shine restaurant.

fall/winter of sushi post #3 ...

one of my best friends lives in the gold coast area of chicago ... so when we need a good, in the middle place to eat between there & lakeview ... we often opt for shine restaurant in lincoln park.

you may recall from my earlier post on rise sushi & sake lounge that it's part of a restaurant duo ... rise & shine. adorbs, right?

here's what i had ... 

taro root frites :

basically french fries made with taro root. delish! i dipped in soy sauce since the aioli obviously wasn't vegan. salty + salty = yum.

avocado maki :

 substitute brown rice.  
ah, the old sushi standby (for me). fresh avocado? check. waaaay too much brown rice? check. that's a shine classic ... amazing avocado, but too much rice. i always forget to ask for light rice (is that even possible?) ... because each bite is just sooo big. too big to be a perfect piece of sushi, in my opinion. i generally end up peeling off a bunch of the rice, so i don't get too full!

vegetable maki :

cucumber, avocado, spinach & asparagus. substitute brown rice.

here's where shine gets props. since all their veggies are so ridiculously fresh, this veggie maki is super yum. again, heavy on the brown rice. but very tasty.

rise & shine don't differ all that much in the menus (except for a few items) ... they've got lots of vegan options, are quick to confirm the vegan-osity of things & are very accommodating to any item changes i've had. 

for us ... once a go-to, always a go-to ... shine stays on the list. and you should put it on yours, as well.