all kinds of delicious sushi combinations with a cute fruity martini (or big glass of Sapporo) and look trendy while doing it! I’m usually skeptical of hip-​looking restaurants («Ooh, look how cool we are, we can’t even be bothered to keep the „e“ on the end of our name»), because I assume items will be overpriced and won’t deliver on quality. Happily, Blu is not one of those restaurants (despite the missing «e»). The sushi rolls run the gamut from traditional to inventive, and they’re all beautifully displayed. (The Caterpillar and Dragon rolls might be my favorite.) The service is friendly and attentive, and the ambiance is perfect for a hot date or dinner with a group. It’s not cheap, but hey, it’s sushi — you have to expect that.

Went again. Seriously… amazing.
Tried this sake… aladdin it was called? Cold sake, a little strong, very unique. Had a cinnamon roll-​ish desert thing with chinese ice cream, amazing! Imbetween was that dragon-​fire thing where they light bacardi. Now the bacardi thing is kinda flashy/​useless, but the rolls from it were really good. Edamame nice and warm and fresh!
All in all, I spent about 80 with tip for 2 people between a 350ml sake, the dragonfire thing, the edamame, not the blurashi but the next one down (like 20 bucks… has a lobster Shrimp head and really fresh raw shrimp) and the ice cream. I can see why its so expensive, they do great presentation… that lobster dish was amazing, truly.
Great place, 2 for 2. Waiters are nice folks, place is nice and clean, you do get served a little slow.

For the longest time, I always complained to Kake S. that there was no good Japanese place here in Evanston except for maybe Sea Ranch but that wasn’t the same. I was proven wrong with Blu. I’ve been there a couple times already…
Our first time there — First of all, I made a reservation through
and when I was greeted, the staff and our server was amazingly friendly and helpful. They knew that I had to have a quick meal but that didn’t stop them from being friendly and I didn’t feel like I was being rushed. Our server was Matthew and he was a pure delight from start to finish. We had their tataki which was amazingly good and I almost wanted to order another dish of it!
The miso soup was different in the sense that they served the toppings, green onions and tofu on a different plate so when you put it into your miso soup, it still tasted fresh.
We tried three of their rolls — the crunchy roll (which wasn’t that cruncy but definitely cheesy and different than what we had expected), the spicy tuna (pure delight in our mouth) and the white dragon roll (yum!). My sister had just gotten back from Japan so she gave the spicy tuna a thumbs up and the white dragon roll an ‘eh, it’s good’ and the crunchy roll a mediocre wave of the hand.
Side note — try the aloe juice — yum! And their martini list is extensive and fabulous — we tried their signature martini which was really fabulous. The prices are just right — each signature roll was about $ 10 – 15. Side note — use your wildcard — you get 15% off!
Since then, we’ve been back again — loved the Blu Maki — delicious! And their caterpillar roll is another fav, in addition to the red dragon. And they serve Kirin Lite here — yum! And they have the big bottle of Sapporo, too.
Now, dessert is amazing here — the fried banana with 5 spice and ice-​cream was out of this world. Next time, I want to try the volcano cake — mmm.