Mrs. Ro and I had lunch on Sunday with a neighbor at Sunshine. The meal included:
STARTERS
*edamame: served cold (no problem), with slightly overcooked pods so they didn't quite snap into your mouth in the way that I like 'em to, but they're soy beans. Well salted.
*goma-ae: how do they get that sesame sauce on the spinach to be so sweet? I love this stuff.
*gyoza: pan-fried pork dumplings, browned just to the edge of crispness, filled with savory, juicy meat.
*miso soup: their miso was wonderfully balanced with a full flavor profile and a sufficient (not excessive) amount of salt.
MAIN DISHES
*Mackerel - yes, this is Mackerel as god intended - crisp skin, lovely seasoning, lemon juice, grated radish, and soy sauce, eaten with chopsticks.
*Vegetable soba - huge heaping bowl of soba noodles and vegetables in rich broth.
*Sukeyaki - glass noodles, beef, and some other stuff (this was the neighbor's dish, I didn't want to nose in too aggressively).
Everything served with green tea - the kind of green tea that tastes faintly of toasted rice (discussed elsewhere).
It was so good, I left my credit card behind. Retrieval of the card meant ordering takeout for dinner tonight (and several jokes with the proprietor about my credit card limit). Salmon Shoyiaki for me, chicken teriyaki for Mrs. Ro. The salmon was very good, but not as holy as the mackerel. Chicken Teriyaki is right up Mrs. Ro's alley.
Sunshine is a humble restaurant run by a friendly family that prides itself on serving good food, even under flourescent lights. It's not a place to impress your business associates (unless your business associates yearn for homestyle Japanese cooking), but it is a place to enjoy delicious food prepared well at a very reasonable price.
Go there at once!
Keep eating,
J. Ro
Sunshine Cafe
5449 N. Clark Street
773-334-6214
Closed Mondays