Kegon Northbrook

So came to this place with my Mom and my daughter, being very hungry and looking for great food and service. and the food was awesome! But the service was absolutely opposite of that. First the waitress came and asked us almost immediately what we want to drink and brought them very fast… however after that it took her another 10minutrs to get to us to take our order. You’d think the place was packed… but not so, there were 8 people total and 3 of us and another 3 people who just arrived were the only new comers. To add an insult to am injury the other 3 came after us and got served before us but whatever what was the worst is that our food came about 25 minutes after we ordered when the place was pretty much empty and they brought the main course before the appetizers… needless to say I am not going back and am in shock at such lack of professionalism.

Amazing meal last night! The quality of the Filet was top notch. Sometimes these types of places overdue the soy or salt. Everyone at our and the other table (different chef) agreed that our respective dishes were seasoned just right. Can’t wait to return.

Caterpillar Eel Roll, Rice paper wrapped Hand Rolls and the Best Flavored Tofu Appetizer. As long-​term patron, Never disappointed. Best of the Best on the North Shore. MUST VISIT.

Love their soup and salad. Salmon don is amazing as well. Their sauces are delicious. Service is pretty slow even when no one else is there.

Ugh. So I am updating my formerly raving review. This is my first visit at dinner on a Saturday, and I do not recommend anyone to come here during this time. I have been sat at the table an hour ago. All we’ve been served so far is salad. Soup, appetizers, and dinner have yet to appear… I was told that they ran out of soup and are making more. There are also not enough chefs to accommodate the tables. There are only 3 chefs for 9 full tables. I’m hungry!!!
Ok, they just got us some food. And it’s delicious. The chicken broth has tempura pieces that are quite yummy. And the cream cheese things are tasty. Upping back up to 4 stars, but they really need to get their stuff together and warn guests before we invest all that time. It’s now an hour and a half and they just started cooking our meal.

I read all the previous reviews and I am truly amazed at the people that have rated the restaurant 1 star. Service and food is amazing… thanks to Gina and Michael for making such a great experience. Michael is the Van Go of sushi and Gina makes the experience simply the best. This is a hidden gem that many people do not give credit when credit is deserved. If you have a bad experience, seriously talk to either of them and they will alleviate any issues you have ASAP. Give it a go and you will not be disappointed.

Went there last night for my dad’s birthday. As always… Great food and entertainment! Best fresh sushi! Great service and my dad even got free ice cream for his birthday. Love going there every time for Japanese food!

All the way from Lombard and this is the best! Looks like I found my new sushi place… 40 minutes away but very well worth it! The specialty rolls are delicious and the tuna is beyond fresh! Definitely would recommend!

I was a bit skeptical when I realized this was in a strip mall. This is apparently the «Chuck E Cheese» of hibachi. My boyfriend and I went shortly after open on a Friday night and were the only couple without children. The décor is alright for what they’re working with, but not altogether impressive. We were hoping to have appetizers and drinks before being seated for dinner, but this isn’t an option at the makeshift bar they have set up. The sushi appetizer was ok, nothing I’d recommend (the fish on the nigiri was rubbery). The waiter seemed confused and we had to ask multiple times to get water with our wine. The hibachi was tasty (we got the filet mignon), but they didn’t offer the usual dipping sauces and didn’t give us rice even though it comes with the meal. The hibachi chef also didn’t do anything in the way of showmanship, but this could have been because there was a little kid at the table who appeared to be afraid of fire. Altogether, I would not come here again for a nice, romantic dinner.

We went there on a Tuesday night, and it was not busy. We only saw one cook at another table, with about 3 of the other tables just sitting and waiting (we were one of the 3) After some time I got up to ask if we could order? Our waiter was new and spoke pretty much no english. I don’t mind new waiters, if they are shadowed by a more experienced one or the manager (it was not crowded this could have easily happened). His lack of understanding and experienced made for a very frustrating ordering process as well as not even getting the drinks we ordered. After waiting another 15 minutes or so, we could see he was at the computer trying to place the order and having much difficulty. Now the owner was standing by him helping him, but another 10 minutes went by and our order still wasn’t being put into the system (we had two young kids with us who did need to be home at a reasonable hour for school the next day). I got up again and asked if there was a problem getting our order in and if there were more cooks than just the one for the whole restaurant? I was assured there were more cooks and they were still placing our order. I think after knowing we were already waiting a long time, the manager should have taken over the order entry at this time, but he still allowed the new employee to attempt to enter it himself. I began to feel we were paying the price of their training we are paying customers, after all and if they want to use us for this purpose and it is negatively impacting us, at least offer us a choice or something off the dinner (they never did) Aside from this, the food was so inferior to what we are use to when we have gone to Ron of Japan. 2 of us ordered the lobster and it was so tiny and tasteless, I couldn’t believe they charge just about the same prices! We finally finished our very disappointing and frustrating meal and vowed not to return.

Great Sushi, Fresh and love the golden shrimp, the owner Michael even name a roll after my dad, the Scottie roll try it, my family has been going there since 1996 5 stars

My favorite restaurant. The Golden Shrimp and Scallops are especially fantastic. Sushi is fresh, everything is always delicious. High recommendations here.

Not the biggest fan of hibachi places but the prices here are reasonable during lunch time. Love the fried rice and the filet/​chicken meal. They do a good job and the presentation is fun as well. Def enjoy this place

From the people to their food, everything about Kegon is pretty much amazing. Highly recommend testing it out for yourself because you will not regret ever coming here. Taste and service: ¹⁰⁄₁₀

I still long for this place even if I ate here 8 years ago :)! Those golden shrimp w/​egg yolk sauce.

I cannot speak to the hibachi, but for take-​out sushi this place is a win. The sushi/​sashimi dinner had a little bit of everything. The fish was like butter. It came with a miso soup and salad that I also had no problem downing in about 5 minutes. The man who delivered the food was so sweet and everything arrived at the hotel quickly and perfectly packaged. When I have to come back to Chicago this place is definitely on the revisit list.

Been here several times for sushi — never habachi. The service is slow, but that’s because they don’t have many sushi chefs working at once. But if you know that going in, just relax. Check the specials board by the sushi chef, too. I tend to come here with a coupon.
Recommend:
— Green Ebi Turtle Roll
— Crazy California Roll: tasty with some heat; great take on the CA roll, and I don’t really like those
— Red diamond (no rice): scallop wrapped in tuna, chili oil gives heat w/​o being too strong, pieces were differing sizes, very tasty
— Kegon tempura (no rice): nice warm option, crab/​avocado/​cucumber/​salmon deep fried
— Wild White Tuna Roll: ranch dressing/​citrus taste to the sauce; not very spicy but tasty; definitely
— Kegon Special: spicy salmon, tuna, avocado, topped w/​tuna, salmon & garlic sauce: tasted fine, garlic is the source of the «ranch dressing» taste; would order again if pressed for a roll selection, otherwise skip
— Tuna/​Avocado Roll: standard roll, neither good nor bad
Not for me, thanks…
— Fire tuna: tasty but it had an unknown «umami» on top
— Kani su: small portion, sauce all drained through to the plate,
— Small edamame portion
— Salmon nigiri was slimy
— Lobster Dragon: lots of ingredients masked the lobster; very mayonnaise laden; not worth the price

I love this place! I went here for the first time a few months ago and have since been there 3 additional times. Although I’m a sushi lover, I’ve yet to dine at the sushi bar because I can’t get enough of the golden shrimp! The egg sauce is by far the best in the area.
The chefs always put on a great show and are very friendly. The servers are very attentive, but they could be a little more aware of empty water glasses in need of a refill.
I highly recommend this place, it’s my new favorite. They even have a picture of Jokim from the bulls dining there.

We came to Kegon on a whim a few weeks back while trying to find something in the area for dinner. I was surprised to find it tucked away in a strip mall I’ve been to a zillion times and didn’t even know it was there.
Ambiance was typical, dark, kinda dank, and very outdated. We were greeted by a woman (who may have been the owner) who scowled half the time and smiled the other. I was very confused by her facial expressions, I couldn’t tell if she was pissed that we were there or overjoyed. I also couldn’t understand her wardrobe. She was wearing a child-​size Abercrombie t-​shirt with black pants and flip-​flops. If I was running a restaurant, my staff would be much better dressed to represent my brand.
Our chef was just so-​so, but that might have been because we were the only two at the table.
The food was delicious and the portions were rather large. I ended up taking a massive amount of food home as leftovers. The steak and scallops were cooked perfectly, everything was seasoned well, not over salted like some other teppanyaki places in the area.
Overall, I’m not running back to Kegon, but it’s good to have on the radar.

Don’t try to make a reservation. It doesn’t help. And it’s not a reservation. It’s a tentative glimmer of hope that they might seat you within a half hour of the time you ask for.
And a note on what I said before about being «accommodating to vegetarians:» they charge as much for their tofu and vegetable entrée as they do for their fish or shrimp entrees. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s a pretty good entrée, but there’s got to be something morally wrong about charging such a different amount per calorie.
Our chef last time was great! Still didn’t excuse the astonishing amount of waiting we did to get a table… Even with a reservation. We’ve resolved to try Ron of Japan for the first time next time we want hibachi, after 11 years of being loyal to Kegon.