Dharma Garden

I was suprised to see that Dharma Garden hasn't
really been discussed on LTH before. Its an exceptional
Thai restaurant that creates dishes that are just
a little different and tastier than most Thai places
I've been too. Its also very vegan/vegetarian
friendly with lots of flavored tofu/seitan options with each
dish (on the menu they're listed at imitation meats).
My personal favorite creation (one that I've never seen
anywhere else) is the Long Life Noodles - wheat vermicelli
noodles stir fried with ginger, garlic, sesame oil and
lots of colorful vegetables. There are many other unique
and standard dishes on the menu too. I'd love to hear
what other people's favorites are.

Dharma Garden
3109 W. Irving Park Road
Chicago, IL
773 588-9140
http://www.dharmagarden.net/

Joel Wanek wrote:I was suprised to see that Dharma Garden hasn't
really been discussed on LTH before. Its an exceptional
Thai restaurant that creates dishes that are just
a little different and tastier than most Thai places
I've been too.

I'm not familiar with this restaurant, but from the name, I would have thought it would be more of an Indian restaurant.

Joel Wanek wrote:I was suprised to see that Dharma Garden hasn't
really been discussed on LTH before.

Joel,

You're absolutely right. It is surprising that it hasn't been discussed on LTH before.

Whenever we feel like eating healthier, the first place we think of is Dharma Garden.

Even though I'm always the chunkiest patron in the place,
I'm never discouraged from going because the broth of their wonton soup is fantastic.
In fact, all the broths I've tried there are excellent.
I love the high-quality rice they serve there as well.

This, to me, is also a little, relatively unknown treasure.

Thanks for bringing it up!

Steve,

Their website states their official/original name
is DHARMA RAGSAR which translates to "natural
healing".

And, yes, their rice is - like all their dishes - different
than all of the other Thai restaurants I've been to.
They mix red rice in with the standard jasmine rice
which gives it a nuttier flavor and slightly stickier
and chewy texture.

I should have mentioned that the owners are terrificly
nice and make you feel like one of the family after a
few visits.

I'm terrifically afeared of this place. It's just down the block from a good friend of mine and she loves it...she's been trying to get me there for lunch for over a year(I don't demur...we simply have different schedules). I automatically shy away from restaurants whose "alternative" dogma *appears* to come before their cuisine. Yes, there's a Buddhist, vegetarian genre of Thai cooking...but...Dharma Garden somehow always speaks to me of philosophically rigid "healthy" eating. Ameri-Thai restaurants, in general, have a difficult time rising above the demands of a plebian Western palate, that to add vegan/veg into the mix
queers it for me. Having said all that...heh...I wouldn't refuse to eat there...I'd simply have very low expectations.

Then...I'm also aware that the owner/chef has quite a following...there must be some credence in that, right?

I believe the owners of Dharma Garden are practicing Thai Buddhists and serve the food they do because it reflects their practice, which, to them, is not "alternative."

They do serve fish, and I've had some very good fish there. I find the owners to be very pleasant people, and not in the least dogmatic.

annieb wrote:I believe the owners of Dharma Garden are practicing Thai Buddhists and serve the food they do because it reflects their practice, which, to them, is not "alternative."

They do serve fish, and I've had some very good fish there. I find the owners to be very pleasant people, and not in the least dogmatic.

To begin with...I'm not impugning the veracity of the cuisine(which, of course, I haven't yet investigated). There's much media surrounding the friendliness of the owners...great...good for them.

I have a kneejerk reaction when I read/hear of citizens spooging over the great seitan, fermented soybean manifestations, cod-chicken, troutcorn, ersatz-wagyu(artificial American-style fake-Kobe), and, oh my!, the vegetables! as per whatever raw, vegan, vegan/veg, ovo/lacto, piscine, raw meat, halal tank-grown striated prima materia, gelid philosopher's stone of "health"(with pleroma foam .25 surcharge)...no animals were harmed in this diatribe.

Certainly, the owners aren't dogmatic themselves(unlike a certain white uniformed brkfst place I might name)...at a certain point the food becomes unreal...reverts to a primordial aethereality...unlike, say, Southern Black diaspora soulfood steamtables where the devotion is everpresent, but so is a culinary dedication to "keepin' it real."

mmm...wheat gluten strips with miso/tamari dressing in
p-nut sauce-dressed mixed greens...yum...more brown rice, puhleeze

as opined, I'll certainly try it...but how in the world can these over-thought derivations of religious prohibitions warm the gut like a good
casein-distilled scotch and pork neck laab?

I have absolutely no interest in a sugary-sweet, tamarind-bereft tofu pad thai.

---

the above has no relevance to the actual wonderful, I'm sure, cuisine served at Chicago's hidden treasure, Dharma Garden

actually, we were there last friday & when my friend requested "chicken" in her dish, the woman who owns it asked her, "real or fake?", and my friend got real chicken for the 1st time we can recall, which was shocking to us.

we go there quite a bit, and we've had multiple karaoke parties for friends birthdays (in the adjoining room); it's always a great time.

no matter what kind of occassion, with the BYOB status, we can never spend more than $20-$25 per person, and we usually indulge in quite a few apps & starters in addition to entrees.

however, last friday night they weren't hitting on all cylinders like normal. possibly due to being quite crowded (almost all tables occupied when we arrived, usually it's almost empty), but a few of our dishes weren't up to par. pad thai wasn't as "saucy" as usual -- usually it's pretty dark & tasty, instead quite light-colored & not as flavorful. another person had a sauce that was so thick with corn starch (possibly?) that when you brought the spoon up from the plate, the sauce just hung off the spoon.

we LOVE the owners, so i hope this was just a case of an over-extended kitchen.

my sweet potato mussaman curry was divine as always, though. i think part of my love is the rice (as discussed above), it's superb. honestly, due to the fat content in yellow curries, i try to avoid them when visiting other thai places, but i allow myself to indulge here

miss ellen

smellen wrote:actually, we were there last friday & when my friend requested "chicken" in her dish, the woman who owns it asked her, "real or fake?", and my friend got real chicken for the 1st time we can recall, which was shocking to us.

we go there quite a bit, and we've had multiple karaoke parties for friends birthdays (in the adjoining room); it's always a great time.

no matter what kind of occassion, with the BYOB status, we can never spend more than $20-$25 per person, and we usually indulge in quite a few apps & starters in addition to entrees.

however, last friday night they weren't hitting on all cylinders like normal. possibly due to being quite crowded (almost all tables occupied when we arrived, usually it's almost empty), but a few of our dishes weren't up to par. pad thai wasn't as "saucy" as usual -- usually it's pretty dark & tasty, instead quite light-colored & not as flavorful. another person had a sauce that was so thick with corn starch (possibly?) that when you brought the spoon up from the plate, the sauce just hung off the spoon.

we LOVE the owners, so i hope this was just a case of an over-extended kitchen.

my sweet potato mussaman curry was divine as always, though. i think part of my love is the rice (as discussed above), it's superb. honestly, due to the fat content in yellow curries, i try to avoid them when visiting other thai places, but i allow myself to indulge here

miss ellen

Stepping off my soapbox(and thread-hijacking) the very existance of a "sweet potato mussaman" is enough to get the s/o to Dharma Garden w/ bells on. Two of his favorite tastes that go great together.

It really like this place too. Dharma Garden and Yes Thai are my favorites.
Dharma Garden favorite entrees include Veggie Buddies with peanut sauce and tofu and some delicious thing that involves tempura and an orange sauce. I love them both.

annieb wrote:I believe the owners of Dharma Garden are practicing Thai Buddhists and serve the food they do because it reflects their practice, which, to them, is not "alternative."

Not to contradict, but as an interesting point, I wanted to comment on Thais and Buddhism:
According to David Thomson's "Thai Food", many Thai Buddhists do eat meat, and have a couple of things that help them through the ethics of flesh consumption
1) Most feel that if they are not the ones that slaughter their food creature, that they're not as responsible for the loss of life
2) In most dishes, the meat is cut very small, or minced as in larb, lessening its resemblence to the original creature

JoelF wrote:

annieb wrote:I believe the owners of Dharma Garden are practicing Thai Buddhists and serve the food they do because it reflects their practice, which, to them, is not "alternative."

Not to contradict, but as an interesting point, I wanted to comment on Thais and Buddhism:
According to David Thomson's "Thai Food", many Thai Buddhists do eat meat, and have a couple of things that help them through the ethics of flesh consumption
1) Most feel that if they are not the ones that slaughter their food creature, that they're not as responsible for the loss of life
2) In most dishes, the meat is cut very small, or minced as in larb, lessening its resemblence to the original creature

as per "mincing": one might add...and, if one searches -das net- there're theses regarding the subject: the Jewish/Chinese nexus...that some Jews otherwise supposedly observing food prohibitions...are somehow apparently comfortable with pork products as long as they are "minced" ---i.e. rendered indistinguishable...instead of slabs ov porky porkiness...they indulge in...buffet table defaults...Cantonese-Ameri-Chinese faves as double-cooked pork, pork inna garlicky sauce, and bbq pork ribs(oops...that one involves a bit of extrapolation)...

eh...perhaps I simply abhor hypocrisy

because I'll try anything once...

Christopher Gordon wrote:as per "mincing": one might add...and, if one searches -das net- there're theses regarding the subject: the Jewish/Chinese nexus...that some Jews otherwise supposedly observing food prohibitions...are somehow apparently comfortable with pork products as long as they are "minced" ---i.e. rendered indistinguishable

I think it's more like the Priest granting "special dispensation" so that you can drink beer during lent when St. Paddy's day rolls around. Pork doesn't count if you eat it in a Chinese restaurant.

Christopher Gordon wrote:eh...perhaps I simply abhor hypocrisy

You should ask my grandmother why bacon is ok but ham isn't.

Is it hypocritcal or just inconsistent?

As far as I'm concerned, it's all kosher when it hits my stomach.

Best,
Michael

I noticed last night on my drive home that Dharma appeared to be closed by the city (big neon green sticker on the door).

After passing this place for 8 years, I only recently started eating there thanks to LTH!

Anyone know what the scoop is?

gls wrote:I noticed last night on my drive home that Dharma appeared to be closed by the city (big neon green sticker on the door).

After passing this place for 8 years, I only recently started eating there thanks to LTH!

Anyone know what the scoop is?

The city has an online inspection database (note: the link has changed from the one posted in Useful Stuff)

The last posted inspection results for Dharma Garden are from March, when they got a passing grade. I believe this same link will always show the current status, so you can check back during the business week for more info. I can't recall at the moment what level of detail it provides about the violations when they are in the database.

I am glad that the city does inspections, but I know that closing orders can sometimes be circumstantial, and I never worry about returning to places just because they've been through a closing cycle. In fact, if they reopen, they are definitely going to be pretty sparkly (at least in inspection terms) for the time immediately after.

I called Dharma Garden a few hours ago and the guy I spoke with said they'd be open tomorrow (Tuesday). I didn't ask why they were closed.

So does anyone know why they were closed? I check that inspection site and here is what it says:

DHAMMARAGSAR INC.
(DHARMA GARDEN)
(DHAMMARAGAR THAI CUISINE)
Address:3109 W IRVING PARK 60618 03/16/2007 Pass In Good Standing

Walked by this place yesterday (en route to the Beograd for a wonderful cheese burek) and saw Dharma advertising a special of buy one entree get one free for dining in, so seems like a fine time for veggies.

Dharma Garden now delivers through GrubHub.

DSCN1097 by MsLynnB, on Flickr

DSCN1098 by MsLynnB, on Flickr

Shu Mai:

DSCN1099 by MsLynnB, on Flickr

Shrimp Spring Rolls w/ Peanut Sauce:

DSCN1100 by MsLynnB, on Flickr

Spicy Basil w/ Tofu:


DSCN1101 by MsLynnB, on Flickr

Spicy Cashew w/ Chicken:


DSCN1102 by MsLynnB, on Flickr

While we've eaten at the restaurant a few times, it was our first for delivery. We went with some basics and were pleased enough that we will do it again and get more adventurous next time. Both of us requested "medium" heat. Mine (tofu,) was much more spicy than Jonathan's (chicken.) Probably the jalapenos... Delivery was prompt and well packaged. -Lynn

Dharma Garden is under a new round of ownership, but they've maintained much of the veggie-leaning menu of old. Unfortunately, I don't think the kitchen uses fish sauce in anything, and to my taste the dishes lose a lot as a result. I also find everything too sweet and I get tired of the large quantity of bell peppers that seem to appear in everything I order. I've tried it 4 times in the last coupla months, and I'm done. Nothing offensive about the place, but I like others a lot more.

I've been remiss in posting about a dinner at Dharma Garden with a few LTH-ers about a month ago. Kennyz posted about Dharma Garden's Thai translated menu on his blog after Heather Shouse wrote an article about it for TimeOut Chicago. We had tried a few things we really liked on the translated menu and headed back with a larger group to explore more. It's been a while so maybe my fellow diners can fill in the blanks where I don't remember dishes.

Squid and fish maw salad with cashews and green apple:


Pickled bamboo shoot salad:


Thai beef jerky/fried beef:


Crispy pork salad:


Fried whole fish topped with herbs, cashew, green apple salad:


Nam prik with green chiles, quail eggs:


Nam prik ong


Ground pork, shrimp and broad bean stir-fry


Sai ua sausage


Grilled pork neck


Pork and pumpkin stir fry


Nam prik Gapi with mackeral


close-up


I'd summarize the meal by saying that while I really enjoyed exploring the menu, the flavor combinations weren't as bright or complex as some of the other stand-out Thai spots in Chicago (Aroy, Spoon, TAC...). I didn't think the sausage, the grilled pork, the jerky were nearly as good as the best versions I've had in Chicago. There were a few highlights though: they have a nice selection of nam prik's and the nam prik ong was outstanding. I enjoyed the fish maw and squid salad and the pork and pumpkin quite a bit as well. I'm sure I'll be back for the nam prik ong and to try a few more things on the Thai menu. Service was very friendly and helpful and prices are extremely reasonable.