Tokio Pub Daily Herald Review
A breeze-kissed night, good friends and pork belly nachos. And crispy calamari. And pickled cucumber salad. And ...
I forgot how quickly one can fill up on small portions, but that's exactly how I ended up after a recent outing with a couple of friends to Tokio Pub in Schaumburg. It's easy to lose track of how many plates you've actually ordered when you're chatting over crying tiger shrimp and sipping rum-infused cocktails. So when the server asks “can I bring you anything else?” you say “OK, bring one more,” because everything that has come before has been so gosh-darn delicious.
Seriously. Everything we tried (save the cocktails; I'll address that later) boldly popped, subtly delighted or had some twist that made us say “I've never eaten anything like that before.”
Tokio Pub, Lettuce Entertain You's newest concept, opened in May at the Streets of Woodfield in a former Shaw's Crab House banquet room. The renovated space is very anti-Shaw's: industrial, steely tones meld with copper seating, wood tables, burlapped walls and Japanese artwork. Urban music pulses through the lounge. I didn't spot one fishy knickknack in the place.
What Tokio Pub does have in common with Shaw's is high-quality seafood that fits well with chef Naoki Nakashima's tapas-style menu. The Asian-leaning, Latin American-influenced fare comes in appetizer-sized portions to encourage sharing, which encourages talking (“get your paws off the last crab roll!”), which encourages lingering, which encourages more cocktails, which encourages more ordering. See how easy that was?!
For the complete review, please click here.
I forgot how quickly one can fill up on small portions, but that's exactly how I ended up after a recent outing with a couple of friends to Tokio Pub in Schaumburg. It's easy to lose track of how many plates you've actually ordered when you're chatting over crying tiger shrimp and sipping rum-infused cocktails. So when the server asks “can I bring you anything else?” you say “OK, bring one more,” because everything that has come before has been so gosh-darn delicious.
Seriously. Everything we tried (save the cocktails; I'll address that later) boldly popped, subtly delighted or had some twist that made us say “I've never eaten anything like that before.”
Tokio Pub, Lettuce Entertain You's newest concept, opened in May at the Streets of Woodfield in a former Shaw's Crab House banquet room. The renovated space is very anti-Shaw's: industrial, steely tones meld with copper seating, wood tables, burlapped walls and Japanese artwork. Urban music pulses through the lounge. I didn't spot one fishy knickknack in the place.
What Tokio Pub does have in common with Shaw's is high-quality seafood that fits well with chef Naoki Nakashima's tapas-style menu. The Asian-leaning, Latin American-influenced fare comes in appetizer-sized portions to encourage sharing, which encourages talking (“get your paws off the last crab roll!”), which encourages lingering, which encourages more cocktails, which encourages more ordering. See how easy that was?!
For the complete review, please click here.
Daily Herald (August 1, 2011)