Tip-toeing in here, and only to point out that when my brother and I went to Iraqi Kabob House about 6 weeks ago, we enjoyed very much their kabobs---which, if my recollection is accurate--were cooked over live-coals (GWiv, do you recall seeing the grill behind the high-counter, on the right as you walked in??).

It's been awhile, and so I can't offer much else in the way of detail. But, their kabobs were quite good, and I recall that the waitress had sort of a Eastern-European-Cameron-Diaz thing going on, which just added to the pleasantness of the meal.

Erik M. wrote:In any case, that looks to me like a piece of subflooring with some grotty, fire-damaged carpet padding still attached.

E.M.

Heh. that's how most ribs look to me!

Erik M. wrote:Wait, you warn that the image itself "may be less delicious than it appears"?

In any case, that looks to me like a piece of subflooring with some grotty, fire-damaged carpet padding still attached.

Looks like we've moved on to my poor sentence structure. ~sigh~

Either way, you know your way around BBQ well enough to realize the pictured ribs are a piss-poor example. Most people do not.

Enjoy,
Gary

Shasson wrote:(GWiv, do you recall seeing the grill behind the high-counter, on the right as you walked in??).

Shasson,

New owners since then, no more high-counter on the right.

As an aside, I had lunch there today, again, with Mike G, though I'm going to let him comment first. He also took a few pics.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

Erik M. wrote:Wait, you warn that the image itself "may be less delicious than it appears"?

In any case, that looks to me like a piece of subflooring with some grotty, fire-damaged carpet padding still attached.

Looks like we've moved on to my poor sentence structure. ~sigh~

Either way, you know your way around BBQ well enough to realize the pictured ribs are a piss-poor example. Most people do not.

Enjoy,
Gary

I intended to have a laugh with you.



Regards,
E.M.

Erik M. wrote:I intended to have a laugh with you.



Regards,
E.M.

I suspected as much, but this thread has taken the most unusual turns......................

Enjoy,
Gary

Vital Information wrote:While the restaurant sez Iraq, there is a good chance that the cuisine in general is Assyrian. That is, there is a signficant Assyrian population in Chicago and there are other Assyrian restaurants in that area AND the Assyrians come from Iraq, especially Northern Iraq.

If I recall correctly, d4v3 glossed the Big Buns and Pita menu as being Assyrian or Iraqi -- have you (or anyone else) had a chance to go back there? I haven't been back since my pre-NCAT flyby, but I still recall a few things on the menu that I'd gotten pretty excited to try.

On the subject of Iraqi cuisine, I found this:

Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine, featuring this tidbit from al-Warraq's Tenth-Century cookbook: "Eat only what you have the appetite for. If you eat what you do not crave, it will eat you."

germuska wrote:If I recall correctly, d4v3 glossed the Big Buns and Pita menu as being Assyrian or Iraqi -- have you (or anyone else) had a chance to go back there? I haven't been back since my pre-NCAT flyby, but I still recall a few things on the menu that I'd gotten pretty excited to try.

I've been there a couple of times. It is indeed Assyrian. For the most part, the food is fairly good. Actually, some of it is very good. Some of it is just OK, but at those prices you can't complain. Plus, they deliver. I highly recommend the lentil soup and the Tashreeb. The kefta-kabob is good also. I will write up a review tomorrow.

Well, I feel a little out of place commenting on Iraqi Kabab House in this thread because, well, I actually have eaten there. Nevertheless I hope the rest of you can overlook this disadvantage...

G Wiv and I originally intended to try the place in Little Shedrak's old location, Kirkuk ____ (I still can't remember what it was calling itself-- Grill, Cafe, House of Pancakes). We got there and, though a sign promised it would be open at 12, it had the look of a place that either closed two weeks ago or wouldn't open for another two weeks.

So off to try Iraqi Kabab House. Eight years ago I ate at a self-described Iraqi restaurant in Paris, drawn irresistibly by the novelty of eating a cuisine that would never (post-Gulf War I) advertise itself by its real name. But history marches on and places whose meaning once seemed fixed to disaster forever, as surely as Titanic or Hindenburg, acquire new, restaurant-friendly meanings. There's a Restaurant Sarajevo a few blocks away, and today we ate Iraqi Kababs. Tomorrow I'm having lechon at Bay of Pigs, I suppose.



At first the cultural referent the menu seemed to call to mind the cheeseshop sketch, as nearly everything we tried to order was missing some crucial ingredient, like rice. Have you got any-- SHUT THE BLOODY BOUZOUKI OFF! The owner explained that he had been at court that morning over some regulatory pain in the ass. Very well, we wound up with his recommendation of kufta kabob--



and... yes... that universal middle eastern classic, the Vegetarian Platter. Wouldn't be a middle eastern restaurant without a Vegetarian Platter. This time, though, we pressed upon him the desire for freshly fried, steaming hot falafel. He did not seem happy to learn that we suspected his falafel of ever having been anything else.



The lentil soup that came as a starter, and the thin, slightly char-tasting pita, were both quite nice, indeed the highlight of the meal may have been scooping up the lentil soup with a roughly-torn hunk of pita. The kufta was juicy, not too tightly packed, pleasing but a little on the plain side. Falafel were fresh this time, not great; the best thing on the Vegetarian Platter was smoky baba ghanouj, at least that seemed the best until they brought us--



A spinach stew-- spinach, not mloukieh, at least so far as G Wiv's line of questioning could determine, though mloukieh (potherb, Jew's Mallow) is just as common-- and a big mound of rice to dump it on, far more than we could ever eat after everything that had come before it. This displayed the most complex and interesting flavor to come our way.

Overall, things were pretty good, and there are a couple of items you may not have seen anywhere before on the menu (but which remained unavailable to us today, alas), one called Mosul Kubbe, for instance. The menu is basic but it was all pretty decently prepared, the service was sometimes a bit on the amateur side but eager to please, and who knows, in time and as the menu or the specials roster evolves, Iraqi Kabab House could join the front rank of Kedzie spots.

Hi,

For whatever it matters, Larsa in Skokie offers a veneer of being Lebanese. However when you talk to everyone working there, you quickly learn they are Iraqi:

CAthy2 of October 30, 2004 wrote:I have been to Larsa several times since this initial post. Larsa is an Iraqi restaurant and the (unrelated?) shop next door is Iranian/Persian. [On Larsa's business card, there is the flag of Lebanon. When you talk to them, the food/people are from Iraq. I don't know if maybe the waitress is from Iraq, though I was sure I was told the owner is from Iraq, also. I'm not confused, but I think they prefer a Lebanese profile over one from Iraq.]

Larsa
3724 W. Dempster
Skokie, IL 60076
Tue-Thur: 11 AM - 10 PM
Fri-Sat: 11 AM - 11 PM
Sun: 1 PM - 9 PM
Closed Monday

Regards,

Mike G wrote:G Wiv and I originally intended to try the place in Little Shedrak's old location, Kirkuk ____ (I still can't remember what it was calling itself-- Grill, Cafe, House of Pancakes). We got there and, though a sign promised it would be open at 12, it had the look of a place that either closed two weeks ago or wouldn't open for another two weeks.

Mike,

I vote closed two weeks ago.

Kirkuk


Enjoy,
Gary

Though it does appear to be decorated for Christmas...

Mike G wrote:Though it does appear to be decorated for Christmas...

Is that Mt. Ranier I see on the window?

Mike G wrote:and who knows, in time and as the menu or the specials roster evolves, Iraqi Kabab House could join the front rank of Kedzie spots.

Mike,

I quite enjoyed my second visit to Iraqi Kabab, lentil soup* remains terrific, kufta kabob and baba ghanouj quite good, hummus was, if pressed for a critique, slightly heavy on the tahini for my taste. Spinach soup was delicious, composed of spinach, though I'm not 100% convinced it wasn't mloukieh, tomato, bean and lamb. One taste spooned over rice found me wishing I wasn't just about full.

Spinach Soup


Falafel on the vegetarian combo, while still not in the top Kedzie St. tier were much improved as was the combo's attractiveness factor, which drew commentary after my first post.

Vegetarian Combo


Far as IKH not having a number of menu items ready at noon, aside from the obvious new restaurant wrinkles, it may be as it's Ramadan, and the majority of their customers are fasting until dusk,, they are timing menu items for later service. Far as the sensibilities of IKH being Iraqi, I asked and was told Iraqi.

As Mike mentioned there are any number of interesting menu items, which I'm looking forward to exploring.

Iraqi Kabab House English Menu. Click here for non translated menu.


Enjoy,
Gary

*d4v3 was correct upthread, it was lentil not split-pea.

*d4v3 was correct upthread, it was lentil not split-pea.

You're both wrong! According to the menu it's "lintle" soup.