Bharatmela, Naperville

I have to report on yesterday's Girl's Night Out. Usually the food takes a huge back seat to our conversation, but last night, the food moved front and center.

Our waiter, James, gave us a brief overview of the menu. One woman was quite familiar with this type of food, my other friend and I were not. He asked our likes and dislikes. One friend enjoys meat, I don't and my other friend is vegetarian. He told us he would select items both on and off the menu that he thought we'd like. James suggested a tasty shiraz to compliment our spicy feast. He unobtrusively led us through each course.

We realized how little we know of his culture. James explained that he speaks many languages, I forgot the exact number, but much higher than our embarrassing two. He asked that next time we come, we call ahead and ask for him to cook for us. (This night, he was the waiter, but he loves to cook too.) He told us where he buys fresh produce each morning before coming to the restaurant. He was anxious for at least some of us to try his rack of lamb, his personal favorite.

He wrote me a list of the foods in the order that he brought it to the table. (He said some of the things were not on the menu, please forgive any misspellings in advance.) There were various sauces too and for dessert, come sweet carrot concoction. (I didn't get the name.)

Pappad
Vegetable Pakora
Sambhar
Channa Saag
Muttter Paneer
Tandoori Chicken
Butter Chicken
Vegetable Biriyani
Naan (plain and garlic)
I plan to introduce this restaurant to my kids as soon as possible. It was an unforgettable meal. Everything I tried was a new taste sensation.

Bharatmela South Indian Cuisine
Naperville, IL 60540
630-357-6240
8 W. Gartner, Suite 116

I liked bharatmela too, when i happened to visit there some time back. http://www.chowhound.com/midwest/boards ... 22826.html)

There's a lot of stuff on the menu that you would not see at most of the devon area places - Andhra stuff, If you go again make sure to try things on the menu that you haven't seen at other indian restaurants[/url]

Bharatmela was, for a while, clearly the best option for Indian in Naperville. This is no mean feat as there is quite a bit of competition. These days, I might slightly prefer Swagat over on Ogden near Jefferson, but it has been a while since I visited Bharatmela for dinner. Swagat is much better for lunch.

Cuisine of India, another former contender, seems to be intent on finding great commercial success through the muting of the seasoning of their food. This was working the last 2 times I visited, as the place was pretty busy, but the food was less and less interesting. The only good news is that the vegtarian dishes were better seasoned than the meat dishes, so one could eat a decent, meatless meal.

Lastly, Rucchi, the fast food place up on Ogden east of Washington, is doing better and better. The food is nicley seasoned and has been gradually improving. At $3.99 for a two vegetarian curries, a rice, and one sauce, it is a good value, and better than decent food.

It is still a pretty good time to like Indian food in N'ville. I think I will go have some for lunch.

Thanks for the report. Enjoy, Janey B, and let the waiter (who also sounds like he may be part of the family that owns and runs the place) lead the way. Perhaps you want to arrange a special dinner and invite your fellow N'ville Chowists, now that you have the connections?

I did lunch at Swagat. They have replaced their lunch Thali, another great bargain, and very tasty too, with a buffet.

I was disappointed at first, but the buffet was not bad. It came with not just Naan, but also Dosa. The buffet was almost entirely vegetarian, with just 2 chicken dishes on a separate table. Sambar and one other dipping broth whose name I cannot remember, plus vada, and three or four vegetable dishes. Curd rice, and carrot halweh for dessert. They were also promoting the Strawberry Lassi, but we resisted.

In the category of "what does it mean?" The clientele at Swagat and Rucchi is recent visits has been exclusively Indian (except for yours truly, and as Groucho said, "I would never join a club that would accept me as a member."), while Cuisine of India has successfully crossed over. Not sure where Bharatmela stands on this scale.

Ahh, to eat Indian in N'ville.

Since you've mentioned Indian in Naperville, don't forget Indian Harvest at Ogden & Royal St. George (Cress Creek mall). Like Cuisine of India, they have become popular at lunch. Of the places in the area, they have the best naan. They also have good tandorii chicken. Some years back it seemed that all of the Indian restaurants were bringing tandori chicken to your table. For some reason, this included putting red dye on the chicken. At Cuisine, they maranate the chicken and skip the dye, which is a nice.

I'll give the Swagaat buffet a try. Their dosas are great at lunch. Hopefully they don't put dosas on the buffet. (They need to be eaten fresh.)


Tim

The dosas are brought fresh to the table at Swagat.

The other buffet places I have tried lately (Cuisine of India and Swagat) have moved Tandoori Chicken to the buffet, and still go with the dye, or whatever gives the deep red color. It makes no difference, though, as Tandoori in a chafing dish is not very tasty.

I try Indian Harvest every couple of years and find their food way too buttery. Rich, and not as seasoned. The good side of that style is that the meat is also tender, and buttery. I imagine it, somehow, to be how Tibetans would prepare Indian food, and perhaps it is a valid style in some parts of India. But it is not to my taste.

Any recent news on the Indian restaurants in Naperville - these posts date back to 2004.

Sure, Jay, I can update this.

Here is a more current thread on west suburban Indian places, including some in Naperville: biryani and more

Is Bharatmela still open? I drive by it fairly often, but I no longer pay much attention to it - quality and selection had declined and business was not so great, so we moved on to Swagat and Sizzle India in Naperville. But I do need to try the other places on the linked thread, too.

Is Bharatmela still open?

No. Some other business has opened in its place -- I forget what, but it is not a restaurant.