Momotaro - Chicago

Came here for a romantic dinner with my partner. Dressed up fancy for a nice place with excellent food that we kept getting recommendations for.We had some octopus (best I've ever had), and maybe 3-4 more items off of the menu, but the octopus blew my mind.

My friends and I did family style and we ended up spending around $70 each but that includes four appetizers, sake, dessert and sashimi. This place is pricey but you taste the quality and complexity of the food. The servers were really helpful with recommending a sake to pair with the food we were eating and they frequently checked in on our table.My recommendations are the steak skewers, the tuna sashimi, and the Miso Blondie for dessert. This restaurant is one of my favorites in Chicago, highly recommend going.

Celebrated our friend’s birthday at this location.It was nice place and warm vibe.The foods tasted good and I loved the sushi but the portion of it was small.We ordered Monk’s Journey and it was delicious.The Mishima skirt steak was really good too.We had fun and enjoyed our time.

I love Momotaro so I thought this would be great, especially considering the price. Pork tenderloin: The pork was undercooked to the point that it made my bf sick. It was nearly raw when we cut into it. Fried chicken katsu sando: My piece of chicken was all fat. I think this has lots of potential if you get a good piece of chicken. The bread, sauce, and slaw is good. Wagyu katsu sando: Wagyu was so chewy it couldn't even be eaten as a sandwich. I literally couldn't bite through it. That was surprising since even American wagyu fat has a very very low melting point.... Overall I'm pretty disappointed in this especially for the amount of money it cost.

Gene Kato of Momotaro came up with this concept, I'm guessing to adapt to the pandemic by offering something fast and is well suited for takeout. I think this is the first tonkatsu spot in Chicago and I knew I had to try when it popped up on my instagram. The pictures looked so good, I just had to go, I ended walking 45 minutes and waiting 45 more minutes just to try it. We even wanted to eat it right away so we ate it at the outdoor tables they had in 40 degree weather hahah. It was well worth it 100%. I got the pork rib tonkatsu and the ube cookie the others got the black sesame panna cotta, wagyu sando and the chicken sando. I really don't have anything bad to say about this place. Mayybee the ube cookie could have had more ube flavor but that's just nit picking. Everything else was superb! The coating on the meats was just so damn light and crispy. Not greasy at all, and had the perfect crunch. The ribs were tender and I'm glad they used thighs for the chicken. So juicy! However, the wagyu, was on another level, as expected. I'm pretty sure it was American wagyu but non the less, insanely soft. Nothing but good things to say for this place and I can't wait to be back!