Coming Soon to SW Evanston: Bombay Kabob House

Spotted yesterday in the windows of the-location-formerly-known-as-Thai-Peppers (Howard and Dodge, which is Howard and California from the Chicago side of the street): "Coming Soon" posters for "Bombay Kabob House"

I never tried Thai Peppers, and never really expected great things from it, and I guess for some reason I don't expect great things from BKH, but hey, thought I'd do my part as an LTH street recon guy...

Thai Peppers was, well, awful IMHO - although I only got delivery from there, which isn't necessarily a good way to tell. I'm pretty psyched about the kebabs - maybe they'll deliver, too!

Mhays wrote:Thai Peppers was, well, awful IMHO - although I only got delivery from there, which isn't necessarily a good way to tell. I'm pretty psyched about the kebabs - maybe they'll deliver, too!

Had a buffet at Thai Peppers once, and it wasnt *that8 bad IMHO.

Saw the "Bombay Kabob House" sign a week ago, and went across the
street to explore further - but it said pretty much nothing about it. No
menu, and the place inside looked quite similar to Thai Peppers still (even
though closed). BTW does this qualify as Evanston? Or is it still actualy
Chicago?

c8w

c8w wrote:BTW does this qualify as Evanston? Or is it still actualy
Chicago?

The north side of Howard Street is Evanston (until McCormick), except east of Clark/Chicago, where Chicago extends north to Juneway Terrace, or perhaps somewhere into Calvalry Cemetery -- not sure where the dead are registered to vote!

That's where I live: North of Howard. I keep thinking that if only the realtors would start calling it NoHo, it would improve my property value substantially!

Joe,

thanks for the reconaissance - I plan to chek it ut when it opens - the name would seem to imply thats going more for a cabbie audience, which would make pretty excited - especially if it has similar hours

Grand opening banner hanging over the door; posters advertising lunch buffet in windows ($7.95 weekdays, $8.95 weekends)...

closed sign on the door this afternoon.

But it seems like this place will be open any day. Of course the question is if it will be any good!

It's now open, according to Judy's post in this other topic.

I thought Thai Peppers, which used to be at that location, used to turn out some pretty good Thai food. No, not the very best or most creative, but it was decent, and what they had going for them was outstanding value in their all-you-can-eat buffet, at both lunch and dinner. Their buffet always had a pretty decent penang, and about half the time it had a very good tom kha gai.

I hope Bombay Kabab House has a good value buffet. Most Indian places do, at least at lunchtime. (There are plenty of good lunch buffets on Devon as well as at Mt. Everest in downtown Evanston.)

EDIT: See my post below regarding their lunch buffet.

OK, I just had Mother's Day dinner with Sparky (the 'spouse is on shift) and it's, well, fine. Hard to follow the Indian Restaurant rules: it's got a full menu of vegetarian and a full meat menu and a seafood menu, and the name doesn't seem to be a clue because everything listed as "Bombay..." was a meat dish. Next time I'm going for vegetarian.

I went with the safe choice of the Tandoori sampler, which was nothing unusual - the tandoori chicken was OK, the lamb was pasty and awful, the lone shrimp was pretty good - but the chicken malai kabob was really succulent and good. I got the plain Paratha, again new to me (I love Naan so much I usually stop there) which was, well, OK, and Sparky's mango lassi was OK. I had iced tea, which made me laugh as it was more remeniscent of Georgia than Bombay (it was sweeter and milder than the lassi)

I did love that they have a kid's meal, consisting of the following choices: Chicken Nuggets with French Fries, Cheese Sticks with French Fries, Chicken Roll, Keema Roll, or Veg Roll. I ordered the Keema Roll for Sparky, largely because I didn't know what it was (though I guessed correctly; peas and spiced lamb) I was informed that they couldn't make the roll, but could put the same filling in a samosa, which we (meaning mostly I) happily ate.

Service was very attentive and lovely. It's still got the decor from being a diner, but dimmer...but all in all, a nice evening out, nice to have it close by - I agree with Judy, it's not a destination.

We had the lunch buffet at Bombay Kabab House today. The buffet is $7.95 weekdays, $8.95 weekends.

Some of the items were big hits, others were misses. The chicken curry was excellent - nice and moist, with a rich, balanced flavor, without being overpowered by the curry. Also excellent was the palak paneer (creamed spinach). The tandoori chicken was okay, but slightly dry. The naan (bread) was gummy and chewy, not very good. The onion pakoras were overbreaded (but in general, I don't think fried dishes stand up well on a steam table). For dessert, the kheer (rice pudding) was excellent also. There were other dishes, too, but these were the ones I tried.

Compared with the lunch buffets at Mt. Everest or Tiffin, I feel like this is another decent choice. There may be dishes you like more at one place or another; for example, I like the butter chicken and papadams at Mt. Everest (neither was on the buffet at Bombay Kabab), but the chicken curry and palak paneer are better at Bombay Kabab. (I like the kheer in both places.)

The decor has been remodeled since Thai Peppers, with newly-upholstered booths, etc. Not that different, not fancy at all, but a little bit nicer than it was before.

I'm not sure I would call any Indian restaurant a "destination"; at least not for their lunch buffet, anyway. But Bombay Kabab House is a decent neighborhood restaurant, and if you live in the neighborhood, it's nice to have another choice nearby.

Bombay Kabab House*
1901 W. Howard St.
Evanston IL 60201
847-475-4553

* Bombay Kabab House is the actual spelling of the restaurant's name on their awning and on their carry-out menu.