geli wrote:Are Hyderabad House and/or Chopal at all vegetarian friendly? I have a friend who is my usual Indo/Pak food eating companion, and he doesn't eat meat of any kind. We both really love spicy food, though, and we're on a budget, so these two places sound really great. Any thoughts or recommendations of particular dishes?
Personally, I love lamb, but that just won't fly if we want to share food!
zim wrote:chopal has three veg items if I remember correctly, okra, dal, and sarsoon ki saag (described by Erik)
c8w wrote:For the veggie-meat mix, as you say Sizzle might be the way to go. Or Bhabi's
I suppose - Iam still not much of a Bhabi's guy, but they do carry a fair few
veggie options in addition to their meat (but if you want anything other
than bland food you pretty much have to ask for extra heat I'd guess -
mine has been bland the couple of times Ive tried it).
c8w
c8w wrote:Talked to a Pakistani a couple days ago who eats several meals a week on
Devon - he said he has been to Chopal 4 or 5 times, but wasnt overly
impressed, he still preferred Usmaniya etc. (Ive been only a couple times
myself).
zim wrote:I am definitely not a bhabi's guy, even for the much vaunted sarsoon ki saag. I liked the version I had at chopal much better.
c8w, what are your favorites at usmania? FWIW, i've never been all that wowed by their stuff. I ordered a frontier gosht, the other day but think I gota karhai gosht instead (takeout), and it didn't really do all that much for me.
c8w wrote:Talked to a Pakistani a couple days ago who eats several meals a week on
Devon - he said he has been to Chopal 4 or 5 times, but wasnt overly
impressed, he still preferred Usmaniya etc. (Ive been only a couple times
myself).
Vital Information wrote:Nor was I.
Met my parents there for dinner last night. As the prices are pretty low (for the decor!), we ordered a fair amount, but pretty much none of it satisfied. Bland breads, bland kebabs, bland soup (of course!), under-cooked chiken tikka, slightly off tasting goat, greasy shrimps (offered as low cal!), mushy beef, but the broccoli raab soupy-curry was pretty good. Of course, we failed to order the goat chaps. With so many other places on Da'Bomb, I'd be hard pressed to return.
ab wrote:zim wrote:I am definitely not a bhabi's guy, even for the much vaunted sarsoon ki saag. I liked the version I had at chopal much better.
c8w, what are your favorites at usmania? FWIW, i've never been all that wowed by their stuff. I ordered a frontier gosht, the other day but think I gota karhai gosht instead (takeout), and it didn't really do all that much for me.
not c8w, but...
The Chapli Kabobs are really outstanding at Usmania. It's the one dish there that I think completely stands out.
They make decent chai too.
I went to Chopal the other night.
Perhaps dishes not ordered would have been better than dishes ordered, but I just found the overall cooking to be not nearly as careful or as well executed as other places I've been to in the area, so with so many other choices, I would be hard pressed to return--although I am not sure any other places on Da'Bomb offer a complimentary bowl of drecky egg drop soup.
It's kinda the same way I feel about Bhabi's. A lot of people like it, but when I went, I was so underwhelmed, I would be hard pressed to want to return. On one hand, there are places I have liked: Sizzle India, Sabri Nehari, Udupi, Tahori Sweets, Kabbabish of London, Sukhadia, Kamdar, Khan BBQ; on the other hand, there are plenty of places I still need to try (or are always opening), say Ravi Kabob, that places like Chopal and Bhabi fall off the need to eat list.
Rob
c8w wrote:Its not egg-drop soup! Its sweet-corn-chicken-soup - and every Chinese meal in India *has* to start with sweet-corn-chicken-soup (wiht lots of soy-sauce and hot-sauce sprinkled in), its the Law. I was very pleased to find they served a complimentary version at the start of your Indian meal at Chopal (and they arent the only ones, the first one to do it was my old fave JK Kabab House - which is still very good for the dishes I eat there, anyway. And zim says Chopal is owned by the original founder of JK Kabab House, so I suppose the Sweet-Corn-Chicken-Soup tradition is a natural carry-over).
c8w
Vital Information wrote:Oh, believe me, on Saturday night it was egg drop soup. For one thing, I sure as hell know egg drop soup; for another, they specifically said, when asked, "it's egg drop soup." I have witnesses.
c8w wrote:I still havent made it to your Keralan takeout,
though I keep wanting to (every time I want to, I realize I dont have
the exact menu, or address, or phone-number - do you, BTW?
But what would your default go-to spot be, on Devon, nowadays?
rien wrote:I believe the Keralan you're referring to is Malabar:
c8w wrote:Actually, I was thinking about this the other day - what *would* you consider
your "go to" spot on Devon? I really dont know if Iam sure of one anymore.
(Not Sizzle so much for me - I prefer meat, and lots of it; Sizzle I'll go to
happily with veggie friends, but its not a destination I'd seek out). What else
really stands out? I used to like Sabri a lot, but its almost an identical menu
to Usmaniya and Ive come to think Usmaniya is better all around, on almost
every dish (except maybe the Nehari). There are a lot of places that
are decent - I like JK Kabab (esp for the chilli chicken, and the combo with
it), Chopal has a couple good dishes etc. I like the cabbie joints plenty
(some days are better than others). But overall, if Sabri was one of the
better choices, its turned into Usmaniya for me lately (for example, the
Usmaniya kabab platter might not be *great* all the way thru - some purely
kabab spots might do a better kabab, but they do the gravy-dishes poorly.
But Sabri's platter, when Ive ordered it, is invariably dry, Usmaniya is
a better overall choice than the kabab spots, and their kabbas are good
enough to pick them over Sabri etc). I havent been to Hema's in a while
(but a friend just went - he used to do Hema's 2-3 times a week about 5/6
years ago, it was very good homestyle food then; he couldnt believe
how badly its deteriorated in his opinion).
c8w
rien wrote:c8w wrote:I still havent made it to your Keralan takeout,
though I keep wanting to (every time I want to, I realize I dont have
the exact menu, or address, or phone-number - do you, BTW?
But what would your default go-to spot be, on Devon, nowadays?
I believe the Keralan you're referring to is Malabar:
3519 West Montrose Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
773-588-0304
To order ahead you need to order a lot. Though I can't remember what the exact benchmark is, it's food for at least 10 or more. For walk ins they have a rotating list of items, a bit different on every weekend with some staples. If you walk in they have their offerings on a chalkboard - whiteboard to the right of the door. They don't get many walk ins so the door may sport a "closed" sign though they are inside busily cooking. I advise trying the door, knocking or calling if it's during the hours that they are supposed to be open. And offer a greeting to the anomalous statue of a chef in his toque standing in the window.
rien
c8w wrote:
Actually, I was thinking about this the other day - what *would* you consider
your "go to" spot on Devon? I really dont know if Iam sure of one anymore.
c8w
Vital Information wrote:Oh, believe me, on Saturday night it was egg drop soup.
Vital Information wrote:Oh, believe me, on Saturday night it was egg drop soup.
Rob,
Agreed, egg drop soup, at least when I was there for lunch earlier in the week. More accurately, chicken flavored corn starch soup with strands of egg, not very good, though I did like the cup of jalapeno laced vinegar Chopal served as a condiment for the soup.
Speaking of condiments, table sauces were very good, especially the date, which had an nice heat level. I also very much liked the Sarsoo Ka Soog, Frontier chicken and breads. Veal T-Bone was flavorful with a nice crust of spice, but overdone and, while the Bihari kabab's flavor/spice was very good, it was over marinated to a point verging on meat jello.
Service was good, our hostess hailed from Mississippi, and Chopal is certainly 'interesting' from a decor standpoint, though the chairs are very uncomfortable for us 'husky' fellows.
All in all I enjoyed Chopal, though nothing really 'popped' for me. I'd most certainly go
back, but doubt I'll be driving down Devon and suddenly have the urge for something specific at Chopal, like Frontier chicken at Ghareeb Nawaz, Brains Masala at Shan, Paya or Mutton Biryani at Usmania, Nehari or Charga Chicken at Sabri Nehari or Langan Chicken at Hyderabad House, just to mention a few Devon Avenue favorites.
Enjoy,
Gary
Chopal Kabab
2240 W Devon
Chicago, Il
773-338-4080
Usmania
2253 W Devon
Chicago, Il 60659
773-262-1900
c8w wrote:
The last time at Chopal, had their chilly chicken. Zim was right, it was
very very good - the best version of the dish Ive had on Devon. It was
one of my favourite dishes anyway, at JK Kabab House - but this was
better, was really excellent. However it has a nicely high level of heat, so
those who dont appreciate that should be warned.
c8w
c8w wrote: Thus, he managed a
direct head-to-head sarson-ka-saag taste test (though carryout style).
His report - the Chopal sarson-ka-saag, in his view, was much the
superior, more complex spices, better tasting all around etc.
c8w
c8w wrote:BTW, both the above spots now have their own parking - a huge bonus if
one ever ventures to Devon on a weekend. There used to be a
grocery store with a small parking lot opposite Usmaniya - the store is
now gone, and there is a sign claiming "Parking for Usmaniya Management
only" in the parking lot. However, it actually is parking for Usmaniya
*customers* - so said the guy at the counter at Usmaniya, when I asked.
And the guy at the counter at Chopal told me (post meal, unfortunately)
that they have their own parking for customers behind the restaurant in the alley - only about a half-dozen spots, but manna from heaven when one can spend a half hour hunting for a spot on a weekend evening.
c8w
We decided to put our lunch in Naseer, the owner's, capable hands and ended up with a real feast. including Lamb Biryani, Punjabi Mutton Curry, Chicken Fry, Dum Ka Chicken, Dum Ka Khema, Lamb Kotmir Gosh, Mutton Khorma and Dahiki Kadi (wheat gluten curry.) The majority of our meal has been pictured earlier in this thread, though the Dahiki Kadi was new to me, and quite delicious.
We ended our meal with two desserts, both in served in small bowls. Dabel, which was similar to sweet, thick, sticky bread pudding, and Quar Bani, sweetened apricots topped with a dollop of whipped cream. I took pictures of the two desserts, but, unfortunately, they did not turn out well.
All in all a great meal, both company and culinary wise. Not to mention a hell of a deal, as we had a (fairly) large meal, some dishes we doubled up on, along with rice, veggies, multiple sodas, tea, paratas, in a casual, but spotless, friendly restaurant all for $13 per person including tax and tip.
Gary wrote:Dabel, which was similar to sweet, thick, sticky bread pudding
[/quote]Cathy2 wrote:Gary wrote:Dabel, which was similar to sweet, thick, sticky bread pudding
This dessert was very much like (American) Indian Pudding made with cornmeal. I have no idea with what the Dabel was made with, though it was sweet, dark, thick and filling. Does anybody know anything about this dessert?
Regards,
[/quote]Cathy2 wrote:Gary wrote:Dabel, which was similar to sweet, thick, sticky bread pudding
This dessert was very much like (American) Indian Pudding made with cornmeal. I have no idea with what the Dabel was made with, though it was sweet, dark, thick and filling. Does anybody know anything about this dessert?
Regards,
c8w wrote:The above new item, BTW, is "Dahi ki kadi" - dahi is
basically yougurt (and kadi is the Indianized spelling of curry . To me this dish
ought to be quite yellow in color, and HH's isnt quite there, really.
c8w wrote:Sheesh. That definitely qualifies as a "fairly large" meal - I didnt think it was
possible to spend 13 bucks per person at HH Basically, you can purchase
an actual meal at HH, just as at Daata - 2 rotis (or parathas, which take longer
but which I prefer), rice, one entree and daal on the side (this is the
standard purchase of most cabbies - in fact, some of them do the "monthly
meal plan", which is somewhat discounted IIRC). This meal costs 6 bucks at Daata
(and, IIRC, 6.50 at HH>) and is a pretty decent-sized quantity of food. You guys,
effectively, had *2* meals apiece, living up to the grand tradition of LTH
c8w