Baba's! was Re: Indian food in Loop?

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Someone wrote:

> Tony,
>
> I noticed it by chance while driving. Have never been there.
> Let us know your review. (I have visited the Devon branch of
> Indian Garden several times and do like it. So this one should
> be good too.)
>
> Isn't there a fancier Indian restaurant very close to Baba's? The
> name slips off my mind this moment but I am sure I'll recall it
> soon.
>
> Anil
>
> >Indian Garden
> >247 E. Ontario St., Chicago, (312) 280-4910.
> >Indian/Pakistani. Lunch, dinner: seven days.
> >..
> >I am so THERE soon - I'll try to report back to the group. But I still
> >have not even been to Baba, which is even less of a walk from my
> >office...
> >
> >Thanks for the tip Anil! I did not even know that this place existed.

I did know that Baba's Place existed. Finding it was another thing. At first I wondered why it is not even listed in the Chicago Reader Restaurant Finder database. Now that I have eaten there, I have a theory"

It is far too cool to be listed in the Reader. Keep the suburanites and the Trixies of all genders out! I am thankful.  The place was packed even at 1:30 pm - long after most of the loop area eateries are desolate from the after rush hour lunch.

I would not reccomend Baba's Place for a first date. It is charming, but in a rustic, old country way that may turn off those who have become used to certain western "standards".  There were no women there at all.

The menu is small, and changes daily. Today it featured a Fish Bake, several chicken dishes, something called "Gosht" and Dall (which they spell with two Ls, for some reason.)

Anyway, the only vegetarian item on the menu was the Dall so that's what I had. It was great. It shared a certain rare and beautiful quality with the two slabs of enormous Nann that accompanied it: it was really yummy and yet it seemed healthy. I usually brace myself for an overabundance of "oil" at Indian and Pakistani joints - yet here was some very good food which did not take the easy route of flavor through fat  - or even salt for that matter - (another ingredient that seems all too overdone in that genre of cuisine.)

My only complaint is the paucity of other vegetarian items on the menu. I suppose the percentage is not so bad - one out of seven items is vegetarian. But when there are only seven items on the menu - well, you get my point I am sure.

Baba's Place
233 W Hubbard (no signage)

Bonus feature: a mosque upstairs!

Ok then - with that out of the way - I will try to get to the India Garden on Ontario soon and share my findings.

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Tony A. wrote:

> I did know that Baba's Place existed.   <snip>

> It was great.    <snip>

> My only complaint is the paucity of other vegetarian items on the menu.
> <snip>

>
>

Glad you liked Babas. It is a great little place, though clearly not for everyone. As Anil mentioned earlier, there are several other similar places in the vicinity you might want to try. All in all, I think Babas is the best of the bunch but each is probably worth a visit. I believe Zaiqa and Daavat may have a slightly larger vegetarian selection than Babas.

Below I repost some comments on Babas, Daavat, Zaiqa, and Larosh from about a year and a half ago. If you already read these, dont waste your time; theres not much new here.

I love the slightly seedy places that serve good food. The Pakistani/Indian taxi driver hangouts score very high on both counts. They're among my current favorites. All in all, a number of restaurants on Devon may offer better food in nicer surroundings and the lunchtime buffets are usually a very good value. These cabbie places often serve surprisingly good food at even lower prices though the atmosphere may not be to everyone's liking.

These places are all somewhat similar. The clientele is almost exclusively Pakistani or Indian male taxi drivers. They are real bare-bones operations with virtually no decor. Some are not particularly clean, particularly the bathrooms. The food generally is quite good, often extremely good, but more "home-cooking" than elegant presentations. It often puts the food at the upscale Indian places, Gaylord for example, to shame. The price is right: it seems whatever you want it's six bucks. No alcohol is served. None of them have air conditioning but all have fans; depending on the weather the rooms can be pretty warm. Atmosphere is generally friendly if you're comfortable with the spartan surroundings. Even though I'm clearly an outsider I'm treated very well. Many languages are spoken but English is always understood. They're not for everyone but spots like these are one of the things that, to me, make living in Chicago worthwhile.

Just a few blocks west of Vong and Brasserie Jo is a completely different world: Baba's is a classic Chicago Pakistani cab driver hangout. The parking lot next door is filled with taxis and the entryway is full of signs offering medallions and/or taxis for sale. Absolutely no decor but there's a counter in front selling the essentials--lots of cigarettes and phone cards and there's a Coke machine. There are some tables and a few counter seats and an old big-screen TV playing Indian movies (there's a sign taped to it reading "Please turn off TV during prayers time").

You place your order at the little window in back. There are about 10 choices listed on a board near the window and everything's $6 ($4 for breakfast or small orders). Aloo kofta, mutton biryani, chicken tikka, chana masala, frontier chicken, and others. Take as much raita, sliced jalapenos, onions, and lime as you want from the tubs and grab a pitcher of water (you'll probably need it, it can be hotter than hell in there and the fans don't help all that much). The frontier chicken was a very large plate of small chicken morsels in a thin reddish sauce. Meat quality (and quantity) was surprisingly high--not a trace of skin, bone, or sinew. Sauce was very nice--very flavorful but not overly spicy and without excessive oil. A lamb dish (can't remember the name) had meat on the bone and was a bit oily but very good. Daal was good, very heavy on the cumin. Mixed vegetables, mostly potato, were good and spicy hot. Two huge oval naans come with full orders. These are your eating utensils (best to use only right hand, wash at the sink outside the kitchen before eating). A dessert of kheer (rice pudding) was pretty good despite a thick skin on top. Tea with milk is also included if you ask for it. Add about 10 or 15 spoons of sugar and you'll fit right in.

Baba's Place
223 W Hubbard
Chicago
312-329-9499
always open

Daavat, nestled up against the east side of Cabrini-Green, is roughly similar to Baba's although the food is displayed on a steam table, cafeteria style. Same zero decor ambiance. Well maybe not quite zero, Daavat actually has a single small picture of a mosque pinned to the wall. No menu, no prices posted but it's the same basic $6 for a generous plate with all the trimmings. I opted for the mutton with a taste of all the veggie dishes. Again, the meat was surprisingly good though the sauce was pretty oily but very tasty. The vegetables (including a potato dish, saag, and dal) were all quite good with the chana masala being exceptionally nice. A very large, fresh, hot naan came along (you can also get chapattis or rice; samosas and some other fried thing are also on display). An extra plate of onion, jalapenos, and limes is supplied if you ask. They had desserts, gulab jamun and some cake-thing, sitting there but I didn't try them. Tea is very strong. Cans of evaporated milk and many sugar dispensers are at the end of the counter so you can try to disguise the taste as best you can. A bunch of formica tables are in the middle of the long room and there are a couple of pool tables in the back.

Daavat
211 W Walton (may be a little tricky to find but if you turn west from Wells it's easy) Chicago 312-335-8185 closes at 2AM

Zaiqa is a bit more restaurant-like than the others. Sure, it has a pack of taxis outside, the cigarette counter by the door, and a couple of pool tables. But it actually has some decoration and a rather pleasant funky atmosphere. The main room has maybe 10 old leatherette booths and a small steam table toward the back. There's even a menu of sorts on the wall but it has little relationship to what's available and much of it isn't in English. Just take a look, ask questions, and see what looks good.

The full plate is--surprise!--$6 and small orders are $4. About 3 meat dishes and 4 veggie ones. I asked for a combination of all the veg dishes and was presented with a staggering amount of food, on 6 medium-sized plates, enough for at least 2 hungry people. It was almost embarrassing hauling all that food over to my table (took 2 trips with a tray). Luckily I have a good appetite and had barely eaten that day but still wasn't able to finish it all. They charged me $8. If you go the combo route I'd strongly advise you to make it clear you want a $6 plate. Everything was very tasty though there weren't the standout dishes as at Baba's or Daavat. Halfway-decent strong tea with milk; sugar is on the table. They had a couple of desserts, including the ubiquitous gulab jamun soaking in their syrup, but even the thought of them made my stomach hurt.

I like the atmosphere quite a bit. It's an old room with some brick walls and nice brass chandeliers and a weird gridwork on the ceiling decorated with colored light bulbs. It's connected to another room by a narrow hallway that has the bathrooms and a bank of pay phones. Two pool tables, always in use, and some pinball machines are over there. This might make a good choice for a first stop. If you don't like Zaiqa, my guess is that you'll like Baba's, Daavat, and Larosh even less.

Zaiqa
858 N Orleans
Chicago
312-280-6807
always open

Larosh is under the L on a dark block of Lake Street right next door to an establishment called the Leatherneck Bar (their logo includes a drawing of handcuffs). Above Larosh's door is a primitive hand-painted sign that I like a lot.

The basement room has some formica tables, some counter seats, a huge TV playing Indian movies on Zee TV, and a pool table. Tacky fake flowers decorate the walls and tables. There's a kitchen in back and a counter where you place your order. Same basic $6 for a full meal ($5 for a veg meal) but note that tea is not included. Unlike the other places it was almost deserted at 10PM on a weekday night. The guy at the counter was very friendly and helpful and seemed concerned that the mutton might be too spicy for me (it wasn't). Along with mutton came naan, rice, dal, salad, mango pickle, and raita. The mutton came in a thick, spicy, oily sauce but unfortunately the meat had a significant amount of bone (some in dangerously small shards) and gristle. Naan was stale and straight from the microwave. Ditto for the rice. Dal was pretty good, flavored with roasted cumin. Salad was some tired iceberg lettuce and onion slices. The pickle and raita were fine but standard.

It turns out that the place now closes at 11 so I was one of the day's last customers. It used to be open much later but they lost their lease on the parking lot across the street. Because easy parking is essential to these businesses, I think Larosh is suffering. I almost got the impression that they're just going through the motions until the lease on the restaurant runs out too. I would only recommend Larosh to those interested in "completing the cycle" of the Pakistani cabbie places.

New Larosh Restaurant
209 W Lake St
Chicago
312-263-9540
closes at 11PM

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Complicated M. wrote:
>..
>The biryani was sort of indifferent ... no challenge to SHAN!

The only place I know on Devon whose biryani can challenge Shan is "Ghareeb Nawaz".

Anil