User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.0 (PPC) Message-ID: Lines: 65 X-Trace: X-Abuse-Info: Please forward ALL headers when reporting abuse. X-Complaints-To: [email removed] NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 09:06:29 PDT Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 11:06:28 -0500 Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:10725 It was a beautiful day yesterday and my bike seemed to want to go westward rather than anywhere near Devon. Devon Avenue is a tremendous asset for us Chicagoans, and I appreciate it immensely, but sometimes I get tired of the same old scenery. So I rode to Oak Park and had lunch at Kyhber Pass. The $6.95 lunch buffet (until 3:00 pm) included about 5 or six entree choices. One or two chicken one lamb dish, which I ignored of course, excellent samosa and pakora, a nice mixed salad the usual minimal chutney/raita choices, a nice non-greasy rice and two awesome desserts. Mango ice cream and kheer, both of which are the best I've had in town since Govinda's closed. A waiter brought fresh nan and the usual disgusting red chicken to the table. Khyber Pass loses major points in my book for not asking before bringing the slain animal parts to my table. How hard is it to ask? Why assume that anyone would want to eat a fellow creature. I can barely comprehend living in this world sometimes. But I digress. One visit is insufficent to pass judgement on a buffet. It may be better tomorrow. Furthermore, the last hour of a buffet can also be dicey - who knows how long some of that stuff was sitting there on the steam table? Also, Khyber Pass may be planning their buffets with a carnivorous market in mind - that is, perhaps their best efforts are spent on the lamb and chicken dishes, upon which I cannot comment. The vegetable choices were, uh, a bit monochromatic. A cabbage dish, a chickpea thing and a mixed veg all had a similar watery tomatoey flavor and consistency. A sag or mutar paneer would have been nice to break up both the visual and gustatory tedium. I dunno - maybe it is a northern thing? That would explain the emphasis on meat, the lack of coconut sauces, the abundance of spuds and bread. Fortunately the food did not have the greasy quality typical of northern and Pakistani cuisine. Unfortunately Kyhber Pass is not free from what I call "Tushar's Lament" - that is, bizzare and inconsistent service. After I was seated, I was completely ignored for five minutes or so - which could be understandable, except the place was not at all busy at 2:00 pm. There were more waiters than tables of patrons at that time. Then during the meal, once the segments of decaying bird carcass were removed from my table, the service was great - that is, my water glass was never empty. And then at the end of the meal, I was again ignored until I couldn't take it anymore and just went up to the register to pay. (I know that sometimes that is just how it works). Kyhber Pass appears appears to be a nice place. Paintings and photos of the Kyhber Pass adorn the walls. It's kind of cool for an ethnic joint to serve as a bit of a museum. I like that. I suppose it is more practical in Oak Park, where I imagine the clientele is a bit more whitebread than say, the customers on Devon. A gift shop too - why not? The dining room appeared spotless - almost pristine and the air was free of the choking bbq smoke that sometimes pervades a restaurant of this type. The decor was a bit over the top, but pretty much tasteful. I could imagine bringing a date there and then catching a movie across the street. They had a wine list even. I withhold a final judgement until I try it again. Nothing was spicey enough for me - and there were no peppers or spicey pickle condiments to give a person the option of spicing it up herself. Nonetheless, I will go back for sure, if nothing else for the desserts. Yum. Perhaps others would like to fill the rest of us in on the quality of the meat dishes? Kyhber Pass 1031 Lake St Oak Park 708 445 9032 open 7 days a week Article 4344 of uk.food+drink.indian:
Toronto, Canada