BENTONARA

A WBBM RESTAURANT REVIEW BY SHERMAN KAPLAN

BROADCAST, MAY 25, 2007

            In the years that I have been eating at Japanese restaurants, it was only recently that I worked up the courage to ask …what is the correct way to hold and eat sushi, by hand or  chopsticks?

            The question was posed  at Bentonara, a casual sushi bar and restaurant at 1156 West Belmont. There are  only a few tables, simple decor, Japanese banners, shadow boxes and the like.

            From among appetizers, be sure to get soft shell crabs and asparagus beef.  It’s fresh soft shell season, and those at Bentonara are moist and succulent, presented in a light tempura batter. Though ofered with ponzu or soy sauce, they need nothing but their own good flavor.

            Similarly, there is no reason to add anything to the asparagus beef, strips of sliced rib eye steak in teriyaki sauce wrapped around asparagus spears. Other first courses range from simple edamame beans to dumplings to fried tofu. The dumplings are good, not exceptional, and do benefit from the soy and rice vinegar based ponzu sauce.

            Sushi can be ordered ala carte by the piece, or in pre selected dinner combinations. Tuna sushi, which I tasted, was firm and fresh, with the expected quality.

            Maki rolls can be fairly simple, or more elaborate ranging from popular California maki with crab meat and avocado slices, to smoked salmon and cream cheese components in the aptly named Philadelphia maki.

            There are also dinner sized maki, eye catching arrangements of alternating ingredients such as Rainbow maki, which may not exactly be a prism of colors, but is attractive in its own way.

            As for cooked dinners, teriyakis are in typical sweet sauce, classic pork tonkatsu has a couple of cousins with beef and chicken variations, and somehow, even Korea’s barbecue favorite, beef bulgogi finds it way on the Bentonara menu. By the way, if you want a bento box, come for lunch. They are not featured for dinner. And, as for how to hold and eat sushi, the answer is simple. Our server said whatever you find comfortable, hand or chopsticks, is appropriate. That fairly well describes Bentonara at 1156 West Belmont. Expect to spend around $35 a couple, plus add ons. Bentonara has a K/RATING of  17/20.

AMBIANCE 3/4    HOSPITALITY 5/5     FOOD    9/11 

(773-525-5541)

Read more Sherman Kaplan Restaurant Reviews at wbbm780.com and  in

North Shore Magazine