Best Indian restaurant?

What is the best Indian restaurant in Chicago?

I think the search function might be broken today. Either that or it's discriminating against restaurants of Italio-Indian descent.

Have you tried the handy search engine? It's free. You might have to plow through a few non-relevant posts, but you'll find plenty of what you're looking for.

I like Hema's on Oakley, off of Devon. I haven't been to the Clark St. outpost, but it seems the service has greatly improved (by which I mean speeded up...the staff is always really nice) at the Devon location since its opening. The lamb biriyani is a spicy, ricey bit of greatness, and the samosas are spot-on. Almost every time I've been there, I've watched a sweet lady in a sari making 'em in the kitchen.

When I first moved to Chicago and heard about Devon Street and its Indian markets and restaurants, I went to Hema's by myself for lunch. I ordered enough for three people and ate just about everything. When Hema handed me the bill, she grabbed my dimpled cheeks and said, 'You eat so good for a skinny girl'. This experience probably has something to do with my love for the restaurant, but the food is, IMHO, exceptional.

Hema's
6406 N. Oakley
Chicago
(773) 338-162

'Best" is very subjective and different places will excel at different things. The best kabobs are not at the same place as the best curries or the best Tandoor dishes etc. That being said... I really like Hemmas too. Usmania (2200 block on Devon) and Sabri Nehari are favorites as well.

I've never understood the enthusiasm for Hema's. I do think its useful to search and read the other threads, In my experience, I'm not sure any One place does everything well and its good to know what they do well so you don't do something like order seafood at a place that's known for food from the pakistani heartland

I agree with Zim on both Hema's and the need to eat widely, depending on which type of Indian food you want. I've been to India five times, eating like a pig each time, sampling both street food and upscale food. It was fabulous. I can say that the Indian food in Chicago is the closest you can get to India of any place I've found in the US (or the UK). That said, it's still not absolutely authentic. I've never understood the enthusiasm for Hema's either. The food is good, but not THAT good, and to my mind has been de-spiced for the American palate. Moreover, I consider the portions small and the food overpriced.

I don't think there IS a best Indian restaurant in Chicago. Restaurants for South Indian are different from those for North Indian; you won't get a great dosa, for example, in the former (or any dosa at all).

Jerry wrote:Restaurants for South Indian are different from those for North Indian; you won't get a great dosa, for example, in the former (or any dosa at all).

I think you meant that the other way around.

Thank you for all the replies. I think I'll have to set out on a culinary expedition and try everything Devon Ave has to offer.

joyfull144 wrote:Thank you for all the replies. I think I'll have to set out on a culinary expedition and try everything Devon Ave has to offer.

I ask this in good humor, but have you ever driven down Devon Ave.? That's an ambitious expedition because there's a lot of eating to be had on Devon (and not just Indian)! But I hope you'll keep us posted on your experiences ... the more feedback, the better.

Have a good adventure...

I just went to Viceroy last week and can attest to the endlessness of Devon. I have learned that Annapurna isn't that good. Tiffen is good. Viceroy is similar to Tiffen (toss up for me goes to Viceroy). Sabri rocks the hizzy. Usmania isn't as good but still fun. Tahoora for Halwa Puri is terrific. Udupi Palace is good but we had an -incident- and my wife won't go back which is too bad. Ghareeb Narwaz is really cheap but really tasty too. Hema's is good but not all it's cracked up to be. Bhabi's didn't do it for me... but I'd go back to give it another shot. The bakery's are all pretty good but everything IS super fricken sweet.

What I've learned is that Pakistani food is really good (Chicken Makhani is to be dug... as is Nehari) and that I feel odd sometimes when I'm wearing my "Pork" T-shirt and walking around.

I have been down Devon and I know the many restaurants it has to offer. Probably won't hit all of them at once I was looking for suggestions from experts. [/quote]

Does anyone have a favorite Indian restaurant they go to on Devon (or elsewhere in the city)? A friend from England is coming to visit, and I was hoping to take him to a great place.

My favorite and easily one of the nicer looking rooms on Devon is Urban India @ 2601 W Devon. Excellent food and BYOB.

Question...

What place has the absolute hottest, spiciest dish available on Devon?

I'm talking "competition style, completely unpalatable to a westerner" style hot.

I mean to say, the hottest of the hottest... a true meal event.

What dish, from what place, can make my quest fulfilled on a Devon run?

-B

Jarvis wrote:Does anyone have a favorite Indian restaurant they go to on Devon (or elsewhere in the city)? A friend from England is coming to visit, and I was hoping to take him to a great place.

If Pakistani is okay, Khan BBQ (2401 W Devon) is tough to beat. If it must be Indian, I'd suggest Hyderabad House (2225 W Devon). If you need a fancy place I really can't help.

Funk Dracula wrote:What place has the absolute hottest, spiciest dish available on Devon?

Nothing comes to mind on Devon but you might look into Kama Indian Bistro in LaGrange. They're known for their vindaloo made with bhut jolokia chilies (ghost gosht?).

Kama Indian Bistro
8 W Burlington Av
La Grange IL
708-352-3300
http://www.kamabistro.com/

What's curious is how little time has been spent on this site on Indian lately. We have only three "Central/Southern Asian" GNRs as of today, and one is Afghan, and the other two are Pakistani (or at least partly).

We previously had a couple other Indian GNRs, but they've fallen off the list for one reason or another.
It's odd, because we have five Korean, five Thai, a huge number of Chinese... and yet Chicago is generally better known for its Indian community than any of those other ethnicities.

JoelF wrote:What's curious is how little time has been spent on this site on Indian lately. We have only three "Central/Southern Asian" GNRs as of today, and one is Afghan, and the other two are Pakistani (or at least partly).

We previously had a couple other Indian GNRs, but they've fallen off the list for one reason or another.
It's odd, because we have five Korean, five Thai, a huge number of Chinese... and yet Chicago is generally better known for its Indian community than any of those other ethnicities.

As of today, We've added Ghareeb Nawaz to the list of GNR's.

stevez wrote:

JoelF wrote:What's curious is how little time has been spent on this site on Indian lately. We have only three "Central/Southern Asian" GNRs as of today, and one is Afghan, and the other two are Pakistani (or at least partly).

We previously had a couple other Indian GNRs, but they've fallen off the list for one reason or another.
It's odd, because we have five Korean, five Thai, a huge number of Chinese... and yet Chicago is generally better known for its Indian community than any of those other ethnicities.

As of today, We've added Ghareeb Nawaz to the list of GNR's.

Which is Pakistani (mainly).

What makes it Pakistani? I thought the were cooking Hyderabad-style cuisine, which last I checked, was in India.

stevez wrote:

JoelF wrote:What's curious is how little time has been spent on this site on Indian lately. We have only three "Central/Southern Asian" GNRs as of today, and one is Afghan, and the other two are Pakistani (or at least partly).

As of today, We've added Ghareeb Nawaz to the list of GNR's.

I counted Ghareeb Nawaz.

JoelF wrote:

stevez wrote:

JoelF wrote:What's curious is how little time has been spent on this site on Indian lately. We have only three "Central/Southern Asian" GNRs as of today, and one is Afghan, and the other two are Pakistani (or at least partly).

As of today, We've added Ghareeb Nawaz to the list of GNR's.

I counted Ghareeb Nawaz.

Last I checked, GN was as Indian as it gets. What do you consider to be Pakastani about that place?

My mistake. I was mainly going on the GNR nomination that referred to it as Pakistani.

I'm curious, too. The GNR award itself includes a quote asserting GN was "straight out of Pakistan." As a total novice in this area, what are the differences? Is it possible that, because the India/Pakistan political division was really a split up of the old colonial India, that social and cultural - and in particular, culinary - patterns between the two countries have significant overlap, such that it's just hard to say in some cases? (I found and am now perusing a very detailed discussion of this issue from 2009 on Chowhound. Interesting reading.)

Funk Dracula wrote:Question...

What place has the absolute hottest, spiciest dish available on Devon?

I'm talking "competition style, completely unpalatable to a westerner" style hot.

I mean to say, the hottest of the hottest... a true meal event.

What dish, from what place, can make my quest fulfilled on a Devon run?

-B

Hey Funk D-
Just a suggestion. I only go to a few spots on Devon among the many. From my limited experience, if you just want hot, and don't care about flavor, I'd suggest Hema's Kitchen. I'd suggest you talk to any lady you see who looks like she might own the joint, especially if she is walking around and smiling, and chatting ppl up. I would ask her to make you the spiciest thing she can, and repeat over and over until you feel confident she knows you want something insanely hot for whatever reason it is that you want it that way. Right off the bat, she'll probably recommend a vindaloo, but keep telling her that vindaloo is fine, but you want it to be hotter with chile than the hottest that she normally makes for ppl who request it to be extra spicy. Just a suggestion. Hema's is pretty "mainsteam," but they are pretty cool when it comes to understanding what you want. My assumption, which could be completely wrong, is that a lot of places would meet your request with indifference. The folks at Hema's might, if you convince them that you want serious heat, bust out some secret stuff for you. I have absolutely no knowledge of them ever doing this, it's just a hunch. Hema's is not my favorite place, tho I think it may have been the first place I ever went for Indian food (and became completely hooked,) but the ppl who work there are very welcoming and eager to hook you up with food they think you'll like if you need guidance. I could totally see the ladies who work there (if they are hopefully there) whipping up something that will put a sizzle on your tongue.

As for some specific dish on the strip that is just hot for heat's sake, I don't know of any like those silly "phaal challenge" things out east. I'm a westerner with a high heat tolerance, but, I like flavor with my heat. I've rarely come across anything too hot for me, but, after the endorphin rush, one note heat bores me. If there's flavor involved, I can take any heat you throw my way.

JoelF wrote:What's curious is how little time has been spent on this site on Indian lately.

I've been trying. In the last year or so I've posted with photo(s) about Indo-Pak places on Devon as well as in the northwest suburbs: Sankalp, BBQ Express, Ghareeb Nawaz Express (neither Devon nor 'burbs), Pepper & Salt, Pista House, Spinzer, Sukhadia and Ghareeb Nawaz. Also briefly mentioned a handful of others.

Living in Mount Prospect you're well situated to explore some great South Asian restaurants, many never mentioned here before. Maybe this discussion will inspire you and others to visit and report on some less known places in the northwest suburbs and beyond.

stevez wrote:Last I checked, GN was as Indian as it gets. What do you consider to be Pakastani about that place?

Beef. You usually don't see cow on the menu at Indian restaurants. Nihari (the beef version), beef kabobs and hunter beef are generally found only at Pakistani restaurants, though of course there are exceptions, like restaurants specializing in the food of Hyderabad. Hyderabadi cuisine with its strong Muslim influences isn't exactly typical of most Indian food (if it even makes sense to talk about typical for a country as diverse as India).

Edited to change Morton Grove to Mount Prospect.

I think Islamic Indian cuisine and Pakistani cuisine are pretty similar, though as Rene points out beef is rare on Indian menus. Furthermore I've always thought of chapli kabab and frontier chicken as classic Pakistani dishes, though I've never researched their origins. I've just assumed Ghareeb Nawaz was a Pakistani joint for these reasons, though certainly many of the dishes they offer will show up on Indian menus as well.

Does anyone know where the owners are from?

My hunch is that the owners are from Hyderabad. Chicago has a large Hyderabadi-Muslim population. Many dishes on the menu skew Hyderbadi - baigan bartha, mirch ka salan (traditionally served with biryani), bitter gourd, etc. etc. The inclusion of some of the more squarely northern Indian dishes seems to me a concession to the expectations of a large and diverse expat and western crowd that is more familiar with northern Indian food. Ghareeb Nawaz is for everyone, after all. Hell, they even have kapsa, a dish common in the Arabian Peninsula, which would be familiar to many south Asians vis-a-vis having worked in the region or having family who have. But I think they're Hyderbadi. Judge a place by its most unique offerings, not the general ones.

The people who now populate Pakistan are a mix of people who lived in that country's boundaries, as well as immigrants from all over India who came during/after partition. A small Hindu minority even remains. As do Christians. Pakistan also hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan. While Pakistan's cuisine is certainly similar to northern Indian Islamic/Mughal cuisine, it has absorbed many other influences. For example, I believe frontier chicken is a reference to Pakistan's frontier provinces bordering Afghanistan. Nihari seems to be abundant on both sides of the border, as does Paya. I'll venture and say that garam masala is particularly typical in Pakistani cuisine. You'll find different spicing patterns in south India (where Hyderabad is located) and east India.

It's not fair to speak about Indian food as if the "real" thing is dosas, utthapam, vegetarian stuff, etc. More Muslims live in India than in Pakistan, and they live in all areas of the country.

I'm not sure this answers any questions. It's a culturally complex region, which is a wonderful thing. But the point is that I think people tend to label Indian and Pakistani based on whether they perceive the restaurant to cater to Muslims or Hindus. Just because a restaurant serves beef brain curry and goat feet doesn't mean its not Indian. In that region, it would probably be easier to talk about restaurants on the basis of the regional cuisine they serve. Thus, you could have Sindhi food, Punjabi food, Keralan food, Mughal court cuisine, Gujarati, Jain, etc. etc. etc.

For the person looking for spicy food for the sake of spicy food - you are better of searching this forum and looking for well-loved restaurants. You'll have a great meal, and if you really wanna burn your bunghole you can ask for you dishes extra spicy and order some chopped chilis on the side. I think this is a better approach than to search out some "how spicy can you take it" gimmick dish. But that's my two cents, and what the hell do I know about eating in Chicago.

And Pakistan has only had an independent identity since 1947, and is itself is (like most countries) a combination of regions with respective traditions - Punjab, Afghan border, Kashmir, and Sindh, and Balochistan (note the acronym). There is a Hyderabad in Sindh in Pakistan with 3.5M people, separate from the Hyderabad in India with 7M+; both have significant Muslim populations, and their residents refer to themselves as Hyderabadi.

Professor friends of mine born in the Sindh Hyderabad (when it was British India) associate this restaurant with their Hyderabad. But confusingly, some immigrants have lived in both Hyderabads because of how and where families were split and moved in the midcentury. This is one of many reasons there is an Indo-Pak label, which speaks more to continuity and memories than current state relations, and why regional labels (as Habibi points out above, as with those of Mexico, China, etc.) would be even more predictive, if more rarely employed in external PR.

"Best " Indian restaurant is difficult as the cuisines vary by region and religion. Also vegan vs nonvegan. And of course the bells and whistles-ie a table cloth restaurant vs the local taxi stand take-out. Even in our house opinions differ. I prefer Southern dal and he likes Northern dal. I like Viceroy and my husband likes Anapurna Fast Food-both on Devon but miles apart in cuisine, price and ambiance. We have tried a lot of places on Devon over the last 25 years and with some exception many are no longer in business. We are big fans of mint chutney and places that mix (dilute) it with a lot of yogurt are not appreciated in our house-it can even be a deal breaker in opting for a return visit. So perhaps it would be easier to ask people where their favorite place is fo the best naan, butter chicken, sag paneer, mutton, etc.

If I'm defining best as simply "tastes really d@#n good", then Rangoli would be my suggestion.

2421 W North Ave
Chicago