September 1988
EDO YA
1285 Elmhurst Road Des Plaines, Illinois
(312) 593-2470
Tucked away in Chicago’s northwest suburb of Des Plaines, the Japanese restaurant Edo Ya has a quaint, elegant atmosphere missing from too many of its bigger city counterparts. The first time I ate at Edo Ya, I knew it had to be good – the place was full of Japanese people who seemed to remember mom’s good cooking but didn’t want to fuss with preparing the meals themselves.
Half the fun of going to Edo Ya is deciding where to eat Besides the typical dining room and lavish sushi bar, Edo Ya has tea rooms where patrons eat Asian-style, with shoes off and knees to the floor. Though I only saw men in those rooms, I presume anyone is free to reserve them.
Owned by Sadao and Barbara Kojima, Edo Ya offers a variety of foods that will please lovers of fine Japanese cuisine. For an appetizer, I started off with shumai, a steamed, biscuit-like dumpling filled with ground shrimp, pork and vegetables. Though I usually prefer larger chunks of vegetables, the combination of the ingredients was good. The only thing that would have made the dish tastier was if vinegar were added to the mix into the soy sauce. At five for $3, I’d recommend getting a double batch if you want to share with someone.
The miso soup went down smoothly and was tasty enough, but I would suggest adding more seaweed and a sprinkling of scallions for extra zing.
The chicken teriyaki disappointed me. While the meat was tender, the skin tasted oily. It also lacked proper seasoning, which had to be supplemented at the table with soy sauce and black pepper.
Edo Ya’s tempura plate was delicious but sparse. I knew the $5.25 price tag was too good to be true. It did have three lightly battered jumbo shrimps, but the vegetables were so-so and uninteresting – there were some carrots, but no green peppers, cauliflower or other more flavorful vegetables.
On the other hand, the udon soups were rich, filled with chunks of beef, pork or chicken, and garnished with crisp, fresh vegetables. The broth was clear and fat-free, making it a hearty meal in itself.
For me, sushi is the best part of a Japanese meal, and Edo Ya’s servings lived up to my expectations. Both the sushi deluse (S14) and sashimi platter ($9.50) were filling and, on the whole, delectable. While I didn’t care for the squishy and tasteless sea urchin, the salmon, octopus and tuna were to die for. The piquant vinegar seasoning on the rice balls was perfect.
The tuna in the three rolls of Tekka Maki ($7) was fresh and came in generous portions. But the restaurant’s best sushi dish is its California Maki. Beautifully prepared, delicate slivers of cucumber adorn the insides of the rolls. The sprinkling of sesame seeds added a distinct and tasty touch.
The food at Edo Ya is first rate, but the owners may want to add some amenities, such as dispensing fresh, hot towels at the end of meals to wash hands.
Edo Ya is open Monday, through Saturday. Lunch is served from 11:30 am to 2 pm, dinner from 5 p.m. to 10:30 pm. Major credit cards are accepted, and the dress is casual. The restaurant has ample parking in front of and behind it.
Give it a try. Your hunger will be satisfied and you’ll enjoy the restaurants aesthetic charm.
A note about this article
I was commissioned to write this review by AsiAm’s publisher, Tom Kagy – a Korean American attorney. He asked me to pay for the meal and said he would reimburse me when he paid me for the review. Not only did he stiff me on the reimbursement, he never paid me for the review, either. I was out hundreds of dollars for this assignment. Because I was young and didn’t have money for a lawyer, I reported him to the Better Business Bureau. The BBB put us on a conference call, where he told them that yes, I had fulfilled my end of the deal, but he wasn’t going to pay me. The BBB was shocked at his response.
I remember attending an Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) meeting in Chicago and on-air anchor Linda Yu mentioned Kagy in a favorable way. I told her (and everyone else there) my experience, and Linda advised everyone to not write for him. I appreciated that.
Later, when I was working for the Chicago Sun-Times, an editor for one of Kagy’s other publications asked me to write an article for them. No, and I told him why. The editor commiserated with me and said that sounded like Kagy and that he didn’t like working for him because of instances like this.
It just goes to show that not all Korean Americans stand up for each other. Some steal from their own people and have no compunction about it.
