Indo/Chinese and South Indian Non-veg in Chicagoland

Re: the recent Priya Restaurant post, where can you get good Indian-Chinese or South Indian non-veg (fish curries, nadan curry, etc...) in Chicago? I know there's an abundance of South Indian vegetarian, but I haven't come across many places that serve any good non-veg.

There is none.
Keralites can only get their fix of South Indian Fish Curry, Beef Fry,Cutlets,etc from catering restaurants (see last weeks Chicago Reader article).

For a City as BIG as Chicago, we definitely have some "holes" in our Ethnic dining, represented in much smaller Markets-

1) Burmese
2) Cambodian
3) Indo-Chinese
4) Yemenite
5) Non-Vegetarian South Indian
6) Tamil, or Sri Lankan
7) Panamanian

are what come to mind.
Sorry about getting off topic.

Doesn't Usmania or someone else have an indo-chinese place on Devon??? I am like 99% sure.

Help?

Yes, Usmania Chinese is right across the street from Usmania proper. And it's very good. I almost never crave Chinese food, but their orange chicken and Manchurian (curry) chicken are destination-worthy.

Would Udupi Palace qualify as a South Indian restaurant? They advertise as one. They have locations on Devon Ave. and on Schaumburg Rd.

jlawrence01 wrote:Would Udupi Palace qualify as a South Indian restaurant? They advertise as one. They have locations on Devon Ave. and on Schaumburg Rd.

This would qualify as one of these:

vamarishnu wrote:I know there's an abundance of South Indian vegetarian...

how about a more modest request: any good chicken 65 in Chicago?

vamarishnu wrote:Re: the recent Priya Restaurant post, where can you get good Indian-Chinese or South Indian non-veg (fish curries, nadan curry, etc...) in Chicago? I know there's an abundance of South Indian vegetarian, but I haven't come across many places that serve any good non-veg.

There arent many such restaurants, and those that exist may not always be very good. But there *are* some restaurants scattered around that attempt it- you oughta try some of them.

*Good* Indian-Chinese.. probably doesnt exist in Chicago I know Usmaniya-Chinese was mentioned.. maybe the odd dish is ok, but the couple times I tried it, it really was quite ordinary to poor (and I *really* like the real Usmaniya across the street). It really serves the purpose, IMHO, if you want Indian-Chinese-that-is-also-halal, sort of.

The best Indian-Chinese in Chicagoland was always considered to be "Hot Wok" in Schaumburg. It is not as good as it used to be, IMHO, but its probably still reasonable Indian-Chinese in general.

The best Indian-Chinese currently might be a mile or so down the street, at "Bamboo Garden" in Hoffman Estates (both these restaurants are on Golf Road). Its a little more expensive than Hot Wok (and it isnt great either), but at least a couple of Shrimp entrees were pretty good the last time I tried it, better than Hot Wok's had been.

As for non-vegetarian South-Indian food... not many restaurants catering to that demographic either. The best may still be "Sizzle India", whose non-veg side of the menu has some pretty good Andhra-style dishes, especially the Chicken-65 type. There is also Manpasand in Arlington Heights (also on Golf Road), which has some Andhra items on their menu (of which Ive only tried a couple, so cant say much). Priya, mentioned earlier.. Ive heard very good things about, but never made it to.

*The* best non-vegetarian South-Indian food is, IMHO, quite clearly the Keralan stuff available at Malabar Catering in Glenview. The Reader might like their "buffalo fry" or whatever.. but the higher-fat Beef Fry and Pork Fry and far better, stunningly good. And there isnt any messing around or dumbing down of spice-levels either. (The biryanis etc that the Reader talked about, however, I personally dont care much for - Id rather stick to the Keralan specialities at this place). They also have some kingfish-curries etc, which are pretty good. You have to call them to find out whats available - its a catering operation, different food available on different days (best variety on holidays and weekends, but there is something different available everyday).

If youre looking just for things like Chicken 65.. you might almost be better off trying one of the several "Hyderabadi" restaurants, which on occasion carry some of that stuff. Even "cabbie joints" like Daada Durbar and Hyderabad House have a pretty decent Chicken-65 (or similar) dishes one or two days of the week (HH's might be Saturday for Chicken 65 IIRC). Or, if youre in the NW burbs, even the not-so-great Pepper-n-Salt in Schaumburg might have Chicken 65 on the menu.

c8w

c8w wrote:

vamarishnu wrote:R
As for non-vegetarian South-Indian food... not many restaurants catering to that demographic either. The best may still be "Sizzle India", whose non-veg side of the menu has some pretty good Andhra-style dishes, especially the Chicken-65 type. There is also Manpasand in Arlington Heights (also on Golf Road), which has some Andhra items on their menu (of which Ive only tried a couple, so cant say much). Priya, mentioned earlier.. Ive heard very good things about, but never made it to.

Sizzzle India closed last year. The last time i drove by the Schaumburg location, the sign was down.

i'd have to second the sugestion of malabar as the option for non-veg s. indian food (assuming of course you are not talking about hyderabadi food). I know they've been talking about the glenview location for quite some time, hopefully it gets off the ground well. the only caveat is (or at east was on montrose) is that if you want to be able to pick out from the menu, you've got to order for 10, you can pick up extra of what they've made up for the week's catering affairs usually on fridays and saturdays in the shop.

I've gotten food from the new Malabar location several times and there was no discussion of having to order for 10. The selection of items is best on the weekend. The prices are amazingly low. I just stop by and get stuff. It's not like Burt's!

Marija wrote:I've gotten food from the new Malabar location several times and there was no discussion of having to order for 10. The selection of items is best on the weekend. The prices are amazingly low. I just stop by and get stuff. It's not like Burt's!

fantastic, btw, have they added any new items to the menu in the new location? Now that i don't have to order for 10, I'm definitely getting up there, and there are a few things i've always wanted to try out but somehow didn't fit in our catering orders and were never around when i stopped by - a shrimp dish for example I saw them cooking up one day looked great.

Marija - what are the hours like in the new spot?

I think they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and open at 11 or so the other days. Call before you go. I never went to the original location so I don't know if the selection has changed. I don't think we've had shrimp though we did have fish. Weekends are best for variety.

zim wrote:

Marija wrote:I've gotten food from the new Malabar location several times and there was no discussion of having to order for 10. The selection of items is best on the weekend. The prices are amazingly low. I just stop by and get stuff. It's not like Burt's!

fantastic, btw, have they added any new items to the menu in the new location? Now that i don't have to order for 10, I'm definitely getting up there, and there are a few things i've always wanted to try out but somehow didn't fit in our catering orders and were never around when i stopped by - a shrimp dish for example I saw them cooking up one day looked great.
Marija - what are the hours like in the new spot?

I too am a regular at Malabar's, or at least have been at the Glenview location - pick up from there very often. The hours.. its best to call, I find, they are usually closed on Mondays at least, but I *have* seen them open even on Tuesdays. Theyre open by 11ish, definitely open in the afternoons and evenings, usually open till about 8pm.

Second - I think you and marija sort of talked at cross-purposes above.. you *dont* have to order for 10 people... but if you dont, you cant order "off the menu" They have a handful of items prepared every day, those are your options, pretty much. The menu is *very* extensive - I have a copy of it somewhere, its loaded, massive number of items.. but those are what *can* be ordered (in quantity only). The 4-5 items you get everyday (and more on weekends) depend sort of on whats getting special-ordered in large quantities I think.

I usually call and find out what they have, before stopping by... but they usually will have something good regardless. Almost always will have avial and thoran (neither of which Iam big on, but still). Will usually have Beef-Fry (which is very good), will sometimes have Pork-Fry (which is quite awesome). Often have chicken-fry (which is the weakest of the three IMHO). Some biryanis often enough (not my style particularly, Iam a Hyderabadi-or-Bombay-style-biryani-guy, but YMMV). Often have kingfish - the shrimp is not quite as common.

The prices are...variable Generally lowish, really - a lot of food for the price. Have had the Beef or Pork Fry for about 8 bucks, quite a lot of food...OTOH, its variable (a couple of times the same quantity was purchased for 6 bucks, which was a quite ridiculously good deal; OTOH a couple of times the same quantity was also purchased for 10 bucks, not nearly as good But not much is over a tenner I dont think, and it really is a good quantity of good food for the money (on the rare occasion its for 6 bucks, it may be the best deal for good food in Big Ten Country, including Pennsylvania).

BTW, zim, its really quite convenient to get to - probably more so than the old location. Shoot down Golf Road, hang a right on Greenwood IIRC, its less than a mile north of Golf Road (ie its sort of almost in Niles/Morton Grove, not way north or west as one might think). Good menu on weekends or any holidays - very good near Easter, Christmas etc. (Oh and, if youre in that area on Golf Road, you can go another quarter mile and get to "India Food and Video" in the stripmall, where you can pick up dhoklas made fresh everyday for about 2 bucks, and a pretty damn reasonable biryani for 5 or 6).

c8w