Sushi Plus Thai by Sensei in Palatine: The Sushi Tacos Are the Tell

Palatine, IL · Sushi & Thai · About $83 for two, before tip

We hadn’t done a real date night in a while, so when we finally got one on the calendar we tried somewhere new: Sushi Plus Thai by Sensei in Palatine, open only recently and already sitting on a pile of five-star reviews. That’s a lot to live up to. It lived up to it.

Not sponsored. We paid for everything ourselves, and no one at Sensei knew we were coming.

First thing you notice is the room — not the beige-box strip-mall sushi spot you might expect. A big mural on the back wall, two figures in traditional dress with koi and temples behind them, dim-in-the-right-way lighting, woven-back wooden chairs, real plates. Calm but not empty, which is rare for a place this new.

The sushi tacos are the tell

Most sushi places have a signature roll; Sensei has a signature format — a whole back-of-menu of sushi tacos, fish in a crispy nori shell with rice and toppings. We had the Spicy Tuna and Spicy Salmon. The shell stays crisp under the rice, the fish is fresh, the spicy mayo does its job, and the ratio is right — somebody in the kitchen actually thought about what’s on top (the masago on the spicy tuna is a small thing you notice). I’ve had sushi tacos elsewhere that were brittle or soggy with barely any fish. Not here.

Carpaccio, the Hamapeño, and a Tako Wasabi I almost skipped

The Salmon Carpaccio was the moment we both went, okay, this place is doing more than sushi — thin salmon with fried capers, paper-thin jalapeño, a little yellow beet, and a green herb sauce with just enough zip. It looks like a plate at a real restaurant, and the salmon was super fresh. The Hamapeño roll is the one I’d send you to next: yellowtail across the top, a slice of jalapeño and a dot of sriracha per piece, heat that sneaks up instead of hitting all at once; the hamachi was buttery and we both kept going back. The Tako Wasabi was the wildcard I almost didn’t order — tender octopus in a creamy wasabi sauce with real heat. Glad I did.

The Pad Thai we ordered to box and finished instead

Here’s where Sensei stopped being just a sushi spot for us. We were already full, but there’s a whole Thai side to the menu, so we ordered a Pad Thai with chicken meaning to take it home. We finished it. Noodles with the right bite, sauce balanced between sweet and savory, plenty of chicken, fresh sprouts and carrot, crushed peanuts, a lime you actually want to use. Usually when a place does two cuisines, one is the afterthought. Not here — the Thai held up next to the sushi, which is rare.

What we ordered and what it cost

The Salmon Carpaccio, the Tako Wasabi, the Hamapeño roll, two sushi tacos, a Pad Thai with chicken, and one Singha. Total with tax, before tip, was $83.08 — or $79.34 if you pay cash (they run a cash discount). For the quality, the amount of food, and a Pad Thai on top of it, that’s a fair number.

The verdict

Fresh fish, plates that look like somebody cared, sushi tacos worth ordering before anything else, and a Pad Thai we couldn’t put down even after we said we were done. There are a lot of sushi places near us; after this date night, this one’s at the top of the list.