TLT Restaurant Week: Ai Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Lounge

The Local Tourist Restaurant Week is coming up fast! From January 8 - 15 select Chicago restaurants are offering three course meals for only $25/lunch and $35/dinner. They're also generously donating 10% to Endure To Cure for pediatric cancer research, treatment, and care.   Over the next few days I'll be posting the menus. The first one is from the only restaurant in the Midwest that can serve Fugu. It won't be on the menu, but when your maki is being prepared by a Sushi Chef of that caliber, you know it's going to be good.   Ai Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Lounge   Lunch: Miso soup Hamachi carpaccio: Thinly sliced yellowtail topped with ceviche, cilantro and citrus ohba. Choice of Standard Maki Choice of Signature Maki Green Tea Ice Cream   Dinner: Kabocha corn soup: Japanese pumpkin and corn soup Hamachi carpaccio: Thinly sliced yellowtail topped with ceviche, cilantro and citrus ohba. Choice of Signature Maki Demi pistashio salmon teriyaki Yume choco demi chocolate mousse with chocolate expressomochi   Maki Choices salmon skin alaskan: king salmon, avocado philadelphia: smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber spicy tuna: tuna, chives, ra-yu hawaiian: tuna, avocado negi toro: fatty tuna, scallions negi hama: yellowtail, scallions rainbow: our california maki topped with assorted seafood spider: tempura fried soft shell crab, cucumber,avocado, unagi mayo scorpion: fried calamari, kaiware, cucumber, masago, chili sauce spicy tempura ebi: shrimp tempura, green onion california: crab, avocado, cucumber futomaki: shrimp, eel, tamago, spinach, masago, kampyo, shiitake garden: carrots, asparagus, shiitake, spinach tempura satsumaimo: tempura sweet potato tempura shiitake: tempura battered, fried shiitake   Signature Maki Choices soft shell crab volcano: cucumber, avocado, tempura crunch topped with chopped soft shell crab and spicy mayo sauce chef hemmi veggie: our garden maki topped with: cucumber and moro-miso; mango; endive and sansho; avocado and nori paste; oshinko crazy jalapeño: akami tuna and hamachi wrapped in soy paper with avocado, cilantro, jalapeño and wasabi infused tobiko and served atop a spicy mayo crunchy salmon: our california topped with salmon, wasabi tobiko, wasabi mayo, on a bed of tempura flakes chef hemmi spicy tuna: spicy tuna topped with: spicy tako; avocado and ikura; pinenuts; cucumber wrapped tempura flakes with wasabi mayo madai ceviche: avocado and cucumber topped with Japanese red snapper, ceviche sauce, cilantro and togarashi rainbow spicy pinenut tuna: spicy tuna with pinenut, pistachio, and rosemary topped with assorted seafood dragon: shrimp tempura and tamago topped with slices of unagi and avocado kani motoyaki: crab and cucumber with grilled motoyaki mayo and ponzu sauce tropical mango: tuna and mango topped with slices of avocado and traditional koshyu grape sauce