Mazza BBQ: Indian Pakistani [Pictures]

LTH,

Had an enjoyable lunch last week with Mike G at Mazza, a new Indian restaurant on Devon. Carafe of water and fresh veg plate for menu perusing, on to crisp onion pakora with a trio of dipping sauce. Moving forward with good, but not quite Khan, Chicken Boti and a light, almost gheeless Daal Palak. The daal, which I quite liked, was in stark contrast to the daal I had a few weeks ago at Chopal, which, while tasty, was layered with 1/8th inch of ghee.

Onion Pakora (Picture by Mike G)


Daal Palak (Picture by Mike G)


Chicken Boti (Picture by Mike G)


Naan was fine, though the Paratha was particularly delicious, crisp, layered, light, almost total lack of oiliness one often finds. Actually light on the oil seemed to be an overriding theme at Mazza, the food was noticably lighter than I've experienced in the past. (Spa Indian? )

Paratha, Naan (Picture by Mike G)


We also had Bihari Kabab, I have no idea why I ever order this dish, it seems one of my least favorite of the Devon Ave line-up.

Bihari Kabab (Picture by Mike G)


Mazza's signage promises Uzbek as well as Indian Pakistani, the owners wife is from Uzbekistan, but it will be a few weeks before any Uzbak dishes appear on the menu.

(Picture by Mike G)


Enjoy,
Gary

Mazza BBQ
2226 W Devon
Chicago, IL 60659
773-338-5566

Looks pretty delicious -- I guess this may play into the "do pictures lie" because the Chicken Boti looks great even if it doesn't rank with Khan's.

Hey, I was wondering yesterday -- there really isn't a common term for the Devon area, in the sense of "Chinatown" or "Heart of Italy" -- I guess I've heard some people use "Little India" but it doesn't really seem right, perhaps in part because there's so much Pakistani presence.

I guess people know what you say when you just use "Devon" but I was kind of wondering why this was the case. Well, I guess I have an idea, since I've been fascinated with the Metro Chicago Immigration Factbook. Did you realize that in 1965 there were only 600 Indian immigrants counted in the Metro area! By 1990, it had reached 37,000 and now there are over 77,000, and another 18K Pakistani.

So I guess in the span of things, it's still kind of early. It seems like it has always been that way, but then, I've only lived in Chicago for 15 years or so.

The good thing about "Devon" is that it will still be Devon when all the Indians and Pakistanis have moved to Schaumburg and the neighborhood is Uzbeki or Maori or something.

Also, it's easy to tell locals (davaughn) from out-of-towners (devvin)...

Anyway, "not quite as good as Khan" is still "perfectly enjoyable." I agree with Gary that the interesting part about Mazza, at least before the Uzbek menu is up and running, is that everything was light on grease, not swimming in ghee, yet still full-flavored and worthy of being on the same street as Khan and other known quantities. If I had a group of people wanting to go to, say, Hema's, I'd definitely steer them here as a place with a nicer atmosphere, more flavor and food that isn't going to freak them out grease-wise.

Now off to get myself some Davaughnshire cream.

germuska wrote:I guess people know what you say when you just use "Devon"

Simply "Devon" works for me in much the same way that simply "Argyle" or even simply "Rush Street' or even simply "Oprah" works. Its simple, to the point and everyone knows exactly what you mean.

Mike G wrote:Also, it's easy to tell locals (davaughn) from out-of-towners (devvin)...
...

Now off to get myself some Davaughnshire cream.

My Great Uncle from New Zealand was frustrated to the eyeballs trying to explain to his Chicago family how we wrongly pronounced "davaughn" when it should be "devvin." He searched high and low for dictionaries or pronounciation guides to set us straight it.

Years later when I visited them in New Zealand, his teeth were still chattering over our resistance to the true pronounciation.

***

The very first time I heard of Devon as destination shopping was from my Moscow neighbor from Bombay, India whose daughter lived in Hyde Park. She claimed it was faster and easier food shopping on Devon Avenue in Chicago than in her hometown.

I once bumped into her husband at McCormick Place. We immediately recognized each other though neither one of us was sure from where. It took a few seconds for the proper context to come to mind, "Moscow!"

Life goes on.

Regards,

When I first moved to Chicago 13 years ago, I heard the Devon area referred to several times as "Indian Village". Was this an anomaly, or was it at one time a commonly used name?

I once saw Devon Ave get written up as Ghandi-Mart or something like that. Seemed a tad disrespectful to such an important leader, like Mao-Mart or Trotskys-R-Us.

I like the way Devon allows us to by-pass the history of partition...

I like the way Devon allows us to by-pass the history of partition...

It is worth noting, in that context, that the sign for Bell visible in the photo above is right next to one proclaiming that stretch Honorary Muhammad Ali Jinnah Way.

trotsky wrote:I once saw Devon Ave get written up as Ghandi-Mart or something like that. Seemed a tad disrespectful to such an important leader, like Mao-Mart or Trotskys-R-Us.

Just a random guess, but perhaps it was a reference to Gandhi Marg ("Gandhi Way"), the honorary street designation (much like Muhammad Ali Jinnah Way, as MikeG notes)?

germuska wrote:Looks pretty delicious -- I guess this may play into the "do pictures lie" because the Chicken Boti looks great even if it doesn't rank with Khan's.

Joe,

As Mike said, not ranking with Khan's can still be pretty darn good and Mazza's Chicken Boti, which is cooked in a gas fired tandor as opposed to Khan's charcoal, was better than most.

Enjoy,
Gary

hey Gary, did you by any chance try the pilau/plov? as that was the the only thing available (as of last week) that the proprietor mentioned was uzbek in execution

It wasn't ready yet.

Sounds like the weekends will be the best time to catch the Uzbek stuff.

Maybe it's self-serving and thread hijacking, but can I bring attention to the Uzbek food in Buffalo Grove, of all places?

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 1fa3eee65a

That Guy on the L wrote:

trotsky wrote:I once saw Devon Ave get written up as Ghandi-Mart or something like that. Seemed a tad disrespectful to such an important leader, like Mao-Mart or Trotskys-R-Us.

Just a random guess, but perhaps it was a reference to Gandhi Marg ("Gandhi Way"), the honorary street designation (much like Muhammad Ali Jinnah Way, as MikeG notes)?

Indeed it was. The "Indian" stretch of Devon is actually named Gandhi-Marg
(there are a couple of smallish signs on the street). The street turns
Pakistani at Western (thats basically the dividing line)... and east of Western,
the Pakistani stretch of the street is named Mohd Ali Jinnah Way

These arent the only two names for the street either - I do believe Ive seen
a stretch of it called Mujib-ur-rehman street (cant recall where)... and I know
for a fact that somewhere west of California it is called "Golda Meir Ave".
Western Avenue, south of Devon street (I noticed this only this weekend,
the sign is up right near Khan's) is actually called "King Sargon Boulevard".


c8w

G Wiv wrote:LTH,


Naan was fine, though the Paratha was particularly delicious, crisp, layered, light, almost total lack of oiliness one often finds. Actually light on the oil seemed to be an overriding theme at Mazza, the food was noticably lighter than I've experienced in the past. (Spa Indian? )


Enjoy,
Gary

Mazza BBQ
2226 W Devon
Chicago, IL 60659
773-338-5566

Made it to Mazza for a few minutes last week as well, but for us it was only
to have a late-night tea (which was fine, it was just tea ... this was
post-Big-Buns-dinner (which was very good). The guy manning the
counter was actually a former Daata Durbar employee.

Maybe there will actually be Uzbeg items on the menu down the road.. but
Iam not sure Id hold my breath. The impression I got was that it would be
a bit like the cabbie-joints (which is what Daata and Hyderabad House are
or were, on that stretch of Devon). The timings appear that way - it stays
open till about 5am I think? The menu I had picked up a week ago looked
like it had tons of items... but on asking this weeknight, most of the items
were actually unavailable (the only things available were the usual
mutton biryani, chicken biryani, a couple of gravy dishes etc... the guy
said he had forgotten to write it up on a chalkboard, which is even more
of a cabbie-joint-touch). The impression I got was that the menu listed
everything they made some of the time...some more items would be
available on the weekends, but most weekdays would have the usual
6-8 items or some such. (I asked for a dabal-ka-meeta, but was denied.
They didnt have the kheer either. Or the gil-e-firdous. The only dessert
available on the night was the qubani-ka-meetha).

Also, BTW, Iam glad to hear of good parathas - the old Daata Durbar had
(sometimes) provided amongst the best parathas on Devon too, so its
nice to see those havent vanished completely Id guess the naans
etc would always be better at Khan's (with their tandoor)... but on the
couple of occasions Ive tried them, the parathas havent been very
good at Khan's.

c8w

germuska wrote:I guess people know what you say when you just use "Devon" but I was kind of wondering why this was the case. Well, I guess I have an idea, since I've been fascinated with the Metro Chicago Immigration Factbook. Did you realize that in 1965 there were only 600 Indian immigrants counted in the Metro area! By 1990, it had reached 37,000 and now there are over 77,000, and another 18K Pakistani.

So I guess in the span of things, it's still kind of early. It seems like it has always been that way, but then, I've only lived in Chicago for 15 years or so.

What exactly constitues the "Metro area", BTW? I presume it doesnt
include the burbs? Because I have heard estimates of 200k subcontinentals
in the "Chicagoland" area recently - not sure if theyre completely accurate,
but they sound close (this is including places like Schaumburg, Hoffman
Estates, Naperville etc - all with very big Indian and Pakistani populations,
and the corresponding grocery stores and restaurants. Heck, was eating
with an Indian guy at Salt-n-Pepper in Hoffman Estates only yesterday,
he lives in Naperville... and he said he hadnt actually been to Devon for
more than 2 years now, despite eating Indian food at home and in
restaurants most days of the year! He just doesnt find a reason to,
since its all available in Naperville and/or Schaumburg, the variety
of even Indian-regional is more than large enough for him now, just in
the burbs).


c8w

G Wiv wrote:LTH,


We also had Bihari Kabab, I have no idea why I ever order this dish, it seems one of my least favorite of the Devon Ave line-up.

BTW, had a Bihari Kabab last week at Khan's. While it was a touch too
salty (maybe), it was a pretty decent rendition of the dish. Maybe thats the
place you should try it Gary... and if you dont like it there, strike it off your
order-list for good

c8w

c8w wrote:What exactly constitues the "Metro area", BTW?

From the document:

To compare metropolitan areas nationally we use the Census Bureau’s definition of complete metro areas.For metro Chicago,this is a 13-county area reaching into both Wisconsin and Indiana.

Remember this is census results, so with undocumented immigrants the numbers will certainly be higher. The document also says that the census "accepts an estimate" of approximately 10% net undercount (but not necessarily evenly distributed). I'd guess the undercount skews heavily towards Latin Americans, but really have no idea how well the census counts South Asians.

The factbook also lists "top ten municipalities" and "top ten community areas" for each major ethnic group. For the Indian population, only about 20% live in Chicago proper. If you're curious, I encourage you to download the PDF -- it don't cost nuthin!

As a known demographics junkie, I've been perhaps boring everyone with the details, but it's really an interesting document.

Noticed today that Mazza BBQ, the Uzbek-Pakistani restaurant that never, to my knowledge, served anyone any Uzbek food, is no more; a sign in the window says that Hyderabad House Family Dining will be opening soon in the space.