Chutney Janet, Des Plaines

Based on a few posts from c8w I convinced a fair number of family and visiting friends to make the trek out to Chutney Janet a couple saturdays ago. I had called ahead to let the know we would need a table for 9.

we arrived at 7 to an empty mid sized restaurant (seating for approximately 40-50), save for three employees seated around a table (based on later events I am pretty sure these were the only employees working that night). I mentioned that we had called ahead for a large table for 9 and we were then taken to a table for 8, this small event kind of set the tone for the evening - we asked 2 or 3 times for another place setting and finally arranged another chair and setting ourself.

c8w's printed out posts in hand, I explained to the Front of the house guy that we were looking for stuff we couldn't find on devon, the goan, and bombay stuff. Looking at the menu we were given i didn't see some of the items he had written of, such as Tiger Prawns peri-peri, the chicken farcha, or the Canja de Galina soup. I asked about these and were told they didn't have them. Instead we ordered some of the other dishes he had mentioned that were on the menu as well as a couple of things for the vegetarians, while we waited for our appetizers of chicken lollipops, and vegetable and paneer pakora.

we ended up ordering, shrimp masala fry, lamb chili fry, chicken vindaloo, bangan begara, paneer karhai, pomfret reschade, piazi kulcha, and egg biryani as well as chicken malai kabob our server had recommended for the kids as not being too spicy.

a few minutes later the appetizers arrived, the chicken lollipops, chicken drummettes with the chicken wrapped in a mixture of ground meat and spices were particualrly good, the pakora were served with an indian bottled ketchup and some chaat masala were fine.

then we waited.

we waited some more

we ran out of water

the restaurant filled up

we waited some more

I spied water pitchers sitting on the bar and ended up getting and refilling our glasses, noticing others also waiting for water I filled up the glasses at some other tables

at some point during this wait I noticed the take out menu and got up and got one. Here were the tiger prawns, the soup, and a couple of other dishes that looked interesting, such as sali gosht, a parsi lamb dish, and lamb chops adhraki (lamb chops marinated in ginger). We asked to add these on to our order but was told they couldn't do it, whether because they no longer make them or because the kitchen was already overtaxed it was unclear. I had the feeling that if we called in with that menu in hand we would have been able to get those dishes. Unfortunately when we ordering our guy hadn't mentioned them, even though asked specifically about a couple of them and told we were looking for some of these sorts of items

about 45 minutes later most of our entrees and our kulcha arrived, except for the kabobs for the kids and also no rice.

at this point starving we tried out some of the food and tried to fill up the kids on kulcha (thin breads in this cases filled with onion) it was almost all very very good, though suffering from that particular indian sterotuype of having small portions of mostly sauce (4 shrimps in a shrimp order, same amount of small lamb pieces in the lamb). The only dish I didn't care for being the pomfret which suffered from tasting not so fresh (it being pomfret that wasn't so surprising), the vindaloo was much better and much more goan tasting than the one-note dish you get around town, both the shrimp and lamb had distinct sauces, though I was surprised they were as wet as they were, expecting a drier kerala type version. The bangan begara (eggplant) was also very very tasty, with a very different version than is offered at say sizzle india, with the coconut and peanut more distinct in the sauce.

About 15 minutes after the entrees arrived and after a couple of requests we received our rice, though not the chicken kabobs. As most of the dishes really needed to be eaten with rice this increased the enjoyment of the food. Surprisingly to me the egg biryani was one of the better dishes of the night, with a nice hit of mint and red onions.

About 10 minutes later the last dish arrived - the kabobs our dude had recommended for the kids. Unfortunately by this point they were full of rice, kulcha, and mango lassis we had ordered them to cool their mouths down after they had tried vainly to enjoy some of the spicier fare, and the food was genuinely spicier than you will receive on devon.

My cousin, who was visiting from houston, thought it a truly memorable meal, though not necessarily for the food. It is too bad that they seemed to be overtaxed, because the food was genuinely very very good, if not a spectacular value. It would have been very very good on a buffet (strangely enough all the buffet chafing dishes and extra plates were still out on a side table, though they apparently they haven't offered a buffet in quite some time), or possibly as carry-out. As I am unlikely to be doing carry-out in the near future in that area I'm not sure I'll find out.

Chutney Janet
1177 Elmhurst Road
Des Plaines
(847) 593-3663
Dinner Only

I only get takeout as the service has been poor for me usually as well.

HI,

Dickson, Aaron Deacon and I were there for a business meeting in June. We asked them to pace our meal because we were not in a rush. I guess what we wanted paralleled with what the kitchen could offer.

I cannot recall our meal in detail, though we all left feeling we had a well executed meal.

zim wrote:I spied water pitchers sitting on the bar and ended up getting and refilling our glasses, noticing others also waiting for water I filled up the glasses at some other tables

You have my profound admiration for your forbearance and grace.

Based on a few posts from c8w I convinced a fair number of family and visiting friends to make the trek out to Chutney Janet a couple saturdays ago. I had called ahead to let the know we would need a table for 9.

My apologies to your friends and family, based on the report, BTW

c8w's printed out posts in hand, I explained to the Front of the house guy that we were looking for stuff we couldn't find on devon, the goan, and bombay stuff. Looking at the menu we were given i didn't see some of the items he had written of, such as Tiger Prawns peri-peri, the chicken farcha, or the Canja de Galina soup. I asked about these and were told they didn't have them. Instead we ordered some of the other dishes he had mentioned that were on the menu as well as a couple of things for the vegetarians, while we waited for our appetizers of chicken lollipops, and vegetable and paneer pakora.

Hmm. Maybe they dont make it anymore - it was written off their old carryout
menu (as you noticed later). However they dont do like shrimp pakoras on
their menu either I think, and the last time we were driving there we called
and asked them on the phone, and they had it made by the time we got
there. It was not a Saturday night, however - maybe that had something to
do with it. And it was a decent shrimp pakora (though expensive - their
chicken pakora was also very good, and not that expensive; better and
cheaper than Hot Wok, for example).

we ended up ordering, shrimp masala fry, lamb chili fry, chicken vindaloo, bangan begara, paneer karhai, pomfret reschade, piazi kulcha, and egg biryani as well as chicken malai kabob our server had recommended for the kids as not being too spicy.

a few minutes later the appetizers arrived, the chicken lollipops, chicken drummettes with the chicken wrapped in a mixture of ground meat and spices were particualrly good, the pakora were served with an indian bottled ketchup and some chaat masala were fine.

Was that the veggie pakora, or the chicken one? Dont think Ive ever tried the
veggie one there, but I like the chicken. And the chicken lollipop is excellent
(and also, I think, the only place in town where its available, probably).

then we waited.

we waited some more
...

Heh I must confess, never really had *that* much of a problem with service
there, it was a bit slow with food, but I always figured they were making a lot
of it then. The "other" service wasnt usually as much of a problem. But then
the first few times I was there with an uncle who was very much a regular,
which Iam sure made a difference too.

at some point during this wait I noticed the take out menu and got up and got one. Here were the tiger prawns, the soup, and a couple of other dishes that looked interesting, such as sali gosht, a parsi lamb dish, and lamb chops adhraki (lamb chops marinated in ginger). We asked to add these on to our order but was told they couldn't do it, whether because they no longer make them or because the kitchen was already overtaxed it was unclear. I had the feeling that if we called in with that menu in hand we would have been able to get those dishes. Unfortunately when we ordering our guy hadn't mentioned them, even though asked specifically about a couple of them and told we were looking for some of these sorts of items

Maybe they dont have them on the menu anymore - I know they used to be
very solidly authentic with Goan food etc, but I think they didnt really draw
that many patrons, sadly. Too many Indians in the area (most of whom arent
Goan) seemed to just want the "normal" Indian food. They have probably
thus cut back on the more exotic/authentic items. But I do think they'll
probably make them if you let them know early (again, going only on that
example of calling them once while on the way, about 30 minutes before
getting there).

about 45 minutes later most of our entrees and our kulcha arrived, except for the kabobs for the kids and also no rice.

at this point starving we tried out some of the food and tried to fill up the kids on kulcha (thin breads in this cases filled with onion) it was almost all very very good, though suffering from that particular indian sterotuype of having small portions of mostly sauce (4 shrimps in a shrimp order, same amount of small lamb pieces in the lamb). The only dish I didn't care for being the pomfret which suffered from tasting not so fresh (it being pomfret that wasn't so surprising), the vindaloo was much better and much more goan tasting than the one-note dish you get around town, both the shrimp and lamb had distinct sauces, though I was surprised they were as wet as they were, expecting a drier kerala type version. The bangan begara (eggplant) was also very very tasty, with a very different version than is offered at say sizzle india, with the coconut and peanut more distinct in the sauce.

Yes, the vindaloo has always seemed more authentic to me as well (btu then
most of the vindaloo around town is just a generic North Indian gravy dish,
so it really isnt say8ing much). The version here isnt really Kerala for the
"chicken fry" etc, but more Goan/Mangalorean I think - they are always a
bit wetter in this restaurant (and I personally like it that way, more stuff to
have your paratha with, or to pour over the rice Also very tasty IMHO.
Never tried their begara baingan (or actually any of their veggie stuff,
really, except for picking up a mutter-paneer once I think).

About 15 minutes after the entrees arrived and after a couple of requests we received our rice, though not the chicken kabobs. As most of the dishes really needed to be eaten with rice this increased the enjoyment of the food. Surprisingly to me the egg biryani was one of the better dishes of the night, with a nice hit of mint and red onions.

Hmm. Not tried this for a while either - but then I consider even chicken biryani
to be blasphemy Will try it next time.

About 10 minutes later the last dish arrived - the kabobs our dude had recommended for the kids. Unfortunately by this point they were full of rice, kulcha, and mango lassis we had ordered them to cool their mouths down after they had tried vainly to enjoy some of the spicier fare, and the food was genuinely spicier than you will receive on devon.

Heh. Sorry again Should have warned you about that too - the reason I
like this place more than most (and think its more authentic than most) is that
they *dont* cut down on the heat-factor as much as other restaurants do.
I like my food spicy, and these guys do it right - I havent been to Tiffin for
well over a year now, for example, because the last time there we found
everything ridiculously mild, basically weakened in heat for the non-native
palate. But if youre not used to it (or just used to Devon), of course, its
very difficult to eat

My cousin, who was visiting from houston, thought it a truly memorable meal, though not necessarily for the food. It is too bad that they seemed to be overtaxed, because the food was genuinely very very good, if not a spectacular value. It would have been very very good on a buffet (strangely enough all the buffet chafing dishes and extra plates were still out on a side table, though they apparently they haven't offered a buffet in quite some time), or possibly as carry-out. As I am unlikely to be doing carry-out in the near future in that area I'm not sure I'll find out.

I think Ive rarely tried them on a Saturday night, which might also be a reason
the above problems werent encountered (at leas tot the same extent). During
the week on a couple of occasions they havent been taxed at all, and so
the food has been good and prompt enough as well. Ive done Friday night
an Sunday night there too - but the Friday was quite late, something like
9:30 (when they IIRC closed at 10), and the crowd had thinned. Obviously I'll
try and keep staying away on Saturday nights after your review

I too noticed the buffet trays etc around the last time - and asked agai, but
they said they didnt have it anymore, no lunch at all. I do think they occasionally
do some catering and/or private parties (probably Goan/Mangalorean families
around town, who want some authentic food for an occasion but cant
find it elsewhere), maybe thats what the equipment is used for.

The last couple of times I *have* actually done carry-out - another reason
I probably havent noticed the service deficienies. And that does actually
work out very well - the food is very good (which to me always overrides
service anyway), and some Goan food actually gets *better* when it
waits around I think (the vindaloo is one of them IIRC).

Chutney Janet
1177 Elmhurst Road
Des Plaines
(847) 593-3663
Dinner Only

BTW, there's a Grandma Sally's next door, "famous for apple pancakes".
I had a feeling I might have heard about this on "Check Please" - is that
true, does anyone know? Anyone tried their Apple Pancakes, and find
them that good? (Havent yet myself).

And there is also a Mr. Beef across the street - but I havent tried that
either, when in the mood for a beef and in that area, I'll always drive
the extra 10 minutes and go to Johnnie's instead.


c8w

c8w wrote:My apologies to your friends and family, based on the report, BTW c8w

No apologies neccesary, as i said the food was very good and much different than what you receive on devon. At least my cousin got a story out of it. As for the service, next time I will go carry out, I think you are right in surmising that they will make some of these dishes with advance notice, as when i googled them I found that they had made a sorpotel for a konkani picnic

c8w wrote:And it was a decent shrimp pakora (though expensive - their
chicken pakora was also very good, and not that expensive; better and
cheaper than Hot Wok, for example).

I will have to try it than - I actually liked the shrimp pakora I ate at the now closed devon location of hot wok

c8w wrote:Was that the veggie pakora, or the chicken one? Dont think Ive ever tried the veggie one there, but I like the chicken. And the chicken lollipop is excellent
(and also, I think, the only place in town where its available, probably).

we had both the veggie and paneer pakora, both were good but not that different than what you'd expect elsewhere

c8w wrote:The version here isnt really Kerala for the
"chicken fry" etc, but more Goan/Mangalorean I think - they are always a
bit wetter in this restaurant (and I personally like it that way, more stuff to
have your paratha with, or to pour over the rice Also very tasty IMHO.
Never tried their begara baingan (or actually any of their veggie stuff,
really, except for picking up a mutter-paneer once I think). ).

In some ways my frustration over the rice is part of my kashmiri heritage as I am much more of a rice eater than a bread eater. btw, if you haven't tried the dry carryout frys from malabar catering they are well worth the effort

c8w wrote:Heh. Sorry again Should have warned you about that too - the reason I
like this place more than most (and think its more authentic than most) is that
they *dont* cut down on the heat-factor as much as other restaurants do.
I like my food spicy, and these guys do it right - I havent been to Tiffin for
well over a year now, for example, because the last time there we found
everything ridiculously mild, basically weakened in heat for the non-native
palate. But if youre not used to it (or just used to Devon), of course, its
very difficult to eat .

Once again no apologies needed. The spice level on the food was a big plus for me (I kinda like my food hot) just a little hard on the kids, that is why we wanted something milder for them. I completely agree with the lack of spice at tiffin (not one of my favorite places for a number of reasons) but I had a mirch ka salan this weekend at the new hyderabadi - Shahnawhaz that was actually very spicy

c8w wrote:I think Ive rarely tried them on a Saturday night, which might also be a reason the above problems werent encountered (at leas tot the same extent). During
the week on a couple of occasions they havent been taxed at all, and so
the food has been good and prompt enough as well. Ive done Friday night
an Sunday night there too - but the Friday was quite late, something like
9:30 (when they IIRC closed at 10), and the crowd had thinned. Obviously I'll
try and keep staying away on Saturday nights after your review

I'm not really sure it had to do with night or crowd, as their wasn't really that much of one, and as I noted it was empty when we first arrived, I think they just need a couple more hands around

zim wrote:c8w's printed out posts in hand, I explained to the Front of the house guy that we were looking for stuff we couldn't find on devon, the goan, and bombay stuff. Looking at the menu we were given i didn't see some of the items he had written of, such as Tiger Prawns peri-peri, the chicken farcha, or the Canja de Galina soup. I asked about these and were told they didn't have them....

at some point during this wait I noticed the take out menu and got up and got one. Here were the tiger prawns, the soup, and a couple of other dishes that looked interesting, such as sali gosht, a parsi lamb dish, and lamb chops adhraki (lamb chops marinated in ginger). We asked to add these on to our order but was told they couldn't do it, whether because they no longer make them or because the kitchen was already overtaxed it was unclear.

When I visited, reported here, none of those dishes were on the menu. We had much better service than you report, but then we were the only people in the restaurant. I'm by no means an expert on Indian food, let alone Goan fare, but we liked it a lot.

It is much hotter than the food at most local Indian places. However, we were at Hyderabad House (2225 W. Devon Ave., 773/381-1230) the other night and the food there was nearly as hot.