Palatine, IL · Sushi and Thai · Date Night · Around $83 for Two
Vika and I haven’t done a real date night in a little while. Life has been busy, the kids have been busy, and somehow weeks just turn into months. So when we finally got one on the calendar, we wanted to try somewhere new. Sushi Plus Thai by Sensei opened recently in Palatine, and the Google reviews were already really good. Five stars, well over a hundred reviews, on a place that just opened. That’s a lot to live up to.
This article is not sponsored. We paid for everything ourselves, and no one at Sensei knew we were coming.
First thing you notice walking in is the room. This is not the kind of strip mall sushi place that just slaps tables in a beige box and calls it a day. There’s a big mural on the back wall, two women in traditional dress with koi and temples behind them, and the lighting is dim in the right way. Wooden chairs with woven backs, real plates, the kind of little details that places skip when they’re trying to be cheap. The energy in the room was calm but not empty. Pretty rare for a place that just opened, I would say.
The Sushi Tacos Are the Tell
Most sushi places have a signature roll. Sensei has a whole signature format. The back of the menu is all sushi tacos, fish in a crispy nori shell with rice and toppings, and that’s what I’d order first if I were sitting at your table. We had the Spicy Tuna Taco and the Spicy Salmon Taco. The shell stays crisp under the rice, the fish is fresh, the spicy mayo is doing what spicy mayo is supposed to do, and the whole thing is one good bite. That alone would be the reason to come back.
I’ve had sushi tacos at other places before. Usually the shell is either too brittle or kind of soggy, and there’s barely any fish in there. Not the case here. The ratio is right, the shell holds together, and somebody in the kitchen actually thought about what’s on top. The masago on the spicy tuna is a small thing, but you notice it.
Salmon Carpaccio, the Hamapeño, and a Tako Wasabi I Almost Skipped
The Salmon Carpaccio is the moment we both looked at each other and went, okay, this place is doing more than just sushi. Thin slices of salmon on a speckled blue plate, with fried capers, paper-thin jalapeño, a little yellow beet, and a green herb sauce on top that has just enough zip to cut through the fish. It looks like a real plate at a real restaurant, not what you usually see at a sushi spot in a strip mall. And the salmon was super fresh. That’s the thing that kept pulling me back to it. The freshness.
The Hamapeño roll is the one I’d send you to next. Yellowtail laid across the top, a slice of jalapeño on each piece, a little dot of sriracha. The heat sneaks up on you instead of hitting all at once. It looks simple. It’s not. The hamachi was buttery, the rice held together without being a brick, and the jalapeño on top of yellowtail just works. Vika and I both kept going back to that one.
The Tako Wasabi was the wildcard. Octopus in a creamy wasabi sauce, with cucumber slices, some microgreens, and a dried citrus wheel on the side that’s mostly there to look pretty. I almost didn’t order this one. Glad I did. The wasabi has heat to it without being too much, and the octopus is tender, not the chewy version you sometimes get. It’s not going to be for everyone, but if you like octopus, get it.
The Pad Thai We Ordered to Box and Finished Instead
Here’s the part where Sensei stopped being just a sushi spot for us. We were already full. We’d had everything I just walked you through, and we were both reaching for water. But there’s a whole Thai side to the menu, and we kept wondering, could a place this good at sushi actually pull off Thai too? I told Vika, let’s order a Pad Thai, try a couple bites, take the rest home.
We finished it.
The Pad Thai with chicken was that good. Noodles with the right bite, the sauce balanced between sweet and savory without going too sweet, plenty of chicken, fresh bean sprouts and shredded carrot piled on top, crushed peanuts, and a lime wedge that you actually want to use. About halfway through we looked at each other and basically said out loud, we shouldn’t have ordered this, we’re way too full. And then we kept eating until it was gone.
You know how it usually goes when a restaurant tries to do two cuisines? One is good and the other is kind of the afterthought. Especially around here with the sushi and Chinese places, you can usually tell which side they care more about. Sensei isn’t that. The Thai food held up next to the sushi, which is rare.
Honestly, there’s only one other place near us where the Thai is better, and that’s a spot in Morton Grove we haven’t been to in a little while. We’ll get back there at some point and write that one up too. But this Pad Thai at Sensei isn’t just good for a sushi place. It’s one I’d order again on its own, even if we weren’t here for sushi. No regrets at all.
The Price
I’m going to keep including this in every food article. Most places don’t tell you. Total with tax, before tip, was $83.08 for the two of us. That covered the Salmon Carpaccio, the Tako Wasabi, the Hamapeño roll, two sushi tacos, a Pad Thai with chicken, and one Singha. Sensei also runs a cash discount, which dropped it to $79.34 if you pay in cash.
For the quality of the fish, the amount of food we ate, and a Pad Thai on top of all that, I think that’s a fair number. Sushi is never cheap. This was very reasonable, especially compared to what some places around here charge for less.
What we paid: $83.08 total with tax, before tip. $79.34 if you pay in cash.
Would It Work for the Family?
This was a date night, just Vika and me, so the kids weren’t with us. But I always think about whether a place would work with all four of us, and Sensei would. Josh loves sushi, so he’d be happy from the first taco. Emily isn’t huge on sushi, but she likes Thai food, and the Thai side here is good enough that she wouldn’t be the kid sitting there with edamame while the rest of us eat. The room is comfortable for four, and the menu has enough variety that nobody at the table gets stuck with one thing. We’ll be back with the kids, and I’ll write that one up too.
The Verdict
Fresh fish, plates that look like somebody cared, sushi tacos worth ordering before anything else, and a Pad Thai we couldn’t put down even after we said we were done. There are a lot of sushi places near us. After this date night, this is the one at the top of our list. Definitely a place we’re going to be coming back to, with the kids next time.
Want to see the dishes in motion? We posted a few clips from this visit on Instagram. Head over to @travelandfoodguy and check them out.
Been to Sushi Plus Thai by Sensei, or have a favorite sushi spot in the northwest suburbs we should check out next? Drop it in the comments. Vika and I are always looking for the next one.
