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While mchodera nicely ran down the types of toro, thought I'd mention gunkan is simply a type of maki. Gunkan, which I typically call gunboat, but the Sushi FAQ refers to as battleship, is nori rolled in a circle to form a container, rice in the bottom topped with fish, be it chopped toro, uni, oyster or fish egg. Ikura and/or tobiko are often topped with quail egg.

I'm sure you've seen it in various forms many times, just didn't know the name.

Here is a not great picture from Katsu of ikura w/quail egg, uni to right. Both are gunkan/battleship style.



Enjoy,
Gary

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My experience is that chu-toro has usually no "striations of fat " and that o-toro has the striations which are flesh seperated by thin membranes. Japanese sushi chefs know to remove the membranes when serving o-toro, for chu-toro, membrane removal is not needed.
Many prefer chu-toro for the lack of membranes and if o-toro is not properly prepared the membranes can be chewy.
In late summer when the bluefin run in Maine waters, I order akami and the belly cut which is o-toro from Browne Trading when they can get a fresh bluefin.. One has to remove the upper wall and lower skin and then learn how to slice to get the best orientation for membrane removal. Makes one really appreciate the art and skill of a good sushi chef.
Fresh, not frozen bluefin is a step above what is normally on the market. Mitsuwa brings in a couple of fresh bluefin every Fall and has a tuna cutting demonstration after which the tuna is sold. Whether akami, chu-toro or Toro, its outstanding and the demonstration is not to be missed.-Dick

I'm left somewhat conflicted by my dinner last night at Katsu. I had convinced myself that it would either put the last nail in the coffin of sushi in Chicago for me or be the start of a new era of deliciousness previously thought impossible here. Somehow, it managed to be both.

It was the first time I'd set out to eat sushi in Chicago in over 4 years. (I've had the odd sushi here or there at other's insistence or at business lunches.) But, my last sushi was over 6 months ago, on an early December morning at Tsukiji market in Tokyo. I'm a unabashed sushi snob, but for my birthday I decided on omakase at Katsu. I'm very glad that I did, because it was one of the most enjoyable meals I've had all year.

It's damning with faint praise to say this is the best raw fish I've had in Chicago...for all of its natural beauty (and gold flake garnishes), the flavor of the sushi can't live up to what is available on either coast, not to mention Japan. Even yellow tail "flown in from Tsukiji" looked gorgeous, but tasted flat. The composed dishes, however, were absolutely stunning. Scallop with uni and tobiko was marvelous. (Katsu said it was my lucky day, as the uni were particularly sweet.) Two dishes were revelations of texture: blue fin tuna with mountain yam and soft-shell crab wrapped with avocado in yuba and fried. Both were absolutely delicious, too. Crab with salmon roe and Japanese cucumber was wonderfully refreshing, while egg custard with shiitake, ginkgo nut and eel, as well as Kobe beef with housemade ponzu, were hearty and superb.

The hospitality and conversation with Katsu and his wife were second to none. Haruka(?) started off presenting each dish as part of a story about traditional summer-time Japanese fare, but by the end of the meal had my wife and I rolling with an unbelievable tale of meeting Woody Allen in a rather unfortunate place. We discussed travels in Japan, Southeast Asia and France like old friends. They made an otherwise great meal truly memorable.

It's still true that, "I haven't had a single piece of raw fish in Chicago that made me forget I'm several thousand miles from where it was likely caught." But, the inventiveness and care that went into nearly a dozen various non-sushi preparations we had last night made it such that I doubt I could have cared less about the provenance of the 5 pieces of nigiri sushi with which we finished the meal. In as much as I won't be rushing back for a sushi sampler, I will certainly be back to Katsu as soon as possible for the more truly amazing Japanese cuisine.

I have always felt that if great quality fish can be fedexed to NYC or LA it can certainly make it here to Chicago but there is no demand. Besides Katsu, there is no place that even pretends to care about fish as opposed to dinosaur style spicy mayo rolls, which are quite tasty, but do not necessitate top notch slices.

At the end of the day we may have doomed ourselves......we aren't even worthy of a Nobu

chico

PS: Katsu is by far the closest to real sushi in town, more so in experience than transcendental fish, but certainly the best.

In the vast restaurant wasteland that is Kenosha Wisconsin there are two restaurants serving sushi. One, Soon's Cafe is run by a native Korean and her American husband. Soon had a restaurant in Korea and I suspect they met while he was in the service. The food is what I would term 'home-style Korean', it is very good and is made to Soon's standards'. The sushi is acceptable but what i have learned is that the Kenosha Health Department and Regulations require freezing of all fish served raw and that they actually check the invoices to assure that the fish served by Soon's has arrived frozen. We usually just eat Korean at Soon's. There is another establishment, Honada which serves Nigiri in the Edo style as Katsu does but I am sure they have no idea what Edo style means. The rice is excellent, the fish certainly is palatable and will not make you sick but the chefs are not classically trained, offer no greeting and its difficult to get them to talk about the fish, origins and what's best.
The point I am making is that I don't know what the regulations concerning the serving of raw fish are in Chicago and its hodgepodge of surrounding communities but that may be a part of the problem. I order fish both sushi grade and whatever from Browne Trading and can get excellent fish of some types but the expense is huge and has risen to where the shipping usually is as much as the cost of the product these days. I am sure that wherever Katsu sources his fish, its the best he can obtain but there simply is no substitute for being near a coast with a ready supply of truly fresh fish.-Dick

One generally doesn’t consider ramen when heading to Katsu but their kani (crab) ramen is undoubtedly worth pursuing…even with its $17 price tag. Relative to the $12-$14-ish mediocre-at-best bowls of ramen being served up at places like Urban Belly, Arami, Wasabi, or Takashi, it’s a complete steal.

Katsu-san claims that this recipe is his own creation and with crab ramen being fairly uncommon (as far as I know), it makes for a more unique and special ramen experience compared to the standard pork/chicken variants usually being served up elsewhere.

The first thing that struck me when tasting this Ticonderoga (historic meaning within PIGMON family circles: humongous) bowl of ramen was the orange frothy shellfish ooze that lined the soup’s outer rim. Take one sip of this miso-enhanced spicy crab broth and you’ll know that Katsu isn’t skimping at all in terms of freshness and quality of ingredients. Although heavily spiced with fresh red and green chiles, the broth is extremely well balanced in spite of its bold heat index. The ramen comes with luscious chunks of shell-on fresh blue crab (kani), Japanese/Chinese chive ( Nira), sprouts, pieces of fresh chiles, a tad of finely minced scallion (negi), and some thin carrot slices. I’m betting this bowl can serve your average family of four but I had no problem devouring every last drop (to the absolute amazement of our server!). Although a nama (fresh) noodle is being used here, Katsu’s only misstep is their being marginally overcooked (slightly mushy). However, to be fair, virtually everybody else throwing their hat in the Chicago ramen arena is also making this same error.

Unfortunately (but fortunately) our server thought he heard me order “Katsu Ramen” instead of “Kani Ramen” and then preceded to initially bring out what looked like a magnificently assembled and highly enticing bowl containing a perfectly fried tonkatsu (panko-encrusted pork cutlet) along with an egg that appeared to be ideally prepared; not quite honjuku but ever-so-slightly molten. Trix and I both agreed that this effort looked like a real work of art. If I ever get enough discipline to go there and not order the kani ramen, I’d love give it a try.

Katsu himself was clearly proud of his kani ramen, happily elaborating to us tableside about his noodling efforts.

This is easily my favorite bowl of ramen within the city limits...floppy noodles and all.

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It's spelled "PIGMON" - but it's pronounced "PIG-MIN."

The kani ramen sounds very interesting. Do they serve the kani ramen and the katsu ramen everyday? Are there other types of ramen also available?

Katsu has five kinds of ramen: miso, shoyu (soy), shio (salt), kani, and the special Katsu (w/tonkatsu) which are all available everyday. They only time they will not have kani is if they cannot procure fresh blue crabs that day.

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It's spelled "PIGMON" - but it's pronounced "PIG-MIN."

For the record, since this relatively info is very deeply buried in the thread:

Katsu Japanese Restaurant
2651 W Peterson Ave
(West Rogers Park)
Chicago
(773) 784-3383

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Food & Flowers: Andre Jordan's sweet doodle for a cold winter's day; diary of an unhappy restaurateur, circa 1881; winter project - try a terrarium

Katsu was out of the katsu ramen last night.

I tried both the miso and the kani ramen.

The kani ramen did come in a huge bowl. There were about 4 small pieces of crab in the bowl.

The broth in each tasted thin and the noodles were too soft. I found neither bowl to be worth repeating.

I tried the Kani Ramen at Katsu the other night and thought it was terrific. The broth is definitely a bit lighter than other ramens I've had but I thought it was very rich in flavor, with depth and complexity. It's a chicken-stock based broth that doesn't scream crab but the crab flavor is definitely there. Crab shells are added to the broth fairly late in the cooking process, which imparts the crab flavor without any bitterness. The noodles were cooked well -- slurpable, with some resistance to the chew -- but they're not made in-house and were just ok . . .


Kani Ramen

Before soup, we had a few pieces of tuna . . .


Otoro (front) and Big Eye

Needless to say, the fish was tremendous. It was silky and subtley briney. I'd had a few pieces of sashimi at another sushi joint earlier in the evening and the quality of the fish at Katsu put the other stuff to shame. I love the passion Katsu and his wife have for what they're doing. They talked to us at great length about the culture of Japanese cuisine, ramen, their ramen and the all the steps that go into making it. Every single detail is considered. This is one seriously composed dish and I think the skill, dedication and artistry that go into it ring loud and clear in the eating.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

I finally had my eye opening experience at Katsu last night. We took a sushi loving friend and sat at the sushi bar. Katsu and his wife are tremendous hosts. Katsu participated in our conversation enough to land a few jokes and share some laughs with us, but not enough to intrude. His wife is the epitome of old-world humility and grace. For the most part we went with Katsu's recommendations, and we weren't disappointed. Reading through this thread has surprised me a little though, since nearly everything we ordered last night has been chronicled on this thread. When we were ordering I had the impression that we were ordering the items that were freshest or in season. But it seems Katsu has a standard set of suppliers that provide him with his favorites. Nonetheless, the sushi was exquisite and we're looking forward to returning.

There were so many highlights it's hard to list them all. We started off with the clams in sake broth. Pristine clams in a light but flavorful broth, the ideal start to the meal. We ordered the yellow tail and blue fin toro special. Both were top quality and melted in your mouth like butter. The urchin was sensational. It was a generous portion of sweet and refreshing urchin, we liked it so much we ordered a second round. The raw shrimp with fried heads contrasted the sweet and pearly white flesh of the shrimp with the crunchy and fishy head. The fish roe with quail egg balanced the salty explosive roe with the lusciousness of the quail egg. I could go on and on.

I understand all the comments about the price, but we enjoyed the meal to the point where the price didn't bother us. I always feel like sushi costs more than it should, so at least this time I felt I had a great meal even if it was on the pricey side. This was easily the best sushi we've had in Chicago and ranks among the best we've ever had. It had been years since our first trip, but I suspect we'll be back in the next couple months to share our new found excitement with sushi loving friends.

I had a very enjoyable meal at Katsu a couple of weeks ago. It's hard to go in and not get the omakase. But we went because we were in the mood for a few items and -- as tempting as the omakase was -- we stuck with our plan, which ended up being just about perfect . . .


Katsu - 2651 W Peterson, Chicago



Sashimi | maguro in front, hamachi in back
Fantastic stuff and Katsu very generously served us 3 pieces of each (instead of the usual 2) because there were 3 of us.



Assorted a la carte items | front to back: natto maki, hotategai, sake, ebi and uni.
This was the first time I'd ever eaten natto and actually "gotten" it. I loved its funky, intense, long-lasting nuttiness. If it were this good elsewhere, I'd order it regularly and I'll definitely be ordering it again at Katsu.



Botan Ebi | fried head
When I envisioned going to Katsu on this evening, this was one of the things I was craving. It was just perfect in every way and if possible, eating just one really amplified that feeling.



Botan Ebi | masago, gold leaf
Aside from being deliciously clean, this shrimp had a texture so perfect, I'm not sure adjectives like silky, supple and snappy really describe it adequately.



Katsu Ramen
Very well-assembled with a flavorful broth that exhibited a lot of care and thought. The noodles were ok but definitely not a highlight. I understand. This is not a ramen shop and as Katsu himself has admitted, they just cannot make them in house. Still, I really enjoyed this tasty bowl.

We had some great food, and Katsu was immensely gracious. We did, however, have a couple of odd service moments at our table that were very atypical compared to my previous experiences at Katsu. First, we ordered a large-format Sapporo beer to split between the 3 of us. Our server arrived at our table with the beer while we were chatting. Before we could say anything, we noticed that he'd actually brought and poured us 2 entire beers instead of the single beer we ordered. It very well may have been an honest error but I felt like we were being subjected to some upselling, which I did not appreciate. It was only a few bucks but I thought we were pretty clear about only wanting 1 beer. And the second beer sat largely undrunk in our glasses. Later, our server knocked over a pepper shaker and spilled a decent-sized pile of pepper on our table. He didn't wipe it up and it sat there on the table for the entire duration of our meal. That also seemed very odd, given my previous experiences at Katsu.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Sushi bars are cultural, I never sit at a table in an authentic Sushi Bar. The Chef is in charge and it's my experience that the glasses are kept full. As to sitting at a table, I would't expect a server to have the expectations that theOwner/Chef would have.
I go to very few Sushi Bars and then only those run by classically trained Chefs.
There used to be a Happi Sushi in Arlington Heights where you could have your own bottle of Chivas with your # on it. When you sat down, your bottle, ice, glasses and a carafe of water were brought to you. Very good attention at the bar to your needs from the Chef and hotesses(all female Japanese).
Much of the clientel were Japanese business men. I saw $10 bills folded as Origami, given to hostesses for procuring cigarettes and neck massages at the bar. Over thevyears we got to knowcsome of the clientel and would leave at closing.I felt we were exposed to a part of Japanese culture few experience.
Of course one of my friends is a Japanese citizen whom I met in College and I became his best man. We also knew some members of the Japanese community. It's a very tight knit, at least at that time, community.
My expectations for Katsu woukd be much higher than any server at a table.
Times change and sushi is now a commodity. Katsu is one of the few surviving Sushi Bars keeping the traditions alive.-Dick

In case you missed my point, it really was too bad that the quality of table service didn't match the quality of table service at previous visits to Katsu. Food was great, though. When the bar is open, I sit there. Fwiw, Katsu has never overserved me alcohol, which I appreciate when I'm driving.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Had a hell of a meal there last night. As good, and as expensive, as most of the meals we had in Japan during our summer vacation. I suppose you could order responsibly, but that would take more will power than I have.

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I've often complained about the quality of sushi in Chicago, and while I enjoyed my past meals at Katsu, I never left thinking "wow, that was amazing." But I hadn't been there in quite some time, and my thoughts all changed the other night when I joined a friend at the sushi counter at Katsu. I can't recall exactly how we ordered . . . one of the sushi omakase menus . . . but the quality of each item we had was spectacular, and the fish as about as fresh tasting as I've enjoyed. An amazing and delicate Chawanmushi, some of the best uni I've ever tasted, a juicy, delicious head-on shrimp, it just went on and on. And the presentations were akin to what you might expect to find at Tru or the like: stunning, precise and gorgeous and well paced.

Katsu and his wife were perfect hosts, as always. All said, this was one of the best few meals I've enjoyed this year and one of the very best meals I've had in Chicago. This summer, I had two amazing Japanese meals in Vegas, one at Raku and the other at Kabuto. Amazingly, I would put this meal at Katsu above both of those, although in fairness to those two, Katsu is quite different (Raku is not sushi-focused and Kabuto is Edomae-style sushi).

But ultimately, I owe an apology to Katsu: I underestimated his capabilities and ordering prowess, and did not return soon enough. There is no way I will make that mistake again.

We were there Friday evening and had quite possibly the best meal I've ever had there. Everything was amazing, including specials of monkfish liver and big eye tuna tartare with quail egg. Oysters were pristine, sashimi omakase (much of it from Tsukiji market) was almost indescribably clean and fresh, ama ebi was out of control and the kani ramen we had to finish showcased what was possibly the best broth I've ever had in Chicago. It was rich, deeply flavorful and, on this particular night, fairly spicy. It was just an awesome meal. It's mid-December and thanks to Katsu, I'm still getting a "Best of 2012" level meal.

=R=

_________________
I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

I took my wife to Katsu for her birthday this past Saturday. After a tuna tartare with quail egg appetizer, we did the 10 piece Omikase. It was as good as sushi gets, unless you're looking for a dragon roll with six sauces. The ten pieces looked gorgeous, they are laid out in a certain order to eat, and each one truly features the flavor of the fish, with just a touch of something on top for accent. The standout for me may have been the uni, simply because I've never really warmed to this, but now I know what it can really taste like.

The service is also wonderful. We sat at the sushi bar by preference because I think it's more fun, and you can ask questions about your food.

Jonah