A real gem, I gotta say this is my favorite restaurant in the city. Every time I come here the servers and kitchen staff are amazing as well as the food. I love that it’s an izakaya style restaurant, I would recommend ordering a little bit of everything to share with your table. The top three recommendations I have are: Maze Soba, Akami, and tomato bacon skewer.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joyce Lok
Visited 15MAR2024:*Note: skewers are priced per skewer.I would recommend for a happy hour, as long as you make a reservation.Great: The wagyu steak skewers were tasty, as was the shiryu pork belly skewer.Good: The tako yaki was ok; octopus was a bit too chewy. The calamari was good, but not many pieces. The chicken karaage was ok, nothing special about it.Bad: We walked in without a reservation and was told it was going to be a 1 hr 45 min wait. We decided to wait and chilled at a coffee shop.We finally got seated and waited another 10mins before we asked them how we order. They said our server was busy and then handed us the specials menu. Luckily we had enough time to consider what to order and ordered immediately as we were very hungry. The Maze Soba was ok, and an odd combination of noodles, then rice on the side, as needed. The wagyu fried rice had small pieces of meat.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Anqi Wang
Had a pleasant early dinner here. Everything was so delicious, and our server was really nice! Def try the sesame pudding dessert, the pudding was so creamy and silky with a slight note of sesame flavor ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Bill Wang
TenGoku Abuirya offers a great selection of Japanese food in an intimate and woodsy setting. I particularly enjoyed the maze soba and the variety of skewers available, with the Shio Pork Belly being a standout. The nigiris also tasted super fresh with high-quality fish cuts. The one skewer we did not enjoy is the Chadol enoki which fell short in flavor and had a watery texture in the middle.While the meal leaned toward the pricier side (above $50 per person), the majority of dishes were delicious, and I would gladly return for the quality of the nigiri alone.
Super tasty and chill vibes. The maze soba was incredible and we also got a variety of small dishes that hit the spot. The chicken skin was my favorite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amm I.
Visiting here first time we were thoroughly impressed! The top-notch quality of the food stood out. The experience was great overall. We tried both the restaurant week menu and a la carte options - both fantastic choices. It's a perfect spot for a quick and delicious lunch!
Jessica Mierau
Tasty food, but there weren’t a lot of sushi options and the price was pretty high. That being said, the sushi we did get was delicious and I like that they have other things like ramen.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Harish Pavithran
Good sushi but we paid almost 300 for two people so expect to pay for the quality!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi
Ben Tan
Went back to second time. Service was bad on slow day. Wait for noodles almost 30 mins. Asked second time said kitchen forgot about the dish. Really? If you want 20% service fee on the bill. You need to live up to what you can do!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Maze Soba, Sushi
Kayla S.
This is one of our regular lunch spots because the food is great! I'd definitely recommend the lollipop wings and any of the sushi. There's a bunch of different Sakes to try if you're into that. However, the service definitely leaves something to be desired. Every time we go, the food comes out at different times - never together. Sometimes there's even 10-15 minutes in between someone receiving their food and the rest of the food. I understand they want to send the food out when it's hot, but it ends up being cold by the time the rest of the table gets their food. The last time we went, one person in our group received their entree about 10 minutes before we even got our drinks. 10-15 minutes later the rest of the entrees came out. Probably 20 minutes later the APPETIZERS came out. It was just a complete mess and not a great dining experience. Our waitress mentioned they had just gotten a rush but the restaurant was not very busy and no signs of takeout orders coming in/out. Like I said, the food is great, however the service makes me not want to return as I know it's going to be a lengthy, disorganized meal. There is no reason why an entree should come out before even receiving the drinks that were ordered immediately (probably 20 minutes before we even ordered food).
Went for resturant week, the menu was nice. Was 59 dollars per person, so a little on the expensive side but we enjoyed it. Especially the black sesame and matcha pudding for dessert. Also very attentive service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Richard Y.
Wow. Let me start with easy street parking in front, a welcoming staff, and an outstanding dining experience! We were seated right away for our reservation and ordered the Restaurant Week 4 course dinner. The apps were just an amazing carnival of flavors and textures and you could taste that each was expertly prepared. The 2nd courses "egg stew" and salmon carpaccio were right there too. The sushi course with nigiri and maki was just divine. Crunch with savory with umami with yum and visually, sushi eye candy. Oh and the green tea pudding finisher with a dollop of GT ice cream in the middle? We'll be back!
Zoe D.
Only great place for the restaurant week in 2024 that I tried. Definitely will come back to enjoy the regular menu. The food was fresh, I chose all the seafood choices and the sake pairing for $59+$18, also had a taste of my team's other choices, and everything was tasty, and you could tell the restaurant owner or chef could be Korean from the food taste. The servers were super nice and introduced the food with patience, the only thing is we had a party of 5 ppl, and the reserved time was only 2 hours, finally, we had a rush to leave coz they had to make the table for the next reservation. I enjoy the vibe in the restaurant, good for hangout or date night. They will charge 20% tips with parties over 5 ppl, which I think should be 18% in other restaurants. This is the only problem that I have to leave 4 stars.
Kevin Oh
Tengoku is the best sushi in Chicago, hands down. Best sake selection, too. It’s mostly busy with asians, which IYKYK. Absolute sleeper izakaya.
A real gem, I gotta say this is my favorite restaurant in the city. Every time I come here the servers and kitchen staff are amazing as well as the food. I love that it’s an izakaya style restaurant, I would recommend ordering a little bit of everything to share with your table. The top three recommendations I have are: Maze Soba, Akami, and tomato bacon skewer.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Visited 15MAR2024:*Note: skewers are priced per skewer.I would recommend for a happy hour, as long as you make a reservation.Great: The wagyu steak skewers were tasty, as was the shiryu pork belly skewer.Good: The tako yaki was ok; octopus was a bit too chewy. The calamari was good, but not many pieces. The chicken karaage was ok, nothing special about it.Bad: We walked in without a reservation and was told it was going to be a 1 hr 45 min wait. We decided to wait and chilled at a coffee shop.We finally got seated and waited another 10mins before we asked them how we order. They said our server was busy and then handed us the specials menu. Luckily we had enough time to consider what to order and ordered immediately as we were very hungry. The Maze Soba was ok, and an odd combination of noodles, then rice on the side, as needed. The wagyu fried rice had small pieces of meat.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Had a pleasant early dinner here. Everything was so delicious, and our server was really nice! Def try the sesame pudding dessert, the pudding was so creamy and silky with a slight note of sesame flavor ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
TenGoku Abuirya offers a great selection of Japanese food in an intimate and woodsy setting. I particularly enjoyed the maze soba and the variety of skewers available, with the Shio Pork Belly being a standout. The nigiris also tasted super fresh with high-quality fish cuts. The one skewer we did not enjoy is the Chadol enoki which fell short in flavor and had a watery texture in the middle.While the meal leaned toward the pricier side (above $50 per person), the majority of dishes were delicious, and I would gladly return for the quality of the nigiri alone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Maze Soba, Sushi, Chef's Premium Nigiri Set, Black Cod Misoyaki
Super tasty and chill vibes. The maze soba was incredible and we also got a variety of small dishes that hit the spot. The chicken skin was my favorite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Visiting here first time we were thoroughly impressed! The top-notch quality of the food stood out. The experience was great overall. We tried both the restaurant week menu and a la carte options - both fantastic choices. It's a perfect spot for a quick and delicious lunch!
Tasty food, but there weren’t a lot of sushi options and the price was pretty high. That being said, the sushi we did get was delicious and I like that they have other things like ramen.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good sushi but we paid almost 300 for two people so expect to pay for the quality!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi
Went back to second time. Service was bad on slow day. Wait for noodles almost 30 mins. Asked second time said kitchen forgot about the dish. Really? If you want 20% service fee on the bill. You need to live up to what you can do!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Maze Soba, Sushi
This is one of our regular lunch spots because the food is great! I'd definitely recommend the lollipop wings and any of the sushi. There's a bunch of different Sakes to try if you're into that. However, the service definitely leaves something to be desired. Every time we go, the food comes out at different times - never together. Sometimes there's even 10-15 minutes in between someone receiving their food and the rest of the food. I understand they want to send the food out when it's hot, but it ends up being cold by the time the rest of the table gets their food. The last time we went, one person in our group received their entree about 10 minutes before we even got our drinks. 10-15 minutes later the rest of the entrees came out. Probably 20 minutes later the APPETIZERS came out. It was just a complete mess and not a great dining experience. Our waitress mentioned they had just gotten a rush but the restaurant was not very busy and no signs of takeout orders coming in/out. Like I said, the food is great, however the service makes me not want to return as I know it's going to be a lengthy, disorganized meal. There is no reason why an entree should come out before even receiving the drinks that were ordered immediately (probably 20 minutes before we even ordered food).
Restaurantji Recommends
Went for resturant week, the menu was nice. Was 59 dollars per person, so a little on the expensive side but we enjoyed it. Especially the black sesame and matcha pudding for dessert. Also very attentive service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Wow. Let me start with easy street parking in front, a welcoming staff, and an outstanding dining experience! We were seated right away for our reservation and ordered the Restaurant Week 4 course dinner. The apps were just an amazing carnival of flavors and textures and you could taste that each was expertly prepared. The 2nd courses "egg stew" and salmon carpaccio were right there too. The sushi course with nigiri and maki was just divine. Crunch with savory with umami with yum and visually, sushi eye candy. Oh and the green tea pudding finisher with a dollop of GT ice cream in the middle? We'll be back!
Only great place for the restaurant week in 2024 that I tried. Definitely will come back to enjoy the regular menu. The food was fresh, I chose all the seafood choices and the sake pairing for $59+$18, also had a taste of my team's other choices, and everything was tasty, and you could tell the restaurant owner or chef could be Korean from the food taste. The servers were super nice and introduced the food with patience, the only thing is we had a party of 5 ppl, and the reserved time was only 2 hours, finally, we had a rush to leave coz they had to make the table for the next reservation. I enjoy the vibe in the restaurant, good for hangout or date night. They will charge 20% tips with parties over 5 ppl, which I think should be 18% in other restaurants. This is the only problem that I have to leave 4 stars.
Tengoku is the best sushi in Chicago, hands down. Best sake selection, too. It’s mostly busy with asians, which IYKYK. Absolute sleeper izakaya.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chef's Premium Nigiri Set
Best sushi in Chicago. Hands down.
Food: 5