Momotaro on Lake Street is the Boka Restaurant Group's Japanese flagship, led by executive chef Gene Kato across three full floors: an izakaya, a robata grill and a sushi counter. The cooking is contemporary Japanese with proper sourcing, and it has held a place among Chicago's most acclaimed Asian rooms for a decade. Here is how to order across the West Loop room so you get the best of all three formats.
The Dishes That Define the Kitchen
Two robata plates make the case first: the jidori kimo, prized chicken oysters grilled over binchotan, and the beef tsukune sliders tucked into steamed bao. From the counter, order a sushi flight for the highest-impact way to read the kitchen, and chase the una-kyu or the ebi-uni-maguro maki, of which only about ten are cut each evening. Round it out with seasonal robata vegetables and a dessert, since the Boka pastry programme takes the sweet course seriously. Expect around USD 80 to 130 per person before sake.
How to Order Across Three Floors
Decide the seat first, because it changes the order. At the sushi counter, hand the meal to the chefs and build around nigiri and the flight. At a robata table, anchor on the jidori kimo and the tsukune sliders and graze the grill. In the izakaya, spread small plates for the table and let the kitchen handle the broader canon. The counter is the seat to book if there are two of you, which is why the room is one of our quiet first-date wins in Chicago.
What to Drink
The sake list is one of the deepest in the Midwest, so this is the night to drink it. Ask the floor to pair a dry junmai with the counter flight, or a fuller, richer pour against the robata. If sake is not the table's thing, the cocktail list holds its own. It is the kind of program our Japanese restaurants worldwide and sushi counters worldwide pages track as a benchmark.
What It Costs and How to Sit
Budget roughly USD 80 to 130 per person before sake, more if you commit to the counter and the maki. The three-floor scale means the room absorbs a busy evening, and the sushi counter's eight-or-so stools give two people a clear view of every plate. For a different Chicago sushi order, Arami in West Town and Sushi-San in River North are the sharper alternatives, while Aba's rooftop covers a louder group night.
Not For
Not for a diner after a single quiet omakase in a small room. Momotaro is a three-floor operation with real scale and volume, so the counter is the seat to book for intimacy; the izakaya and robata floors run busy and loud on a weekend.
Before You Go
The sushi counter books out first, so read our how to book Momotaro guide and reserve the counter ahead for a date night. The full Momotaro review and scores and the best restaurants in Chicago index cover the rest of the room and its place in the city.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should you order at Momotaro in Chicago?
Order the jidori kimo (grilled chicken oysters) and the beef tsukune sliders in bao from the robata, then take a sushi flight at the counter and chase the una-kyu or ebi-uni-maguro maki, of which only about ten are cut per night. Add seasonal robata vegetables and a dessert from the Boka pastry programme. The order shifts with your seat, so decide between the counter, robata and izakaya first.
How much does dinner at Momotaro cost?
Budget roughly USD 80 to 130 per person before sake for a spread of robata plates and sushi, and more if you commit to the counter and the special maki. The deep sake list can add meaningfully to the tab, so pace it. The three-floor format lets you scale the evening up or down: an izakaya spread runs lighter than a full counter meal built around nigiri and flights.
Who is the chef at Momotaro?
Momotaro is led by executive chef Gene Kato and is the Boka Restaurant Group's Japanese flagship on Lake Street in the West Loop. The kitchen runs contemporary Japanese cooking across three formats: a sushi counter, a robata grill and an izakaya. It has held a place among Chicago's most acclaimed Asian rooms for a decade and appears in the Michelin Guide and Chicago Magazine's best-restaurants lists.
Should you sit at the sushi counter at Momotaro?
Yes, the sushi counter is the seat to take if there are two of you. Its eight or so stools face the chefs and give a clear view of every plate, the kind of interaction the format is built for, which makes it one of our quiet Chicago first-date wins. The robata and izakaya floors run busier and louder; book the counter ahead, since it fills before the tables do.
What is Momotaro known for?
Momotaro is known as Boka's three-floor Japanese flagship in the West Loop, covering an izakaya, a robata grill and a sushi counter under executive chef Gene Kato. It is known for the jidori kimo, its counter sushi flights and one of the deepest sake lists in the Midwest, and has been among Chicago's most acclaimed Asian rooms for a decade. It sits at #62 in our Chicago ranking.