Shinsen

An exquisite culinary experience from start to finish. The selection of appetizers was both diverse and thoughtfully curated, offering a delightful prelude to the meal. Each main course—be it the perfectly grilled steak, elegantly crafted sushi, fragrant rice dishes, or comforting ramen—was executed with remarkable excellence and attention to detail. The dessert provided a soft, refined finish that beautifully balanced the richness of the mains. Service was warm, attentive, and effortlessly professional, enhancing the overall dining experience.

What an incredible experience I had. Staffs and services are so kind and amazing. I have to stop here every time I am nearby Evanston. Japanese A5 Wagyu Fried Rice and the shrimp Pad Thai were ones of the best dishes I’ve ever had outside Thailand and in the U.S. Other dishes are so very delicious, fresh, and you can definitely tell they made it with care and great quality. Highly recommend for anyone. Thank you, Shinsen!

We had a wonderful meal at this restaurant! I ordered the shoyu ramen, and the portion was generous enough that I had some left to take home. The pad see ew was absolutely delicious—my daughter said it was the best she’s ever had! My husband went for the tantanmen ramen, which was quite spicy, but the staff had warned us ahead of time and even offered modifications. He decided to stick with the spice level and still loved it. Beyond the great food, it was the small touches that made our experience special. We enjoyed a lovely pot of tea, and the waitress kindly brought us tiny cookies to share. These thoughtful details, combined with the delicious meal, truly made a difference. We’ll definitely be back!

The soft shell crab is really nice. Sushi is fine and worth the price. The Lychee icecream is fantastic!

"Wow this is really good" is what you're going to say when you try their sushi for the first time. Ive never had sushi rolled with black rice before but I really like it. Also, their spicy tuna roll is one of the best ive ever had.

The food was delicious!!! Ate our entrees too fast before I could take a photo. Will definitely be back for date nights in the future

Wow!! This place should be Michelin rated. Absolutely incredible taste, display, service, and atmosphere. Every dish we had was unique and flawless. Will be coming back many times over. I've never seen/tasted such an amazing sticky rice. Top tier wagyu fried rice and then delicious carpaccio. Don't skip out on this place!

my favorite spot in Evanston, everything I've tried here is AMAZING. the place is SLIGHTLY classy, but no dress code so anyone can go, even if you look like a mess (like I always do!) sushi is also so fresh and delicious, noodles are always on point. maybe SLIGHTLY too much Chinese broccoli in the pad see eiw?

What a fun experience! Located in downtown Evanston Shinsen is a must try. When you walk in you're greeted with their friendly staff and seated in a cozy restaurant. We had a number of different dishes is the beef that you cook over a hot stone! It sears right before you and you get to cook it to the temperature that you love. We also enjoyed the pork chops, and a number of sushi rolls. They take tea service to the next level and use high quality tea with cookies, and different sugars for you to enjoy it with. Also, if you're a Thai tea lover, make sure not to skip out on it! All in all, we had a great experience and can't wait to come back soon!

Just a heads up that the, parking situation can rough with limited street spots even on a weeknight. If you can walk you should! Otherwise, this is a great place for a weeknight meal or a busy day at work. I was craving sushi so we decided to try it out. It's laid back and casual. Service is quick and efficient. We really enjoyed the food! The presentation was some of the most artistic I've seen. Loved the spicy tuna rolls and chicken robata--super fresh and flavorful. I thought the tamarind noodles were lacking in flavor though and wish I had tried a different dish. I'd try it again

Ramen here is fine, nothing special. The broth was warm and comforting. Noodles had a good texture. However, the portion size was small. The price was a bit high for what you get. It's a decent option if you're in a hurry.

Y'all. My kids and I briefly lost our minds, bought Metallica tickets and drove up to Chicago "really quick" for 36 hours of sightseeing before the concert. We aimed for Evanston first so I could visit a store I follow online and as it was lunch time we stopped our stroll here at Shinsen. We were definitely dressed for summertime car travel, but the staff was so friendly and seated us right away. It wasn't super busy so I felt less bad about our casual attire. We all ordered something different and it was ALL spectacular - from the presentation to the taste. I was surprised and so happy we had gone a bit overboard with our lunch choice...beyond a basic sandwich or fast food options. The boys were impressed as heck with the beautiful interior and cleared every last bite of their meals. Two thumbs up from this crew!

Our go to neighborhood spot for food. The tantanmen is seriously incredible, but really all the food is incredible. Family friendly. BYOB.

My husband and I felt so welcomed from the moment we walked in. The service is exceptional, they always checked in on us even though it was semi packed inside. We started with the green team which was 10/10! It brought our entire meal together. It also came with almond cookies which was not that sweet. For food we got: Octopus maki - 4/5, it was nothing special. The octopus was super chewy Red curry mussels - 3/5, the red curry was really salty, the star of this dish was the chimichurri bao buns. SO GOOD Skirt steak robata - 5/5, my husbands favorite part of the meal. The steak was perfectly cooked Pad see eiw - 4/5, absolutely delicious. There was bits that tasted burned but this was the most flavorful dish we got and was my absolute favorite There's donburi here that we didn't get on this trip but will definitely come back to try! They also have outside seating as the weather gets warmer!!

Shinsen is a cute, romantic restaurant with great food options and kind staff. I came with a group of 12 and everyone enjoyed their food and drinks. Notably, there are few vegan options. Only giving it 4 stars because the items are expensive.

So one of our dining companions was holding up their phone and saying "Bad Service," and we laughed, because we thought the waiter would think we were complaining about them, and not the phone connection. It wasn't so funny when some of our dishes came out right away and the remainder arrived about 15 minutes later. The waiter apologized, saying that there was only one sushi chef on duty. We couldn't complain about the food, as most of us enjoyed our dishes: the Pad See Eiw (demolished), the Shallot Fried Rice (sizzling and fragrant), the Shrimp Avocado Maki and the Shrimp Tempura Maki (chef's kiss), the Chirashi (fresh and delish). I ordered the Shoyu Ramen but found it a little bland, and I didn't like the texture of the chicken. I should have ordered the Tantanmen Ramen (spicy chicken broth, sesame paste, ground pork, gai lan, bean sprout, scallion) but when they told me it was 2 stars out of 3 on a spice spectrum, I got a little scared. The Crispy Spicy Salmon Maki was delicious (not spicy though) but very attractively presented. The ambience is pleasant and the tables are well spaced. Service, although short-staffed, was friendly and pleasant. (We had so many questions and took a while to order, so they were very good natured.) They brought out a cream puff with a candle on a decorated plate for the birthday guest, although only 1 out of 4 who tried it liked it, but the thought was appreciated. Minor quibbles aside, I definitely would come back for the sushi and some of the rice dishes.

What a delicious mother daughter date night dining in at Shinsen! Shinsen is a fun, vibrant and modern Pan Asian cuisine restaurant. Good for small get togethers and date nights. Highly recommend the Sweet & Sour Calamari ( Lightly battered calamari sauteed with sweet and sour sauce, wasabi aioli, sesame seed, mango salad) as an appetizer! They almost look like tteokbokki at first. Very fresh and delicious. The mango salad complements the calamari very well! The Pad See Eiw is definitely a must try! The grilled pork in the dish is tender and juicy. We also got Spider Maki and Salmon Avocado Maki. Lastly, don't forget to save room for dessert! We ordered Crème Brûlée (Thai Tea Creme Brûlée, with lychee ice cream, Valrhona chocolate crumble)to end our night. Food service is on the slower side so do give yourself extra time when dining in at the restaurant.

This place was super cute! The ambiance was great with such great service, everyone was so helpful and so sweet. The nigiri wasn't fresh, the rice was pretty hard and the fish wasn't the best except for the white fish. The spicy tuna roll and black dragon roll were pretty good though! The shallot fried rice with chicken was the best thing we ordered, it came out on a skillet with an egg yolk and will definitely come back for that. Would definitely return to try the other foods, just would skip out on the sushi next time!

Service was great. Our waiter answered all questions and made great suggestions. The place is cute and intimate. Nice for acute sushi date. My friend is still raving over and craving the Thai ice tea and the best part is that you get to keep the cute elephant cup. The creamy Tom yum ramen was the best and beat the traditional Tantanmen Ramen Noodle, but that was still good too. The noodles were perfect in the ramen I must say! I love Ama Ebi so I loved eating that and the presentation was beautiful. They also have Mexican Coke! The spicy octopus sushi was bomb! The sushi in general tastes very fresh (which is impressive) and very good here. So I recommend it as a great sushi spot and it's not to far from Northwestern University's campus.

Great vibes! Easy to get to, with plenty of street side street parking. The lighting, was moody and warm, and the service and wait time was nice. The food was delicious and the beverage list was good. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to drink a German beer at this type of restaurant so I appreciated that. I came in the winter so the cute little outside patio was already closed but looks like a great spot to eat something good over the summer. As you walk in to the right hand side, is there a bar area with a couple of little tables and then you moved to the left and that's their main dining space a good amount of seating either for a small group of friends, a single customer or a couple. I'll definitely be going back.

Beautiful space, attentive service. The tan tan ramen was delicious. I will definitely return.

Wow this was one of the best dinners that I've had in the Chicagoland area in a long time! We ordered the following dishes: Pad See Eiw: 5/5. Flavor was delicious, the roasted pork on top was very well done. The noodles are medium thickness noodles and not as wide as the traditional pad see eiw noodles are, but I did not mind this as it was still delicious. Shallot Fried Rice with Shrimp: 5/5, delicious, not too garlicky, the shrimp was a perfect protein choice to complement the rice. Crispy Spicy Salmon Maki: 4/5. This had a good flavor, and you would enjoy this if you like crunchy sushi rolls. This was deep fried on the outside so it was very crispy. I couldn't taste too much of the salmon as the predominant flavor was the crunchy outer layer. Skirt Steak Skewer: 5/5. This was super tender and perfectly cooked. Multiple people at my table voted this as their favorite item on the table. Chicken Thigh Skewer: 5/5. Also perfectly cooked and a crowd favorite at the table. The skewers were surprisingly a stand out item from the dinner. Black Dragon Maki: 4/5. The presentation was amazing and the taste was good. The predominant flavor of roll however was the shrimp tempura as the cut of eel on the top of the roll was pretty thin. Red Curry Mussels: 5/5. Very nicely done and served with 5 small fluffy green scallion buns. There's a lot of delicious curry left at the end so we paid for two extra bowls of white rice to scoop up the curry. Overall the food was amazing and I would definitely come back in the future. Honestly the quality of the food was so good that it felt like we were eating from a tasting menu at a Michelin star restaurant. If I could give any suggestions for improvement, I would say that the service was a little on the slow side and customers had to wave down the waiters at times for drinks, orders, the check, etc. So I would say, don't come here if you're in a rush but definitely set aside 1.5-2 hours to enjoy a nice, leisurely, and very delicious meal here.

Wow! These folks have dialed up this category of takeout. Amazing robota, rolls, and bento. And the most pleasant delivery person ever (go direct to resto site and order). Evanston has a real treasure with this place.

We didn't care for the sushi at Shinsen. Everything tasted really watery; that's the best way to describe it. We have always wanted to try their Thai dishes, so we will probably be back at some point for those.

We had just dropped off our kid at Northwestern for the NHSI Cherubs Theatre program and were looking for a light bite before heading to the airport. Seeing the very positive Yelp reviews, we decided on Shinsen, and were not disappointed. We arrived a little past 1:00 on a Sunday afternoon, and there were just a few diners and we were seated right away. The waitress brought us menus and a flask of water and returned shortly thereafter to take our order. We didn't order much - just enough to get us through the afternoon - so this review is based on a limited sampling. Negihama maki - this is pretty much the metric that I use to judge a sushi restaurant, because I order this everywhere I go. In some cases the makes are small with measly amounts of yellowtail, but that wasn't the case here. There was a generous amount of fish in the roll, and there wasn't any of that tougher and sometimes fishier red edge that is sometimes found on yellowtail. Salmon avocado roll - this also came with a nice chunk of salmon, but the highlight was actually the avocado, which was soft in texture and buttery in flavor. Nicely done. Skirt steak robata - two skewers of tender beef cooked to some between medium and medium-rare. Light sear on the meat, excellent flavor especially with the provided dipping sauce. The restaurant had an overall pleasant atmosphere. The large windows allowed for plenty of natural light on the sunny afternoon that we visited. The ambiance is overall very nice and the decor is modern and tasteful. Service was attentive and friendly. Prices are a little higher than what I usually see back home in California, but not usurious either.

We shared the gyoza appetizer and the calamari appetizer. The gyoza were good, but pretty expensive for what you get. They did come upside down with some crispy stuff on top, which was interesting but didn't make it taste that much better in my opinion. On the other hand, I loved that calamari appetizer. For my entree, I got the Summer Zaru Udon special. It felt a little plain with just the two crabs, some Udon and some stuff sprinkled on the Udon, and it wasn't that filling, but with the appetizers, it was enough for me. It was my first time having tempura soft shelled crab, and both the crab and the noodles tasted great after dipping it in the sauce they provided.

Was very happy with the food and service here. Would highly recommend you go to have dinner at Shinsen.

I ordered the Japanese fried rice and paid $35 for the rice with two pieces of meat. The price for this dish is horrendous for what you are served. I don't pay $35 for a 20lb bag of rice. Disappointed and won't be back. This restaurant is expensive

Came for a quick bite and we were not disappointed! Food was Devine! From the flavors to presentation, I was on cloud 9. The service was impeccable, most polite staff! Thank you Shinsen- we will be back again!

Amazing food, service, and decor. My friend and I got sushi and another friend got a noodle dish. This is a must try if you have not been. I am so glad we had this for our monthly dinner club. Everything was amazing!

The food here is incredible! Highly recommend. Simple, authentic dishes and friendly delivery

I love this place!! My favorite is the creamy tum yum ramen! All of their food is super flavorful and you have to try the Thai iced tea!

I got the miso soup and a few rolls and really enjoyed the food. The lighting was a bit dim so it was a nice date spot. The service was also really great. It was a bit pricy though for the amount of food we got.

I ordered delivery from Shinsen last weekend, just three maki rolls. Like too many places these days, Shinsen seems to focus too much on condiments and add-ons, rather than the fish. Two of my three rolls had fish (the other was vegetarian). The super white roll had a peculiar taste, as if the fish weren't really fresh. The spider roll didn't really taste much like soft shelled crab at all; the sauce overwhelmed the seafood flavor. Given the high ratings this restaurant receives, I have to conclude that a lot of people prefer sushi that doesn't taste like fish. Call me a traditionalist, but I do like that; it seems to be the entire point of sushi. If you like sauces and spice, you may be very happy with Shinsen, but I won't order from them again. Just not my cup of tea.

We had an amazing experience at Shinsen during our overnight stay in Evanston. Everything that we ordered was well presented, fresh and delicious! We had two servers that were tag teaming our table so never had to wait too long to order anything. I would highly recommend this place if looking for reasonably priced Japanese food.

Great atmosphere and the staff was very welcoming. My Bento box was great, however the lower ratings is due to my partner's disappointment with the Ramen dish.

The food is excellent as is the service and the atmosphere. The mussels are the best you will find anywhere and the sushi is top notch. I also love the steak robata.

Another Evanston gem that's easy to pass by but there's plenty of reasons not to. Special occasions call for stellar eats & this place did not disappoint. I do recommend making reservations, though. Arrived on a weeknight for a birthday dinner with a friend shortly after they opened so it was seemingly empty... but this quickly changed as the evening progressed. The service was wonderful. Dishes were explained & it's worth mentioning, we were told it may take some time for food to arrive - absolutely fine with this as neither of us were in a rush. Apps, sushi, & a main were ordered. Everything was amazing & to die for. Sashimi pieces were large, black rice was a new spin on our roll, & the pad see eiw was the best I've had. The grilled pork on this dish was the star. If you don't mind a wait for your food & want something far better than your average Japanese & or Thai cuisine, I can't recommend Shinsen enough. I think my next visit (of course there will be one), I'll be trying more of their other offerings but the pad see eiw is a definite yes, please! Thanks again Shinsen!

My sister was in the hospital nearby and wanted sushi, so I found this restaurant via good yelp reviews. We ordered a skirt steak bento box, black widow maki, shrimp and tuna maki. I ordered on the phone via pickup and it was ready within 25 minutes. The exterior is unassuming with cute patio seating. The interior is cozy and dimly lit. I ensured I was given silverware and asked several times about soy sauce (as my sister requested this specifically). When I arrived at the hospital and unpacked the food, there was no soy sauce despite the employee assuring me there was. I was quite upset, and called the restaurant back. The manager of the restaurant DROVE TO THE HOSPITAL to deliver me the soy sauce that had not been placed in our carry out bag. This impressed me so much and displayed so much compassion. I couldn't thank her enough and my sister was so grateful. The food overall was tasty. I enjoyed the bento box and felt it was a great portion size. The black widow maki was a hit. Overall, I would recommend this place again due to them correcting their errors with the carry out order in such an above and beyond way!

I first discovered Shinsen during Covid, when I ordered delivery regularly. This was my first in-restaurant visit with the entire family, grown adult children as well as grandchildren. We ordered a little bit of everything.. appetizers, sushi, fried rice, we brought our own bottles of wine (very reasonable corkage fee) ... the works. Everything was delicious (as it always is). Shinsen was apparently short-handed, because everything took a long time. It took 15 minutes to bring out our water and menus, longer to return and take our order. Once the order was taken, food kind of dribbled out from the kitchen, one appetizer at a time... including when we'd ordered two orders of gyoza only one order came out, and the second order came out a full 10 minutes later. Everything was delicious... I really can't complain about the food itself. Tasty, elegantly and beautifully plated. In fact the shallot-fried rice arrived in a fabulous large stone bowl on a wooden board (I'm used to it arriving at my home in a plastic container)... very pretty... but the waiter really should have warned us that it was epically hot to the touch... because I burned the @#$% out of my hand when I touched it, as the stone bowl had clearly been in the oven. We were fortunate it wasn't one of the grandkids who'd touched it! I'm really hoping that they just had an off night, and were short-handed. I only saw one waiter the whole time I was there and from the way food was trickling out of the kitchen, I'm going to guess they were short-handed in there, too. I like the food, and I'd really like to return, but I'm hesitant. The food was 5-star, but I can only grant them 3 stars for the review due to the poor service.

Worst food Ive had in Evanston .. the tofu was just fried no seasoning I couldn't enjoy it ,to the point the sauce didn't make any different. I know the noodles would be a bit different but it was extremely sour and sticky. Great potential in the sauce that came with the tofu so I just used that for the noodles. up throwing the noodles away and the white rice wasn't even filled to the top. The over all experience was very lack luster. Next time I'll be going downtown Chicago for my noodles .

I liked the food a lot. My kid did not really enjoy her Ramen. Sat outside and really appreciated the cool days in September.

Food was 11/10, very cute ambiance. Best of all was the service and attention to detail. Truly a great experience, will definitely be back.

Great food! Love the crispy tuna roll and excellent service! Will definitely be back!

Just awful. I have no idea how they have good reviews. Poor food vastly overpriced. Avoid.

This place is not bad if you're looking for sushi and a variety of Japanese food in Evanston. The restaurant is comfortable in a homey way, but I noticed there was no music playing in the background which could've added to the ambiance. Overall not too memorable of a dine-in experience in terms of food and atmosphere, but the servers were very kind and attentive the whole time.

Wow what an incredible pan-Asian food experience! I've walked past this place plenty of times in my many years of living in Evanston and never thought to give it a try, but saw that it was a top 20 place to eat in the Northshore, so I wanted to see what the hype was. I ordered delivery for their shallot fried rice and my mind was blown with how incredibly flavorful it was. I then had to go in person to try a few more things because maybe they just mastered the fried rice. I got the red curry mussels and the pad see eiw. Both were incredible. Probably the best pad see eiw I've had 10/10, and the mussels were a definite 8/10. I am already planning on another visit to try more things. I'm just mad I didn't come here starting years ago. The servers were really nice, I saw one person patiently helping a table through deciding on what to order. The restaurant is clean and nicely decorated, and currently is seasonal with a cute Christmas tree. I'm pretty skeptical of pan-Asian restaurants since a lot of them seem to just throw cuisines together and never master making anything. But Shinsen really has it down!

A very cute spot for tasty Thai Japanese food! I came for lunch with friends while visiting Evanston. It took a little longer for our orders to come out but we got them and they all tasted great. I got the tantanmen ramen which was good, not the best but still tasty. My friends got the Tom yum ramen and the tamarind noodles which I tried. The Tom yum broth had a strong shrimp flavor which was good and the tamarind noodles, we realized was pad Thai once I tried it. It was one of the best pad Thais I've had in the Midwest as it wasn't super sweet like most Thai restaurants. I would come back again and try other dishes.

Dropped in on a Friday night for dinner. I was surprised they don't serve sake or wine. BYOB $5 not bad next time I will bring my own. We started with a salad and chicharrons they called pork chips. Super good chips like they just fried them. The salad was okay. I missed the sesame creamy dressing. We didn't eat it all. We had the black dragon maki and the unagi Q roll. The unagi Q was a small roll. The ratio of rice to unagi and avocado seemed too much on the rice side.

The food is great. I've been here 4 times and the service is always truly terrible. Sooooooo slow. Food takes an hour. I think they're equipped for 2-3 customers at a time and when they get a half full restaurant, they are zero equipped to handle it. Drinks took 40 minutes. I can't do this again. I can't do this again. I want to like it but I've done

Loved this Japanese Restaurant! My husband and I had double date with our friends on a Friday night here. We were able to make reservations the morning of and when we got there, they were super busy! Only waited 5 minutes for our table. We shared all or our dishes as they're shareable size and we ordered about 8 different items! Not one disappointed us. I can't remember all of the items we ordered, but the ones that stick out were the Black widow roll, refreshing roll and the Ishiyaki!! Yum! Oh and this place is BYOB :)

Came here with my family, and it was such a delight to find this gem so close to home! The atmosphere is classy and modern, while still being extremely comfortable. The service was impeccable, and the staff should be highly commended for how attentive and friendly they are. To top off this already incredible experience, you also get the delight of eating absolutely incredible food. The ingredients are fresh and delicious, and I can't wait to come back for more.

Shinsen is a very average place. The inside and atmosphere itself is nice, but I ordered takeout so did not experience much of their service. The sushi did not seem super fresh and all the flavors were sort of bland. I'm hoping I had an off night, but there are better places in Evanston for sushi.

I have been going to this restaurant regularly since 2021. Had takeout and dined in upon several occasions and was never treated as badly as I was this past Saturday. I came here April 27, 2024 for a date with my boyfriend. It was quite busy, so we waited for a seat to open up. When we got to our seat, we were handed menus and began deciding what to order. Because it was busy, we had to wait a little before getting our orders in. Again, we understood it was busy and accepted that things might be a little slower. After we order our food, a lot of time goes by. After 40ish minutes, we get my appetizer and my partner's main meal. For the next hour, I am left with no food while my partner completely finishes his food. All the while, we are trying to get the attention of the waiters who actively ignore us. After realizing nobody will come to our table, we walk up to the staff and tell them our issue. They were dismissive and we were treated as a nuisance and a problem. When we realize no staff member will do anything to help us, we asked for the manager. The manager refunded us that meal and gave us a coupon for next time, but when we tried to use the coupon, they did not even accept it! My partner had to ask for it back because they did not even use it towards the meal. They just took the coupon back and gave us no discount. At one point, I would have considered this a great restaurant. But if you want to relax and enjoy your food with friends/date, this is not the vibe.

The dishes were very slow, the chicken gizzard were extremely salty and very dry, the shallot fried rice was too oily and had very little meat... Only the sushi rolls were somewhat better, being relatively fresh. Service was ok.

Had a fun and delicious meal at Shinsen Evanston! They came and grilled steak on the hot stone at the table and the sizzling is amazing. they also made some interesting fusion ramen like Tom Yum ramen. It's one of the best Japanese restaurants in Evanston

Really good! Cute outdoor patio, fair prices. Service was very slow and not the best, although the staff was nice... but the food was so good I'd deal with it anyway. I had pad see ew (spell check?) which was delicious and grilled chicken kabob.. so much flavor. They had gluten free options as well. Definitely will return!