Bismillah Lunch 10/27

Despite coming together at the last moment, Phyllis (Mrs.kuhdo) and I were able to participate in an enjoyable lunch at Bismillah in the good company of esteemed LTHers (with GWIV. cathy2,jazzfood,Pigmon and stevez in attendance). I had posted previously about the quality of food in general,and the daily specials in particular at this humble spot and was glad to have the chance to eat there with these interesting and well versed table mates.

This is a family run spot where everything including the spice mixtures are freshly prepared each day . Specials supplement a compact group of standard Paki-indo dishes and rotate on a daily basis. Friday is a good day to visit Bismillah as the usual specials include Mutton Biryani and Chicken Shashlik both of which are usually quite good.

Our meal:
Appetizers included a mix of relatively conventional samosas, along with a very nice triangular, flaky meat filled version I think everyone preferred.

Entrees of note:

Frontier chicken..possibly the table favorite. I really like the version here which features a good grilled onion undertone with well balanced spicing. A little richer and a bit less spicy than other versions around town

Mutton Biryani...always good here with perfectly done rice and tender morsels of lamb as it should be.

Chicken Boti. .. Also very well done ,coming out sizzling and nicely browned from one of the two gas fired tandoors up front. Different than the highly regarded Kahn bbq rendition more red and less green chile flavors, larger pieces again somewhat more subdued. I consider this the #2 Boti in the area.

Chicken Shashlik. This is a hunter type chicken stew with tomatoes and peppers and is usually one of my favorite dishes at Bismillah (and not easy to find elsewhere). Our version was frankly a bit lackluster on Friday and wasn't as spicy or as hearty as usual. Perhaps I'm being paranoid but I can't help wondering if they might have downspiced it a bit for us. Still o.k. but somewhat disappointing.

We also had: Goat masala; Bindi (okra done with onions and cumin); chicken kofta(meatballs with a boiled egg garnish); Bihari kabob (somewhat granular in texture as GWIV pointed out, but at least nicely flavored and not overly mushy as it can sometimes be); a somewhat unusual white dal which jazzfood thought might contain barley...And last (and possibly least favorite)... baked (tandoor) fish.
The owners had recommended the fish ,and while it wasn't at all bad, I was still left with the feeling that the tandoor is just not the best way to cook fish. Oh well...


Rounding out the meal was a selection of better than average breads (including Tandoori nan. Chipati and "Nan Poori" (Deep fried nan),along with the usual garnishes and good house made green (hot and slightly sweet) and yogurt based sauces.

Like many restaurant meals, I think some enjoyed the food more than others. I know Phyllis and I had a great time.
Overall a meal which may have totaled out to be greater than the sum of it's plates, both because of the company and the fact that it came up as such an unexpected surprise on an otherwise dreary afternoon... and let's not overlook that it was also a tremendous bargain with a tab around $70 for the 7 of us (and that in spite of fiendishly excessive ordering )!

What a nice way to start the weekend (and celebrate beefathon eve). Thanks to all... (at the discretion of GWIV and cathy2 both of whom were observed to be wielding cameras during the meal...pictures may be forthcoming)

kuhdo wrote:What a nice way to start the weekend (and celebrate beefathon eve).

Kuhdo,
Our impromptu lunch was a nice way to start the weekend indeed. I had never been to Bismillah and was pleasantly surprised at the homey, comfortable feeling, a real family run atmosphere. In general I enjoyed the food, appreciating, in particular, the clear, distinct flavors. So often, and not just with Indo/Pak food, taste is diffused/muddled to the point where individual dishes/flavor run together.

In particular I liked the Bindi (okra), White Daal, Frontier Chicken and Mutton Biryani.

Bindi (Okra)


Frontier Chicken (foreground) Daal (back)


(Clockwise, starting on bottom left) Bihari Kabob, Chicken Shashlik, Bindi, Mutton Biryani.


Chicken Boti, was you mention, is quite good, though not quite up to Khan BBQ's Chicken Boti. Though the spicing is different enough to almost make direct comparison moot.

Bismillah Chicken Boti


Samosas, in particular the meat filled flaky samosa, were tasty.


I also enjoyed the made on the spot, as is typical, breads.



The only dish that really did not work for me was a special of Tandoor fish, catfish in this case. Chicken Kofta and Goat Masala fared quite a bit better.

(Clockwise starting bottom L) Goat Masala, Chicken Kofta w/hard boiled egg, Tandoor Baked Fish (catfish steaks)


I'll definitely be back with an eye on the daily specials.

Bismillah Friday Specials Menu


Bismillah


Enjoy,
Gary

Bismillah Restaurant
6301 North Ridge Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60660
773-973-6602

i'm just guessing, based on the photo gary posted- but didnt this place used to be a pretty decent gyros place??? justjoan

justjoan wrote:i'm just guessing, based on the photo gary posted- but didnt this place used to be a pretty decent gyros place??? justjoan

I dont think so - if it was, I dont remember it. This place used to be
"Blue Ribbon Restaurant" (named after the cab company). It may have
carried gyros (lots of Devon cabbie joints do), but it was mostly an
Indian-Pakistani food place, had eaten there a few times. I particularly
remember many years ago going there as a student, and finding some
interesting pricing In that, you could get a little kabab thing for
5 bucks... but you could also get that same kabab, plus 2 chapati's,
plus rice, *also* for 5 bucks And they didnt actually inform you of
it (maybe they presumed you already knew)... I discovered that part
by trial-and-error after a couple of visits

Anyway. Have been to Bismillah a couple of times, its a decent enough
spot IMHO. I dont find it particularly special, though - Ive tried their
mutton biryani special on Fridays (which came especially recd), and
while it was a pretty good biryani, I still thought it didnt match the
one at Usmaniya. Since the two spots are separated by perhaps
half a mile, the dishes are almost identically priced, and a to-go
order takes about the same amount of time at both, I usually just stick
with Usmaniya's Bismillah is a fairly solid place, though - the
frontier chicken was decent the one time I tried it too, in general you
can do much worse on Devon. However, I personally still go with Usmaniya
as my first-choice most times, with places like Khan's and Chopal
up there for specific dishes.

c8w

My first apartment was about 150 yards from Bismillah. This was in 1979 and the place was then called Mallo's, best know for nice, juicy, charcoal grilled burgers and hand cut fries. It's been through a number of iterations since. I still drive by the place about once a day at least on the way to work, etc. I will now stop in. Looks very good.

I've only been to Bismillah a couple of times. The first time around the table hot sauce - a thickish green tangy concontion - was fantastic. We asked for more to eat with our 'boti rolls (wraps). The boti itself was good though different from Khan's as GWiv notes. That sauce though, maybe it was that evening, but A2Fay and I still remember it.

sazerac wrote:I've only been to Bismillah a couple of times. The first time around the table hot sauce - a thickish green tangy concontion - was fantastic. We asked for more to eat with our 'boti rolls (wraps). The boti itself was good though different from Khan's as GWiv notes. That sauce though, maybe it was that evening, but A2Fay and I still remember it.

Not a fluke. I agree about the sauce. The hot/sweet balance is exceptionally good. It's been outstanding every time I've had it.

dan1234 wrote:My first apartment was about 150 yards from Bismillah. This was in 1979 and the place was then called Mallo's, best know for nice, juicy, charcoal grilled burgers and hand cut fries. It's been through a number of iterations since. I still drive by the place about once a day at least on the way to work, etc. I will now stop in. Looks very good.

mallo's is the place i was thinking about. i was sure i recognized the building and the approximate address.....but it was good burgers and fries, not gyros that i used to get there, thanks dan

kuhdo wrote:What a nice way to start the weekend (and celebrate beefathon eve). Thanks to all... (at the discretion of GWIV and cathy2 both of whom were observed to be wielding cameras during the meal...pictures may be forthcoming)

I was really taking a video clip of Bismillah's baker making naan.

Nice lunch with interesting conversation. Thanks for organizing it, kuhdo!

Regards,