Blu Fish Sushi Bistro - Park Ridge, IL

I've eaten at the Blu Fish Sushi Bistro in Glenview, IL many times over the past two or three years, but I've been staying more toward the Des Plaines area around O'Hare Airport over the last year or so.  To the east of Des Plaines is Park Ridge, a small suburb that is probably best known as the hometown of Hillary Clinton.  There's a number of little restaurants in and around Park Ridge and I decided to try the Blu Fish located along Northwest Highway in a combination retail/residence complex. (see map)

This Blu Fish location opened in 2011 and offers pretty much the same menu as the original location.  While they feature steaks and seafood prepared in their kitchen, I always go and hang out at the sushi bar to get some of the most wonderful sushi in the Chicago area.  

It was one of those evenings when I needed sushi and I found that the Blu Fish location in Park Ridge was less than a 10 minute drive from my hotel in Des Plaines.   The entrance to Blu Fish is actually behind the building from Northwest Highway, across a small street from the Trader Joe's in Park Ridge.  Parking is plentiful in the lot in front of the entrance.

The interior of the Park Ridge Blu Fish is similar to the original one in that it had a classy contemporary look.  While both locations look elegant and chic, I've never once gotten an attitude or an ounce of pretension from anyone on my previous visits to the Glenview location.  It turned out to be exactly the same for my visit to the Park Ridge Blu Fish.  

 
I asked to sit at the sushi bar.  Like the Glenview spot, it had a blue under-lit sushi bar that I enjoy immensely.  I was greeted by the sushi chef - Mongo (gotta love the name!) - and soon after a young lady came over to take my drink order and to drop off a sushi order sheet.  I ordered an Asahi - large.  

The sushi in the case in front of me looked fresh and delicious.  I had a small breakfast and no lunch, so I was pretty hungry.  And I always seem to order way too much sushi when I go to Blu Fish.  But it's just so damned good.  I immediately told Mongo that I wanted one each of the spicy tuna and the spicy salmon rolls.  I always get the spicy tuna rolls until one of the chefs at the Blu Fish in Glenview talked me into the spicy salmon on one visit.  Mongo began to make them for me as I filled out what I wanted for nigiri sushi. 

For sushi, I ordered some pieces of smoked salmon, yellow tail, albacore tuna and, as a treat for myself, I also ordered up some blue fin tuna they had available at market price that evening.  I doubled up on the smoked salmon - which is some of the best I've ever had - to make it 10 pieces in all.  

The spicy rolls came up first.  And I have to say that I thought the salmon rolls weren't as good as the ones I've had up at the original Blu Fish.  They didn't have the forward spicy taste like I found with the spicy tuna roll, but they were still very good.  The spicy tuna was out-of-this-world delicious.  And the other thing I like about Blu Fish - their sushi rolls are big, easily the size of a silver dollar.   

 
I had just finished up the last of the spicy tuna and salmon rolls when Mongo handed the sushi plate over the counter to me.  He also included a piece of seared o-toro tuna nigiri that he said was on the house.  That was certainly nice!  

The sushi at Blu Fish in Park Ridge was just as good as the sushi I've had at the Glenview location. The albacore tuna was melt-in-your-mouth smooth and the smoked salmon was superb.  Even the seared o-toro was fabulous.  I was sitting there savoring the taste of the sushi and I got to thinking, "Why go anyplace else?  Blu Fish is great!"  

And it is great.  The only drawback is that it's a little expensive.  Well, sushi, in general, can be pretty expensive.  But if you go into Blu Fish knowing that you're probably going to spend some coin on sushi, you won't be disappointed in the least.  I've never had anything close to a bad experience at the Glenview location, and I'm looking forward to return trips to the Park Ridge location in the future.

Comments

[Roger]

Park Ridge is NOT the hometown of Hillary. She lived here long enough to realize her kind was not welcome in town. Why people keep saying that is beyond us. No surprise no other town claims her though, I'm sure she lived somewhere else much longer.

[Barbara Clark]

Roger is an idiot! LOL!