MomoWorld- on Maxwell St./kinda-on The U.I.C. Campus

I was eager to check out this new Nepalese Style Restaurant in Chicago, after reading of it's imminent Opening this Spring.

Warm, smiling faces were the "tell"- that greeted me, to a wonderful new
Fast-Food Spot in Chicago's near South Side.

Created by a family from Nepal- (Katmandu) the Mom is the boss of the Kitchen- with Dad a Co-Equal branch of Government there, and their charming, smiling daughter manning the register/Customer-Charm Department.
So many things sounded good on the menu.........
MOMO's in Chicago by R. Kramer, on Flickr

I "wanted" a Combination of their MoMo's- or maybe "a Lunch Special"- but neither exist in their menu just yet......it's been discussed, as they say.

I went with the Tandoori MoMo- filled with a ground meat filling- very flavorful- great wrapper texture- but not the more traditional take on a steamed MoMo that I'd had before. I loved- the spice factor- a nice heat to these coated-semi-grilled beauties..
Tandoori-flavored Momo-on-a-Skewer by R. Kramer, on Flickr
Served with a tomato based-dipping sauce, they were a nice small lunch.

The "Chicken MasalaFrench-Fries" w/Curry-Sauce/chicken was a Carbo-load that I could have skipped- maybe good for a student who wants a more traditional snack- with a Nepalese coating- but the net effect wasn't anything I need to eat again.
Worthless Carbs- Nepalese Curry Fries + Chicken by R. Kramer, on Flickr

Many of the students there went with Rice/Curry/Combinations.....and there's a lot to try.
Sadly - there seemed to be no Momo's that were Plant-Based.

All-in-all a great addition to Chicago's ethnic food scene, eager to go back- and try many more items there.
Nepalese food is clearly influenced by it's proximity to INDIA and China- but more Indian-esque dishes appeared on their menu- like Chana and Aloo Gobi and other more traditional Plant-based Indian standards.

PS - don't EVEN think-'bout parking on Maxwell Street- they write tickets, over there, quicker than you can say........Oh-NO!

The MoMo World
727 W. Maxwell St.
Chicago,IL.
312.733.8637

Wow, those tandoori ones look great! I never knew that they way to make dumplings look even better was to put them on a stick! (no sarcasm)

Hombre de Acero wrote:Sadly - there seemed to be no Momo's that were Plant-Based.

I went on Sunday, got our stuff to go and walked over to the PhD Pub to eat it. Generally really enjoyed the momo, we got tandoori and one of the other specials. They definitely asked if we wanted Veg or Meat momos when we ordered. Also got the tornado fries, which is a spiral cut potato, skewered and fried in one long curly fry. Simple carbo-loading, for sure. We will definitely be back sooner rather than later.

As for parking, the garage at the east end of old/new Maxwell Street is pretty cheap for a couple hours, certainly no different than street parking (which is nigh-impossible over there).

A very welcome addition to the food scene. Would upload my photos, but the whole Google Photos/posting thing seems to remain unresolved.

Randall, thanks for the tip on this place I would never have found in this spot. This area seems like chain restaurant hell and it’s at the end of Maxwell street, off Halstead.

We had three different special vegetable momos last night. In order of preference choela, tandoori, and the chipotle. It was a nice combo, all were different enough, although the vegetable momos were all the same.

We will be back.

Good biryani and one of the city's better mango lassis, to boot.

Randall, thanks for the tip on this place I would never have found in this spot. This area seems like chain restaurant hell and it’s at the end of Maxwell street, off Halstead.

Glad that you found this out of the way spot, Al- and liked it too.
Funny, how- like once ya spot a Yellow VW Beetle- ya see em everywhere.......there are now Momo's being served in so many places around town....have you tried the ones @ Chiya Chai Cafe https://www.chiyachai.com/menuson Milwaukee just below Diversey? Our friend (Neeha) from Pune, India- who's traveled a bit in India + is a Momo-snob, turned her nose up at the Chiya ones- but they sure sell a lot of em.