29 Best Japanese Restaurants near Lake Forest

“Best sushi. Better than your fancy Chicago spot. It’s the only restaurant we frequent regularly. They have something for everyone including non sushi lovers.“

“This restaurant has been a longtime favorite for our friends and family, especially when we’re craving sushi! 🍣❤ The interior has been expanded several times, so there’s plenty of comfortable seating, although it was completely packed when we visited on a Saturday night. Everything we ordered was consistently delicious, from the spicy kinoko, buta kimchi, ika butter, and karaage to the must-try carpaccio. 😋 The sushi and sashimi are always incredibly fresh! What really makes this place special is the loyal staff-many sushi bar and kitchen employees have been here since the early days, which gives the food a truly authentic and consistent taste. Annie at the front is always so warm and welcoming, making every visit feel like dinner at a relative’s home. 🥰🍱✨“

“Food is always great and their service is amazing. They have an extensive menu with everything from great appetizers to traditional Japanese desserts. Good selection of drinks both regular and adult. Prices are reasonable for the quality of the food and service. You can depend on having a great experience!“

“Always great entertainment and food!!!“

“Insanely delicious and fresh sushi.“

“The food & service are always spot on. We only go a few times a yr for birthdays, & we are always greeted kindly by the front of the house as well as all the servers. Had the hot dynamite roll for the first time & it was amazing!“

“Hanakawa is my comfort food spot, no question. Their fried rice with the yum yum sauce is what I order every single time, honestly haven't branched out because why mess with perfection. Consistent every visit, great portions, and the yum yum sauce alone is worth the trip. If you haven't tried it you're missing out.“

“Love this place. Very fresh sushi!“

“Great service and atmosphere. The service is always attentive and polite. The decor and ambiance is great for date nights or just a chill dinner
The food is the only thing that gets a star off.
I wasn’t expecting the ramen to be rocking for a sushi place but it was lukewarm warm and not very flavourful. Along with the stray nigiri being crazy fishy or rubbery. Otherwise their rolls and sashimi are pretty great, along with their banging fried rice. Highly recommend stopping by!“

“A Big Shout Out to Happi Sushi in Highland Park. We were lucky enough to try a number of their apps and rolls. Every single thing we got was SO delicious 😋. Their sushi was fresh, tasty, and so yummy. The apps are unique and full of flavor. We just love this family owned restaurant. The staff goes above and beyond for each patron. Please try Happi Sushi, Friends. You will not be disappointed!!“

“My daughter took me out to eat after work, wow, this was an amazing experience, great service, loved the poke bowl look how beutiful it is i posted pics...so yummy and of course I always love getting their boba green tea i got strawberry this time.“

“Love it!!!, the food and service was amazing. Would go for it again. 10/10!“

“Food was absolutely delicious!! Highly recommend!!“

“Everything was excellent!!!“

“The spicy crab poké bowl was lacking spicy crab, although the kimchi made up for it. Chicken fried rice was very tasty but not enough as a meal. Charsu was very fatty. Beef shoyu ramen was ok. The two slices of beef were a little tough. I liked the tasty broth, with lots of ramen, but I would have liked some kimchi or other pop of flavor.“

“I honestly really liked this place! My friend took me to dinner here and it really is a hidden gem. Yes, the prices are high, but the food and service was worth it. The owner is also such a cute, lovely lady and she makes the experience even better. She gave us free egg rolls and they were absolutely delicious. Our server was also kind and the whole vibes of the place are just super nice. Def recommend!“

“Wonderful place, the food is amazing! The staff is always so friendly!“

“So, I stopped here after my post-op visit and ordered crab rangoon & orange chicken.
The crab rangoon is what I ate first, and as someone who has visited over three dozen american-chinese food selling restaurants in the Chicagoland area it is the best I have ever eaten. Really really spectacular. Incredibly tasty, strong flavors in both the filling & the sauce. Perfect amount of wrapping to filling. Will be coming here again when I'm in the area, just so I can get another set of them. I genuinely considered going back in and ordering another set when I finished the first but I had my orange chicken to eat so I sadly decided against it.

The orange chicken was next, and it was okay. I did enjoy it, but it came with onions (which I love) and bell peppers (which I hate) so I would've asked for it without the bell peppers if I'd known. Also the flavor wasn't as strong as I like, I prefer a strong orange flavor and a lot of sauce. This didn't have that, but it was the crispiest chicken I've ever had with orange chicken so that was definitely a bonus.
All in all, I'll definitely come back the next time I have an appointment here, mostly to get crab rangoon but I'll definitely be trying other things as well!“

“great place to eat, very good service and very large portions. loved it here“

“Just enjoyed an amazing meal! The sushi was so so good and the service couldn’t have been better. Don’t skip this restaurant if you’re in the mood for sushi!“

“Great place to hangout and good sushi“

“If you want the very best sushi go to Taste of Tokyo! We can’t say enough about how nice, friendly, and creative the owners and their staff are! If they don’t have something on their sushi menu that you want, then just ask! And they will gladly make it! If you want to relax with comfortable seats, great background music, reasonable prices, then visit Taste of Tokyo! If you love to support small businesses in your community then visit Taste Of Tokyo! We are just so grateful for them and their Great Foods!“

“Tried this restaurant because we happened to be in the area. We ordered the spicy teriyaki and spicy tofu bowl. Both bowls were awesome! Tasted great. We also got the Tum yum sauce which was a nice addition. The bowls were actually not spicy but they gave us hot sauce and bottle of teriyaki sauce. We also ordered the spicy edamame which tasted great. The side of noodles turned out to be very plain noodles so we added some teriyaki and tum yum sauce to it. The regular bowl had enough portion for more than 1 person to eat it. Overall highly recommended!“

“Walked by to look at the menu on a whim. I wasn't going to order anything until the gentlemen working there offered me and my sons a free sample and then another. And I'm so glad he did. All 3 of us loved it. Teriyaki chicken, sesame chicken, fried rice were all amazing. Now a favorite place of ours that we will stop at any time we're in Gurnee.“

“Really good place! I was expecting generic Chinese but I was pleasantly surprised. I asked the owner if the egg foo young was made with real eggs, or eggs from a carton. He was kind of shocked at the notion he would use eggs from a carton and assured me it was made with fresh eggs and freshly-made vegetables, like he would not be caught dead doing it any other way. That gave me a good feeling about the place - he clearly had pride in what he does. We had a vegetarian and a celiac in the party and he was very understanding and respectful of their needs. We are picky eaters but were all very happy with our meals, which were really good. Big portions too!“

“My wife and I totally enjoyed their food. We were a bit surprised to see that the AYCE went up to $28.99. We will go back.“

“Top Notch!! Soon fun!! Staff is great, atmosphere is great... fun for kids and family and friends. Highly recommend!!“

“Stopped by on Wednesday 02/06! And was greeted and attended by Mercedes. She was SUPER kind and attentive with my order! Very grateful she took my needs seriously since I fast on Wednesday's/Friday's & can only eat vegan. She went above & beyond to make sure my needs were meet! & as I was waiting I noticed how clean the area is. & once I got my order it came out so fresh; plan on visiting again! & thank you for the great experience!“

“This is one of my go to places for authentic Chinese food! Their egg rolls and orange chicken are delicious with Great portions at a reasonable price. My waiter was super friendly and always tried to create conversation with us. Highly recommend this place!“