Hours

ABOUT US

Cocoro was begun in 1996 by Katsuhiro Niki, a famously beloved, brilliant and eccentric man from Hokkaido, Japan. He was a master chef of sushi and traditional Japanese cuisine, and he was a highly creative and accomplished professional musician who especially enjoyed jazz, Brazilian and other genres. He has played with many, many greats. You will hear his CD mixes and him in the restaurant.

Niki-San’s prowess in the kitchen is legendary and his loving wife, Hitomi-San, is a glowing hostess without parallel. We have been very, very good students of these great people and we are professionals. She is perfect and he taught us the perfect noodle and the magnificent delicacies of Japanese. In Chicago, only Cocoro knows how to make these many, complicated Japanese dishes “to the letter.”

In addition to so many perfectly prepared authentic plates, our sushi rules. Ask anyone. The chef is serious (nice as he may seem), yet, it’s not overpriced! We have shabu-shabu. We are the real deal when it comes to Japanese cuisine. We have, also, sukiyaki (call ahead for raw egg with sukiyaki). Shabu shabu and sukiyaki are sumptuous choices involving many different ingredients and sauces (including a big dose of choice rib - eye) you cook for yourself on the tables hard-wired through the floor for these meals.

Vegetarians are also comfortable in Cocoro! Japan went for thousands of years disallowed, by law, due to the popularity of Buddhism, from eating meat. We know a few things…!

Our gyoza is not pre-packaged like everybody else. We make the gyoza. We make our own soy sauce. Cocoro might be the most authentic Japanese restaurant on this side of the planet … but, we also adapt – “fusion” implies “Japanese.” Check out the Tar Tar , Tuna Tataki or maybe the sweet ceviche special.

So, now, we carry on the traditions as well as the improvisation and creativity that Niki-San, Hitomi-San and many thousands of years of menu development brought to Chicago “to the letter.” You won’t find more Japanese people in any restaurant than in Cocoro unless you are actually in Japan.