Jinsei Motto - CH Distillery's Backroom Sushi Bar

My wife and I recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary and, with a trip planned for later in the year, we made reservations at a bunch of our favorite spots around town.

And then the Monday before, I got COVID. Sucks.

With our plans foiled, we began to make plans for the following weekend, but now there were no tables available at Kasama, Alinea, Oriole, Smyth, yadda yadda. There were a few upscale places that had seatings available, but one place piqued our interests; an omakase joint from the Malort people?

This dinner...was incredible. I've been let down by most of the Omakase's I've done in the past, but every course (mmm, maybe minus one) at JM really delighted me.



Oyster
beau soleil, PEI


Hirame
flounder, Japan


Isaki
threeline grunt, Japan


Mejina
blackfish, Japan


Kue
longtooth grouper, Japan


Tako
octopus, Spain


Hiramasa
king fish, Australia



Shokko
young amberjack, Japan


Kanpachi
amberjack, Japan


Hotate
scallop, Japan


Turbot
Spain


These next three courses, from lean tuna to extremely fatty, were ridiculously decadent & delicious.

Akami
lean bluefin, Mexico


Chutoro
medium fatty bluefin, Mexico


Otoro
super fatty bluefin, Mexico

Salivating just thinking about this one. The most fatty, unctuous piece of tuna I've ever had.

Kama Toro
bluefin cheek, USA


Kamo
duck, USA


Steak & Eggs
A5 miyazaki, Japan


Tamago
japanese omelette

For me (and only me), this was the one misstep. Extremely airy like a souffle which Dana loved and I...liked, but tamago is one of those sashimi pieces I have always ordered and I couldn't get out of my own head to enjoy this version. Just a me thing.

Pavlova
peaches, blueberries


And that's that. Since our meal, any time a friend has mentioned a special occasion coming up, I've offered up Jinsei Motto as the place they need to go. I loved it and can't wait to get back.

564 W Randolph St
Chicago, IL 60661
(312) 884-9602

Awesome! I'm actually going Wednesday so this got me very excited for it.

Looks amazing. Thank You for the great photos.

Does anyone know how you get different fattiness of Tuna ? Is it different fish, or different parts of the fish or both ?

Has there been a change up behind the counter? The meal I had there last April that was comically bad; your photos suggest someone with much better knifework skills has taken over (though I see that the silly caviar-on-toro and steak and eggs courses remain).

lougord99 wrote:Looks amazing. Thank You for the great photos.

Does anyone know how you get different fattiness of Tuna ? Is it different fish, or different parts of the fish or both ?

Yes, great shots. Thanks for the glimpse, Nick.

Typically, the different levels of fattiness come ftom different parts of the same fish . . . though not all fish are created equally.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:. . . though not all fish are created equally.

=R=

Some are more equally than others...