Chizakaya - Japanese Pub

Restaurant week every year in Chicago is just after V-day.  http://www.choosechicago.com/things-to-do/dining/chicago-restaurant-week/   It involves over a hundred restaurants throughout the city/suburbs during which they have set prix fixe menus.  Prices are very reasonable, lunch around $22 and dinner around $33 and you usually get at least 3 courses.  For the last few years, my cousin Jeff and his cousin Kent have been coming down for it because it just so happens to coincide with the Chicago Auto Show.  One year we went to Roy's (Hawaiian Fusion) and this year we went to a Japanese Pub as they call themselves, Chizakaya (http://www.chizakaya.com). 

I was pretty happy to find that the menu had 4 courses and was pleasantly surprised that there were choices to be made for our appetizer and main courses.  For the app course I chose the 'crispy pork, slow poached egg' which came in soy sauce.  It was delicious and my favorite of all the courses.  The second course was a preset 'Kushi Yaki' course.  3 skewers of salmon, chicken, and shishito peppers came.  The third course options were all noodle options.  I chose the pork tenderloin ramen in a pork bone marrow broth.  The broth was straight buttery goodness.  Finally, the dessert was fried mochi balls with a sweet black sesame paste. 

There were quite a few cocktails, sake, and beer selections on the beverage menu.  Jeff, Jane, and I shared a some sake which was very good, and clean. 

Pork tenderloin ramen in Pork bone marrow broth