Blue Ocean

Uptown Sushi!

There are only a few others that are somewhat notable in near proximity: Agami (fairly high end for the area), Dib (Thai food is generally better), Umaiya (average) and OH Fusion (pretty good).

Welcome, Blue Ocean!

Contemporary digs (brand new building), nice setting overlooking Chase Park. Lots of seating. Free parking lot (what!?), friendly service. In Uptown. YES!

Blue Ocean now joins Tiztal Cafe and Ch'ava Cafe in revitalizing the stretch of Clark between Wilson and Lawrence. Indeed! Welcome, and let's eat...

Not BYOB, but forgiven due to a great wine list, and a fantastic martini/cocktail selection. IN Uptown. Miracles do happen.

Edamame
Spicy Tuna Roll (standard, good)
Blue Ocean Roll (specialty, pretty decadent)
Scallion Roll (only miss of the evening, flat)
Unagi/Tempura Specialty Roll (GOOOOOOOD)
California Roll (standard)
3 miso soups (lovely)
Hot tea (necessary)
Copious Water refills

Total: $50. Wowza! Don't let the stylish setting fool ya, it's pretty damn affordable for the quality.

Other notes: they deliver, and are late night til 1am, for all you stylish, semi-tipsy people in need of a little rawness before you hit the booze hard(er).

Excellent for large groups, they have a LOT of seating...

I don't eat meat or fish, but the vegetarian maiki are outstanding! I've been a few times & have really enjoyed each experience, as have my non-vegetarian companions. The ambiance is great: modern & clean, but still inviting. The service is great, too. I really feel that this bit of the neighborhood really needed a nice restaurant.

I brought a bachelorette party (17 people) here in May. They were so accomodating--they let us bring in champagne with no corkage fee! We had a great time. Everyone really enjoyed the food. A few of the ladies had been before & they ordered the Midori Maki, too (the vegetaqrian roll that I am so enamored with), saying that they never go to Blue Ocean without ordering that roll! If you can make a sushi roll without fish that fish lovers adore, than you must be doing something right. :)

I bought a trusty Groupon for this place after my boss receiving one for Christmas and excitedly declaring that there was a sushi roll that got lit on fire. Fire? Sushi? Sold.

We trekked up north to Blue Ocean Saturday night with a 7PM reservation. Yelpers left me a bit confused about the BYOB policy, but after calling and confirming, they have a full bar but allow bottles of wine with a $5 corkage fee. Forget your wine at home? No worries, there is literally a wall full of purchasable bottles at your arrival.

We started with the calamari appetizer...very delicious and gone in a minute. Nothing incredibly special about this. Like fried calamari? Go for it.

We finally tracked down the infamous fire roll, under sushi appetizers... the Dragon Fire. Duh, of course we're getting that. That came out shortly after we were finished with the calamari. Disappointingly it was only 5 pieces of sushi and the sushi itself wasn't on fire, but it was fun to have some flames in the middle of the plate and make a wish (as the server recommended) when we blew it out.

Our "meal" sushis consisted of the Smoky Bear and the Citrus Rainbow. We usually get three or four rolls, and due to the price of these, we couldn't justify ordering more. Both rolls were very delicious, but I definitely left wanting more.

Overall, our meal was just under $60 for an appetizer and three rolls. Not too bad, but definitely on the pricier end.

I probably won't return without a Groupon, but the service and atmosphere were really lovely, so four stars from me.

While everyone is crowding somewhere in Wicker Park trying to get seated, Blue Ocean gives you free parking, a really cool ambiance and an eclectic variety of rolls.

Some selection of rolls veer towards the non-traditional, for whatever reason, it seems that the 2 specialty rolls we ordered were sheathed in an eggy wrap. There's a nice selection of appetizers and drinks, perfect for large groups. We tried the soft shell crab (boring) and the crispy rice tuna (interesting). Flavors overall were mild.

This place is tucked behind the coffee shop and is much bigger than what meets the eye. I do have to comment that the service is a tad sub-par to most sushi places, so be prepared to actually request refills on drinks. A little different from the others, not bad, it's worth a try!

I have now been here twice and feel that this place deserves a good review. Both times I've been here, I came with a groupon. Both times, they accepted the groupon with no problem and the service has been excellent. I noticed a lot of sushi restaurants tend to have some issues when it comes to groupons, which is annoying because they are the ones who decide to use the service themselves.

Either way, the sushi here is so good and so FRESH. I had the sushi combo both times - it comes with the rainbow roll and 6 pieces of nigiri. Excellent choice for a little variety and for the price.

The restaurant is huge - I would honestly have this place in mind for a large party. It's spacious and the decor is unique. It is kind of dark inside, but they have a lot of very colorful art throughout, so it brightens the place up. Oh, and probably the best part to this restaurant is that it actually comes with a parking lot!!! Who would have thought that a restaurant in Chicago has its own parking lot?!

I will def be back for a third time.. hopefully sooner than later!

This place is huge and has a modern and nice decor. It's very vibrant and colorful.
We had some signature rolls, the Ocean Drive, White Zen, Citrus Rainbow and California Sunset. They were really good, I think that was the first time that I tried fusion sushi. The spicy sushi is a very interesting mix.
Our server was very kind.

New neighborhood spot near "the boy". I'm always a little skeptical about sushi off the beaten path...but having a hot guy with you makes it all better.

Good prices...above average sushi and really friendly staff. Perfect neighborhood joint.

Outstanding in every way. I'm hardly a sushi connoisseur but having feel like Ive tried every sushi option on their menu - its about the best Ive ever had.
And the atmosphere is barely short of perfect. We've been in there on a hot summer night and on snowy winter evenings - the atmosphere is just incredibly inviting.

I checked with my fellow Yelpers before I chose Blue Ocean. I've switched jobs and my new office is in Uptown, I used to be in the loop and had a lot of sushi options within walking distance.

I'd gone to Agami a few weeks before, but they didn't have lunch hours (though the dinner was fab).

When I got to Blue Ocean, I was very impressed with the convenient location, easy parking, and the welcome. I asked a few questions about the menu but the waitress did not seem to understand and did a lot of nodding and smiling. The answers to my questions did not fit the questions that I'd asked. I decided to play it safe with two rolls - yellowtail and scallion and a rainbow - and a side of unagi sauce.

Lunch was $14 (a splurge for me, I usually bring lunch). I had errands in the next door walgreen's and staples and when I returned, the waitress brought my bag to the door.

So far so GREAT.

When I got back to my office, I noticed that they didn't put the unagi sauce in the bag and the rolls seemed to be a bit on the small side. The yellowtail and scallions was $6 so the small roll was about what I expected. However, the rainbow roll was only slightly bigger and, upon inspection, looked suspiciously like spicy tuna on the inside.

I do not enjoy spicy food.

By this time, I only had 15 minutes of my lunch hour left and I was completely starved, so I ate what they provided. The yellowtail & scallions was delish and I cried my way through the faux "rainbow roll".

I probably should be more upset with myself for not checking the bag. I will go back, the roll that I ordered was really good.

Tired of the Bucktown/Wicker Park sushi scene? I'm not. But this place is waaay closer to me. So that makes me an instant fan.

Tucked away in the corner of a commercial/residential complex, it is easily missed. Keep your eyes peeled near Wilson and Clark. They have a parking lot and the good old #22 toodles along Clark, so your transit options are plenty.

I had no idea how large the restaurant was going to be. Huuuuge!! My friend and I agreed that it looks like the inside of an Urban Outfitters. Kind of obnoxious colors, but we wound up loving it--hope the rest of Uptown catches on to this.

Probably the most awesome part of Blue Ocean is their daily 5-7pm special of $4 maki. And Saturday nights wine bottles are half off. Those are some pretty darn good deals.

The lowdown:
-super tasty
-friendly staff
-recession friendly deals
-spacious! you won't have any booties bumpin' your table.

Conveniently located by Carol's Pub. You know you wanna go there after some sushi and 1/2 off martinis.