Hello friends! Just before we came back to Vancouver, we decided to have one last meal out in Chicago close to our hotel. Niu B Sushi & Robata was just the place to be. The Japanese style bar is located just across from Grant park and about a 10 minute walk from Roosevelt station on the red line. Read all about my visit to Niu B Sushi & Robata below!
Niu B Sushi & Robata interior
The interior of Niu B was dim with “mood lighting” which is what you’d expect from eating at a bar. There wasn’t a large amount of seating but they also had seats outside for sunny days. We were seated quickly and were asked if we wanted anything to drink right away. Throughout our whole visit, we were mostly attended to in a timely manner and part way through our meal they set out candles at each of the table to add to the ambiance further.
We decided to get the pad thai and the tan tan noodles thinking that we wanted something that would fill us up after a long day of wandering around the city.
Pad Thai
The Pad Thai was comparable to the one from Bai Bui Thai in terms of portion size and toppings. However, it was more sweet than savory in flavor. This is expected from Pad Thai dishes since they have a tamarind base but a bit less of it could have balanced the dish out a bit better. We appreciated how the raw cabbage added texture in a subtle way since we’re usually given bean sprouts instead. Not the best pad thai we’ve had but considering we were at a Japanese restaurant, it was pretty good.
Tan tan noodles
I was excited for these Tan Tan noodles but unfortunately, they were not what I expected them to be. I get the dish pretty often but never have I had it as hot as this. Even though there wasn’t very much sauce on top it was practically inedible and this is coming from someone who eats spicy food quite often. I tried to mix the sauce and the cucumbers in more to disperse the flavor but it didn’t work. In the end I just put some of my ice water in it so I could water it down. Our servers didn’t come to ask us how our meal was so I was left quite disappointed with it.
Niu B & Robata has a great ambiance and being that it’s by the park you could easily go for a walk there afterwards along the water. The food variety is great and they have a few rice and noodle dishes to choose from as well. Just maybe ask how spicy something is before you order it so you don’t end up like me!
Read more about my Chicago adventures! Slurp Slurp noodle, Noodles etc, and Kung Fu Tea