Delaware / Michigan Avenue Area

Me and the 10 month old. We'll have to fend for ourselves for Friday night dinner, and Saturday lunch. Prefer walking distance, but will have a car and free parking at the hotel. Rather not pay for parking at the destination. Just looking for cheap, good, and ethnic is a major plus. I'd be honored to try any Indian cabbie joints, but I don't know of any in that area within walking distance. I'm just never around there, and don't know the hood - aside from the mag mile scene. I can pop the kid in the car and go anywhere, but thinking a brisk walk in the stroller might be more interesting. Cheap, good. We both don't care about fancy ambience. Ethnic eats most appreciated. If all else fails, I think we'll go to Fox & Obel and mill around on Sat and have lunch there, just to say we've been.

Maybe Sayat Nova for Armenian food?

Sayat Nova
157 E. Ohio St.
Chicago, IL 60611-3107
(312) 644-9159

Nothing right there as you are in the heart of retail and tourist land. But favorites Ginza and CND Gyros are not too far. African and Jamaican trucks might be around the hospital.

Ginza's probably right up my alley, low key sushi and homestyle Japanese cooking, if I'm not mistaken - thanks.
Tell me more about these trucks tho. I've never experienced them, tho I do recall reading about them here. Lunch only? What would be the best time / place to find them? This might be a great idea for a walk, and back to the hotel room if it's cold out. (weather is not supposed to be the greatest for the next few days.) I am VERY intrigued here.
Any reccomendations on what to try from any of them them?

AFAIK, the trucks are only around for weekday lunch, so your schedule may rule them out.

It's been some time since I was in streeterville for lunch, though I understand they still show up. I'd check out the area around Prentice hospital and the Northwestern law school. Curried goat is what I get. No idea if they show up on weekends. One would think "why not?", since hospitals don't close on the weekend.

seebee wrote:I'd be honored to try any Indian cabbie joints, but I don't know of any in that area within walking distance.

You'll be a 15 or 20 minute walk from Baba Palace (334 W Chicago, at Orleans) and Zaiqa (858 N Orleans) is almost around the corner. There are other Pakistani places in the vicinity (Pakiza is a couple blocks north) but those two would be my choices. Both are open 24 hours.

seebee wrote:Tell me more about these trucks tho.

Just in case you haven't seen it: "I give you a little. . ."

Pelago in the Rafaello Hotel just opened for lunch and dinner. Been getting some good press.
Gotta admit I've also been fairly impressed with Bandera. Insultingly huge portions, there. And they can cook a pork chop.

Pelago Ristorante
201 E Delaware Pl
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 280-0700

Bandera
535 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60611-3814
(312) 644-3524

Ok, thanks for all the input -

I'm leaning towards Baba Palace tonight. If it's cold and horrible, I'll grab it to go, and chomp down at the hotel. If the parking gods are with me, I'll find a spot and eat in. If there's a thread, I'll find it, but any recs for what they do well?

Tomorrow lunch, Sayat Nova looks pretty interesting indeed, but a qq - All in all, would you rather have Sayat Nova or Reza's? I'd hate to go there and be thinking, I could have gone to Reza's in a 10 min car ride.

Wildcard: Silver Spoon.

If you were really hankering for the African truck action you could call Vee Vee's African on Broadway and ask if the trucks will be around on the weekend. I think Bolat is the name is the one I used to see in Streeterville (it had a giant yellow telephone on top so methinks maybe you can call in an order and they bring it to you? not sure at all). If you connect with either, try the goat in the tomato sauce, some beans, the foofy/spongy bread and throw in a Jamaican pattie. Wash it down with pineapple soda.

good luck.

bjt

More info on the Bolat truck can be found in this thread.

As for Baba Palace, I've only been one time so I haven't had a chance to try very much off the large menu. I really loved the naan, but thought the chicken tikka masala was a fairly skimpy portion (2-3 legs) for the price. I'm excited to hear what you think, as I've been meaning to get back there (only a 10-minute walk from work).

Sooooo -
The results if anyone gives a hoot..

Friday dinner. Baba's Palace.
Chicken Makhani, 2 samosa, naan, paratha.
So, after I ordered this, and the counterman gave the order into the kitchen via microphone, two very angry kitchen folk appeared with a metal tray and showed the counterman up close that they were out of chicken makhani. They said this was the last order, no more. They then asked if he understood what they were saying. Now, I've never gotten chicken makhani from Baba Palace before. This is what I got. Shredded chicken with some spices in half and half. The sauce was not reduced. It was thin, watery, runny. My assumption is that I got some chicken tikka picked off the bone, and covered with half and half. The sauce had no real flavor to it. Naan was stellar, paratha, run of the mill. But the samosa I had there on Friday night was probably the best I've ever had. Obviously homemade - which is why I got two when I saw them. These were tender crusted, pillows of heaven IMO. The filling had just the right amt of salt, and a decent kick. Far too many samosas I've had are little frickin salt bombs with crust you just basically try to avoid after the first few bites. Not these. Maybe I'm a samosa rube, but I tell you what, the things I had here on Friday night were the bees knees.

Day 2, Saturday lunch.
I'm a therapy type food person. Meaning, if I go somewhere and have a bad experience, I gotta go somewere else and get the same thing to satisfy my palate. Therapy. So guess where I wound up for my Indian food therapy?

Baba Palace. Again.
HAH!!
So, at least I tried the place a block north that starts with a Z. Zaida? Anyway, I struggled the stroller up those steps, walked in, and took a peak at the steam trays. There were probably 6 or so trays set up. I recognized one of them as having chickpeas and potatoes in some sort of gravy, and the others, I had no clue. None. Some had bones, some were ground meat. It was grimey, dank, newspapers strewn about, a few booths with red vinyl. No menu board (nor any menu in plain view behind the counter.) This place made the small Hyderbaad House on the south side of Devon look like Spiaggia. I turned around and headed back to Baba Palace after a few moments of trying to identify any of the foodstuffs on offer while the counterwoman watched me with no offer of help at all.
No biggie. At least I could say I've tried Baba P twice, and I knew they offered a combo plate type deal, and also, I would not be displeased with a samosa at the very least. I was also pretty darn hungry, so I figured no matter what, It would be at the very least, OK. Sound reasoning in my book.

Jr and I walked in. Looked at the menu again for a sec, and I knew I was gonna go with chili chicken or chicken nehari. Wondering if the nehari was going to be a bad cornstarch laden goo, I went with chili chicken which as stated in their menu was "boneless pieces of chicken cooked with lots of chilies, and green peppers," a side of rice, one naan, a samosa, and a drink.
9.50.

What showed up was some really decent rice, naan, a samosa, my drink, and small plate with chicken with a few onion slivers mixed in. Ok, so, I took a bite. No heat. Another bite. NO heat. NONE. No Sauce. NONE. Not a hint of some kind of sambal. None. I took the plate up to the counter.
"Is this chili chicken?"
"No, Frontier Chicken."
"I DID ask for Chili Chicken, yes?"
"Yes."
"I'd really prefer chili chicken to this"
"Ok, leave plate here, we bring chili chicken"

I took my seat again, and 8 seconds later, the food runner appeared again. "chili chicken, sir."
It was the same plate of frontier chicken I had with a generous sprinkling of red pepper flakes over the top.
I was livid. Back to the counter.
"Is this how Baba Palace makes chili chicken? Sprinkle pepper flakes on top of an order of frontier chicken?"
A cook appeared.
"Is this how you make chili chicken?"
"Yes, chili chicken."
"And both of you are not ashamed?
Neither understood.
The samosa / naan were pretty good again.
So, just in case you were wondering about the chili chicken at Baba Palace, it's dry with a yellow tinge, cooked with onions, and is not spicy in the least. It also has no green peppers as described on the menu.
So, in my findings after 2 visits, Baba Palace, IMO has stellar samosas, but the entrees are pretty much amateur hour. Like, severely amateur hour.

From what I was served both times, I can say that anyone who thinks these 6.95 "complete meals" are anything remotely good, if you're ever in Lombard, a lunch box from this joint will undoubtedly blow your mind. Just keep that in mind if you're ever out that way.

Sounds like a bad experience. I've had dozens of good ones at both Baba and Zaiqa (the other place recommended above and likely the one you checked out), but none as recent as yours. I tend to go for the rice dishes at Zaiqa and whatever looks fresh and plentiful in the steam trays at Baba. The better stuff tends to be long-cooked. Have not had small portion problems. Hyderabad House on Devon, which you mention, is by far my favorite place of this type. They make a mean chili chicken paratha, and you can get hand-rolled sweet pan for a buck on the way out.

Bad experience, yes, but honestly, I'd go back to Baba P and try one more dish - probably the kerahi chicken.
Those samosas were REALLY quite good. If I didn't have Jr with me, I probably would have stayed at Zaiqa, but there was a pretty loud discussion going on at the counter, and after walking from the Hancock into the loop, and then back out to Chicago/Orleans, I just wanted some peace and quiet.

I really could have used a nice plate of saucy red, tangy chili chicken. Instead, I got dry pan fried chicken with sauteed oinions, and red pepper flakes on top. Served with kind of an "F you." I don't really mind the f you attitude, but it WASN'T chili chicken. I would have rather had the option of "Listen, the chili chicken isn't ready yet - how about the nehari, or kerahi, or something" - know what I mean? It was getting a little chilly outside, man, a nice spicy saucy dish was what I was looking for. I got pan fried shredded chicken with pepper flakes on top.

It's all good. Just got back from the Indian Grocer with some fresh curry leaf, and Deshi Coriander Chutney, and methi. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Aloo Gobi, Palak Paneer, and some form of a chicken vindaloo for dinner tomorrow night. Maybe I'll post a recipe and some pics like I did with my world famous* Red Curry.


*Yeah, it really isn't world famous.

Seebee, all

FYI - most if not all of the dishes at Baba Palace are toned down heat-wise, likely owing to the fact that their clientele cuts a very diverse swath across Africa, the Middle East and South Asia - basically whoever is driving cabs nowadays.

If you want heat, load up on the sliced green jalapenos they give away at the "salad" bar. Oh and everything at Baba P benefits from a squeeze of lime as well.

I've eaten at Baba P more times that I care to think about (food in Streeter"vile" where I go to school simply sucks), and haven't had an experience as bad as yours sounded. That may be due to the fact that I avoid chicken makhni like the plague anywhere I go (when has this dish not been shredded chicken soaked in half and half and spices??). Also, while I do empathize with your chili/frontier chicken experience, in my experience those two dishes are just different names for the same thing - a "dry" chicken preparation usually with bell peppers. Coupled that with the fact that nothing you will get at Baba P will be spicy and I'm not surprised things turned out the way they did. Of course, that's no excuse for poor customer relations.

I love Baba P, well because, there isn't much else to love in the immediate area, but also because it can turn out some damn fine food if you know what to order. Stick with dal, the chicken seekh kabobs, and any meat curry with a tomato base, load up on jalapenos, lime and salt, and you should be fine.

Cheers.