Sushi Ai

I am not one to usually write bad reviews for restaurants, but was so dissapointed with our food tonight... more

I am not one to usually write bad reviews for restaurants, but was so dissapointed with our food tonight that I felt I had to share our experience.... more

This is probably the best fine dining experience in Palatine. I've been to lots of different restaurants and these guys are simply professional. The theme is very modern inside of the restaurant and looks concise and contemporary. The food is divinely exquisite and they make sure to put a lot of protein and flavor into each order rather than the sticky rice dumpster sushi you get most places. That being said, if you are looking to impress someone or take a girl out for the evening, go here. The atmosphere is very chic and friendly and the food is to die for. more

We have eaten at Sushai Ai twice and been more than satisfied! The servers are really friendly and helpful when choosing meal and drink selections. The sushi is fantastic and the specials are mouthwatering. The food arrives at the table promptly and all the fish and food is fresh. The plating is absolutely gorgeous, some of the best and most creative I have seen (p.s. we have eaten all over the world!) The oyster special recently had real wasabe, which was quite a treat since it is rather difficult to find. Overall, we have been really pleased with the restaraunt and will go back any time since it has become our sushi standard for the area. Pros: Friendly servers, great sushi, and beautiful plating Cons: Rather pricey more

My husband and I wanted to try a new sushi spot. The hostess was not there to greet us but did eventually help us to our seats. The place was pretty quiet so it was nice to be able to hear each other talk. The atmosphere was nice, but nothing out of the ordinary and same went for the food. I ordered the red dragon, my husband got the red phoenix and the crazy dragon. We also had some nigiri sushi. All in all a nice place to go if you're stuck in the suburban area, but not worth the trip we took from chicago. Pros: quiet atmosphere Cons: cramped space more

What a wonderful experience we had at this restaurant. \r \r My colleague and I were staying down the street at the Renaissance Inn Convention Center. I read the reviews for Sushi Ai and I was pleased to see that many of them were very high. Now I know why. \r \r We sat at the sushi bar and let the chef decide for us all night long. He started light and gradually got heavier and spicier. We had about 4 different and diversely flavored rolls. Each was so full of flavor my head was spinning. We had a sashimi plate with red snapper that was light and sweet, the escolar was like cooked red snapper the way it fell apart in your mouth and it melted away as you chewed, simply amazing! We had a spider hand roll with eel and sweet sauce. It was all very tasty, well presented and satisfying. We had about 8 plates in all. He kept it coming until we said stop! \r \r Jessica was our wait person and she is fantastic! She knew what was in each roll, plate, combination and she even explained how different tastes were meant to compliment each other. Very knowledgeable and friendly. A true joy.\r \r We will make this a regular stop when we visit this region for work and I may go back tomorrow!!\r \r You MUST go if you are in the area. It is a hidden Coral Jewel! Pros: Affordable, great atmosphere, staff, food, and service. Cons: Doesn't look like much from the outside due to the strip mall location. more

This place is the most creative and tasty sushi place in the NW suburbs. If you are looking for a great atmosphere and the freshest sushi you can find anywhere, this is the place for you! My favorite sushi rolls are the green turtle and the california sunset. They have an extensive list of creative sushi and sashimi dishes. Their hot and cold appetizer list is more creative than what you would find at a downtown sushi restaurant! The place is kind of hidden so when you drive by, look hard so you dont miss it. Great service, great food, great sake selection! You cant go wrong!! Pros: Great service and extensive sushi selection Cons: Sushi specialty rolls can be a bit pricey more

Sushi Ai has incredible sushi with a great selection on their menu. They have excellent service and the atmosphere is amazing. The price is wonderful for sushi and the music is very relaxing. They have wonderful appetizers and their signature rolls are exquisite. I particularly enjoyed their Special Spicy Tuna Roll and Dirty Old Man Roll. Everyone should check it out!\r \r Pros: great menu/ music is good more

Best food and friendly service! they have a lot of creative specialty rolls and there sashimi platter are fantastic. great place to bring dates, family and kid friendly.\r \r Pros: good for kids more

I've tried sushi ai last week and it was better than japonia. The manager was very freindly and informative and funny, she made it very enjoyable evening. I will let all my freinds know about sushi ai Pros: romantic/great music more

There must be new management at sushiai, because it is totally different from before. the service have gotton much better, the food is excellent and very creative. I like it and will be back soon. Pros: romantic great aumbiance Cons: N/A more

This place was phenominal! The service was excellent and the food was amazing. The decor was very contemporary ( I love that). Can't wait to go there again. Pros: food, service, decor more

We tried Sushi Ai for the first time tonight and it was the best sushi we've had in the suburbs!! We felt a friendly vibe from the minute we walked in to the minute we left. The ambience was chic romantic, and the music cool and relaxing. The extensive menu had three different levels of cost for sushi (the first ranging from $5-$8, the second from $10-14, and the third from $15-17), so we felt we had lots of choices. There were lots of dinner choices as well, but we stuck to our favorite: sushi! We started with the tuna sampler for an appetizer, and it was very fresh and flavorful--the white tuna melted in my mouth! ""Ocean Drive"" was a very different and totally worth it sushi choice--very light and flavorful, and the ""Green Turtle"" was not only creative, but SO tasty. These two were a little pricey, but we found them very worth it. The service was very attentive. Our server came back several times to ask us which items were our favorite, and to see what we needed. Overall it was a really relaxing environment with top-notch food. We will be going back again and again! Pros: fresh, quality, ambience more

My wife and I have tried Sushi Ai three times now, hoping for improvement because it's so close to our house. But the food is laughably overpriced and the quality is simply not worth the high cost. Their ""specialty maki"" costs between $12 and $15 for smallish rolls cut into 5 smallish pieces. You do the math: that's $2.40 to $3.00 per piece (not per roll), per *piece*. If the pieces were larger or even the ingredients more special, I'd be willing to pay extra to be blown away, but it just doesn't happen. The atmosphere is nice, though two of the three times someone has brought their screaming baby to enhance the romantic mood for everyone else. Service is slow, with appetizers ordered and served before entree orders are taken, which causes a long delay between appetizer and entree -- especially since the appetizers are as small as the entrees, so they're gone quickly. Eight bucks for a single small, greasy, deep-fried soft-shell crab is outrageous. There are too many good places to get sushi to put up with this. Pros: Warm, romantic atmosphere Cons: Over-priced; slow, inattentive service; small portions more

I myself am in the food service industry and am very forgiving if the service is just OK. The service at Sushi Ai was beyond awful. There is no excuse for what we went through. Our waiter was cold and I could barely hear him. It felt like fifteen minutes after he took our order the soup and salad came out. The soup was almost cold. I got my sushi and then some twenty minutes later we were still waiting for my boyfriend?s filet mignon. Our server came over and quietly said, ?Sorry it is taking so long,? and ran off back to the kitchen. My boyfriend looked so upset and we wondered why he didn?t tell us how much longer it would be. Still minutes later no steak. Our waters were empty and we were upset for not going to Outback like we had talked about. \r \r When we got the steak it was black on the outside, really small, and I believe it wasn?t really filet mignon. For $21 bucks I expected a nice piece of meat. It looked like they had taken the meat and tied a string around it while they cook it to hold it together because when we cut into it, it fell apart. And we had to ask for a knife and fork. I understand it is a Japanese restaurant but how are you suppose to cut a steak with chop sticks? We should have sent the steak back, but my boyfriend ate it because he was starving by that point. When they waiter asked how it was, I said ?awful.? He said sorry and took our plates. I grabbed the menus that were still on our table because our waiter never took them off and pointed out that we never got our rice that it said we would get with the meal. Again all he said was sorry. What I would have said if that was my table, ?let me get that for you right away,? not sorry. \r \r I regret not asking for a manager, but the server knew we weren?t happy and choose not to do anything about it so whatever. I will never go there again. There are a ton of restaurants around Schaumburg that far surpass this place. more

Sit at the Sushi bar and strike up a conversation with the Sushi Chefs. Ask what specials they have that are not on the menu. Try the different varations of cerviche (last time with red snapper, before that crab). Ask for the Rainbow Dragon roll or the Ocean drive rolls. Awesome! Spicy Crawfish salad on mixed greens are excellent @ $6. Great menu, nice wine list. Best in NW burbs. Pros: Great Maki, Sushi, Shashimi, salads, apps. Cons: Closed Sundays more

I just moved out to suburbia after living in the city for 11 years - and of course I worried there wouldn't be as good of restaurants out there - but happily, those worries were unfounded. Sushi Ai, for example, is better than most sushi places in the city. Coming from the owners of Starfish - I'm not surprised. But you'd never know the place was in a strip mall. The decor is chic, but warm. There were sushi standard and some exceptional special maki rolls. Loved it. I'll be going back. more