Chicago Foodies

TVP: Textured Vegetable Protein

Who says eating healthy is expensive. TVP is the great equalizer. The problem is where to get it? Dominick's may have it but nobody seems to know what it is. The Devon Market? Of course they have it. I  was on hold listening to Ambrosia's "That's How Much" while they found it. It's 14oz of Soy Salud, "Textured Soy Strips" for $3.99  which hydrates to 3-4 pounds?  It's the most cost effective substitute out there. You read online about it and unfortunately get sci-fi descriptions...

Uru-Swati: New Vegetarian Indian on Devon

Uru-Swati opened up a few months ago at 2629 Devon. It's all vegetarian and really tasty. I was there in the afternoon for a late lunch and enjoyed the waiter's willingness to explain everything on the menu. I ended up ordering the Tadka Dal and the Alu Jeera and the pre-req samosa to start.

Viet Bistro

There's always something fun about going to a new restaurant. I'm always hoping it will be something new and when the place is 3 blocks walking distance all the better. Viet Bistro is a new restaurant just off Broadway on Devon from the owners of Pasteur, a really nice French-Vietnamese restaurant on north Broadway. Viet is their bistro. Entrees are priced from $8 for veggie options to $18 for a whole red snapper that was recommended but not tried.

Sabri Nehari - Reopened

That was quick. A bare 2 months after a fire and Sabri is back in business across the street. The dishes are just as good and the restaurant, while smaller, is comfortable. The nehari was better than I remember and tastes of dal, sabri chicken, frontier chicken, lamb kebobs and the wonderful chicken makhani all reminded me why I keep talking about this place.
2502 W. Devon
773-743-6200

First Review 10/17/05
Second Review 7/11/06 
Third Review 10/31/06

Sabri Nehari: Kunnah Paya

* Sabri is recovering from a fire late November. They are not currently open.

My entertainment book coupon expires on November first. I went to Sabri Nehari this evening. When push comes to shove and you have several expiring coupons you can tell where your allegiences lie. I thought what could be better than Nehari and chicken makhni? I mean it's basically orange and black. How festive!

A casual flip through the menu brought me to a curiousity. A sticker was stuck in between 2 printed entree options that read Kunnah Paya. No description. So I asked and the waiter's eyes literally brightened. He explained it as like nehari but better. He said that definitively. What was I to do?

Indian Gourmet

One of the perks we envisioned upon moving to Edgewater was the proximity to Devon and all of the Indian and Pakistani restaurants that we'd be able to order delivery from.  Shortly after we moved in we went to Devon and started collecting menus from our favorite places, as well as from those on our list of places to try.  Unfortunately, to our great disappointment, none of them would deliver.  They claimed it wouldn't taste as good.

Sabri Nehari– Devon Avenue Favorite

It's usual for some people to order the same thing everytime they go to a restaurant. I ususally try new things, especially when it comes to ethnic foods. However this last time at Sabri I had the perfect meal. Again.

We ordered three things, veggie samosas, nehari and chicken makhani. They are the tastiest things I've eaten from any restaurant offering Indian or Pakistani foods. It may be the tastiest meal in Chicago at the moment. Suffice to say I had a meal that cost 500% more last week and while they're literally half a world apart and figuratively further, I can say that Sabri Nehari offers food that flat out owns Devon avenue. That's high praise.

Arya Bhavan

Arya Bhavan is a small vegeterian Indian spot on Devon. I had a coupon which got sucked into my dashboard but went anyway. We've been impressed before at Udupi Palace (until the incident) and unimpressed by Annapurna's take on fast food veggie Indian. I was excited to potentially have a good veggie spot to mention on Devon.

Viceroy of India

I won't lie. I had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon. Viceroy is across the street from Sabri Nehari. It's tough not to go to Sabri Nehari. Viceroy actually has two parts, a takeout buffet side and a sit down, white tablecloth dining room. It was a good thing that we had the coupon too. The prices start at $8.95 an entree for the vegeterian dishes all the way to $17.95 for specialties.

If you've read more than a couple of the Indian restaurant posts you won't be surprised that we ordered chicken tikka masala. My wife uses it as a measuring stick the same way she orders panang chicken at Thai places. In addition to the tikka we got an order of Rogan Josh. The surprise is that my wife ate all the Rogan Josh and took home the tikka. I was shocked. The tikka was really good on top of it all. The chicken had a distinct tandoori flavor which I thought added lots to a dish that I've always liked.

Ghareeb Nawaz - Awesome Cheap Eats!

Ghareeb Nawaz literally means "sustainer of the poor." In the search for good cheap eats that's a good sign. It's just West of Ridge on Devon and there's usually a line waiting for nan. It's basically a Pakistani taqueria. The food's great and cheap but the trade-off is the dining room. For take-out it can't be beat. Instead of dropping $50 for dinner further West on Devon, $15 is more than enough to splurge for dinner... for four.

Brunch at Tahoora

Tahoora, on Devon, is part restaurant and part bakery. While waiting for breakfast I scored a couple of sweets that were basically really sweet, wet donut holes they were either gulab jamun or very similar. Although I've never had it served without the bowl of sugary rosewater.

Halva Puri is a breakfast dish made from semolina, sugar, fruit and ghee. When you order it you get a styrofoam tray molded into 5 portions, T.V. dinner style. All in all you get spicy chickpeas, a potato dish, yogurt and tomato sauce, hot sauce and the halva puri.

Thai Spice

Thai Spice is an unassuming restaurant on the north side of Devon just east of Clark. It was empty when we walked in. The owner and an employee were sitting down for dinner. A couple of police walked in. Someone came in for take-out. Otherwise it stayed empty. They have been in business for quite some time and it was a Wednesday evening.

Sabri Nehari

A sure way to empathize with people is to share their food. It brings a uniqueness to a culture that is palpable, a sensory connection that helps with an understanding of what a place may be like.

I have been waiting to review Sabri Nehari for several months and ended up eating there a week before the earthquake in Pakistan. I ate there this past weekend again. The food is terrific.

Usmania

Our old favorite restaurant, Lucky Kebob, is the reason Pakistani food has become a comfort food. While my platemate has a huge thing for chicken tikka masala (note the similarities to her thing for panang chicken) she enjoys the differences of Pakistani food versus Indian.

Usmania is on Devon east of Western. The differences that I have seen might be more in reference to the restaurants I've been to as opposed to cultural cuisine specifics. I've noticed that Indian food is more dairy oriented than Pakistani and Pakistani food is more grill related than Indian. I've also noticed that there is a tremendous menu crossover in most places as well as a significant amount of vegetarian dishes in both.

Blue Elephant

Blue Elephant has been on the border between Roger's Park and Edgewater for about a year (1235 W. Devon Ave). As of late Indie Cafe has been getting lots of props. They both blend Thai with other Asian foods.

I'll confess I am a Thai Pastry fan that has never been to Arun's. I will have to go back to confirm this but I found Blue Elephant's panang better than any I've had in a long time and I eat panang often. It was creamy but not too creamy, spicy but not too spicy, sweet but not too sweet... The ingredients were fresh and not overcooked.

Annapurna

Annapurna, a vegetarian quick food spot, 2608 W. Devon, was recommended by a friendly cabbie after I asked him about the demise of Lucky Kabob and Nehari House. I went expecting a possible surrogate for my Pakistani habit. As someone who is challenged by dairy I'm more Pakistani food friendly as it uses more oil and less dairy. With $4 in quarters in my pocket I was set.

Argo Georgian Bakery

Argo Georgian Bakery (2812 W. Devon Ave.) had been on my list of bakeries to visit for months. On a particularly gorgeous day last weekend my friend Harold and I drove up to Devon to try it out. We entered into a small and sparsely decorated shop with tiled floors and a large, earthen domed oven directly ahead of us.

In our usual fashion we indecisively loitered around the counter until eventually deciding on a spinach pie, a honey and walnut pie (tapluna), a hachapuri (mozzarella, farm cheese, and feta cheese pie, pictured), a Georgian round bread (puri), and a long bread (shoti).  We sat down in one of the few sets of small tables along the wall and dug in to our first three offerings.  The spinach pie was simple and hearty, served cool.  I thought it could have used a bit of seasoning or simply some salt, but otherwise it was quite tasty.  The tapluna was a sweet roll of pastry, covered in powdered sugar, and filled with a sweet and nutty filling.  This was also lovely, though perhaps a bit too sweet for my tastes.