Baba Palace - Indo-Paki Restaurant - Early Breakfast

Baba Palace - Indo-Paki Restaurant - Early Breakfast

How can you not love a place whose carryout menu states:

"Most Freshly Food Prepare Every Day In The Down Town Chicago With Affordable Prices"

In my wee series of dead early breakfasts, this late owl occasionally shifts gears to live life on the early side. Today's destination was the venerable Baba Palace, where fine Pakistani and Indian cuisine is available 24 hours a day to a clientele heavy in taxi drivers. On this occasion a close friend, Psychchef and Rich4, which allowed us to try everything available at 5:30 AM, joined me.

Psychchef took the lead inquiring with the counterman about breakfast options. There was a second person standing to our side, who may or may not be an employee, who helped convey to the counterman our wishes. After learning there wasn't a breakfast menu and the regular menu wasn't available until 8 AM, there was a little give and take to try to peck out what was available to eat. Psychchef initiated the discussion by inquiring about eggs. They affirmed there were eggs available; did we want bread or rice? I inquired was there anything else? Chicken. Ok, good I'll have chicken, when the linguistic assistant obtained a sample from the kitchen for our approval. Did I want rice or bread? Somewhere in this conversation, chicken and spinach was also offered as a separate dish with the requisite bread or rice, which we took. Psychchef inquired if any dall (pureed lentils) was available. He also asked for a green sauce and was suggested a yogurt instead. I asked for tea, where the counterman briskly informed would come later as if it broke some understood cultural boundary to have it before or during your meal. Not too excited about water, I took a Pepsi and we sat down to watch Al-Jazeera Television.

Arriving first dish were two saffron-yellow chicken kebabs on a very large bed of basmati rice. Each of us had half a kebab each with a generous amount of rice. I believe this is Chicken Boti or some variant thereof, which is boneless chicken marinated in yogurt and spices.

Next we received Chicken Palak, which is chicken cooked in spinach and ginger. According to their menu, Chicken Palak is available on Tuesdays, so we were likely eating leftovers. If only all the leftovers in my life tasted so darn good. This came with freshly baked nan, which are large freshly baked ovals of flat bread.

Lastly, our eggs came cooked in a flat, pancake style, but not quite an omelet. In the eggs, were finely chopped chilies, which certainly had a kick. We received another flat bread, I don't know if it was paratha or chapatti. This flat bread was a dark yellow and very flat with almost no leavening. It suggested maybe it wasn't all wheat, with maybe a legume based flour mixed in. Please note this is just guestimating on my part. From the oily texture and slight char marks, this was certainly cooked on a griddle. This bread wrapped around the eggs was a pleasant alternative to breakfast food normally encountered.

We had two side dishes of dal (pureed lentils) and black pepper flecked yogurt to dip our breads in. While we ate, I recollected for my friends Vital Information's opinion from long ago suggesting Baba's Palace had the best fish tacos in Chicago. Rich4 looked startled commenting he has never seen fish tacos on the menu on his regular visits. However, if you consider using the Friday-only fish fry, made with graham flour and spices, and wrap it in nan, then you have the beginnings of a fine fish taco.

At the conclusion of our meal, we each paid $8 each, which included a generous tip. As we were walking out, the counterman beckoned Psychchef over to remind him we did not have our tea. Nobody was particularly interested and ready to go, so we now enjoy a credit for two teas at Baba's Palace.

Would we hit the road for another dead early breakfast at this location? Absolutely. Though we will not likely visit soon as we have other early morning destinations to explore.

Best regards,
Cathy2

Baba Palace
334 West Chicago Avenue (at Orleans)
Chicago, IL 60610
Tel: 312/867-7777
website: Baba Palace

Each new episiode just makes me so envious

[

quote="Cathy2"]Baba Palace – Indo-Paki Restaurant – Early Breakfast


Psychchef took the lead inquiring with the counterman about breakfast options. There was a second person standing to our side, who may or may not be an employee, who helped convey to the counterman our wishes. After learning there wasn’t a breakfast menu and the regular menu wasn’t available until 8 AM, there was a little give and take to try to peck out what was available to eat. Psychchef initiated the discussion by inquiring about eggs. They affirmed there were eggs available; did we want bread or

No breakfast at 5:30 am? Terrible. Most cabbies are off by that time, and there
should be something available. (BTW, a few fine cabbie joints are around
on Devon, arent you a North-Sider? They'd be closer to you, anyway). Most
of the Devon-cabbie-joints will have *something* by 5:30 am, even if it isnt
as much of a menu as for dinner. Sometimes a kheema or something. But
usually eggs are always available as you found - and are a common enough
choice for breakfast.

rice? I inquired was there anything else? Chicken. Ok, good I’ll have chicken, when the linguistic assistant obtained a sample from the kitchen for our approval. Did I want rice or bread? Somewhere in this conversation, chicken and spinach was also offered as a separate dish with the requisite bread or rice, which we took. Psychchef inquired if any dall (pureed lentils) was available. He also asked for a green sauce and was suggested a yogurt instead. I asked for tea, where the counterman briskly informed

Yes. Green sauce (chutney) isnt often offered with daal or rice - much more
likely with South-Indian (oftem mostly vegetarian) food. A staple with South
Indian breakfasts (which are far more varied than at Baba's or any other
cabbie joint - but I dont think any South Indian *breakfast* places exist in
Chicago). South Indian places will do idlis, dosas, vada's etc with the chutney
for breakfast, along with "South Indian coffee". Most of these items you can
find at Mysore Woodlands or Udipi etc - except none of them are open for
breakfast, sadly.

would come later as if it broke some understood cultural boundary to have it before or during your meal. Not too excited about water, I took a Pepsi and we sat down to watch Al-Jazeera Television.

Of course it did - blasphemy! Tea during a meal! Thats just wrong (what do you
think, these are Chinese folk with their mild green concoction that they quite
falsely claim is "tea" as well? Of course not! This is strong brown tea, with half
a container of sugar added per cup, just to make sure you can stay bouncing
off the walls thru the night). Also, BTW, are you sure it was Al-Jazeera TV?
Usually they're much more likely to have Indian/Pakistani TV on rather than
Al-Jazeera (Not difficult to identify - did you hear glum politics and anti-US
sentiment from middle-aged men in moustaches, or did you get to watch nubile
young women dancing in sheer saris under waterfalls?)

Next we received Chicken Palak, which is chicken cooked in spinach and ginger. According to their menu, Chicken Palak is available on Tuesdays, so we were likely eating leftovers. If only all the leftovers in my life tasted so darn good. This came with freshly baked nan, which are large freshly baked ovals of flat bread.

Yes, Iam sure it was - food is basically prepared for about midnight or so,
when the cabbies start coming off duty, or take breaks etc. Or else it was
prepared for much earlier on Tuesday (maybe 6-7pm, when some cabbies
may eat before going on duty). As for good - there are some people who
claim that Indian food (at least some items in Indian food) gets better with
time - sort of all soaks in and melds together the longer it has to sit around,
and the flavours improve.

Lastly, our eggs came cooked in a flat, pancake style, but not quite an omelet. In the eggs, were finely chopped chilies, which certainly had a kick. We received another flat bread, I don’t know if it was paratha or chapatti. This flat bread was a dark yellow and very flat with almost no leavening. It suggested maybe it wasn’t all wheat, with maybe a legume based flour mixed in. Please note this is just guestimating on my part. From the oily texture and slight char marks, this was certainly cooked on a griddle. This bread wrapped around the eggs was a pleasant alternative to breakfast food normally encountered.

Probably just a roti. As the eggs were *not* omlettes? They must have been -
just not as good (ie fluffy) as a "real" breakfast place would have, maybe?
Indian omlettes are sort of a little different in that sense, with different
things added in - the finely chopped chilies are common, and one example.
(From a book I read a short time ago, there was one scene of a father making
an omlette for his daughter at home - just a normal scene. "..chops up
onions zig-zag on the kitchen counter, smashes are few eggs into a
tope, fishing out as much egg-shell as he can from it.. some salt, some
pepper, some dhania-jeera powder, some lal mirchi powder, tilt the tope
at an angle and beat it all up with a spoon".) Quite usual, that.

And what you probably ate was "anda-roti", or "anda-paratha". That is,
above "omlette" with a fresh roti or paratha wrapped around it (often
actually 2 such rotis/parathas wrapped around it). Quite enjoy them,
myself (though I'll often put cheese in mine too, melted cheese rarely
goes awry in anything).

We had two side dishes of dal (pureed lentils) and black pepper flecked yogurt to dip our breads in. While we ate, I recollected for my friends Vital Information’s opinion from long ago suggesting Baba’s Palace had the best fish tacos in Chicago. Rich4 looked startled commenting he has never seen fish tacos on the menu on his regular visits. However, if you consider using the Friday-only fish fry, made with graham flour and spices, and wrap it in nan, then you have the beginnings of a fine fish taco.

Probably. However its rarely ever eaten that way (unlike the egg-roti mentioned
above). Most of the time you'd get like a paratha or roti, and break off a pieces,
use it to break off a piece off the fish, and eat em in a single mouthful, that
sort of thing. Not dissimilar of course - but that way you can also use the
roti to soak up some of the dryish spice stuff thats at the bottom of the
fish-plate).

At the conclusion of our meal, we each paid $8 each, which included a generous tip. As we were walking out, the counterman beckoned Psychchef over to remind him we did not have our tea. Nobody was particularly interested and ready to go, so we now enjoy a credit for two teas at Baba’s Palace.

One can of course take the tea to go, in a plastic cup - but this isnt really
the weather for it. Best times are in the winter - you finish eating, hang out
a little bit, then get a steaming cup of tea to go. You go outside, switch your
car on and wait for it to heat up - while you stand outside huddling in the
cold, with the hot cup to warm you. When you finish you get inot the car
and drive away (and if youre a real Indian, you chuck the plastic cup
out into the street before you drive off

c8w

Would we hit the road for another dead early breakfast at this location? Absolutely. Though we will not likely visit soon as we have other early morning destinations to explore.

Best regards,
Cathy2

Baba Palace
334 West Chicago Avenue (at Orleans)
Chicago, IL 60610
Tel: 312/867-7777

Hi,

No breakfast at 5:30 am? Terrible.

It was Psychchef's understanding from an earlier visit the normal menu is suspended from 4 AM until 8 AM. What food is available is rather skeletal from their regular enterprise. I don't particularly like classic breakfast food, I can be very content with last night's leftovers. So chicken over eggs was a very easy decision for me.

Devon Avenue is definitely on the list of places to try for these early breakfasts. I recall there is a kebab house there which opens at 5 PM and closes at 5 AM. I cannot wait to go there for breakfast at 4 AM sometime. Especially as I never do approach anything like a post-bar feeding frenzy.

Also, BTW, are you sure it was Al-Jazeera TV? Usually they're much more likely to have Indian/Pakistani TV on rather than Al-Jazeera (Not difficult to identify - did you hear glum politics and anti-US sentiment from middle-aged men in moustaches, or did you get to watch nubile young women dancing in sheer saris under waterfalls?)

In retrospect, you are correct it was not likely Al-Jazeera TV. It must have been Indian/Pakistani TV. No dancing in saris or anything approaching idle amusement. It was a news program entirely in a different language. Admittedly, I was really focusing on the people I was pleased wanted to join me. From a few glances at the monitor, I really could not evaluate the political slant of the program.

As for good - there are some people who claim that Indian food (at least some items in Indian food) gets better with time - sort of all soaks in and melds together the longer it has to sit around, and the flavours improve.

My sister's husband is Indian who prepares large quantities of food on weekends to last the week. He confirms your opinion the various dishes taste progressively better as the week advances.

As the eggs were *not* omlettes? They must have been - just not as good (ie fluffy) as a "real" breakfast place would have, maybe?

I said they were not omlettes because they were not folded over with a filling inside like we expect. When I make an omlette for myself, it is usually 1 egg, yes it is possible, because I actually don't really like the 3-4 egg fluffy things often served up.

The chilies and spices incorporated into the eggs before frying was really more my taste. If I compare these eggs today to anything, they are closer to Korean seafood pancakes ... I know it is a stretch but it is a visual comparable.

Most of the time you'd get like a paratha or roti, and break off a pieces, use it to break off a piece off the fish, and eat em in a single mouthful, that sort of thing. Not dissimilar of course - but that way you can also use the roti to soak up some of the dryish spice stuff thats at the bottom of the fish-plate).

I will happily eat it as you suggest as well.

Next time I will pace myself better to drink the strong tea at the meal's conclusion. My Irish Grandparents favored tea so strong it approached mud. They also added plenty of sugar, then milk to smooth the bitter edges. Is adding milk to Baba Palace tea an acceptable practice?

Thank you for your comments. You certainly put some time in and I appreciated the education.

Best regards,
Cathy2

Here is the website for the early breakfast this week at Baba Palace:

www.babapalace.com

Cathy,

The tea (last time I went to Baba's) comes straight out of the big brewing pot with milk already in it. It's pretty bitter (I'd call it "stewed"), but there are sugar containers around to sweeten it up.

and c8w, thanks for the link. That is a SLICK website for a place with such *ahem* charm

vegmojo

That is a SLICK website for a place with such *ahem* charm

Hi,

Actually, you have Pschchef to thank for the link. It is a shockingly slick website which actually makes the place look better than it is.

I cannot wait go back.

Regards,

Wrote a detailed response to this yesterday, but the computer ate it Another
attempt (this time shorter, hopefully)...


[

quote="Cathy2"]Hi,

No breakfast at 5:30 am? Terrible.

It was Psychchef's understanding from an earlier visit the normal menu is suspended from 4 AM until 8 AM. What food is available is rather skeletal from their regular enterprise. I don't particularly like classic breakfast food, I can be very content with last night's leftovers. So chicken over eggs was a very easy decision for me.

Was being somewhat facetious, actually Most of these kinds of places have
little other than leftovers at this time. A couple do somewhat breakasty dishes,
but not much. I mean, omlette-paratha is a breakfast thing, but you can ask
them to make it for you at night too I believe (Ive done it before). Kheema might
be a slightly breakfasty dish in places, as is nehari - but both are more dinner
type items in Chicago. There are few real Indian breakfast spots in Chicago,
none, really, I think.

The best value of Indian breakfast in Chiicago (maybe best value of anything
in Chicago) might be Tahoora. Available only on weekends, Saturday and
Sunday, till about 1pm IIRC. The "Halwa Puri breakfast" they call it - 3 huge
puris (sort of like chapatis, but deep fried), sweet halwa, Indian version of
aloo (potatoes, spiced), and chole (garbanzo beans, also spiced). The
whole thing available for a princely 3 bucks. I believe King Sweets does a
decent version of this breakfast too, but have seen no reason to try anything
other than Tahoora's (they might also be only weekend). I think Khan BBQ,
mentioned a couple days ago, might also do this and maybe on weekdays
too - but I think Khan BBQ is one of those spots that opens after 11am, so
isnt really a pure breakfast place either. The fly in the ointment is that
its an all-veggie breakfast of course - but even as committed a vegetable
hater as me has had a few of these breakfasts without much more than
a token complaint (they do deep-fry the puris, so at least it doesnt have
the double-knock of being "healthy").

A very fine breakfast in India would be the South Indian breakfast - idlis,
dosas (preferably the paper dosa for me), vadas, upma, chutney (the
green sauce) and sambar. That sort of thing. All items available in Indian
restaurants in Chicago, in pretty good versions at Udipi Palace and
Mysore Woodlands etc - but again, none sadly available *for breakfast*.
Again, an all-veggie breakfast - but very tolerable if one does it every
few weeks to make sure not too many vegetables get into the
bloodstream and do dangerous things to the arteries.

And one of the finest breakfasts in the world is the Nalli-Nehari and Kheema
breakfast - but again not really available (or not in anything approaching a
"good version") in Chicago, sadly. My best version of this was, by far, in
somewhat seedy joints in Bombay, India - read a restaurant review on the
internet, made it a point to go there while in Bombay, and ended up going
there repeatedly. For a place youve never been to Iam sure (and almost none
will ever end up at)... you can check the following review, if you wish
http://mumbainet.com/eatinout/noor.htm

Devon Avenue is definitely on the list of places to try for these early breakfasts. I recall there is a kebab house there which opens at 5 PM and closes at 5 AM. I cannot wait to go there for breakfast at 4 AM sometime. Especially as I never do approach anything like a post-bar feeding frenzy.

Not sure which Kabab House you mean - a few restaurants do keep those
hours, but they are Baba's type places (Delhi Durbar, on California just
off Devon, comes to mind, I think theyre a 5am spot). OTOH, there are cabbie
joints like Daata Durbar and Hyderabad House, which are open even
later - at least till 8/9am I think (though maybe that is only sometimes). A spot
like Gharib Nawaz is open 24 hours IIRC. All the above on Devon, east of
Western. I think Hyderabad House might have the best food (though I used
to go to Daata more often, and it was very good a while ago before IMHO
deteriorating a little).

BTW, be careful with times for any of these - they are all open usually till
10am or later even, maybe even all day, but its all variable. For example,
during the month of Ramzan, most of their clientele is supposed to fast
from daybreak until sunset - and so *none* of these restaurants is open
much. Even the places that are usually 24-hours - they *all* close by 6am
after the start of the fast, and none opened that month till well after 6pm
in the evening (to prepare for the 7-ish breaking of the fast). But, the
other 11 months of the year, a place like Hyderabad House will often
be open nearly 24 hours even though its a cabbie joint - definitely open
for lunch and breakfast.

As for good - there are some people who claim that Indian food (at least some items in Indian food) gets better with time - sort of all soaks in and melds together the longer it has to sit around, and the flavours improve.

My sister's husband is Indian who prepares large quantities of food on weekends to last the week. He confirms your opinion the various dishes taste progressively better as the week advances.

Actually, a Goanese dish like Sorpotel (which I dont think any Indian restaurant
in Chicagoland carries) is even more extreme. Friend is fro mthe area, his
family used to make a great version in India according to him - and he claims
it would be cooked, and go straight into the refrigerator! He says they always
ate it for the first time about 3 days later - as it was supposed to improve
greatly in the meantime!

As the eggs were *not* omlettes? They must have been - just not as good (ie fluffy) as a "real" breakfast place would have, maybe?

I said they were not omlettes because they were not folded over with a filling inside like we expect. When I make an omlette for myself, it is usually 1 egg, yes it is possible, because I actually don't really like the 3-4 egg fluffy things often served up.

The chilies and spices incorporated into the eggs before frying was really more my taste. If I compare these eggs today to anything, they are closer to Korean seafood pancakes ... I know it is a stretch but it is a visual comparable.

Havent had the Korean seafood pancakes - are they egg-based too?

As for the omlettes, its strange. I sometimes make omlettes at home myself,
always have. And I put turkey and cheese in em too sometimes. But I didnt
really think of it until now - I dont just make the omlette, fold it over, and
then add those as "filling" (though most people I know do so). Personally,
I beat the eggs (never 1, always more than that), toss it into the skillet,
then break the smoked-turkey-slice and cheese-slice inti little bits and
toss em onto the egg which is beginning to cook (also often toss in a little
bit of cilantro). When my omlette comes out, its a "filled" omlette, but not
filled and folded over the way you might be thinking I suppose. And I
often dont fold it at all - just eat it spread out as it is (sometimes by
breaking off pieces of chapati, and using it to scoop up bits of the
omlette - or sometimes just using pieces of sliced bread to do the
same. Or maybe toss a slice of the omlette onto the bread as a sort of
sandwich. But, again didnt really think of it much until you mentioned
the above, I almost never fold it before doing any of the above - dont
even fold it i Iam eating it "straight" with a fork, not sure why

Next time I will pace myself better to drink the strong tea at the meal's conclusion. My Irish Grandparents favored tea so strong it approached mud. They also added plenty of sugar, then milk to smooth the bitter edges. Is adding milk to Baba Palace tea an acceptable practice?

This has already been answered now (it wasnt when I first wrote yesterday,
before the computer ate it, dang it). Anyway. You wont even find milk to
put in it at Baba's - its sort of steamed with the milk in it, and will come
to you in a cup sort of brown-looking with the milk already included. All you
have to do is decide how much sugar you want to put in it - only a handful
of teaspoons, or half the container. (If you make it at home, you always
put milk in it, unless youre one of these black-tea heretics - you decide how
"strong" you want it by varying the amount of milk. But often in a group the
tea will be made with milk already, and you can vary it just a little bit after
starting with a milk-included base). At Baba's, just decide on the quantity
of sugar you need - a little to remove the bitterness, or a lot to make it
into a hot almost-milkshake.

As for how strong - saw the mnovie Hidalgo a couple of days ago. The Omar
Sharif character (the Arab Sheikh) offered the Viggo Mortensen character
a cup of coffee - and said "most find this very potent". Viggo promptly
downed it in a gulp, and responded "Back home, we toss a horshoe into
the pot. If it stands erect, the coffee's ready". Who are we to argue with
the intelligence of King Aragorn?

c8w

super bump. i love this place... its so "real." does anyone know if a place like Baba Palace can be found on Devon (Open 24 hours, decent portions, good prices)???

MBK wrote:super bump. i love this place... its so "real." does anyone know if a place like Baba Palace can be found on Devon (Open 24 hours, decent portions, good prices)???

Baba Palace is a cabbie joint... and several can be found on the northside, on
Devon (not exactly the same, but really quite similar, with a quite similar
clientele). These would include Hyderabad House and Daata Durbar - very
close to each other, on Devon, a couple blocks east of Western; Ghareeb
Nawaz, a few blocks further east of Western (also on Devon); Delhi Durbar
(on California, a half block north of Devon). Even a place like Shan (on
Devon, several blocks further east of Ghareeb Nawaz) would qualify.
Not all 24-hours - I think Hyderabad House and Daata usually are, and
GN might be too. DD is, I believe, 5pm to 5am or some such.

Note, however, that *none* of these places are very much like Baba Palace
*at the moment* (Baba Palace isnt like Baba Palace at the moment This
is because we're currently in the month of Ramadan, and so most of the
clientele of these places isnt eating from sun-up to sun-down, and these
places are semi-closed during those hours. But, for 11 months of the
year, the places named above are pretty close to what Baba Palace is
like.

c8w

ahhhhhh thanks for the info!!! i may still hit these places up for a late night meal... i am a late eater somtimes; thanks again!

You may want to explore early morning breakfasts on Devon during the month of Ramadan. Many items are made specifically for early morning consumption during this month. Of course, they would need to be consumed before sunrise if you are fasting.

Jyoti

HI,

That is a fantastic idea! Do you know more about this? Anyone?

I was at a restaurant last night where the people around were breaking fast.

Regards,

Hi Cathy,

I am very familiar with foods served during Ramadan, but not with what reataurants on Devon may be serving. I will call a few tomorrow and get some specifics. Could be a fun early morning outing.

Jyoti

i may consider doing this...

Hi,

I called Baba's Palace. They advised sahur begins at 4 AM finishing around 5 AM with special foods.

Regards,

In case people didn't catch it in the weekly media digest, this week's TOC has an article from MST about kataifi, one of the seasonal foods popular for breaking the fast.