Jinsei Motto Review

Yenna Chong

The Japanese culinary scene in Chicago has become increasingly hit or miss over the past few years. With staples like Sushi-San, Momotaro, and Raisu, as well as quality affordable places like Lawrence Fish Market, there are plenty of great options for sushi in Chicago. However, with so many new spots popping up, it’s clear that not every restaurant meets the same metrics of quality. Still, proper investigation shows that each Chicago sushi spot has their specialities, and it’s just a matter of finding them. In the case of Jinsei Motto, not every dish was a hit - but the successful plates are worth coming back for.

Located in the West Loop, this swanky Japanese restaurant had an industrial design vibe. The front entrance welcomes you to the bar seating area, and after walking down the hallway there is the main dining area with tables and an omakase bar, with exposed wood and metal decor. It’s a great spot for friends and family, with a social ambiance that guarantees a good time with laughter and conversation!

APPETIZERS

For our appetizers, we decided to go for the Crispy Tuna Bites, Seaweed Salad, and Chicken Karaage. Crispy Tuna has become increasingly popular at Japanese restaurants nationwide, and it is a dish I order at nearly every opportunity I get – and it’s different at every restaurant offering it. At Jinsei Motto, the Crispy Tuna Bites were definitely solid–there was a great tuna to rice ratio (not too much rice), the rice was flat and crispy, and the tuna was seasoned well. I wasn’t absolutely floored by it, but if you like crispy tuna anything then you will like their take on it. It didn’t stand out, but that wasn’t a bad thing.

Next up was the Seaweed Salad. We were expecting the typical bright green salad with thin strips of seaweed and a slightly sweet dressing, but their seaweed salad was more savory and used the darker, flatter type of seaweed (like the one you would find in miso soup). Not only was it not what we expected, but also it was just too salty. We asked for some lemon to cut out the saltiness a bit, but this dish was not a favorite of mine.

Then, there were Crab Bites. It was red crab topped on a crab filled fried nori. Definitely a unique dish with a mix of textures with the soft crab and the crunchy nori, but the crab flavor felt weak.

Our last appetizer was the Chicken Karaage. The batter was crispy and didn’t feel heavy, and it paired really well with the spicy mayo it came with. The spicy mayo tasted strongly of Tabasco, and I appreciated that slight tanginess with the sumptuous fried chicken. Jinsei Motto did justice to a classic Japanese dish, and I didn’t have any complaints!

SASHIMI/NIGIRI

Interestingly, our sashimi and nigiri came to the table before our appetizers. We ordered madai (snapper) and kanpachi (amberjack) as sashimi, and uni (sea urchin) and unagi (eel) nigiri. Additionally, we got the Blue King Setto and the Ora King Setto. The must-get item at Jinsei Motto is surely their indulgent sushi.The madai and kanpachi were so deliciously fresh that we ordered seconds. The uni was also perfect. I have high expectations for uni because it is one of my favorite sushis, and their uni met my mark. It was so sweet and creamy–I would have ordered more at the end if I wasn’t so full. The unagi was also really fresh with a perfect amount of sauce!

Moving onto the settos, all the Blue King tuna was excellent. Jinsei Motto uniquely dry-ages their tuna, salmon, and some of their other fish. This set came with akami, chutoro, and otoro, which are different parts of the fish. I am not a fan of akami, which is the leanest cut of tuna, but this one took me by surprise! It didn’t have that sour taste that can be a common pitfall, and it was very tender. The chutoro and otoro were also good, with chutoro being my favorite, as it is the most balanced cut of tuna, with a perfect mid of fat and lean meat.

Last but not least, for the raw items was the Ora King setto. This set had fresh, marinated, and seared pieces. I was floored by the fresh ora king nigiri. This may have been the best salmon nigiri I have ever tasted, and as a sushi lover, I have tried a lot of salmon nigiri. The texture was so buttery and smooth: a true melt-in-your mouth situation. It wasn’t fatty like typical salmon nigiri, but it wasn’t too lean either. It was easily one of my favorite bites of the entire night!

ROLLS

We also ordered the Seared Spicy Scallop Maki. I will keep this short–my parents and I each took one piece, and we sent it back. Raw scallops should have a slightly sweet aroma, but the roll smelled too fishy, and clearly the scallops were past their prime. From the small bit I tasted, the roll was not spicy at all. This course was disappointing compared to the delicious sashimi and nigiri.

DESSERT

Of course we had to end with something sweet! The restaurant had lots of different flavors of mochi ice cream: including matcha and vanilla chip. We ordered one of each espresso, lychee, and passionfruit flavors. I have never had espresso flavored mochi ice cream, but it was surprisingly good–not overly sweet and not bitter! The dish had the perfect amount of balanced coffee flavor. The lychee was average; despite its bright pink coloring, it lacked strong lychee flavor. I love passionfruit desserts, so I was expecting more from the passionfruit mochi, and this one was also fine. The flavor was there but it wasn’t anything special.

CONCLUSION

I definitely do think improvements could be made to some of the dishes at Jinsei Motto, but I also had some of the best sushi I’ve had in Chicago here. If you come here, I absolutely recommend spending more time with the sashimi and nigiri, and less with the maki or the appetizers!