Mazalae Mongolian Restaurant

Had lunch today at the new (only four weeks since the Grand Opening) Mazalae Mongolian Restaurant in Morton Grove. Just walking in made me smile. The decorations are simple but designed to evoke Mongolia -- particularly the ceiling, which is designed to evoke the interior of a ger (pronounced closer to gair, the Mongolian word for what Russians call a yurt -- the round, wool-felt tents of Mongolia's nomads). Gers are round and the poles that support the roof are always red, symbolic of the sun—something one wants to remember during the dramatically diminished daylight of the long, cold winters. On the ceiling, there is a red ring surrounded by radiating red poles, readily recognized by anyone who has been in a ger.

There was one large group dining in the place, which the hostess told me was made up of every city official in Morton Grove who'd had any part in the official checking, licensing, inspecting, or otherwise guiding the restaurant toward opening. She understood why they were there but asked how I'd learned about it, since she has thus far only advertised in Mongolian newspapers. I told her about LTHforum, and she thought the idea of having a culinary guide to her new home was a very exciting concept -- so we may see her pop up here.

When I'd entered, I'd greeted the hostess in Mongolian, which led to our talking about Mongolian food, as well as about my travels in her homeland. Beverages are not printed on the menu, so when I asked if they had tea, she smiled and said, "if you have been to Mongolia, perhaps you would want milk tea. We have that." And of course I said yes. Milk tea is essentially rich, milky yogurt and salt in hot water. It is not something most people are going to enjoy, but it was perfect -- better than most I had in Mongolia -- but that could be because it was cow's milk, and not milk from a yak, goat, camel, or reindeer.

Lots of familiar dishes on offer. I was amused to see how they'd renamed some Mongolian specialties. Buuz (pronounced boats) are simply rendered as Dumplings (though if you recognized the Cyrillic alphabet, you can see the Mongolian name), but huushuur is identified as "Monpanadas" -- Mongolian empanadas -- figuring Americans will know what empanadas are. They also have "Mongyoza," or Mongolian pot stickers.

I went with one of the lunch specials—two Monpanadas/huushuur and a half serving of lamb and noodle soup (though even the half serving was substantial). The huushuur were light and tasty, but made with beef, rather than the fatty mutton or yak one would encounter in Mongolia, so not quite the flavor hit. The hostess did offer me Sriracha, so clearly she did expect me to balk at the lack of big flavor. I passed on the hot sauce and enjoyed them plain. Light pastry around ground beef -- they wouldn't be threatening to anyone, no matter how lacking in adventurousness.

The soup was great, though very salty. (Salt is needed for survival in a land that gets as little rain as Mongolia does, so not surprised.) The noodles were clearly handmade and hand cut. The broth was rich and flavorful and a little gamey. I asked her if it was mutton, since I know how much Mongolians value mutton. She said, "No, it is lamb." Because the word mutton is sometimes applied to goat in Asia, I added, "the flavor is strong, so perhaps an old lamb," and she agreed to that.

They were out of carrot salad, which was another favorite memory. Something to go back for.

This restaurant is clearly targeting a Mongolian audience. The food is really authentic, but not everyone is going to love it -- unless they're homesick Mongolians.

All that said, I could see trying to get a group together to go there. When I asked about horhog, which was one of my most memorable meals in Mongolia, she said yes, for a group, if you order in advance, with rocks. This is a dish where a sheep is cut up and layered with red-hot rocks in a huge pot and then sealed for a couple of hours. The meat is tender and falling off the bones by the time they open the pot to serve. Traditionally, the still warm rocks are handed to diners before they eat, as it is thought to be calming. I just found the fat-covered rocks useful for pre-greasing my hands before eating the mutton with my hands, as is the tradition. But if anyone is interested in trying this, I'd be game.

She said she's also working on trying to recreate a yogurt-based alcoholic beverage that Mongolians drink in the winter, but she's having trouble with that, as the milk here is not rich enough. (I wonder if homogenization and/or pasteurization are also creating problems.) But that would be something to go back for.

I also want to go back and check out the dumplings and some of the salads.

So if you go, expect authentic food—but not necessarily food that will appeal to most Americans. Read a bit of Marco Polo before you go -- because these are traditions he would have witnessed. There is ketchup and Sriracha on the tables, for those who can't stand the generally simply flavors of Mongolian food -- meat, fermented dairy, onions, garlic, salt. But you can eat there knowing that it's how you'd eat in Mongolia. Wholesome, hearty, salty, and anchored in a lifestyle that has not changed in a thousand years.

Mazalae Mongolian Restaurant
9216 Waukegan Rd.
Morton Grove, IL

>>All that said, I could see trying to get a group together to go there. When I asked about horhog, which was one of my most memorable meals in Mongolia, she said yes, for a group, if you order in advance, with rocks. This is a dish where a sheep is cut up and layered with red-hot rocks in a huge pot and then sealed for a couple of hours. The meat is tender and falling off the bones by the time they open the pot to serve. Traditionally, the still warm rocks are handed to diners before they eat, as it is thought to be calming. I just found the fat-covered rocks useful for pre-greasing my hands before eating the mutton with my hands, as is the tradition. But if anyone is interested in trying this, I'd be game.<<

Cynthia - - I'd certainly be interested in exploring this cuisine with a group.

As would I. Fascinating. Thanks for the vivid write-up.

Ditto

Perhaps we can plan something for after the holidays (because the calendar is filling up).

I should probably add, since I mentioned liking the salads, they are actually newer introductions -- introduced in the early 20th century when the Soviet Union took over. They focus on the kinds of vegetables that do well in a remote, harsh place -- cabbage, carrots, beets. Generally simply grated with garlic and a bit of mayo or a vinaigrette, these salads, while popular in or close to town, are not something one sees when hanging out with nomads in remote areas. Still, I spent enough time in Ulaanbaatur to have developed a fondness for them, so glad to see them on the menu.

Perhaps we can plan something for after the holidays (because the calendar is filling up). I'll find out just how many people we'd need to qualify for the roasted sheep.

I should probably add, since I mentioned liking the salads, they are actually newer introductions -- introduced in the early 20th century when the Soviet Union took over. They focus on the kinds of vegetables that do well in a remote, harsh place -- cabbage, carrots, beets, or some combination thereof. Generally simply grated with garlic and a bit of mayo or a vinaigrette, these salads, while popular in or close to town, are not something one sees when hanging out with nomads in remote areas. Still, I spent enough time in Ulaanbaatur to have developed a fondness for them, so glad to see them on the menu.

Oh -- and no airag (fermented mare's milk). The hostess says she misses it terribly, which is a common situation, even in Mongolia, when people leave their herds behind.

Interesting note on the airag -- in a diet that is traditionally nothing but meat and dairy, with dumplings only appearing for special events, airag would have saved lives, as horse's milk is very high in vitamin C -- so no scurvy.

Went tonight with a group of eleven, which enabled us to order a majority of the items on the menu. Happy to say that this place has actually improved, and it was good before. Small place, so eleven of us took up half the restaurant. Given that there were only two people doing both the cooking and serving, things moved very smoothly, though I suspect it helped that we preordered.

We were welcomed with salty milk tea, which was pleasantly relaxing.

Started the meal with cabbage salad (very nice) and carrot salad (really yummy), and "mongyoza" (beef pot stickers). Three different soups: hot pot (beef meatballs, rice noodles, fried potatoes in beef broth), lamb with noodles, and milk tea dumplings (small meat-filled dumplings always served in broth or milk tea). The milk tea dumplings were fun and interesting, but the hot pot and lamb with noodles were both so good I would go back just for them.

For our mains we had Mongolian beef (stew served with potatoes), stir-fry noodle (beef, homemade noodles, veg), Piroshki, which are like steamed Chinese bao, but filled with beef, clear noodle stir fry, beef stew stir fry and "monpanadas" (huushuur, something like a thin pasty). All excellent.

Mongolians don't really eat dessert, but they did offer hot green tea, and that gave us an excuse to sit and talk while we tried to begin digesting the substantial meal. Not wildly spicy or challengingly exotic (with the possible exception of milk tea, which contains salt in lieu of sugar), but wonderful and warming and flavorful and interesting and definitely worth checking out, if you haven't been there yet.

Thank you for posting Cynthia, far more substantial than I would have, and saving me the trouble. I'm the person who organized the dinner, having tried it alone based upon Cynthia's recommendation.

Additional comments: the lamb noodle soup is a highlight, almost missed because I mangled the name from my first visit so they did not recognize it in my email pre-order.

Other highlights (IMHO)
Beef Stew (the only dish with perhaps less than ample portion)_
stir fry noodles
clear (rice) stir fry noodles

Altogether 11 people had a good time and polished off 14 entrees, 6 salads, 6 soups and 4 sides with only about one small clamshell per person going home.

All the other customers appeared to be Mongolian, a good sign.

--Carey

diversedancer wrote: I'm the person who organized the dinner, having tried it alone based upon Cynthia's recommendation.

if I'd only known, i would have come, invited 3 friends from my vespa club who are allergic to meat, and asked you to change the start-time!

Clarence Beeks wrote:

diversedancer wrote: I'm the person who organized the dinner, having tried it alone based upon Cynthia's recommendation.

if I'd only known, i would have come, invited 3 friends from my vespa club who are allergic to meat, and asked you to change the start-time!

Mongolian cuisine is NOT a good choice for people who are allergic to meat. Everything except the salads includes meat.

And diversedancer -- I agree about the beef stew, stir-fried noodled, and clear noodles were all great -- especially now that I've enjoyed some of the leftovers. I suspect that it's just because I had three soups, two salads, and a couple of kinds of dumplings before I got to these dishes that I began to go into a food coma by the time I got to those. Everything was great. Thanks again for arranging it. (And at least we know they can handle a few people -- don't think it would have worked with much more than the 11 we had, but it worked beautifully with that number.)

Just as an fyi, this outing was put on under the auspices of a different organization. We weren't leaving out or snubbing LTH. I only posted because I wanted LTH to know what a great dinner we had -- because I'd like to see this restaurant do well. Such nice people.