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Folks, i'll say it again

if you're on devon, get the chicken boti at khan's bbq, best kabob on the street, and if you happen to be there on a bustling hot summerish night, it's probably the place that feels most like a dhaba somewhere in the indian or pakistani heartland

let me be clear - not the tandoori chicken, not the frontier chicken - the chicken boti.

Unfortunately, I don't have digital pics or better yet smell-o-vision to induce folks to go, but if I did, you'd want a bite right now

Zim,

Khan Barbeque Restaurant
2262 West Devon Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659
773-274-8600
Hours: 10:30 AM - 10:30 PM

What you have posted sounds very, very intriguing. Are there any sides one should order to go with this?

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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No its not - the menu Iam looking at claims its open from 10am to 12pm.
This is probably accurate - I had asked them, IIRC, if they opened very
early (they have some good looking breakfast items on the menu), and they
had said they didnt. I once tried stopping by on a weekend breakfast
attempt (instead of goign to Tahoora for their veggie Halwa-Puri breakfast, I
wanted some good non-veggie nehari for breakfast if at all possible)... this was
at about 9am, and it wasnt open then. So, 10 might well be their opening
time.

I have not had Zim's experience, but thats a situational thing I think. He was
probably there this weekend, when it was busy and on a hot summer day,
and it probably did feel like a dhaba with what sounds like an outstanding
dish.

I was last at Khan's on a weekday, just after 5pm. It was cold, and there was
hardly anyone there - thus it didnt feel like a dhaba at all. Had some kabab
roll type thing, and it was relatively unmemorable to me (also, there were
no good smells - obviously because there was no crowd, and so basically
nothing had been cooking for a while; just after 5pm on a weekday is
probably a bad time to go there). It didnt seem like it had just opened - there
was one table with stuff sittign on it that hadnt been removed, and the
grill-guy seemed like he was bored, been there was a while, just hanging
around with not much to do at the time.

Also, BTW, the menu I picked up was my last visit - that was maybe a
couple of months ago? Looking at my menu, it says : Tandoori Chicken,
Steam Chicken, Fried Chicken, Braost Chicken (their spelliing - maybe they
mean Broast? Or maybe its just Chicken Breast, dunno , Frontear
Chicken (ok, maybe they did mean Broast), Frontier Beef, Bihari Kabab,
Sheekh Kabab, Fried Fish, Chapli Kabab, Fish Curry. Thats it, for the
grilled items - and 3 are offered in rolls.

Thus, maybe when I actually last went to Khan's (unless their menu was
wrong, as is very possible)... they maybe didnt have the Chicken Boti
at all? Or maybe its just a weekend dish? At any rate, I didnt know (or
remember) that it was the standout dish to try - thanks to Zim I do now,
and on my next trip to Devon that will be *the* dish I stop for, for my next
Devon meal.

c8w

P.S. I can see from the menu, if its at all accurate, why it would be a pretty
solid draw over the weekend for meat-eating customers. Nehari, paya,
Haleem, biryani, several kababs etc.I try and stay away from Devon on
weekends as much as possible, usually, except early mornings or later
evenings - but maybe this would be worth making an exception for (unless,
of course, they really are open till 12pm - in which case it would be a great
place to stop at late instead of the cabbie joints).

I love the oddly inserted western menu items, though I would never eat them. One think I like about their sign is that it lists nihari, chapli kabob, shashylk, a couple other kabobs and then in the bottom right "club sandwich"

anyway, c8w's right on the hours 10-12. I was there this sunday ~bout 8:30 or so, and it was bustling, full of smoky good smells.

I don't think the takeout menu lists all the the items they have there - I have a takeout menu from there as well which doesn't (blue trifold). it is however on the doublesided laminated menus near the front counter.

in terms of side dishes, I stick to meat there, and for that matter the dry meat dishes and the occasional nan (which is ok, not exceptional). Aside from the boti, I think the bihari kabob is pretty good and the tandoori fish.

Though Rob in this thread singled out the greens.

If i want greens I'll get the sarson ka saag at chopal instead.

I have only their pickup menu - that doesnt have the club sandwich listed at
all. It is, however, one of the most mis-spelt menus Ive seen in a while...
(Braost Chicken, Frontear Chicken, Oakra, Alo Gobi - its almost always
Aloo surely -, both Dal and Dall on the same menu, Pilao, both Chana
and Channa, and Vandaloo. And I dont even mention the usual "omlet" and
things of that nature



Actually, I belive Iam not. Phoned the place and asked them - they didnt seem to
be hearing me very well for some reason, but the indication I got was that
the Chicken Boti might actually be a regular item on their menu, that it was
(I think) about 6.50, and that theyre closing at 10:30 tonight, at any
rate




Hm ok. I might have an even older one - mine is a green trifold. But the impression
I got from my phonecall is that youre right, it *is* a regular item on their
menu.




Second-hand impressions Ive gotten of this dish (primarily from a taste
test by an uncle picking up both Bhabi's and Chopal's sarson ka saag
on the same day) confirms the above - that the Chopal Sarson might be
one of the best around on Devon. Me, I see little reason to switch to a
different item than Chilli Chicken there, its one of the best dishes on
Devon, probably.

c8w

Zim,

Motivated by your Khan's Chicken Boti post, I found myself at Khan's for lunch. I agree, the Chicken Boti is terrific. Crisp, tender, juicy, flavorful, spicy, though not overly hot in a chile pepper sense. A perfect match for the excellent naan and accompanying sauce.

Thank's for posting the recommendation.

Kahn's Chicken Boti




Naan


Rice


Khan's BBQ Menu (Front). Please note address on menu is incorrect.


Khan's BBQ Menu (Back)


Khan's BBQ


Oh, and yes, Khan's smelled really good.

Enjoy,
Gary

Khan B.B.Q
2401 W Devon
Chicago, IL 60645
773-338-2800

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Hi,

I was motivated by the same and arrived at 10:15 this evening. I even have photos as proof!

I came late enough they asked that I not eat on the premises because they were closing at 10:30. So I ordered the Chicken Boti, onion naan, onion roti and a salt Lassi to drink while I waited. I guess the way had already been paved for eccentric people wearing black, I had a black knit shirt, wanting to photograph food.

While I waited, Mr. Khan brought out a dish of Frontier Chicken for me to taste. When I wanted to photograph it, he took it away to add more chicken so it would be a pleasing photograph. Once the formalities were over I tasted the Frontier Chicken, which was teetering on the high water mark of my spice tolerance. Since Mr. Khan looked so expectant, I used my best acting skills to indicate this was my normal level of spicy heat.

Chicken Frontier


Mr. Khan took the Frontier Chicken and dropped it onto the griddle along with a large mound of rice. He cooked them together, then arranged them on the plate and placed in front of me. This was now Frontier Chicken Rice, which was really just a bit easier for me to eat.

I asked him if he had many taxi driver customers. He affirmed then said he really had more families. When I had walked in there was a family grouping of eight people along with several school age children eating and conversing pleasantly. He apologized for not allowing me to eat but he really wanted to go home. He commented he is there daily for 12+ hours and doesn’t see his family enough. When he comes home, they are all asleep. He sees them principally at breakfast and taking the kids to school. We agreed you will never regret on your deathbed spending more time at work, but you will feel the loss of not spending more time with family.

Mr. Khan


When my food was ready, it was arranged, photographed and packed. Since Gary did the honors before me, I will tell you my food looked just as good as his. Mr. Khan did indicate he is looking for a larger space, so there is the potential he may be on the move.

Clearly Zim, you made quite an attractive post to get at least two people motivated. I am still struggling to understand the dhaba concept, but I will return again soon during a more heavier trafficked period to understand better. As it was, I had my usual parking Karma in front which took all my excuses away.

Thanks for the enthusiastic post today.

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Wonder what Zim did that ab and EC did not

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I was wondering the same thing.

For those planning a visit soon, the chicken boti is excellent, but I'd highly recommend adding the excellent sikh kebabs or bihari kebabs to your order for a little red meat. Khan's really has a knack for spice balance and natural grill/oven flavors that come through in every dish.

Thanks for the pics.

Best,
Michael / EC

Rob,

Zim unequivocally stating Khan's Chicken Boti is the "best kabob on the street" seemed pretty hard to resist.

Enjoy,
Gary

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

yeah, I was little less subtle this time, after all I had posted on the boti a couple times before. I think what motivated me was in the past I've highlighted a place for a couple specific dishes and folks have gone, had something else and come away unimpressed

sorry 'bout the confusion on times.

Though I understand c8w's practice of avoiding devon on the weekend, especially in light of what a pain in the a** it's become to park, This past weekend, I visited twice and it was buzzing, people gathering around coconut juice/cream vendors, women in saris eating kulfi as they strode, families shopping, and I really enjoyed the people watching/scene as much as the food.

If Khan's were located in one of the highway oases - it would almost complete the dhaba-ness (it would help if it were open all night)

My concept of dhaba - please correct
Suppose you had been driving six hours, it was 2am and you still had five hundred miles to go. You pull up to the 'oasis' and it has a spot like Khan's. What heaven would be the synergy of the smells and moment! And when the food came it would not only rejuvenate but comfort and energize you to finish your journey. Even make you feel like making the trip again just to eat there...
If the dhaba is good - it doesn't have to be 2am and you may have driven only 2 miles. The smells will stop you - the food will bring you back.

It's barely 9am and I long for some ChknBoti and Lassi (unsweetened) right now - Thanks Zim, GWiv, C2, (ab, EC) ! - but no thanks )

Yeah, if you can deal with the pain of parking, I love the weekends on Devon as well. The smells, buzz and feel is half the fun. Its as close to Multan I'll get until I get back to Pakistan (or go to Queens).

Good to see Khan getting some visits - I agree with Zim on the Chicken Boti, and also love the Chapli and Seehk kabobs. Almost all the meat on the menu is fantastic.

ab

What's a good place for a roll? Please, I mean food. Essentially a kabab or kathi kabab roll. I stepped into Kababish of London sometime a year ago, ordered one and was quite disappointed - both by the filling and the limp paratha/roti. (I see also a lukewarm thread here)

A really good roll needs a nice crispy mughlai paratha - the malaysian 'roti' available in freezer sections is a fair substitute - and excellent kabab filling. The problem with procuring the components separately is having to reheat one of them. I haven't tried Khan's.

A description of the rolls I yearn for is here (third paragraph on that page) -which I got through Zim's post here (click on 'here' and then on the Kolkata link) [Thanks Zim - great links]

Almost, but not quite, probably



I agree with all of the above - bustling, packed, food smells etc. But for me the
whole idea of it, for some reason, is the Punjabi dhaba, or those on the highways
up North in India. Even the ones elsewhere in INdia arent quite seen as "dhabas" in
my head for some reason Maybe they can fulfill the criterion in terms of
food (would be nice if they could reach the right standard for that itself ,
but the atmosphere would be almost impossible to duplicate.

A lot of it is the atmosphere, the location, the physical look of the place. Rickety
little places, a lot of the time. Mostly open-air. Eating at tables under the
shade of a banyan tree (or any tree I suppose) A bunch of hefty
hard-charging Punjabi truck-drivers enjoying their food nearby (these are
a different breed, and vital to the atmosphere. These are the guys who drive
beatup old trucks for 12-16 hours a day . Really old trucks, nobody had ever
heard of "cruise control"... these are the guys who invented their own version
of it, they put a big ol brick on the gas pedal, prop it in place with a stick pushing
up against the seat, and drive. If they need to slow or stop - which is to be
avoided if possible - they'll knock the stick away. The number who have died
on the highways doing this have never been counted, must run into the
thousands

A friend was telling me a story a while ago, he was about 17 (a good healthy
growing boy), was at a dhaba in Punjab with his dad. They ordered a
"chotti lassI' - a small lassi. It arrived - in a glass that was narrow at the
bottom and widening towards the top, and was the length of his forearm
(he indicated it was from his elbow to about halfway up his palm The
two of them, father and son, used 2 straws and shared it, and were
struggling to get through it together. And in walks this truckdriver, orders
2 fullsized lassis, and knocks them back right there in a few minutes before
driving off again. All this is part of what makes a dhaba a dhaba

A very "hot" restaurant in Bombay for a while when it first arrived was
"Pritam-da-dhaba" - it still does very well, though the "buzz" has moved onto
to something else, as it does every couple of weeks. They try and
recreate some of it - they have a proper "restaurant", air-conditioned with
good tables and the rest of it. But you can opt to not eat there in the
"dining room", but rather walk thru the restaurant to the back. And out back
there is a huge courtyard - surrounded by buildings on all sides, but a
massive square area in between. Here they have a few trees dotted
around, and lots of more rickety tables. Some of them are lower tables,
and these have "divans" where you can sit, with those long cylinderical
cushions to support your back (Cathy saw a pretty good version of this
sort of seating at Jewel of India - except that was a lot more upscale, with
white tablecloths etc IIRC) . A few others tables have "chaarpoys" in front of
the tables - a rural "bed" of sorts, basically a wooden 4-legs and outer
frame, with rope forming the actual sleeping surface - you sit on the
khatiyas and eat (as they do up in the rural North). They even have a
few road signs up between the tables, indicating "Ludhiana 600 kilometers"
and so on. Its what theyve done to recreate, to the best of their ability,
the atmosphere and look of the "Punjabi dhaba" in the rural north - and its a pretty
fair attempt right in the middle of a cosmopolitan city thousands of miles away.
If its a pleasant Bombay-winter evening, and youre sitting under the stars
and trees and eating sarson ka saag and butter chicken at Pritam-da-dhaba (and
its a courtyard, so you cant even see the road), and looking at road signs for
Ludhiana and Chandigarh... well, even then you cant quite fool yourself into
thinking youre actually at a dhaba in Punjab, but you at least have a better shot
at it than if you were in their air-conditioned dining room only a few yards away

Ok, I dont know why I bothered to write all that. Just googled, and found a link to
a small piece on Pritam-da-dhaba (and dhabas in general) by Busybee, here:
http://www.busybeeforever.com/viewart.a ... =eatingout


c8w

BTW, posted a link to dhabas in general elsewhere. Here is another, also from
Busybee, with some more about it (and also about their relationship to
gas-stations - not the kind with just doritos and twinkies in em, either

http://www.busybeeforever.com/viewart.a ... wanderlust

c8w

btw, some of the trucks themselves are remarkable works of art. Here are a few images from the web:

Ha Ha
If I saw trucks like that on Devon, it might make the traffic more bearable

Like c8w, I try and avoid the crowds. People watching sometimes is okay, but if I'm trying to shop, they get in my way
Usually I can make it only on a weekend, so 9am works. Which is why I haven't really sampled too many places (disappointments haven't helped either). Late works for food - I tried HH recently - but not for shopping.

I should add that the VI family almost always visits Da'Bomb on the weekends, and while urban, I never find it overwhelming, and I never find it *that* tough to park. Really It helps that we love walking the street, so you can never park "far away."

Rob

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More Trucks that I saw at the Folk Life Festival in DC a couple of years ago:




And i'll add a vote for the splendor of the chicken boti at Khan. When I was there last I also had a really great carrot/rice pudding for dessert that I would eat again in a heartbeat. I asked about the last item on the tandoor menu, tandoori cham, and was told that it's horse ribs cooked in the tandoor, but that it wasn't available. Hmmm...

Would you eat horsemeat? I do not think I would. Besides dog (and house cat, but who eats house cat*), I cannot think of another animal I would not eat.

*No jokes, no rumours, no I heard I heard stuff...

_________________
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The Local Beet's very big list of 2013 Farmer's Markets

Actually, I think I would only have actual qualms about primates. Horse wouldn't bother me more than goat.

I have to admit, when I heard that report on NPR about the long-thought-extinct woodpecker that was rediscovered in the Bayou, I started to get a bit hungry. And how I would have loved to have been in the fish market in Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia that day. Sushi for everybody!

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Rob:

Back in the '80's I ate my share of horsemeat while living in Belgium (I've possibly mentioned this elsewhere: at the time, there was both a butcher shop that specialised in horsemeat and a restaurant that did so as well, the one on and the other near the Oude Markt in Leuven)... Poverty drove me to it but it is very tasty meat...

Now, when is that tandoori cham going to be available again?



A

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- aus dem Tagebuch E.T.A. Hoffmanns, 6. Januar 1804.
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Na sir is na seachain an cath.

Here's another link to an article and some fantastic photos of the colorful buses of India/Pakistan...

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/2 ... kistan.htm

very cool site, thanks.

while we're on this subject and off the chicken boti here's one for The Ricksha Arts of Bangladesh

Some time ago, this would have been an easy recommendation for me:

Lucky Kabab and Nehari House
6260 N Broadway
Chicago
(773) 338-3400

I had really liked their rolls when they had been named Broadway kabob and knew some pakistani fellas who would travel from st. louis almost exclusively to have some. I went less often after they changed their name but still thought it was the best place for a roll, for some reason I haven't been in a long time, if you want to experiment it may be worth a shot, I'd probably call first and make sure they are still in business, though.

I did find some really nice praise for their breads in general from RST on the other board - of course how you would know it I don't know as it is in a post titled "Re(1): Trio -- Wine Pairings for TdF + Hi to the board"




They've done a few more of those reports that weren't included in the link above, here are a few of them

Moveable Feast - The Konkan Comeback

AMRITSAR: A Culinary Journey

Amritsari Street Food - Fat of the Land

Kodava Food - Currying Flavour

Lucknow - Remains Of The Day

Andhra Food - The Delicious Deccan

Karnataka - Flavour Of The Bunt

Moveable Feast - Neighbour's Flavours (Sri Lanka)

On Friday we sampled the chicken boti at Khan's. It was very salty - maybe a batch of that marinade got an accidental double dose or the marinade may not have been stirred well. But the chicken was very very tender and succulent - almost melt in the mouth-ish.

Zim, the phone number to Lucky Kabab house is no longer in service. I'm glad you mentioned calling ahead. I forgot to check if they still exist, being full from the food at Khan's.

sazerac,

sorry to hear about your experience with the boti, fwiw, mine have never been overly salty. I did some looking around and it turns out lucky kabob was replaced by aromatherapy products

Inspired by some conversation with AB, a big fan of the Khan BBQ, I made it up to Devon after work tonight.

The owner took one look at us, calculated us to be unsuspecting white folk, and clearly wanted to point us to Hema's across the street, saying, "our food is very spicy". We knew better and insisted we would be ok.

We ordered the Chicken Boti, Seekh Kabab, Aloo Palak, and Daal, along with some Naan.

The naan was white,puffy, slightly charred and smokey.

The bbq items did not disappoint. The chicken boti was everything promised above in this forum and paired very well with the cooling sauce served earlier. The kabab was redolent with spices and some hints of jalapeno.

The daal was very creamy and garnished with fresh spring cilantro bits, while the Aloo palaak was filled with firm potatoes and rich hearty spinach.

The spices in collective snuck up at the end of the meal, but it was in no way a barrier or overpowering, actually just the right amount. I look forward to making my way through all the grill items in the future.

Finally for the less than hearty LTH folks, Khan BBQ is a straight up no frills, old storefront with red bench seating circa 1985 McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken. There is no air conditioning, and on a day like today (90+) with the BBQ coals in full the flame, the rickety general issue floor fan offered very little circulation. No big deal for most folks on this forum, but the wife who is a hearty sort and generally always willing to go in search of the meal showed a few cracks today.

Though, indeed, one must always be in the service of the transcendant food experience.

As noted above, I had tried the chicken boti at Khan BBQ a while back, but was glad to go back today with a few other folks and try a wider variety of things.

I have to say, Khan BBQ may have about the best ratio of crappy decor to outstanding food in the city. I actually thought the boti was one of the lesser items we ordered, not that it wasn't perfectly enjoyable.

Someone else may have to correct my memory of what we had, or provide the Pakistani names (UPDATE: I spotted the photo of the menu above and have added names), but it included:

- Chicken boti
- Spinach dish with little kernels of corn in it, very spicy (though GWiv spiced his up further) (Daal Palak)
- A nice grilled ground lamb kabab (Seekh Kabab)
- A fantastic tandoori goat chop dish, which we all suspected was really tender, non-gamey lamb, in a nice reversal of the usual thing where they say mutton to us gringos and mean goat (Tandoori Cham)
- A stew with garbanzo beans in it which had a surprisingly rich smoky flavor and was my second favorite (Chana Masala)
- Roti with ground beef in it
- Roti with potatoes in it
- Onion naan
- Plain paratha

All in all, one of the best meals I've had on Devon in a long time. The next time someone says buffet I will really try to steer them here, despite the total lack of ambience. Hopefully someone else will provide the names to help first-timers know what to get...

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