Evanston Lunch - Tuesday November 13 - Bombay Kabob House

Upon hearing no objection and fully understanding the potential wrath of teasing...

Let us have lunch in Evanston on
Tuesday November 13, 12:30 p.m. at
Bombay Kabob House
1901 W. Howard

Eh?

- Mike

ChgoMike wrote:Upon hearing no objection and fully understanding the potential wrath of teasing...

Let us have lunch in Evanston on
Tuesday November 12

Are you trying to make this teasing business TOO easy for us?

I'm assuming you meant the 13th?

Either way/day, count me in! Thanks, ChgoMike!

tarte tatin wrote:Are you trying to make this teasing business TOO easy for us?

I'm assuming you meant the 13th?

Ahem. The 13th, indeed. So edited.

Well, I'm glad somebody besides me does that I'm in as well. For reference

Will I be there? In the classic word of Jerome Lester Horwitz, "Sointeny."

Hello to all
I am new to Lthforum and have never attended one of your lunches.
I read the report of the Jamaican food outing sometime last month with great admiration and much salivating over the pictures of the food.
That being said, what is the protocol in joining you on one of your culinary outings? I am something of a food lover and always open to new experiences.

The protocol is very difficult and involved. To wit:

#1. Show up.

#2. There is no # 2

Hope to see you there.

It is nice, but not absolutely necessary, to post here and say you're coming.

I'm in. Thanks for organizing, ChgoMike.

=R=

For Evanston lunch on 11/13 I see:

tarte tatin
Mhays
nr706
foodbeast
ronnie_suburban
ChgoMike

There is room for plenty more hungry people at Bombay Kabab House...

HI,

I plan to attend.

Regards,

I'm in, too. See you there.

If theres room for one more, I'd like to come!

helen wrote:If theres room for one more, I'd like to come!

it's a buffet..plenty of room

put me down for 1

Although math is hard, I think that makes ten of us. Lovely. I'll call ahead and try to arrange appropriate seating. I'm sure there is room for many more...

ChgoMike wrote:Although math is hard, I think that makes ten of us. Lovely. I'll call ahead and try to arrange appropriate seating. I'm sure there is room for many more...

+2=12.

Thanks to Mike for organizing - it was yet another great event. The long table made conversation from one end to the other a bit of a challenge, but that's a minor quibble at best.

I thought the food was better than I expected (pretty much stndard Indian fare, maybe someone with more Indian expertise can identify the regions represented), and the variety on the buffet was pretty good, too. (FWIW, I had the buffet at Mt. Everest last week, and while Mt. Everest had some more distinctive offerings, the breadth of the foods at Bombay Kebab beat Mt. Everest by a bit.)

Alas, I don't think anyone got pix. (Edit: Apparently I was wrong - thanks for the pix, Mike!)

nr706 wrote:Alas, I don't think anyone got pix.

I think we came to the collective conclusion that buffet food -- which all kind of looks the same to begin with -- is not very photogenic.

Foodwise, I thought there were both some hits and misses. Overall, I enjoyed the non-meat dishes more than the meats. The paneer was tasty, as was the chana masala. The tandoori chicken was flavorful but it was pretty dry. The chicken curry was pretty bland. I'd like to go back sometime and order a few dishes off the menu.

Of course, the company was the highlight of the lunch. Even though it goes without saying, I'll say it . It was great seeing everyone and getting to chat for a bit.

Thanks again, ChgoMike, for putting this together.

=R=

Thanks Mike! Always fun to get a large group together for lunch, maybe next time I'll sit so I get to talk to Tom and Helen

I stand by my assessment that Bombay Kabob is fine, but not a destination - though IIRC the grilled meats fare better when ordered a la carte. I think the dish I liked best was the chana masala and the accompanying rice with crunchy whole spices.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Foodwise, I thought there were both some hits and misses. Overall, I enjoyed the non-meat dishes more than the meats. The paneer was tasty, as was the chana masala. The tandoori chicken was flavorful but it was pretty dry. The chicken curry was pretty bland.

I agree that there were hits and misses. I also agree that the tandoori chicken was pretty dry. I liked the chicken curry, though. (I believe this is the same dish served as "butter chicken" at Mount Everest in downtown Evanston.) I thought the papadams served at the table were a bit dry - I mean, I know it's normally a dry cracker bread, but these were like paper rather than like potato chips. The naan on the buffet was rather chewy. The kheer (rice pudding) was very good, and so were the donut holes in syrup, whatever they're called. The samosas which we ordered (cooked to order) were excellent.

Overall, I think the buffet was decent, and that the flaws are more likely a product of buffet steam tables and I bet the same dishes made to order would be better.

Lovely seeing everyone today - I'm glad there was a nice turnout. I concur with what everyone else said, re the food. It was fine - just fine. No complaints but no praises. The owners are very nice, though, and did seem concerned that we were all happy and well attended.

If I tried a little harder, I could have done a better job of styling my food for good photos. But it honestly wasn't my priority today. I mostly wanted to eat and chat with everyone else. For what it's worth, though...







Maybe next month we can eat prettier food.

- Mike

Yeah, it was pretty much a brown lunch. Not bad, but no item said I had to come back. And where are... the kebobs?

But I enjoyed dropping in on an Evanston lunch on a whim and was glad to see some LTHers again, and meet others. Thanks all!

Mike G wrote:And where are... the kebobs?

Hadn't occurred to me ... but an excellent point.

Mike G wrote:And where are... the kebobs?

They spell it "kababs", as in "Bombay Kabab House".

I'm wondering, was this place busy during lunch? I've gone maybe four times for dinner over the last six months, and everything time I go, the place is DEAD.

I hope this place doesn't tank (like every other place that's been in that spot during the last few years)...

BTW, sorry to bump this thread, but I figured it'd be better to add to this than start yet another thread.

Scotty2Hotty wrote:I'm wondering, was this place busy during lunch? I've gone maybe four times for dinner over the last six months, and everything time I go, the place is DEAD.

I've been there several times for lunch (including the event in this topic), and each time, there have been a few other tables occupied (I'm guessing 2-4 other tables).