Gaoku Izakaya

-Grubbing in Chicago  
Japanese-Thai Bar Food in Humboldt Park

There’s never a time when restaurants aren't opening. Some debut in between the food calendar years meaning they open after the years best new restaurants are chosen but also before the year is over. There’s always a handful of these in Chicago and today we head over to Humboldt Park to check one of them out. Gaoku Izakaya and Craft Drinks opened quietly in December of 2023. Its opening on a corner of California and Augusta has solidified that intersection as one of the best for food as it’s joined by Spinning J, Segnatore, and Rootstock - three very good spots. One of the people behind Gaoku runs Q Sushi and Omakase in Ravenswood which I have yet to visit but there’s people in the know who enjoy it. Gaoku focuses on izakaya style Japanese bar food with Thai influences. It’s also a cocktail bar mixing with Japanese and Thai ingredients making it a good choice for food and drinks. 

Recently Opened in Humboldt Park 

Gaoku very much has the feel of an updated neighborhood bar but what separates it from other similar spots is its unique menu of Japanese-Thai dishes. The dinner menu is broken down into two sections including hot and cold. We visited towards the end of the year and I really liked the potential of this place based on what we had. Service was also above average which I feel needs to be said these days. The pace at which the plates came out was on par with what it should be meaning there was minimal time in between us finishing a dish and a new one arriving. There were two of us eating but a group of four or more could easily try the entire menu. First up the Hotate Scallops are made with high quality Hokkaido Scallops and coconut dashi, lemongrass Powder, yuzu juice, Golden Kluga caviar, cilantro. It’s a cold dish that will hit the spot for those that are fans of both ceviche and southeast Asian flavors. The Hirame was just as good - Japanese Flounder marinated in Konbu seaweed, house ponzu, dry miso, Thai basil, Shichimi, grapeseed oil and topped with cilantro. Just like with with the previous dish I really enjoyed the Thai flavors paired with Japanese technique in this one. We both thought the tuna tartare was good but it wasn’t as impressive or satisfying as the first two cold dishes. I wouldn’t call it a miss but unlike the others I wouldn’t order it again. 

Hotate Scallops

Hirame Flounder 

Tuna Tartare 

Moving onto the hot options it seems like their Karaage chicken served with a Thai curry aioli is one of the popular dishes early on but we opted for a few other things including a delicious charcoal grilled Hamachi Kama - miso marinated yellowtail collar served with a Thai style chimmichuri. We scarfed that down and both felt it was the best dish up until that point. An order of the Tora Ebi (Charcoal Grilled skull Island Tiger Prawn, Motoyaki Sauce, Thai Curry Powder, Chives) didn’t satisfy in the same way but you might have better luck. I didn’t feel like it matched the pricepoint ($28) as far as size goes and there wasn’t as much flavor to them as I was expecting. However the opposite can be said about the Sakura Pork - Charcoal grilled marinated Duroc pork shoulder is served with a roasted rice ponzu and pickled shallots and scallions. The meat was extremely flavorful and very texturally pleasing from a trip over the charcoal. I've already got a spot for it on my year end 'best of' list. 

Hamachi Kama

Tora Ebi

Grilled Duroc Pork Shoulder 

Gaoku recently introduced a weekend lunch menu - Saturday and Sunday (12p-3p) - featuring a selection of ramen and rice bowls. I would highly recommend the Aburi Engawa - torched pieces of flounder fin served atop a mound of seasoned rice with pickled daikon and green onion. It’s a simple dish which means the ingredients need to shine and that they do. Flounder fin meat is neither easily obtainable or cheap and it’s also not abundant which is why this dish has limited availability. 

Aburi Engawa at Gaoku Izakaya

Each of the ramen options has some Thai flare going for it with the Khao Soi being the most obvious. It uses a Northern Thai curry style base mixed with ramen noodles and topped with Chicken Karaage, scallions, pickled mustard, and shallots. I enjoyed this genuinely spicy bowl of noodles with my only complaint being the fried chicken chunks were a bit too big to handle as far as a soup goes, they should cut them down a little bit as far as size. I thought a few other selections from the lunch menu sounded worth a try including the seafood donburi, specifically the one with charcoal grilled unagi (eel).

Khao Soi Ramen 

Gaoku Izakaya 
2759 W Augusta Blvd
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 698-6261
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