Banda E Nawaz (Oak Brook Pakistani)

Found a new joint, and been trying to hit it up for a while now. Finally got to check it out yesterday. I should have asked them how long they've been open. I think this place has been open for several years, but different ownerships. I saw a review on zabihah.com that says they are in kahoots with Ghareeb Nawaz on Devon. I have no idea at all if this is true. The interior is pretty much geared for takeout. There are a few tables strewn about, a few chairs, a magazine / free newspaper rack, and a water cooler. That's your decor in a nutshell. There is a printed laminated menu the size of an index card. The real menu is basically a specials greaseboard behind the counter. It's a pretty big menu, although, when I was going through it with the person at the counter, he was listing all the stuff they did NOT have. Most of the items were priced at 4.99 or 5.99. Breads are 1.00 each. Two options that sounded intriguing were the "combo" plates, either veggie or meat, priced at 6.99. It consisted of, (as I understood it) two meat options or two veggie options (from a special list) with either rice, two paratha, or two naan.

Our order:
One veggie combo with palak paneer, chana masala, and two paratha
One meat combo with seekh kabab*, chicken kebab, chili chicken, and rice
Two extra naan
One order of butter chicken (4.99)

*The counter person really wanted us to try the seekh kabob, so instead of two chicken kebabs in the meat combo, he pushed us into one seekh, and one chicken kebab)

So, I'll start off by saying that I'll probably go back. This place is a hop, skip, and a jump away from Desi Grill & Pizza which I think is the bee's knees for cabbie joint carry out places in this area, so me saying that I'll go back to Banda E Nawaz is actually saying something. I was not overly impressed with the food we had. The wife and I both came to the agreement that in our eyes, Desi Grill was better, but this Banda place did have some things going for it.
A quick breakdown:
Palak Paneer:
A tad Salty. Decently spicy. Our order had NO paneer. No, I'm not being sarcastic here. There was not a tiny bit of paneer. There was NO paneer in our order. An oversight, I'm sure - whatever.

Chana Masala:
We both enjoyed their version. Simple, but bright.

Seekh kebab:
These were pretty damn good. Nicely chile hot. I've not had much seekh kebab, admittedly. These were the best I've ever had.

Chicken Kebab:
These were ground chicken patties. I was not a fan of these at all. I was expecting more of a boti, but I should have asked. My bad there.

Chili Chicken. We were both fans. This was bright, and juicy. Pretty good indeed. Wish there was more of it.

Butter Chicken:
For 4.99, this is the butter chicken you hope to get at cabbie joints like Ghareeb Nawaz, or Baba Palace, but they always fall short on flavor. It came in a 16 oz styrofoam soup container. This was the real deal - not just chicken in whole milk with a little red masala. This was rich with good flavor. Not GREAT, but good. If this proves to be consistent, it's a winner for value / flavor. desi grill's butter chicken is 6.99, and might be a little bit better, imo. but Banda's is fine, and a great price, and would give me an excuse to stop in and try other things.

The naan tasted really yeasty, and it was very heavy.
Paratha were standard.
Rice was fine.

The combo meals were no great bargain, by the way. Imagine a standard three section clamshell styrofoam container. One scoop of one veggie, and one scoop of another veggie, and the large section would be rice for 6.99. The meat combo was really no better. Two meat kebabs, and 1/4 cup of chili chicken for 6.99.

As it stands right now, I could seriously see myself stopping at Desi Grill for a few things, and then hopping over to Banda E Nawaz for a few things to make up a Pakistani dinner feast. I'm sure there are plenty of things that Banda E Nawaz does well - just have to start testing the waters.

So, if I were to plan a takeout Indian Dinner feast for me and the Mrs in this area, I think I'd get a chili chicken lunch box from Desi Grill with one extra naan. An order of Butter Chicken and two paratha from Banda E Nawaz and then I'd order a trial of something else. Next time, probably their Kerahi Chicken, or a potato curry of some sort. Definite potential, and the prices are right.

The Desi Grill "Lunch Box" puts Banda's "combo meals" to shame, however, IMO.

Banda E Nawaz Incorporated
17W612 14th St.
Oakbrook Terrace, IL.
60181
PH: 630-889-0786


Desi Grill & Pizza
912 E. Roosevelt Rd.
Lombard, IL 60148
Ph: (630) 916-8608
http://www.desigrillpizza.com

band e nawaz is owned by the cousin of ghareeb nawaz, there's a lot of similarity to the food (a long time ago one of the proprietors on devon told me that ghareeb nawaz made some spice/masala mixes that they would sell to other restaurant owners - never found out who else was buying but I imagine he's got something worked out with his cousin), not fantastic but not a bad deal for the area

In a complete and whole, just world, we would have escaped the heat, checked out the latest cook books, and caught up on our magazines at the Borders near Harlem and Irving. We would have chosen that location, of course, to be so near to the outstanding chow in Harwood Heights. Would we step into the Italian place, DiMaggio's, that Skyfullofbacon felt had a door that opened a portal straight to Naples for pizza. We did need more of Dani's spicy cheese dip (good enough alone to justify a trip to the Heights on its own), perhaps we'd eat burek for dinner after we stopped by. Or what was the special at Pita alShaq. One could always go there days at a time, just to try each special. Alas, my good, dear friend Borders is no more and the world is cracked.

Still, we must all practice Tikum Olam, and if that means schlepping pretty far to Oak Brook for Barnes and Noble, it also means that one can find Harwood Heights worthy food as well. This place, Banda Nawaz, has been on my radar for a long time, and thanks to a little prompting from Google (and God forbid, I know, Yelp), I remembered it last night when we were nearby and near dinner time. Thanks for the initial share Chris.

As with reports of Harwood, I'm the kinda guy who'd rather run here (here!) to share, even after just one meal. I share because my opinion of this place after one meal is, hey, it's worth sharing, and worth bumping this thread. For $16, my wife and I had biryani with goat, two parantha, enough ghee with chickpeas to be very satified (channa masala), a portion of that Chinese flavored Indian dish called chili chicken, and a good amount of leftovers. Really, I enjoyed it enough that I think the OP Boyz club should come here.

Entering here last night, like say entering a Dani's where you just have to hope the Serbian burger is good because no one else is there eating one, I had a hard time deciding to stick around. What made me most give in was the constant sound of chopping in the kitchen. They were really cooking back there. Not overly complicated dishes, certainly not dishes made with a lot of panache, but dishes that really hit the spot, with their ample grease and heavy spice.

We cannot always make it to Harwood Heights. We cannot always have the bookstore we want. We can, however, have good meals, especially when we share our experiences. And in our own little way, we will do our bit to repair the world.

VI -op boys great idea. If you are in the area frequently, I would suggest Desi Grill And Pizza which is a stone's throw west on Roosevelt. These are the joints I love to investigate. There's also another joint west of there which has some higher prices, and a modestly nicer room - Kurry Kazana? I haven't been back to Banda in quite a while. Desi Grill is pretty much my standard for the area.