If any one is ever in Chicago and tempted to go to a Japanese Steakhouse, avoid Ron of Japan. We went there tonight with some friends and had the worst restaurant experience I've ever had. There isn't a great story to tell and there wasn't one single terrible thing that happened. The whole experience was just bad. The service was awful the food was nothing special, the wait was terrible, and the people at the table were interesting to say the least. The big speciality of the house is this weird looking golden egg sauce that they put on everything. Everyone at the restaurant was pretty excited about it. To me it tasted like runny egg yolks whipped with butter and oil. In fact, I think that's exactly what it it was. There was guy sitting at our table who looked and acted just like John Candy in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." The man's wife is telling us about his triple bypass as he's stuffing this sudden death sauce in his face. It was disgusting. Apparently, the sauce lubes up the digestive track as well. My wife's letting it all go as I write this. Anyway, the place is terrible so beware.
Hey Brannon and Zandra, if you read this feel free to fill in the rest of the details in the comments, there's just too much for me to tell.
Brannon's Addition:
'm in complete agreement with that disaster of a meal at Ron of Japan. John Candy was a hoot (3 sheets to the wind and embarrassing the hell out of his wife every 10 seconds) as well as the three privileged 20 somethings seated with the four of us.
Let's see. It went something like this...
Call for reservations at five for 8:00PM.
Get there on time and sit in the waiting room for 45 minutes. Only get seated after 2nd complaint which included fib about diabetes from Mr. Fayne.
Seated and ignored, diabetes be damned, until about 9:10.
Greeted by geriatric Asian waitress with WAY too much on her plate. Takes food order but not drinks. Drinks would be necessary.
Lupe, the Mexican Japanese steakhouse cook, shows up and terrifies the hell out of me, the second and much less brave heart patient at the table, with said puke yellow egg cholesterol death sauce.
Privileged kids at table order $100 worth of food and complain about $75 of it. Get Lupe, the Mexican Japanese chef tossed, and Juan shows up. I can tell you for a fact there are no shortage of Asians in Northbrook. When I go to the Japanese restaurant I want Lu Lee and Ji not Lupe and Juan.
Geriatric pours oil on skinny privileged kids $200 pants(!!!)and maitr-d tells him they look like $5 pants (nice guy)when he complains. Good entertainment that.
Summary
Food: Shrimp too small, calamari old, crab legs iffy, steak overdone, vegetables soaked in oil, fried rice soaked in oil AND egg.
Presentation: Completely non-existent(aren't they supposed to put on a show at these places?)
Lupe never spoke above a low growl through a pasty smile and Juan, the relief chef, just cooked a steak and bolted.
After Effects: Brooke and I spent the remainder of the night crapping on the throne and Danny and Zandra spent it fuming over paying $150 for the crappy-ass meal.
Moral:
Screw Zagat. Go read the
I'm in complete agreement with that disaster of a meal at Ron of Japan. John Candy was a hoot (3 sheets to the wind and embarrassing the hell out of his wife every 10 seconds) as well as the three priviledged 20somethings seated with the four of us.
Let's see. It went something like this...
Call for reservations at five for 8:00PM.
Get there on time and sit in the waiting room for 45 minutes. Only get seated after 2nd complaint which included fib about diabetes from Mr. Fayne.
Seated and ignored, diabetes be damned, until about 9:10.
Greeted by geriatric asian waitress with WAY too much on her plate. Takes food order but not drinks. Drinks would be necessary.
Lupe, the mexican japanese steakhouse cook, shows up and terrifies the hell out of me, the second and much less brave heart patient at the table, with said puke yellow egg cholesterol death sauce.
Privileged kids at table order $100 worth of food and complain about $75 of it. Get Lupe, the mexican japanese chef tossed, and Juan shows up. I can tell you for a fact there are no shortage of Asians in Northbrook. When I go to the Japanese restaurant I want Lu Lee and Ji not Lupe and Juan.
Gariatric pours oil on skinny privileged kids $200 pants(!!!)and maitr-d tells him they look like $5 pants (nice guy)when he complains. Good entertainment that.
Summary
Food: Shrimp too small, calamari old, crab legs iffy, steak overdone, vegetables soaked in oil, fried rice soaked in oil AND egg.
Presentation: Completely non-existent(aren't they supposed to put on a show at these places?)
Lupe never spoke above a low growl through a pasty smile and Juan, the relief chef, just cooked a steak and bolted.
After Effects: Brooke and I spent the remainder of the night crapping on the throne and Danny and Zandra spent it fuming over paying $150 for the crappy-ass meal.
Moral:
Screw Zagat. Go read the review.
Ron sucks! I hate wasting good money! Bastard!
I must totally disagree with your opinion about Ron of Japan I thing that they offer some of the best Japanese Steakhouse food in the country, I do believe that many critics do agree with me. Maybe, you just had a bad night or you got stiffed and wrote a bad review.
Thanks for the comments Fred. You're the first person I don't know to comment on the blog. I'm glad it's reaching others.
I was really suprised at the experience we had at the Ron of Japan. I had heard a lot of good things about it. The people who were at our table insisted that the Ron is usually excellent and this was just a fluke. You have to admit it's kind of crazy that Lupe' was cooking our food at a Japanese Steakhouse. I'd like to think the food is good from time to time but everything that everyone had was so bad it's hard to believe. That yolk sauce is terrible especially when it's paired with some old shrimp. the fried rice looked and tasted more like pork fat soup and rice. It was drowning in oil and fat. Not my idea of a good meal. There's a fantastic Japanese steakhouse in Vernon Hills called Tsukasa. Check that place out. It is by far a better time than the Ron. Bigger portions, much better service, and overall much better food. The grills there are huge too so you're not sitting on top of everyone else at the table. Oh and thier yellow sauce doesn't look or taste like runny egg yolks. It's good.
Anyway, thanks for the input Fred. Give Tsukasa a try and I'll give the Ron another try one of these days.
http://www.northshoremag.com/cgi-bin/ns-rest1?input=60+west
In response to the first paragraphs of your review, I've found that you probably never before had entered that restaurant. Since maybe 1980 I have been a patron, beyond that my entire family frequented the place several times including weddings and birthdays etc. Knowing the people who managed the Ron of Japan both in the downtown location and Northbrook you could see that they both cared about the service rendered and atmosphere provided. On the other hand things have changed in this country and Lupe and Jaun are here and that may be your true motive for disclosing a bad night to the entire e-world. My advice (taken if chosen) is to try the Ron of Japan located in Osaka, Japan but that's a long flight and I don't want to have to re-write a rebuttal to your Northwest Airlines complaints you'll surely lay on the internet. And next time be smart and say your waiting for the rest of your party and sit down at your own table. RIP John Candy
I took my wife to "Ron" in Northbrook for a special night out. The place was dirty, the floor was strewned with debris, it made us uncomfortable. When I brought up the fact that the place was filthy, the manager asked if I was a carpet cleaner owner! We have not been back since, I have written a sincere letter to the ownership, we heard nothing in return. We do enjoy their dining experience but are saddend by there lack of care for their customers.
I took my wife to "Ron" in Northbrook for a special night out. The place was dirty, the floor was strewned with debris, it made us uncomfortable. When I brought up the fact that the place was filthy, the manager asked if I was a carpet cleaner owner! We have not been back since, I have written a sincere letter to the ownership, we heard nothing in return. We do enjoy their dining experience but are saddend by there lack of care for their customers.
YOU ARE ALL RACIST LIARS
RON OF JAPAN IS GOOD AND I BET YOU ARE ALL GERIATRICS