Oasis Cafe Has Moved

The Oasis Cafe has moved to a new location on Wabash and apparently the Jewelers Mall folks are planning to put a new Middle Eastern restaurant in their old space and are trying to co-opt the name. You can find the whole story at: http://www.chicagocarless.com/2006/09/2 ... d_out.html

Thanks for the post. It's good to know where to find them now and to have the whole story. I've always liked them.

I had a falafel and eggplant sandwich at Oasis today. The falafel balls were quite fresh and warm, despite having been held in a little wire basket up front. They had been spiced with an even hand (to my taste), and seemed to have been cooked in newer oil. The sandwich was served on commercial-grade pita, but at least it was fluffy and fresh. The eggplant was sliced too thickly for my preference, but its flavor was just fine. My only problem: the insufficient amount of salad (more on that below). In any case, if a falafel sandwich is to be judged on the basis of its falafel, this is easily the best I've had in the Loop.

They had a skewer of chicken meat revolving in the kitchen, and I could see somebody in the back working on new falafel balls. Given that this was at 1:45 pm, at the tail end of the lunch rush, I'm guessing that they make the nuggets in relatively smaller batches throughout the day, rather than producing vast tubs of the stuff at noon.

Falafel was the popular order in line. I'll try some other items and report back if they're similarly appealing.

It's a shame that they re-opened so late in the season. The food court atmosphere is sort of undesirable, but the park just around the corner...

On the salad point: Lettuce alone doesn't do it for me. Does anybody know where I can get the entire-meal-in-a-pita style of sandwich popular in le Marais (neighborhood of Paris)? These are giant sandwiches stuffed with falafel, hummus, eggplant, red cabbage, shaved carrot, "Turkish salad" (I make no claims here -- only trying to refer to the tomato/cucumber/yogurt equation known by so many names), and more. With this type of sandwich, much time is spent forking it out of the pita. Taking bites is not easily (or wisely) done right away.

Oasis Cafe
17 S. Wabash

Thanks for the link! Oasis Cafe has always been an oasis of good chow in the Eastern Loop where I work. Given their current status, I'm going to make sure to go a few extra times in the coming weeks.

Jonah

I'm delighted to report that there seemed to be a brisk business going at noon today. I was underwhelmed by my kefta kabob sandwich, but that may be because it sat around cooling in foil for half an hour or so before I made it back to my office and ate it. What I want to HIGHLY recommend, however, are the stuffed grape leaves. I verified that they make their own before I ordered. They're great. Served warm, not too tightly rolled, excellent spice, tender grape leaves. They're not listed on the menu but I saw that they come with the veggie combo and asked if I could order them as a side. They said they'd be 50 cents a piece, but in fact gave me three for my buck.

Here are the daily specials as described on the take-out menu:
Monday: Wabsh mixed combo: Moroccan chicken pastille served with hummos, falafel, and foul

Tuesday: Moroccan Chicken. Oven roasted chicken with oven baked potato, saffron, preservative lemon, cilanto, and special spcies. Served over rice and olives.

Wednesday: Napolie stuffed chicken breast. Stuffed with spinace, bell pepper, green onions, geta cheese and special's Chef spices served with rice or village salad.
Oasis Lamb. Grilled lamb, grilled vegetables served over rice with Hummos and foul

Thursday: Oasis Kafta. Gilled ground meat served over rice, hummos and foul.
Portabella Mushroom Sandwich.

Friday: Moroccan Couscous, vegetarian or with meat.


I have my eyes on that Moroccan chicken, myself.

peterc wrote:On the salad point: Lettuce alone doesn't do it for me. Does anybody know where I can get the entire-meal-in-a-pita style of sandwich popular in le Marais (neighborhood of Paris)? These are giant sandwiches stuffed with falafel, hummus, eggplant, red cabbage, shaved carrot, "Turkish salad" (I make no claims here -- only trying to refer to the tomato/cucumber/yogurt equation known by so many names), and more. With this type of sandwich, much time is spent forking it out of the pita. Taking bites is not easily (or wisely) done right away.

This sounds similar to the excellent version served at Semiramis.

Semiramis
4639 N. Kedzie
Chicago, IL
773-279-8900

The exact same specials are available at Petra Cafe (Franklin, south of Jackson). I don't know how Petra and Oasis are related, but their menus are nearly identical.

I've tried all of these specials at both locations. I've never had anything particularly great at either place. The food is good enough to satisfy hunger while in the loop, but severely lacking in flavor and texture. Often times their food tastes severely underseasoned, and held a long time. The moroccan chicken is the best of the lot. The couscous vegetables are always overcooked to the point of obliteration.

Best,
Michael