Diora - Another Uzbecki Restaurant in Buffalo Grove

My kids took us to Diora a few weeks ago. This was our second exposure to Uzbeki food having visited Chaihanna once a long time ago.

Diora is located in a strip mall in Buffalo Grove at the southwest corner of Deerfield and Weiland in the old Mongolian House space. It is nicely decorated and comfortable and appeared to have a space for live entertainment. We went on a Thursday night and for most of the time were the only group there. The owner waited on us because he had let the wait staff go home due to the slow night. He was very friendly and gave us a lot of information about the food as well as some recommendations about what to order.

He started us off with a free loaf of their national bread which was a small round loaf of chewy delight. We ordered soups all of which were exceptionally good and quite flavorful. Mine was Mashkhorda, a pea soup that was very rich and had a variety of vegetables in an almost pureed texture.

Our entrees, which I am describing from the menu, included: Pilaf Bayram, “traditionally made rice for holydays with baby lamb, raisins, carrots peas and spices” which everyone but me liked. Qovurma Lagman, “home made pasta fried with lamb and tomatoes and special herbal spices” that was very tasty with very fresh pasta and a thick sauce. Crispy Chicken Tabaka, “young juicy chicken fried on hot black stones, served with tomato herbal sauce” that was very moist with crispy skin and a nicely flavored light sauce. For dessert we had Chak-Chack, “fried dough strips dipped in honey.”

Overall, the four of us enjoyed the meal, particularly the soups which really were fresh and very flavorful. As far as the entrees were concerned the chicken was a hit, but we found the lamb dishes to be a bit light on the lamb, which in some cases was also very fatty. Although everything was delicately and complexly spiced the issue with the lamb took a lot away from our enjoyment. Missing were the pickled vegetables we remembered from Chaihanna.

I think we will return and try some of the other non-lamb dishes. However, I would be interested in hearing from some experienced Uzbecki food folks who have been there and Chaihanna since we are not knowledgeable enough about Uzbeki food to be able to compare the two restaurants.

Thanks for the report, saluki68. I've been to Chaihanna a number of times, but it's always fun trying a new version of any cuisine and making comparisons. Your descriptions make me want to visit soon.

My own write-up on Diora seems to have gotten lost in the discussion on the "other" thread, so I'm going to put it here, where it seems to be more appropriate anyway.

My hubby and I live in Buffalo Grove, just a few blocks from Diora. We were out for a walk one evening in mid-March, on our way to eat at another restaurant in the same strip mall. As we passed Diora, we poked our heads in to see if there was a copy of the menu we could look at for future reference. We met the owner and spent a bit of time talking with him. Believe me, this place is ALL about the lamb. The owner told us he personally goes to a farm in southern Wisconsin to pick up the meat and that it is raised organically. We looked over the menu and my husband was very intrigued, but I really had a taste for some sushi and sake, so we stuck to the original plan to go to the other restaurant. But, Diora's owner did give us a $20 coupon as an incentive to try his place another time.

I personally was never a big fan of lamb -- and after just a glance at the menu you'd have to be in some sort of a coma to not notice that lamb is the centerpiece of Diora's cuisine -- so I had some hesitancy about going there. I'm certainly not allergic to lamb, I've just never cared that much for it. I guess as a kid I experienced too many oily lamb patties or cuts of mutton with cloying mint jelly. But my husband really, really wanted to try Diora, so we went back the very next night.

I have to say, I have now become a fan of lamb after eating that meal. The owner -- we learned his name is Lenny -- helped guide us through the menu on things to try that would best represent the Uzbek cuisine. I should mention that Lenny's wife is the one who is Uzbek, while he is originally from Belarus. He's also been living in the Chicago area since he was a child, so his command of English is excellent.

We started with an order of the now-infamous samsas. I thought these were delicious and were actually very similar to the samosas one would get at an Indian restaurant. For appetizers, we also had strips of eggplant rolled with a carrot-based mixture, as well as an order of stuffed mushrooms. I thought the eggplant rolls were fabulous. The mushrooms were good, but did not set themselves apart from this type of dish found anywhere else.

For our main dishes, Lenny guided us toward the Bayram pilaf and the baby lamb shish-kebab. We had this served to us with each dish split so that each of our plates had a half order of the pilaf and a half order of the kebab. The pilaf was unlike any I've had before, very rich, and included raisins in addition to the peas and carrots I've had in other pilafs. The lamb from the kebab was tender and flavorful and was served with a thin red sauce on the side that I think was tomato-based with herbs and spices, and nicely complemented the meat.

We finished the meal with two desserts, a napoleon that was very good and something called chack-chack, fried dough with honey, that Lenny seemed very proud of, but I thought was just okay. Perhaps I was just so full at that point that I couldn't fully appreciate the dish. It sort of reminded me of breakfast cereal.

I do believe my husband and I were the only patrons this night who were not native speakers of Russian. Some people might be put off by this, but, like many LTH-ers, we actually seek out places that give us the feeling of being in a foreign land. A few other tables were occupied by groups of two or four, but there were two parties of 16-20 people and it amazed us that a restaurant that had only been open a few weeks could seem to feed so many people at once so seamlessly. There was also live music, dancing and a belly dancer as entertainment.

Although we live in Buffalo Grove, we've never been to Chaihanna, so I can't say how this place compares.

We returned to Diora a few weeks later with another couple. I have to say that I don't think they liked it as much as we did. But it's worth noting that except for the samsas, neither one of them ate any lamb. In the end, the moral of the story is that Diora is ALL about the lamb and if you're not going to eat the lamb, well, don't go there.

Hi,

Recently, I dropped into Diora for dinner. This is a breezy drive if you take Deerfield Road west of Milwaukee, where it becomes Deerfield Parkway. Diora, named after the owner's daugher, is in a strip mall on the southwest corner of Weiland and Deerfield Parkway. If you take Lake-Cook Road from the east, you will likely hit a bottleneck before approaching Weiland Drive.



This restaurant is quite ambitious with white tablecloths, formally arranged tables with accordian folded napkins in wine glasses. This is in contrast with the large widescreen televisions on the walls. When I was there, there was a nature program on the far end with the audio on. Nearer to me was a boxing match with the audio turned off. You could easily hear birds tweeting, then look up to see someone's head getting bashed. They do offer live music on weekends. The televisions may offer supplimentary music videos during the week, which would have been more entertaining than this evening's selection.

When we sat down, the owner inquired if we wanted any drinks. I asked for Lake Michigan on ice, because I wanted to avoid bottled water. "What? Surely we can do better than that!" I recognized this discussion from those who grew up drinking exclusively bottle water. If this were Uzbek or Moscow, I would likely go bottled, though I do enjoy our local water. My friend asked for lemon in water, which arrived nicely arranged.



While we were reading the menu, the owner came over to answer questions on Uzbek cuisine. He highlighted the freshness by stating everything was cooked to order. I inquired did this extend to their dumplings? He said they make dough fresh every morning, then assemble dumplings once ordered. If not enough are sold, any leftover dough is tossed at day's end.

While we continued contemplating the menu, they brought a bread basket with two "Uzbek national round bread" and two buns.



The buns were shaped like peroshki (plural form of pirozhok, Russian: пирожок, пирожки), which are often filled with meat or cabbage. When I broke one open, I found there was some chicken inside. I complimented the owner on these, because it was years since my last one and a pleasant surprise. He commented his wife will often spontaneously make some in the morning with the filling varying. There were done very well, because often they are too doughy.



If there had been more than just two of us present, there were a number of appetizers and salads to check out. For only two of us, we decided to try their stuffed eggplant. I like these stuffed vegetables, though I am always surprised by their price at around $5. I always vow to make them at home, then never get around to it. This may explain why they are relatively expensive, because few do make these at home.



I ordered a lamb pilaf they had just finished after four to five hours of cooking. While it looked very nice on the plate, it was not so great tasting. The rice was overcooked verging on ready to dissolve into mush. The lamb was dry rather than supple and succulent. I was adding salt simply to amp up the flavor.



My friend ordered their lamb kabobs, which she initially remarked were tender as promised. She is a notoriously slow eater whose lamb was cold by the time she finished. As it cooled, the lamb went from tender to tough. This is not the restaurant's issue, simply an observation.

I had told my friend on the drive over about the party allergic to lamb. After reading the menu, she could not believe lamb adverse (or allergic) people would stay for meal with such a strongly lamb dominated menu.

If I returned with as small a party as did this time, I would definitely go for their lunch menu. For $7.99, you have a soup, salad and main course providing an interesting low cost introduction to their cuisine.

For two diners, it is really hard to get very deep into the menu. If I returned with one other person, I favor getting several appetizers rather than an appetizer and entree. The nature of the menu, a group dinner would allow a more dynamic experience with many selections to pass around.

"Diora" restaurant http://www.diorarestaurant.com
1034 Weiland Road
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
(847) 419-0400

Thanks for the report, C2. Out of curiosity, how was the stuffed eggplant?

Hi,

The stuffed eggplant were terrific. This and the peroshki were highlights for me.

Looking around the internet recipe box, I found one variant of these eggplant rolls with tomatoes or the better known Georgian eggplant with walnuts similar to those offered at Shota Rustavelli (RIP). Those served at Diora had carmelized onions and carrots plus other stuff I don't recall.

Regards,

Hi,

It hit me a little while ago what the eggplant rolls were filled with: Korean carrot salad or a variation thereof, minus the coriander seeds.

Regards,

HI,

I made last night the components for eggplant rollups: I salted the eggplant, then allowed it to wilt for hours, gave it a good squeeze, then fried in oil. I made the Korean carrot salad as stated in my post above, then allowed it to rest overnight.

At the last moment, I spread the Korean carrot salad on a slide of fried eggplant and rolled. This is first generation, so maybe I needed a larger eggplant slice or perhaps it is overstuffed. It certainly was a terrific garlicky, sweet-sour appetizer.



Regards,

9 participants in the LTH North Lunch Group descended upon Diora for lunch on Wednesday. The food was enjoyable and as always, the company was fantastic.


Diora - 1034 Weiland Rd, Buffalo Grove, IL



Bread
Really nice. Light, warm and obviously just out of the oven. It had a light crust and moist, tender crumb.

The 9 of us each opted for the Wednesday Lunch Special -- which is a lot of food -- for $7.99. We also ordered a couple of additional items that seemed interesting. Included in the special were bread, salad, soup and a main course plate.


Orzu Salad - Yogurt, radish, green onion, cilantro, dill and cucumber
This fresh and crunchy salad was part of the lunch special. Considering the base of the dressing was yogurt, I was expecting it to be more tangy but it was still very tasty.



Mampar Soup - thick lamb soup with hand made pasta dumplings
We subbed this rich mampar soup for the mashkhorda (Uzbeki pea soup), which is the soup that normally comes with the Wednesday lunch special.



Lamb Samsa - Baked puff pastry pie stuffed with minced lamb
Uzbeki knish!



Lamb Samsa, interior - Baked puff pastry pie stuffed with minced lamb
Good lamb flavor and a nice, coarse texture, too.



Wednesday Lunch Special Main Course - 'Tashkent' Pilaf, Chuchvara, Lula Kebab, Diora-style fried potatoes
This pilaf varietal contains beef, carrots and spices. The chuchvara, which are described as "roasted," mini dumplings seemed more fried to me because they were very crispy but it very well may have been a short dough that was roasted in the oven (not sure if the menu is translated into English 100% accurately). In any case, they were quite tasty. I think they were filled with potato -- it looked and tasted like potato -- but I wasn't sure and I didn't ask. The lula kebab is described as 'ground shish kebab' and I think it was beef but I'm not certain (I've seen recipes for it using a beef, lamb or a combination of the 2). This rendition didn't taste very lamby but it was delicious, with a crispy exterior and juicy, flavorful meat within. It was definitely my favorite item on the plate.



Chuchvara - tiny dumplings, roasted
Very tasty with a great textural contrast between the crispy dough and creamy filling.



Lamb Kebab
Flavorful -- unmistakably lamb in a very pleasant way -- but maybe a bit salty and slightly overcooked.

Before we ate, (probably) the owner told us a bit about the restaurant and made some recommendations. What I liked about his sincere spiel was that everything was made from scratch, that he sourced lamb directly from a farm in WI and that he had a very small freezer, so all his ingredients were fresh. He proudly proclaimed that he bought no finished products elsewhere, only ingredients. This was great to hear and it showed up clearly in the dishes. What concerned me was that he made a point of telling us that the food was not spicy and that it wasn't over-seasoned, either. He told us that no vinegars were used in marinating the meats, only fresh herbs and spices. This concerned me because it made me feel like he felt that we weren't adventurous, and that we didn't want any boldly-flavored food. But perhaps this is how Uzbeki food is (typically described) and he just wanted to make sure we understood it. As it was, I thought the food was good, the ingredients very high in quality but that the flavors were, for the most part, very mild. I really hope that he didn't "dumb it down" for us. My only other experiences with Uzbeki food were at Chaihanna, where I remember the flavors being bolder, though the ingredient level didn't seem as high to me.

All in all, an enjoyable lunch. I can definitely see going back, especially since it's fairly close to my house. The roster of soups is lengthy and impressive -- 10 are offered -- and quite frankly, I'd love to try them all this winter.

=R=

Finally made it to Diora today. Very nice meal. Went with the Friday special, but because I remembered Cathy2's comments about the eggplant roll-ups, we ordered those as a starter. Loved the eggplant -- incredibly flavorful filling dotted with pine nuts.

The Friday special includes the wonderful bread pictured above, the thick lamb soup, a small salad (cucumber, tomato, and greens dressed with lemon and olive oil -- reminiscent of something from neighboring Middle Eastern countries), and chicken skewers, lamb pilaf, and the fried potatoes. The chicken was excellent, redolent of the fragrance of charcoal and the taste of cumin, The pilaf was very nice, and the potatoes were a treat -- kind of a cross between french fries and potato chips. Lenny, who was working the room alone, gave us details similar to those recorded above, of fresh ingredients, lambs sourced directly from the farmer, and all food made from scratch.

The $7.99 price tag on the daily lunch special contributes to this being a very attractive lunch option -- though I'll try to order occasional a la carte items, as those eggplant rolls were sensational, and do not appear to be included in one of the lunch special menus. (The daily lunch specials are listed on their website, so you can actually find out ahead of time what is offered on which day of the week, and time your visit accordingly.)

Very pleasant meal. I definitely want to try more of their food.

Did their phone number change from 847-419-0900? Or worse? It says it's disconnected- I was trying to make reservations for tonight!

It appears as though Diora is closed. Not sure what the story is, but we went there to see what was going on- totally dark.

On the upside, we went to Fuji Thai, that Thai place in the same strip mall and it was really good. They have Thai and sushi, and they actually do a respectable job at both of them.

It's too bad if it's closed. It was a nice place -- good food and good value -- plus nice staff.

I hope we can keep Chaihanna going. It would be a shame to lose both Uzbek restaurants.

Man, that sucks if they closed.

I thought it was the best of its kind -- much superior to the mediocre Chaihanna and Jibek Jolu. (The chicken (thigh) kebab was seriously good.) Usually empty, though.

cilantro wrote:I thought it was the best of its kind -- much superior to the mediocre Chaihanna and Jibek Jolu. (The chicken (thigh) kebab was seriously good.) Usually empty, though.

Have you been to Chaihanna lately? Its start-up was a little rough, but for more than a year now, the food has been outstanding. It got elected as a GNR, and we just had a fabulous LTH North luncheon there. Ronnie-Suburban has done a number of great posts on his experiences there. My own experience has been that it was okay at first but just keeps getting better. Even a friend who'd been in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan thought it was good. Really different from Diora (regional differences??), but still great.

Cynthia wrote:

cilantro wrote:I thought it was the best of its kind -- much superior to the mediocre Chaihanna and Jibek Jolu. (The chicken (thigh) kebab was seriously good.) Usually empty, though.

Have you been to Chaihanna lately? Its start-up was a little rough, but for more than a year now, the food has been outstanding. It got elected as a GNR, and we just had a fabulous LTH North luncheon there. Ronnie-Suburban has done a number of great posts on his experiences there. My own experience has been that it was okay at first but just keeps getting better. Even a friend who'd been in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan thought it was good. Really different from Diora (regional differences??), but still great.

Chaihanna had slumped for a while IMO but my last 2 meals there were really good. I'm sad to see Diora go but it was my least favorite of the 3 restaurants we're discussing here.

=R=

Dang i am really sad this is closed it looks really delicious, i almost just went there for lunch.

I suspect that the owners of Diora didnt understand the importance of music videos to the atmosphere of an Uzbecki restaurant.

-Will

WillG wrote:I suspect that the owners of Diora didnt understand the importance of music videos to the atmosphere of an Uzbecki restaurant.

-Will

LMAO! That is one thing I loved about our last meal at Chaihanna. At times, I could barely focus on the food.

=R=

p.s. I still need to post about that one.